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Friday,
June 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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A President’s pet phobias Prisoners in Pak jails
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Power mad in Delhi
India & Maoist menace in Nepal
Boys & girls go to work and play
Lawyer
defies curfew to wed
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A President’s pet phobias BY donning a third hat, that of President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf has added to his country’s and his own problems. The USA has threatened to retain the crippling sanctions till democracy returns to Pakistan. That means another 17 months of financial stringency. Can the country survive this? Many nurse grave doubts. But President Musharraf has solved a major protocol problem of India, his host at the forthcoming summit. Now he is the head of state and that entitles him to a 21-gun salute, a guard of honour, a state banquet at Rashtrapati Bhavan and perhaps a stay there. He may prefer to spend the first night in India at a hotel, following the example of former US President Clinton. There is a third possibility. President Musharraf is a stickler for simple living and may opt the Pakistan High Commission building in Chanakyapuri. This will offer the added advantage of receiving a delegation of Hurriyat leaders who need the oxygen of publicity to partly revive their sagging morale. In the next few days the programme of his visit will be finalised and that will show how serious he is about tackling basic issues and how sensitive he is to the perceptions of his hosts. Now that he has earned the head of state treatment, New Delhi should closely examine the necessity of the Agra leg of his three-day visit. Not only will it cost several lakhs of rupees but also cramp the talks. The original plan was designed to skirt a state banquet which issue has now been settled. Keeping the honourable guest in Delhi will not only afford more time for one-to-one talks but also allow him to squeeze in a visit to his ancestral home in Daryaganj. This is a matter of detail. The key question is the Indian response to General Musharraf’s latest power grabbing. There is the unmistakable sign of silently accepting the fait accompli, if not welcoming it. Like his Indian counterpart, President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar was elected by members of the National and Provincial Assemblies. The so-called Cabinet eased him out by a resolution and installed the new President. Political parties there are planning a legal challenge. But India, which boasts of being the largest democracy in the world, is maintaining silence, which is obviously related to the summit. India has also allowed the military ruler to preach on the need to tone down the pre-summit rhetoric. A verbal joust takes two parties and it is astonishing that one party rebukes the other and gets away with it. Apologists of the present regime and opponents of the previous wayward elected governments are desperately trying to rationalise the presidential coup. There are honourable exceptions like Mr Khalid Mohammed, a sober and scholarly analyst. It is sad that the mandarins of the External Affairs Ministry have joined this band of time-servers across the border. |
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Prisoners in Pak jails WHILE cautious optimism is building up for the July 14 Indo-Pak summit, a small section of the population on both sides of the border looks forward to a possible announcement on the exchange of prisoners detained in both countries. Family members of these prisoners languishing in jails for years make feeble attempts now and then through the media to secure the release of their kin, but theirs is a cry in the wilderness. No one pays attention. Their small voice is lost in the din of militants' bullets in Kashmir. Their hopes are diminished when Pakistan TV unleashes a hate-India campaign. There are many Indians who question the diplomatic folly of releasing 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war captured during the 1971 conflict without securing the freedom of Indian prisoners in exchange. There are some 1965 war prisoners lodged in Pakistani jails whose near and dear ones still pray for their safe return. Also in jail are ordinary citizens who mistakenly crossed the border and got caught. They include farmers whose lands fall along the border and fishermen who happened to cross the dividing line. Then there are smugglers and petty criminals. Reports of Punjab militants who landed in jail after they fell foul with their Pakistani patrons or understood their game plan keep pouring in. Newspapers also recently carried reports of 29 Punjabi youths who had gone abroad in search of jobs but landed in Pakistani prisons. Indian prisoners who were exchanged with their Pakistani counterparts in May this year at the Wagha border narrated tales of mistreatment. Prisoners have suffered enough and their ordeal must end. This is one issue that should not be allowed to get buried in the talks over larger ticklish issues. Not many expect any concrete achievement to emerge from the proposed summit. But if both sides take up the issue of prisoners and make a positive announcement, they would at least earn the goodwill of their people in general and of the prisoners' families in particular. Conflicts and political differences between the two countries should not smother free people-to-people contacts and warmth. On Baisakhi this year Punjabis of both countries shared a common platform. Such cultural and literary activities can create a conducive environment and diminish hostilities. Pakistani artistes, who are in Chandigarh these days, have shared and generated positive feelings. Before them, Pakistani children had visited the city beautiful and interacted with local children and carried home fond memories. These are small issues, but bridges of friendship can be built on such foundations. |
General Musharraf v. President Musharraf HOW different will be General Pervez Musharraf in the new civilian robe of presidency? Does it make him more respectable and acceptable to the world community, especially to India? Acceptable he may be, but to acquire respectability in a genuinely democratic way is a different ball game. And this is not an easy task going by the reaction of the USA, Britain and the Commonwealth. General Musharraf remains the Chief Executive while installing himself as President by removing the 72-year-old former high court judge, Mr Mohammad Rafiq Tarar. I would call this a constitutional coup after his earlier act of throwing out the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, 19 months ago. Why did the military ruler resort to such a desperate move? Was it a part of his desire to put a seal of "civilian" legitimacy before landing at his place of birth for the much-trumpeted summit with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee? From the General's point of view, the timing of his act was perfect. After all, he was only following the precedents set by his predecessors who had perfected the art of power management to give themselves civilian legitimacy to keep afloat in power games at home and abroad. It is a different matter that the end results of all such acts never improved things within Pakistan as well as in the subcontinent as a whole. Perhaps, the General's move was more of a psychological device to silence the critics of his military regime. This, however, makes no difference as far as the ground realities of power are concerned. Pakistan has a long history of army generals who after having grabbed power in a coup or otherwise put on a civilian attire for legitimacy in governance. General Ayub Khan, General Yahya Khan and General Zia-ul-Haq all captured power and later installed themselves as President. In between, Pakistan did have some passing shows of democracy, but these could not be sustained because power in Pakistan flows from the barrel of the gun. The military establishment in Islamabad invariably calls the shots whenever it has so desired. Indeed, Pakistan's has been a turbulent history of 53 years or so, written in blood. What General Musharraf has done is to follow in the footsteps of the earlier Generals who thrived on an anti-India tirade. In fact, one major reason for the strained bilateral ties has been the dominance of the army generals in Pakistan's corridors of power. Nothing moves in Islamabad without their blessings. Perhaps, it won't be an exaggeration to say that the military establishment there is not interested in striking peace with India. To what extent President Musharraf will be different from General Musharraf is anybody's guess. The track record of the Pakistani Generals has been far from flattering. General Musharraf's role in the Kargil conflict is soaked in blood. He probably played a critical role in sabotaging the peace initiative of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his early months of power. Mr Sharif meant to fend fences with India. I clearly gathered this impression after meeting him in Islamabad soon after his installation as Prime Minister. During an informal conversation, he told me categorically that he was interested in giving a business thrust to Indo-Pakistan relations. He wanted free movement of goods and passionately pleaded for increased trade and economic cooperation between the two countries for the good of the people. "It is a pity that Pakistanis pay Rs 10 for a drug which is available in India for 25 paise only. We will benefit a lot if the trade barriers are abolished between the two countries," he emphasised. This is not all. He also favoured the abolition of the visa system between the two countries. "I am for the entry and exit permits which can be easily made available for whosoever wishes to go to the other side of the border from specified points," he told me. How and why Mr Nawaz Sharif subsequently became a changed person remains a mystery to me. Some critics suggest that this was part of the Pakistani leader's double-faced policy of talking sweet while preparing for an onslaught to grab Kashmir. However, I then felt that as a businessman, Mr Sharif probably understood the importance of economic ties for mutual benefit. I always thought that the ousted Prime Minister was capable of reversing the process of confrontation and build new relations with the requisite business thrust. But that was not to be. At one stage, Mr Sharif looked like the most powerful person in Pakistan's democratic structure. But what happened subsequently is part of recent history. The ouster of Mr Sharif and the emergence of General Musharraf in a coup has brought Pakistan once again at the crossroads. General Musharraf was definitely the key player in Pakistan's Kargil misadventure. Today, he is projecting for himself a new image—of a peace-maker. How genuine is his new projection? I would not like to pre-judge him at this juncture. He is yet to disclose his cards. Still, one does not know where exactly he stands on the blood-splattered Indo-Pakistan highway, though he has of late been talking in a positive tone of reconciliation with this country. How different is his mindset? It will be a miracle if our policy-makers could fathom his mind. The tragedy of India's policies towards Pakistan is that it has always been groping in the dark. We do not have to go very far in history to compile facts. Just look at Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee's bus yatra to Lahore. The Kargil venture of Islamabad was being given final touches while Mr Sharif and Mr Vajpayee were striking friendly postures publicly. Behind the scene the Pakistani Generals and the ISI brigade were working overtime with the sole programme of destabilising India and working for its break-up, if possible. Pakistan's India plan would only remain a pipedream. General Musharraf, of course, has talked about rewriting history. History is rewritten only by brave persons. Manipulators and cowards can, at best, tamper with it for a limited period and for a limited purpose. It needs to be realised by Pakistani leaders that 'understanding' and 'perception' are two different matters. Like the psychic blindness of Munk's dog (1881 study), they could 'see' and yet not to 'know' what they were seeing. President Musharraf has to prove his credentials. Today, he is under tremendous pressure at home and abroad. The question before him is not only of his own survival but also of Pakistan. Perhaps, right now he is not threatened by his rival military generals, especially the dominant Punjabi section. But once they decide to strike at him, it will be difficult for him to survive. We don't know General Musharraf's real intentions. We have also no exact details of his compulsions. One thing, however, is certain: the agenda for Indo-Pakistan relations is being set by Washington and this includes the IMF, the World Bank and other global bodies which would like to step in to help Pakistan, provided it begins to talk peace with India with due emphasis on economic cooperation. General Musharraf has no choice but to be reasonable and pragmatic while dealing with this country. We know the state of the Pakistani economy. Any further drift in the economic arena would be disastrous for Pakistan and its present ruler. General Musharraf knows this well and hence his peace overtures. The moot point, however, is: what will be the real face of Pakistan? It is difficult to hazard a guess. So far as India is concerned, it will definitely welcome Pakistan's friendly hand. Any reorientation on the part of Islamabad on new positive lines of thinking will be welcome. Still, New Delhi's basic anxiety is whether Islamabad will redefine its role and policies on certain sensitive matters. One, it has to clarify its position on the financial, military and moral support being offered to the varied terrorist outfits and other foreign mercenaries in Jammu and Kashmir and beyond. Two, it must clearly state its Kashmir policy. What could be the nature of settlement between India and Pakistan to end the Kashmir imbroglio? Can it be on the basis of the Line of Control (LoC) being an international border with certain adjustments? The time is running out for Pakistan. The choice before it is: now or never. Having tried the war path for the past 53 years, let it, for once, explore the exciting process of peace and cooperation to mutual advantage. In today's globalised order, a friendly economic competition rather than military confrontations can make or mar Pakistan's future. In Mr Vajpayee, General Musharraf has an understanding person. The Pakistani ruler can deal with him provided he learns lessons from the blunders of his predecessors and avoids the temptation of playing old war games behind the broad diplomatic smile. |
Power mad in Delhi THE financially strapped Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) means business, no doubt about it. It has decided to slap summary and salutary penal fines on slippery consumers who palm off on it dubious and bum cheques that subsequently bounce and come bounding back like a dervish, leaving it holding the baby. Fair enough. After all, the board needs money to buy plastic two-way holders and bedside switches, but shouldn’t it indemnify its consumers for prolonged power breakdowns and voltage fluctuations? I have been talking to a senior DVB official. “Yes, of course,” he said, “we’re acutely
conscious of the fact that we’re a public utility financed by the tax-payer and we’ve an open-ended commitment to provide quality service to the consumers who are our true masters in the new scenario of power sector restructuring.” “That’s a heart-warming reassurance,” I said, “but how will you indemnify your consumers if voltage suddenly dips to 90 and fluorescent lamps won’t burn and fridges and mixies won’t work and a vaunted All-Electric Home is plunged into gloomy darkness?” “We’ll take immediate action to set things right,” said the DVB official, “Every consumer who complains of low voltage will have his name and address secretly recorded and we’ll slap on him a bill backdated to 1970 plus arrears at 18 per cent interest and impose a fine of Rs 25,000. That ought to convince you that DVB, though a monopoly utility, is not oblivious of its obligations to the consumers.” “I’m certainly convinced,” I said, “and I want to compliment you on your consumer-friendly policy. If the voltage suddenly goes berserk and shoots beyond 700 and expensive colour TVs, washing machines, VCRs and other domestic appliances get burnt out beyond repair, how will you recompense your consumers?” “We’ll take very serious note of it,” said the DVB official, “Every consumer suffering a financial loss due to high voltage, will be given 24-hour notice to pay a summary penal fine of Rs 75,000 and we’ll ask them to produce bills dating back to the 1750-51 and if they fail to do so, we’ll impose a supplementary fine of Rs 10,000.” “DVB certainly feels the public pulse and is responsive to redressing consumer grievances,” I said, “but if the whole state and the National Capital Territory is plunged into a nightmarish 96-hour total power breakdown and blackout?” “We’ll consider that a damning state of affairs,” said the DVB official, “and a severe indictment of the board and its ways of functioning.” “That’s a candid self-assessment,” I said, “but how will you compensate your victimised consumers?” “We’ll immediately disconnect power supply to all the consumers without due notice and impose a fine of Rs 1 lakh to be paid within three days.” |
India & Maoist menace in Nepal THE mystique of the Nepal monarchy is gone — perhaps for ever. There is now
nothing to unite the Nepalese people. And the Maoists, like the destructive ganas of Shiva (Pashupati), are spreading everywhere to take over the country. Will Nepal succumb to the Maoists? American observers think so. Will China reveal the parentage to the Maoists? If so, how will India react? Can it accept the Chinese presence in the Tarrai? Will India accept the takeover of Nepal by the Maoists as a fait accompli, or will it try to overthrow them with the support of America? Gone are the days for complacency. There will be no time for that. We have to meet the challenge of these inimical forces in Nepal right now. We cannot leave it to the Nepalese alone, for these forces affect our security and our future. It is one of the great ironies of Nepal’s history that the more it seeks to be free from Indian influence in its affairs, the more it has need of India. Thus, opposition to the marriage of Dipendra to an Indian girl arose out of fear of her Indian origin. So, what happened? The whole family of Dipendra perished in a massacre. And the monarchy is now threatened by the Maoists. And the Maoists, a force spawned by playing the China card against India far too often by Nepal, have turned to be the implacable scourge of Nepal. If Nepal goes under the Maoists, it will become a satellite of China — a fate far worse than being under the influence of India. Only India can save it from this fate. It is the fear of India — that it will gobble up Nepal — which had been the leitmotif of all Nepalese actions for the past over half a century. Perhaps even from the times of the British. And Nepal has been playing China against India all these years. But it continued to call itself a “Hindu” kingdom and enjoyed every benefit that it could have had from India and its trusting people. Perhaps Pashupati is offended. He may not want to be under the Chinese dispensation? Ever since China occupied Tibet in 1949, Nepal has assumed great importance to India from the security point of view. It was to meet the Chinese threat that India and Nepal signed the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship. It contained provisions for both security and economic cooperation. In 1951 the two countries decided to establish border checkposts along Nepal’s border with Tibet, manned by the Nepalese army and Indian wireless operators. This enabled the Government of India to receive intelligence reports regarding Chinese military activities in Tibet. In 1952 India sent a military mission to Nepal to train and modernise the Nepal army. But Nepal looked upon all these with great disfavour. It thought that India was intrusive. It wanted to be free from these security obligations. It was insensitive to India’s security concerns. King Tribhuvan died in 1955. His son tried to assert the role of the monarchy. But India was firm in its belief that only a democratic regime could give stability to Nepal from external pressures, mainly from China. Naturally, the king was suspicious of India and began to use the China card against India to exact more concessions from India. In 1958 India had to downgrade the Indian Military Mission under Nepal’s pressure. In 1965 the Kathmandu-Kodari road was completed by China. It was of great strategic importance to China. It posed a real danger to India. This is an example of Nepal’s indifference to Indian security concerns. It was a violation of the 1950 Treaty. By 1970 Nepal wanted India to withdraw its personnel from the Nepal-Tibet border posts as also its military mission. And it demanded a land route for trade with Pakistan. In 1975 King Birendra propounded the “Zone of Peace” idea, again an attempt to embarrass India and free Nepal of all security obligations. In 1988, a complete dilution of the spirit of the 1950 Treaty took place when Nepal bought large quantities of arms from China, including anti-aircraft guns. Obviously, they were for use against India! Result? India sulked over the renewal of the trade and transit treaty. Trade differences spread to other areas. India-Nepal relations plunged to a new low. In April 1990 democracy was ushered in with popular election. During the regime of Bhattarai, relations improved. Both sides undertook to respect each other’s security concerns, not to allow activities prejudicial to each other and promised mutual consultation. But these were only on paper. On the ground, Nepal did nothing to restrain the activities of the ISI (Pakistan), which was now on the offensive. It was at this time that Vajpayee wrote to Bhattarai asking him to take action against Pak-funded activities in Nepal and to clean up the ISI network in Nepal. But Nepal was never willing to take action against Pakistan. We do not know whether it was because Nepal wanted to use a Pakistan card also against India, or because it was genuinely afraid of Pakistan. I think the former must have been the real reason. In any case, the hijack of the Indian Airline plane from Kathmandu to Kandahar established a series of shortcomings in the Nepalese security setup. But Nepal did nothing to clean up the mess. Instead, it tried to whitewash the episode by instituting an official inquiry. Pakistan diplomats carrying RDX and distributing fake Indian currency were let off without even a warning. India’s concern was the greatest when the ISI established itself in Eastern Nepal, which borders the narrow, sensitive Siliguri corridor, connecting the entire North-East to the rest of India. If this corridor is cut, the entire North-East will be isolated from India. Nepal took no notice of it! India was so incensed by Nepal’s indifference that it had to warn Nepal that if ISI activities were not controlled along the borders, India would have to go for a visa regime along the border. This is perhaps not the whole story. Yet it is sufficient to show that Nepal is no understanding brother of India. I am afraid that all our efforts to win over the Nepalese people have gone in vain. They played with China to keep India at a distance. Now China has almost taken over their home. The Maoists hate India the most. They are determined to spoil India-Nepal relations. They are in touch with the Maoist Communist Centre of Bihar and the People’s War Group of Andhra Pradesh. The coming together of the Maoists and the ISI can mean only one thing to India — serious trouble. To begin with, they can boost the insurgency in the North-East. Now that the Maoists are threatening to take over Nepal, where will the Nepalese turn to? To China? To India? With what face will they expect help from India? Those who are packing their baggage to flee to India along with their loot must know that they are not welcome in this country. |
Boys & girls go to work and play MOST women I know think the men in their lives don’t do enough at home. They also think that the world would be a better place if only they could get their children’s fathers to do `their share’. I don’t agree. My partner does far more than his fair share, and life is still hell. It’s hell for me because I work such long hours - longer hours than my father ever did, which is saying a lot. It’s hell for my partner because my long hours have turned him by default into the househusband. It’s not that he doesn’t love spending time with his children. But he gets bored and isolated, just as I did when I was at home. But lately I’ve begun to wonder. Actually, the doubts have been building for some time. They crystallised last Wednesday, at a seminar on childcare and workplace reform. The main draw for the policy wonks was Ellen Galinsky. She’s one of the leaders of the workplace reform movement in the United States. Its central tenet is that changes should benefit men as well as women. She never mentions the word `mother’ without also mentioning the word `father’. She made a very interesting contrast to the other star speaker, Jay Belsky. This name you may know: he caused a media panic last month when he claimed that a multi-site, multi-million-dollar US research project had confirmed that children who got `large doses’ of childcare from an early age were sometimes smarter but were also at greater risk of behaviour problems. Of course, he had been quoted out of context. He used this opportunity to set us straight. Researchers had observed children with their carers and also with their mothers. Alas, they had not observed much interaction with their fathers. When we asked why not, he said it was because most fathers didn’t want to be `involved’. He did not seem to feel this non-involvement was problematic. Most of the women in the room did. Perhaps I should mention here that most people in the room were women - as are most of the people involved in the workplace reform movement. There is a distinguished list of token males, there are links with some fathers’ groups, and a goodish number of corporate leaders at the events. But they are always from the same tiny core of companies. Most employers couldn’t care less. This I can understand. What I can’t understand is why most men seem to feel the same way. The only illumination I’ve had is from men who tell me (usually in confidence) that they themselves are in despair about their working hours. They say the situation is not likely to change soon because the offices they work in are run by men who like the routines and hierarchies of work. More time at work means less time at the confusing and chaotic place they call home. The ones who spend least time at home are the ones who rise highest. If they have little patience for women who want more time with their children, they have even less when it’s a man who’s letting the side down. It’s not the `dominant males’ who have been `exploring fatherhood’, my informants say. It’s the men the dominant males dismiss as losers. Groups pushing for workplace change are aware of this, so they spend a lot of time working with leaders. Force a change of heart in the man at the top, they say, and all sorts of wonderful things will follow. Force a change of heart in the boardroom of the BBC, get the editor of a national newspaper onside, and then they’ll start reporting this story properly, and then men will get the message. I have my doubts, because I am always giving men I know the lowdown. And maybe it’s my tone of voice, but almost none of them want to listen. Even if they are longing to go home to put their toddler to bed, even if they are in tears because the courts have denied them access to their children, even if they’ve just been sacked for leaving work early to pick up an ill child from school, even if I avoid any mention of the `F’ word, their eyes glaze over. Their feet begin to twitch. They develop a deep fascination for that fly in the corner. I’m left feeling like I’m eight years old again, trying to talk my best friend’s brother into playing House. And wondering if it’s ever going to happen. What self-respecting boy would want to get involved in a game that’s run by girls?
By arrangement with The Observer. |
Hindu Vidyarthi Sabha, Lahore THE Secretary writes:— An interesting intercollegiate debate on “Should Council entry be on Congress ticket or communal ticket” will be held under the auspices of Hindu Vidyarthi Sabha, Lahore, at 6 p.m., on Sunday the 13th June 1926 in the D.A.V. College Hall. Professor Diwan Chand Sharma will preside. The students of different colleges will take part in the debate. The public in general and professors, teachers and students in particular are cordially invited to attend. |
Lawyer defies curfew to wed IT was a wedding with a difference. The groom
stealthily made his way through the curfew-bound alleys of Manipur’s
capital Imphal to reach the bride’s house and the rituals were
completed without the feasting and fanfare that usually accompany
marriages in this region. Ch Dorendra
Meetei, a lawyer, tied the knot on Wednesday with his childhood sweetheart Geemita
Chanu, a 21-year-old college student, defying a shoot-at-sight curfew imposed following violent protests against the government’s decision to expand a ceasefire with a major rebel group. “The groom’s party reached our house with much difficulty, walking through narrow lanes and by-lanes to avoid security forces who have been ordered to shoot people violating the curfew,” Khaidam Mani Singh, the bride’s father, told IANS on telephone from
Imphal. “We could hardly offer any good food to the groom’s party and the marriage was without the usual musical band that welcomes guests. All shops and markets in Imphal have been closed since Saturday and we couldn’t make any purchases,” he said.
IANS
Daler Mehndi denied royalty Punjabi pop star Daler Mehndi has accused a music company of cheating him of royalty valued at Rs. 1.5 crore and has urged a Delhi court to ensure that he gets his due.“There have been record sales of the album, ‘Tunak Tunak Tun,’ but neither have details of sales been furnished nor has royalty been paid,” Mehndi said in a petition filed in the Delhi High Court. Asking the recording company, Magnasound India, to file its reply by July 17, when the case will next be heard, vacation judge
O.P. Dwivedi on Wednesday restrained it from destroying records relating to the sale of the
album. Mehndi’s counsel, S.D.
Salwan, contended that the singer was to have been paid royalty of Rs 5 per audio cassette and Rs 15 per compact disc (CD) sold. No payments had, however, been made since 1999, in spite of Mehndi writing a number of letters to the company.
IANS
Black men have higher heart risk Men who live in the rural South and black men all over the USA are at greater risk than other men of dying from heart disease, a discrepancy caused in part by greater poverty and less access to health care, researchers said on Wednesday. Where people live also plays a role in their heart death rates. Higher rates of death occurred among men of any race residing in regions with poorer economies and few health-care resources.
Reuters
Premature babies poor in school Babies born five to eight weeks prematurely are more likely to experience educational problems than full-term infants, British researchers said on Thursday. “Up to a third of children born between 32 and 35 weeks’ gestation may have school problems,” said Dr Charlotte Huddy of the Leicester Royal Infirmary in a study published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. Researchers identified all children born five to eight weeks early in the English county of Oxfordshire in 1990, and contacted parents, doctors and teachers to determine their academic abilities. Teachers rated the children in six skill areas and completed a questionnaire about their strengths and difficulties. The researchers discovered that three percent of the children were at a special school, four percent needed special education help and 25 percent were being helped by a non-teaching assistant. Nearly one-third had difficulties with mathematics, writing and fine motor skills.
Reuters |
It is not righteousness That ye turn your faces Towards East or West; But it is righteousness.... To believe in God.... To spend of your substance Out of love for Him, For your kin, orphans, needy, Wayfarer, beggar And for the ransom of slaves. ***** Seest thou one Who denies Hereafter Then such is the one Who repulses the orphan And encourages not The feeding of the indigent ***** They ask thee how much They are to spend (on charity); Say: “What is beyond Your needs” ***** Give of the good things Which ye have earned, And of the fruits of the earth Which we have produced For you, and do not aim At anything Which is bad When ye yourself Would not receive it Except with closed eyes. ***** Nullify not your charity By reminders of your generosity. ***** Nor expect in giving, Any returns. But be steadfast And constant For God’s sake. — The Quran, 2:177; 107:1-3; 2:219; 2:267; 2:264; & 4:6 ***** The infinite personality of man can only come from the magnificent harmony of all human races. My prayer is that India may represent the co-operation of all the peoples on this earth. For India, Unity is Truth and Division is evil. — Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore ***** The lamps are different but the light is the same. — Rumi, the sufi mystic |
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