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July 15, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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INDO-PAK SUMMIT Will the new realism effect the Agra
Summit? COUNTERPOINT |
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Harihar Swarup
Cong caught on the wrong foot over tea party
Humra Quraishi
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INDO-PAK SUMMIT THOUGH I’ve had no direct access to the Pakistani papers and journals, I do find some of those reproduced in part in Indian dailies. And one does get some insight into the adversary point of view. And in order to reach a balanced statement, one needs to rotate the Indian and Pakistani attitudes regarding Kashmir. Of course, in the end, a certain kind of partisan view becomes inevitable, the truth being perceived in terms of the country or the nation’s world-view. While in some of my earlier articles and critiques, I have sought to uncover the psycho-pathological fixations as much as to take a hard look at the ground realities in the Valley in particular, in this piece, I have evidence in hand of the new voices of sanity and humanist liberalism now beginning to be heard in the Pakistani Press. And it’s to this qualitative change in the perceptions of the select thinkers and writers across the border that I wish to address myself. The evidence in question relates to an international bi-monthly called Peace Initiatives whose special issue on Kashmir (July-December, 2000, New Delhi), it carries articles (16 from Pakistani writers, journalists, former diplomats, UK, USA-Canada settled elements, six Indian experts and academics, not journalists as such, and three foreign, UN and other writers on Pakistan. I may add that I was commissioned to do a special piece entitled Progression and Regression: A Peep into the Terrorist Psyche in view of my two or three On Target pieces for The Tribune in recent years. It may be noted that while several Pak commentaries (courtesy, the involved newspaper) have been reproduced in this volume, no such thing has been followed in respect of their Indian counterparts. Thus, my aim is to project the other side of the Pak-Muslim mind, though those voices are yet in a select minority of intellectuals. Since it’s a large volume of 240 pages (with some annexures). I have tried to be close to the pulse of the argument in general, and thus a capsuled summary of 10 points is presented below: 1. Half a century of destructive wars, terrorist mayhem have proved beyond doubt the immediate need for a negotiated, flexible dialogue. 2. Both countries have to move beyond the UN proposals of 1950 and evolve an honourable and lasting settlement of the Kashmir issue in the light of the changed context. 3. The LoC as a permanent border is a viable proposition with some suitable adjustments. To be considered seriously. 4. The Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration permit us to move forward, not regress into a cul-de-sac. No harping on their texts now after the Kargil war. 5. The American tilt towards Pakistan is over, and after the fall of the Soviet Russia, and the perceived threat of Islamic Jehad in Washington has a moral for Pakistan. 6.The rapid ‘Talibanisation’ of Pakistan is a threat to the State, and could have disastrous consequences. The lesson of the Bangladesh tragedy may not be lost on Pakistan. 7. Liberal thought and ethos have to be institutionalised in Pakistan, and the media’s role to be moderated and re-oriented. Indian-Pakistani academic, cultural, sports, economic relations to be institutionalised on a reciprocal basis. 8. To move towards the Gujral Doctrine — the creation of a trade, cultural zone of the SAARC countries, and thus to address ourselves to the problems of degrading poverty in both our countries instead of ruining the economies with the staggering and crippling wasteful expenditure on nuclear and conventional weapons. 9. Hurriyat, in the opinion of several Pakistan experts on Kashmir is only a creation of the ISI, and therefore, not fully representative of the Kashmiri people. 10.Islam does not permit the spread of religion by force. The word Jehad has to be given its primal meaning of “peace and salvation”. Since this article is directed towards “the Pak voices”, the Indian views, for the moment, are shelved, though in most cases, there are sympathetic echoes in their writings. To establish the credentials of the writers in question, I’ve selected a few quotations with a view to advancing the argument. Some redundancy, therefore, is inevitable. 1. “The minimum that such a process would need is the universally and historically recognised system of dialogue.” — Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, Chief Organiser, All J&K Muslim Conference, Muzaffrabad. 2. “Apropos of the unilateral ceasefire by India. “However, with the militants rejecting the cease offer, the patience of the security forces wore thin and they once again embarked upon retaliatory action.” — Tahir Mohiddin, Chief Editor of the Weekly Chattan, Srinagar. 3. “This is not the first time that Pakistan has come to being labelled a “terrorist state....” — H. S. Akbar Zaidi. a noted Pakistani economist now based in Karachi. in the Economic and Political Weekly. 4. “... Pakistan’s ill-conceived Kargil operation in 1999... Pakistan’s national security agenda has let loose jehadi organisations which are beginning to threaten the state...” — Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali, Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Bhutto’s second government. 5. “... The real issue is Pakistan’s security, from within... The Pakistan government’s inability to develop the suppleness of response...” — Khaled Ahmed, Consulting Editor, The Friday Times, Lahore. 6. “...After the collapse of the Soviet Union, terrorism especially the kind originating from the Islamic world is the single most important issue on the US security agenda.” — Dr Ayesha Siddique Agha, a doctoral fellow at the Department of War Studies, King’s College, London. 7. “...The Lahore bonhomie died in the heights of Kargil and in the arid plains of Kandhar...” — Fiaz Haider, News Editor , The Friday Times, Lahore. 8. The proposals “range from declaring the LoC the permanent international border or bifurcating the state and allowing the Muslim dominated Valley a special autonomous status”. — Zaffar Abbas, a Pak journalist writing regularly for the Dawn Publications, The Herald, Karachi 9. “...I.K. Gujral is the foremost advocate of regional cooperation for socio-economic and cultural development in the region... He envisions a commonwealth of sovereign South Asian nations.... “The two-nation theory is impractical and riddled with contradictions...” — Nazir-ul-Haq, Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Birmingham, UK. In conclusion, I may add my own final words: “However, the terrorist is a human being, and we need to understand him sympathetically. He’s our brother gone wrong, and is sick in his soul. He needs to be given help but not beyond the end of the tether.” |
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Will the new realism effect the Agra
Summit? A consideration of the pressures and compulsions that appear to move General Pervez Musharraf as the Agra Summit nears has suddenly become urgent after Islamabad last week unexpectedly changed its tone from peace-cooing to the old and familiar hate-rhetoric. This, despite New Delhi's continuing announcement of unilateral positive gestures in the run-up to the summit. On July 5, when the Hurriyat leaders made public Musharraf's restrained 'yes' to their request for a meeting with him during his Indian visit, the reported reaction of a senior Pakistani government official was that "while we have been maintaining from the beginning" that Musharraf would like to have a meeting with the Hurriyat leaders, "he would be guided by the wishes of the Indian Government". About the same time, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar — widely described as a "hawk" on Indo-Pakistani matters — referred to the coming summit as "a moment of hope for relations between the two countries". This was on Thursday last week. On Friday, July 6, Islamabad's tone changed unexpectedly, catching everyone by surprise. The Pakistani foreign office issued a statement which said the Musharraf regime "condemns the recent sharp increase in incidents of rape and molestation of women being committed by Indian forces" in Jammu-Kashmir. Also, it "strongly condemns the use of civilians as protective shields by Indian forces . . . (and) calls upon the Government of India to . . . fully respect the norms of international humanitarian law". This statement, according to an Indian newspaper correspondent based in Islamabad, "came within hours of a foreign office spokesman saying it looked forward for a 'positive result' to the Musharraf-Vajpayee summit". Islamabad expressed its firm intention to have the Hurriyat leaders attend a high-tea party at their High Commissioner's in New Delhi. The old stand of "being guided by the wishes of the Indian Government" was thrown overboard. Understandably, New Delhi does not accept the APHC's untried claim to represent all the people in Jammu-Kashmir. More. Musharraf had said in an interview with Zee TV that "India has offered no-first-use of nuclear weapons. I am ready to go one step ahead — for a no-war pact". This was on July 4, Wednesday. According to an Indian newsman based in Islamabad, a local news agency in Pakistan, News Network International, reported on July 7 (Saturday) Musharraf's "detailing" of that offer: "The no-war pact I am offering is between India and Pakistan. It is not about the Kashmiri freedom struggle that is continuing." There was, from all accounts, no hint in the Zee TV interview of such an exception. These are obviously among the compulsions and pressures intended to play on Musharraf to effect failure of the Agra summit. There are also of course likely to be some balancing compulsions which move him and would at some stage need to be considered. But in respect of pressures that appear intended to make the summit infructuous, some questions come inevitably to mind. Who would want the summit to fail? Obviously it would be someone or some entity whose advice Islamabad seems bound to heed. Who would gain from the summit's failure? It is interesting to read the remark of the South Asia Correspondent of The News of Pakistan in The Indian Express of last Sunday. Among other things, he said: "In the run-up to the summit, the most hawkish sentiments are being spun in Pakistan by retired generals like former ISI chief Hamid Gul and several of his ilk. They are a strong lobby . . . ." Meanwhile, Pakistan's The Friday Times observed that "the ISI which destabilized both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif when they didn't see eye to eye with them on how to deal with India, is already in (Musharraf's) bag. . . . General Musharraf heads a military government in which former ISI big guns hold sway — two are serving as powerful corps commanders, one is in the Federal Cabinet, another is defence secretary, a third heads the Chief Executive's secretariat, a fourth is governor of a province, and at least two are ambassadors in foreign lands, while the former corps commander of Pindi whose troops arrested Nawaz Sharif on October 12 1999 is currently DG-ISI". Could there be a more clear and coherent indication that Musharraf is surrounded left, right and centre by the ISI and may not easily counter the influence and direction of its commanders? What remains to recall in reference to the ISI is that it, and the Pakistan armed forces generally, are beholden to China for various reasons including equipment and training. During the Kargil encroachment, Chinese officials were sighted on Pakistan's side of Jammu-Kashmir's Line of Control. It would be useful to recall also, while on the subject, that Beijing, though it makes much ado about "Islamic fundamentalist terrorism", is more than a little close to the Taliban in Afghanistan and the "friends of the Taliban". Among other things it trained the Taliban in the 1980s and subsequently assisted them in other ways. The "friends of the Taliban" include Pakistan-based terrorist organizations such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Al-Badr. These "friends of the Taliban", and by extension of China, are possibly another source of pressure on Musharraf to abort the Agra Summit, with their refrain of "cross-border jehad must and will go on!" After the ninth meeting in New Delhi recently of the India-China military Experts Group, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson did speak of "friendship and frankness" between India and China, and about "peace and stability". But it is difficult to forget how Chinese forces in the 1950s sneaked into and occupied Aksai Chin while China's leaders stood with Jawaharlal Nehru and shouted "Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai". China's leaders now may be different; but are Chinese strategic approach and attitude different? The prime reason for China's wanting the summit to fail may have echoes in some Pakistani quarters. China's strategy — noted more than once in such American newspapers as The New York Times and Washington Post — is to keep India tied down in South Asia with violent politico-economic problems and to prevent it from developing its potential. Anti-India Pakistan has up to now been a willing instrument. A developed India could eventually challenge China's position as Asia's sole reckonable power. Favourable echoes in Pakistan of China's intention have their roots, largely, in the illusion about India-Pakistan parity. Britain and the US assiduously nurtured this illusion for four decades after 1947. This led to unrealistic expectations in most Pakistanis. The situation is now changing. In a Rand Study for the US Army after Kargil, Stability in South Asia, its author Ashley Tellis is quoted as saying: "As Pakistan recognises the extent of India's economic expansion, it acquires incentives to resort to premeditated conventional war primarily because of its desperation to secure Kashmir before the evolving power transition in South Asia closes off such opportunities permanently." If this is true it may show that the necessary sense of realism in Islamabad is beginning to replace in the illusion of India-Pakistani parity. This may be encouraging, and also discouraging — at least temporarily. It tends to make the Pakistani "hawks" desperate, as Tellis indicates. The new realism may affect the Agra Summit — how? That will depend on the way Musharraf meets the anti-success pressures being placed on his endeavours to create history. Pakistan's economic outlook is bleak. China cannot or will not pull Pakistan out of its economic depression. In part the causes of economic depression are natural, such as the present drought. The Indus is showing signs of slowly drying up. But partly it is man-made — for instance, the cost of the "proxy war" that Pakistan is waging against India in J&K. As Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said at a May 20 economic conference, "a peaceful environment will help the economy to grow." There is dire need for Pakistani commerce and industry to pick up; and dire need for Islamabad to get out of an international "debt trap". Also, politically, Islamabad needs to placate the separatists — most of all the Mohajirs and Sindhis. It would be relevant for Musharraf and his supporters to consider in relation to Agra that the Iran-India gas pipeline could profitably pass through Pakistan; that the SAARC free trade zone is due to emerge in 2002; that a South Asia Community may follow. If Musharraf has the sense to see that the "core issue" is not Jammu-Kashmir but the uninterrupted progress of Pakistan itself, if he has the determination to keep himself free of various pressures on him — if he can, indeed, come to Agra with a mind open and broad enough to discern the evolving socio-economic perspective in an increasingly inter-dependent world, he would participate in making history. It is of course a very big 'if', given the grim situation. But history's reward for the courage that he shows, if he shows it, would be even bigger.
— Asia Features |
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COUNTERPOINT THE article “The tuition issue: Perception and the whole truth” by Dr Bhim S. Dahiya portrays the point of view of an individual who, though a former Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, is currently engaged in running a coaching academy at Yamunanagar. Admittedly there could be no objection to a retired Vice-Chancellor putting his scholarship to good use by coaching students for a fee. This, however, would be wholly unacceptable in the case of a serving Vice-Chancellor. Quite similarly, the ‘talented’ teachers “who are in great demand tuition work” have the option to voluntarily retire/resign from service and then uninhibitedly run a tuition business. But they cannot under the service rules simultaneously undertake both public employment and private trade. Private tuition by serving teachers is a serious educational malpractice which requires outright condemnation by all the right-thinking individuals, most of all by serious academicians. Defence of this malaise by any of them would provoke a situation akin to the one that inspired Shakespeare’s Fool to remark — “Change places and, handy-dandy which is the justice and which is the thief?” The drive against private tuitions in Haryana is not the outcome of a slanted perception on the part of politicians and administrators. It is instead an emphatic and unambiguous assertion of rules, which have existed for long and yet have been violated with impunity. These rules expressly prohibit serving lecturers from giving private tuition and coaching for monetary consideration. The University Grants Commission, while prescribing the pay scales, incentives and other benefits to university and college lecturers, has also laid down a comprehensive code of conduct for teachers which makes it mandatory for them to “make themselves available to the students even beyond class hours and help and guide students without any remuneration or reward.” It is indeed regrettable that while there is a constant clamour for implementation of UGC pay package, the UGC stipulations relating to accountability of teachers are conveniently overlooked. That even those who have been Vice-Chancellors are oblivious of the position of rules on this important subject is only a sad pointer to a total disregard of the obligations cast on teachers under the UGC scheme and the service rules. A classic case of rights completely eclipsing responsibilities! It has been contended that “those who do tuition work are those very teachers who not only do teaching in their duty hours but also do it better than others.” The argument sounds nice, only it is far removed from facts. Consider the following: The lecturer caught running a full scale coaching institution at Yamunanagar was actually posted at Kalka. Besides Yamunanagar, he was managing tuition academies at Panipat and Karnal too. An inspection team from the Directorate of Higher Education, during its visit to Kalka, found that the lecturer was either frequently absent or on leave. Another lecturer posted at Narwana in district Jind was caught running a trade of private tuitions at Gurgaon and was also reportedly taking classes at a leading coaching institute in Delhi. In most cases tuitions started as early as 5 a.m. and continued till 10 p.m. There have been reports of teachers taking tuitions in college campuses during free periods and also buzzing off home to do a quick job. Surely such herculean investment of time and effort in the business of private tuitions would leave them with little energy or inclination for regular class teaching. One needs to investigate as to when and how these teachers find time to update themselves in the latest developments in their respective subjects, add to their scholarship, conduct and encourage original research and hone their skills of analysis, interpretation and appraisal. If a teacher were to honestly engage himself in these academic pursuits, he would surely have no time for mass tuitions. Those trying to justify the racket of tuitions would do well by listening to the harrowing experiences of those students who, though deserving, were awarded less marks in practical examination only because they refused to be coerced into taking private tuition. There have been instances of teachers manipulating examination duties with a view to actively assisting students receiving private tuition. The assertion that only the “best teachers”, constituting about 20 per cent of the whole teaching community, undertake private tuitions as they have to compensate for their weak colleagues and that the rest 80 per cent of teachers, “maybe inclined, even tempted to do the work but are not able to attract much clientele” is ludicrous. It is demeaning the dignity, devotion and scholarship of those venerable teachers who have chosen to selflessly guide their students without any monetary consideration, who have taken teaching as a mission and not commerce, who have put their social and moral responsibilities above their own personal interest. Private tuition is not a ‘spectacular phenomenon’ but a menace and a social evil prompted only by love of the lucre. By demolishing the class room teaching and perpetuating the racket of private tuition which a large majority can ill afford, we are defeating the state endeavour to enhance access of the masses to higher education. While the affluent, who are just a handful, may not grudge doling out large amounts of money for private coaching, the middle class is groaning under the weight of this problem while the poorer sections of the society, though harried and harassed, watch helplessly. The claim that tuitions are being given only for competitive exams and entrance tests is false and untenable. The tendency, on the part of the teacher, to earn extra fast buck has percolated to all levels of education. College lecturers have come down to giving mass tuitions to school students. The school teachers are also a part of the whole arrangement. In fact, parents are now being advised to send the child for extra tuition right from class-I. It was indeed sad to hear a friend narrate an incident about a poor vendor who, under pressure from the class teacher, was shelling out Rs 200 a month on private tuition of his son studying in class-IV in a private school in Delhi. Many of us, would have been deprived of the good education that we received, had the same avarice afflicted the teachers of our time. The argument that teachers by not being allowed to do private tuitions in extra time are being treated as “bonded labour” also requires comment. While accepting whole-time public employment which affords us unparalleled job-security, emoluments, retirement benefits for life and long term benefits to the family in the event of death in harness, we have also accepted the basic condition governing all kinds of public employment that we shall not undertake any other venture or business for monetary gain. In the case of teachers it is expressly laid down that teachers would “recognise that education is a public service and refrain from undertaking any other employment and commitment including private tuition and coaching classes.” These conditions are integral to the agreement between the teacher and the employer and it is prescribed that the teacher would “adhere to the conditions of the contract.” In fact, the UGC stipulates that “whoever adopts teaching as a profession assumes the obligation to conduct himself in accordance with the ideals of the profession. A teacher is constantly under the scrutiny of his students and the society at large. Therefore, every teacher should see that there is no incompatibility between his precepts and practice. The national ideals of education which have already been set forth and which he/she should seek to inculcate among students must be his/her own ideals.” Most of us who are holding well-paid government jobs should be aware that there is deep public anger and resentment against the self-serving, self seeking attitude of public servants. In the present era of downsizing, we are most welcome to break free of the bond. But smug in the security that our jobs offer and complacent by lack of accountability we cling on and yet make rumbling noises in a bid to justify deviant and dishonest conduct. Panicked by the fear of impending retrenchment, teachers of aided colleges recently moved earth and heaven pleading for a humane solution even thought they were teaching subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Zoology in which maximum coaching opportunities exist. To blame the ill of private tuitions on inadequate investment or lack of infrastructure in educational institutions is being myopic. Education is not only about brick and mortar, it rests almost entirely on the devotion and dedication of the teacher. Ironically, it is in urban centres and metropolis with well-equipped educational institutions that the menace of tuitions has spread its tentacles the most. The fact of the matter is that private tuitions are being imparted in appalling conditions and far-from-ideal environment. It reminds me of WB Yeats in The Second Coming wherein “Turning and turning in the widening gyre, The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,”. It is high time we gave up our favourite pastime of system-bashing and focused instead on reforming ourselves. We need to remind ourselves that even the loftiest institutions decline when individuals charged with taking them forward turn indifferent to their duties. The standards of education would continue to deteriorate if the standards of conduct amongst the educationists continue to suffer dilution. The wholehearted support extended by teachers’ unions, both in the universities and colleges to rooting out the menace of private tuitions in Haryana is indeed heartening. So is the positive response of a majority of teachers and educational administrators. The racketeers stand isolated and are under enormous pressure. A remarkable propensity for reflection, introspection and correction on the part of the teaching community is in full evidence. This gives rise to a hope that the multidimensional, comprehensive strategy being currently implemented to reform higher education in Haryana, of which tackling private tuitions is only a small part, would now face few impediments. Shall I say with Robert Pirsig: “And what is good Phaedrus, “And what is not good — Need we ask any one to tell us these things?” This article has been written by Anuradha Gupta, Higher Education Commissioner, Haryana, in response to an article on the subject by Dr Bhim S Dahiya published on, July 8, 2001 |
Creator of history at Wimbledon GUESS
what Goran Ivanisevic, creator of Wimbledon history, would have become had he not taken to tennis ? A journalist ! He was asked in an interview three years back: “if you hadn’t become a tennis player, what kind of job would you have liked to do?” Pat came the reply: “May be I would have been a journalist”. One wonders if Goran, who rewrote Wimbledon history by becoming the first wildcard ever to lift a Grand Slam singles title, has any journalistic streak. Earlier, having lost the Wimbledon repeatedly (he obtained the second position three times but could not become the number one) Goran was a dejected man. When the interviewer asked him his career preference other than tennis, he must have heard the popular joke; “if you fail everywhere, become a journalist”. He instinctively came out with the next option and burst into laughter himself. So desperate was he after receiving his runner-up trophy for the third time in 1998 that he exclaimed: “I cannot cheer anybody now. I can only kill myself. This is the worst moment of my life”. He broke his racket in anger and chastised himself in a voice audible 30 rows up. In sharp contrast to 1998, last Monday (July 9, 2001) was the momentous day in the tennis wizard’s life, as if, he stood on top of the world. In the words of noted tennis commentator James Lawton’s: “When it was finally over, when the most extraordinary story that tennis will probably ever know had run its wild and compelling course with a match that could only be described as titanic, Goran Ivanisevic again slid up to his knees on the centre court grass. He was both a champion and a pilgrim at the end of a hazardous and sometime soul-threatening journey”. Goran had beaten superbly combative Pat Rafter to win, at his fourth attempt, the Wimbledon title which for so long has been more of a disgrace than a goal. Six feet four inches tall, 29-year-old Goran hails from Croatia and his coach right from the childhood has been his father, a tennis player himself. Though suffering from “a serious heart condition”, the father, a university teacher, accompanied the son. Unfortunately, Goran’s mother could not make it to Wimbledon to see her son’s greatest hour of glory. To quote Goran: “My mother was at three losing finals and it would have been too much had I lost the fourth one”. The tennis champion has a girl friend too; a beautiful model called Tatiana. She was not there to cheer her fiance’s triumphant moments. “I cannot have a girl friend at Wimbledon. I have things to do and not to worry if she is happy”, he says. First thing Goran, described as “best tennis player of all times and great patriot for Croatia”, did after his great victory was to shave off his beard. Also many of his fans too tonsured their heads and asked the champion to put his autograph on the shaven heads. A left hander, Goran burst into the tennis world eight years back like a hurricane and caused what critics say “havoc to the conventions of tennis boredom”. They called him “nuts, unpredictable, mentally unstable, prone to creating excitement” but agree that he “makes one of the talented player”. Goran, as if, serves missiles ranging to about 230 km\per hour. There were reports that he travelled to some tournaments with a priest or a spiritual guide. Goran has not yet decided whether to donate part of the hefty Wimbledon money to charitable causes but he would like to spread the game of tennis among the youngsters free of cost . “I like playing with kids, they are very honest and when I was young in Croatia and had nothing, I would have enjoyed the chance to play with a champion”, he says. About the lack of facilities for tennis in the third world country, he says: “it doesn’t matter where you come from. If you are good, you are good. I come from Croatia. Nobody helped me. I had a coach, a father. No wildcards, no money, nothing. If you are good nothing can stop you”. Goran’s hometown-Split in Croatia-went wild with joy when he returned home to one of the biggest celebrations his country had ever seen. Croatian rock, pop and folk star pumped up the atmosphere before his plane touched down. So elated was the tennis hero that he took off his jeans and threw it into the crowd followed by his shoes and shawl. Finally, he handed over to the crowd his T-shirt and stayed for a moment in his underpants. |
Cong caught on the wrong foot over tea party IF
there was one party that seemed to have been caught in the storm over the cup of tea that the Pakistan High Commissioner proposed to have with the Hurriyat Conference, it was the Congress. The Congress, which had initially declared its participation in the tea party being hosted in honour of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, later indicated that only a few among its invited leaders would go for the party. But when the NDA took a decision to boycott the tea-party expressing its reservations over the invitation to the Hurriyat, the Congress found itself on a sticky wicket. To the embarrassment, of the Congress, the Hurriyat leaders also indicated that they would not only have tea with General Musharraf but also have a one-to-one meeting. An about-turn by the Congress, where it too would have decided to boycott the High Commissioner’s reception, was perceived by the party leaders as an unwise option. The Congress then said that it would scale down its representation in keeping with the norms of protocol. Now, does the main Opposition party take care of protocol or the government? The mix-up it appears is because of the absence of any Kashmiri expert in the party. If former Union Minister Salman Khurshid is to be believed the Congress under Nehru and Indira Gandhi had a complete grip over Kashmir affairs. There were the Kauls and Haksars to advise them. The new leadership doesn’t enjoy the experience of such people any more. Tea parties, it seems, are a tricky business for the Congress. Remember the one hosted by Subramanian Swamy for Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AIADMK leader Jayalalitha. The meeting heralded the fall of the then Vajpayee government without letting the Congress form an alternative. That miss is still costing the Congress dearly. Hijacking Kashmir Will the Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf hijack Kashmir? This was the question bothering most of the leaders of the NDA when they met at the Prime Minister’s 7 Race Course Road residence last week. The meeting was held at a spacious conference hall built recently in the 7 Race Course Road complex. Incidentally the hall has been named Panchavati. A senior leader remarked that Panchavati was the place from where demon king Ravana had abducted Sita. He hoped Kashmir would not meet a similar fate. Unofficial meet It was meant to be a starter for the forthcoming Indo-Pak summit talks at Agra. Taking the lead was the Indian Council for Social Science Research which organised a bilateral meet of academicians and experts from a cross section of interests to deliberate on how peace could be furthered between the two countries. However, much to the chagrin of the organisers the Ministry of External Affairs played the spoil sport. The organisers claimed that they had received no support from the MEA and no official from the department attended the meeting. Moreover, even arranging participation from the other side of the border proved a difficult task as there was no cooperation from the MEA. In fact, an organiser pointed out that they had to make hundreds of calls to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to facilitate the passage of the visitors from that country. The scene at the bilateral meeting-cum-seminar was totally different. There was bonhomie amongst the participants from both countries and there was unanimity that peace should be achieved at all costs. Computers and development The great Indian digital diaspora continues to impress all, including the UNDP whose highly respected Human Development Report this year pays rich tributes to the country’s geeks and techies. Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan, who released the report, utilised the opportunity to provide new insights into the interpretation of history and technological revolution and went on to say that all previous technological revolutions accentuated the divide between the rich and poor. The wheel was a case in point where the rich zoom around in cars and the poor continue to tread the beaten path. Mahajan’s rather hollow historical exposition, however, failed to answer the real issues of addressing the serious concerns of integrated development. Would, the schoolboyish enthusiasm of doling out PCs solve the problems of the drought stricken in Kalahandi and Dharwad?, one scribe asked. Clearly at a loss of words, Mahajan sought refuge under shallow rhetoric and relegated to the backdrop the serious analysis provided by the UNDP report on the ways and means to arrest growing inequality. Perhaps, the Minister has got more used to making sales pitches in the digital precincts of Silicon Valley rather than devising means to tackle the more real issues at home. Maneka’s new address Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and animal rights activist, Maneka Gandhi, who had preferred to stay away from Lutyen’s Delhi after her husband’s untimely demise is back near the familiar surroundings of India Gate. She has left her palatial Maharani Bagh house and shifted to a government bungalow on Ashoka Road, a stone’s throw from the BJP office. Mrs Gandhi’s main objective of moving residence is to prolong her work hours and cut down on commuting hours which had increased due to the construction of a flyover at Ashram crossing. Mrs Gandhi has lost no time in getting over a hundred saplings planted in the new premises which once housed the office of a political party for 20 years. Divine intervention The poor health of the country’s economy has everybody worried including the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, who, unable to find a plausible answer behind the plunge, has sought divine intervention to take India out of economic misery. When scribes accosted him with a question on what possible ways and means he was contemplating to find a way out of the current mess, Sinha pleaded helplessness and said: “I will consult God and let you know”. (Contributed by Satish Misra, T.V. Lakshminarayan, Tripti Nath, Prashant Sood and Gaurav Choudhary). |
Cancellation of dargah visit, “an ill omen” I was in New Delhi only till midweek. Thereafter, I had to reach Srinagar to report on the mood of the people in the Valley vis-a-vis the Agra summit. But just before leaving the Capital I had gone to the dargah of Shaikh Nizamuddin Aulia and news was already afloat that President Parvez Musharraf’s visit to this dargah could stand cancelled. Some of those present had looked shocked and considered this cancellation to be a bad omen “Afterall Nizamuddin Aulia is one of those sufis in whose lifetime 13 Sultans ascended Delhi’s throne and each one of them had come to meet him — in fact, circumstances almost forced the Sultans to bow their heads in front of him. The one Sultan who had initially refused to come and insisted that this sufi visit his court had met with a terrible end — such was the spiritual powers of Nizamuddin Aulia, a mystic who possessed almost magical powers.” In fact, I have just begun to read the biography of Nizamuddin Aulia and one is left stunned reading the details of the mystic powers he possessed. Traumatic turns in his life, starting from a very turbulent childhood — what with the entire family fleeing to India from Bukhara because of repeated Mongol invasions — are webbed with those instances where the mighty stood reduced to humility in his khanqah. Moving on, though the hype around Pervez Musharraf’s visit has been mounting but as a young Kashmiri businessman I met at the Delhi airport put across. “We know the meeting will be nothing short of what we Kashmiris say `kaat bhaat’ that is one of the leaders will talk and the other will eat or will be made to eat, either those kebabs or words! “On the other hand, Salman Haider, India’s former Foreign Secretary, told me: “Ummeed is there... people are hopeful and it is important that something positive comes out of this meet.. at least a process of dialogue has begun and should continue.” But why this terrible hype webbed around this meet? The extent of the hype can be judged from the fact that DD’s top bosses went looking for Urdu speaking people to anchor programmes especially produced for just those three days. I don’t know how those ministers manning the HRD ministry would react to this bit of news. Anyway, what has been worrying many is exactly this abnormal hype and then those conflicting notes from either side. Correct me if I am wrong but whenever there’s been a hype, expectations have soared and the end result (s) have been nothing short of an anti climax of the worst types. Couldn’t the leaders from both sides make a list of the key issues to be discussed during this meet, rather than come up with last minute agenda details — be it the ongoing Kashmir crisis or the rigid visa procedures or the clauses in the Foreigners Act. Childish it seems that though the hype had been centering around what the General eats or wears or does but not on what he proposes to talk! Here the distrust in the leadership is so acute that if these summit talks fail the 2 per cent faith left (in the leadership) would zero down to nil. Sahmat’s meet on the education mess After the Pakistani President departs hopefully we could get back to routine and focus on the realities around. In the first week of August SAHMAT is holding a national meet on the changes being brought about in the very education system of the country. The HRD ministry is said to be bringing about subtle and not so subtle twists in the education policies, the syllabi, the texts and has also been blatant at the recruitment and appointment levels. All these changes, with far reaching consequences, are going on right in front of us yet few react. Anyway, during this three-day meet, academicians and experts coming from all over the country, will spell out the doom in store for us.. what with young minds getting dented with biased texts, what with the very concept of accountability missing from the system these dangerous games will be on unless we, citizens, manage to read between lines. A round of transfers Unless a distraction crops up or is made to come about, there are talks of a round of transfers at the Centre. This is also in view of the fact that the CS has got two years extension and could make changes. Details of it in next week’s column. |
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