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| Thursday, August 2, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Resignation that never
was ‘Autonomy’
v. ‘special powers’ Submerged Orissa |
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A look
at India’s strategic interests
Recognition
for water conservationist
What
they don’t tell their spouses
Shuffling officers as
chess pawns
How to
recover from defeat
Walk
straight with love and humility
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Resignation that never was POLITICIANS
are believed to have a thick skin but Prime Minister Vajpayee is an honourable exception. His offer to resign on Tuesday strengthens this popular impression. Media pundits of the instant analyst kind have linked his decision to the stinging attack of a Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member on the PMO and his foster son-in-law. This is not the full story. Mr Vajpayee has been fretting these three years over the mounting pressure from the alliance partners and the carping criticism of the Sangh Parivar itself. Some of his pet policies have gone awry while some others have to be rolled back. This is not a happy situation for a sensitive politician and a frustrated leader was forced to think of the extreme step of quitting to make room for someone who can deliver. There is no one who can take over and head of as chaotic a coalition as the NDA and reconcile the nearly irreconcilable policy positions of the allies. This strengthens but also weakens his authority. The allies will be more submissive since other potential leaders will not be so accommodative. Also, since the BJP and the NDA cannot let Mr Vajpayee go, and hence the government’s survival is not threatened, some of the alliance partners will occasionally rebel. The Prime Minister should think beyond the US-64 fiasco. In fact, he should see it as a symptom of what ails his government. The Council of Ministers is loosely constituted and lacks cohesion and discipline. Also there are several power centres, some real and some assumed. Power does not flow from the top but from minor fountains to the top. This is the unrecognised handicap. He does not exercise his authority in a no-nonsense manner. He is too much of a gentleman or, in political terms, a liberal. And he does not have many supporters at the top level of the Sangh Parivar to back his middle-of-the-road policies. The NDA is a motley crowd, good enough for winning an election but wanting in running a government. It is the personality of Mr Vajpayee that has brought the various parties together and not a policy platform, whatever the NDA manifesto may say. In the wake of the resignation offer (threat?) some things have changed, but not dramatically. Senior BJP leaders have repeated their loyalty pledge; the NDA partners have done the same. Of course, the opposition parties have dubbed it a drama. But it could be a turning point if a politically rejuvenated Prime Minister lays down the line and, better still, sacks a few Cabinet Ministers who are proving to be deadwood. It is a crisis, but it is also an opportunity. |
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‘Autonomy’ v. ‘special powers’ THE
problem with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah is that he makes an announcement and gives thought to it later. That is why he lands himself in trouble whenever he comes out with an idea on bringing normalcy in his state. His latest formula to end the Kashmir turmoil is that the state should be granted the pre-1953 status. A more practical person in his position would have never thought on these lines. No government at the Centre will buy such a proposition today. But Dr Abdullah says that he fought and won the 1996 Assembly election on this issue and hence no question of going back on it. Last year he constituted an autonomy committee which submitted a 184-page report to the state government. On the basis of the report the Chief Minister got an autonomy resolution passed by the Assembly in June, 2000. The Centre's outright rejection of the resolution has had no effect on Dr Abdullah's “resolve” to continue his drive for the acceptance of his controversial demand. He is of the view that if his idea is given a practical shape, the pro-Pakistani forces in the valley would get marginalised. In view of his hardening stand, the Chief Minister, along with Governor G. C. Saxena, was summoned to Delhi on Monday, but what transpired between them and the Union Government is not known. One fails to understand what Dr Abdullah actually wants. Home Minister L. K. Advani has given the Chief Minister an alternative. Since going back to the 1953 status will amount to setting the clock back, Mr Advani has assured the Chief Minister that the Centre is ready to grant "special powers" to J and K in the light of the Sarkaria Commission report for greater devolution of powers to the states. He made such an announcement in the Rajya Sabha the other day. Equating J and K with the other states may irk Dr Abdullah, who is definitely the best bet available to the Centre for handling the Kashmir crisis. It should be magnanimous while dealing with him. In any case, the issue between Dr Abdullah and the NDA government should not be allowed to take an embarrassing turn at a time when the separatist Hurriyat Conference leadership is apparently demoralised and has started talking of establishing peace in the valley through peaceful means. The latest statements of Mirwaiz Maulvi Umar Farooq and Mr Abdul Ghani Lone in this respect carry special significance. The change in the tenor of what they say now is being linked to their meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. Whatever is the reason behind the development, the Chief Minister and the Centre should do nothing to further complicate the situation. |
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Submerged Orissa NATURE
has been unsparingly harsh on Orissa. From 1995 to 1998, the state remained in the grip of a merciless drought in which more than 300 persons perished. In October, 1999, it was visited by a super cyclone that killed more than 20,000 persons. In November, 2000, the drought returned with all the resultant starvation and misery. And now, it has been shattered by an unprecedented flood that has already killed 80 persons. More than 85 lakh people in 15,000 villages have been rendered homeless. Over one lakh hectares of crops have been submerged. And yet, relief and rehabilitation work continues in the typical shoddy manner. Leave alone a holistic disaster management plan, even the standard response system is not in place. The Prime Minister has announced Rs 435 crore as financial assistance, although it is doubtful that it will be used to save the lives of the suffering people quickly enough. The political class is busy making political capital out of human misery. The Opposition and the ruling Biju Janata Dal-BJP alliance are engaged in a slanging match, with neither side caring for the suffering millions. Leave alone food, many of the marooned villages do not even have drinking water. Such callousness has become so commonplace that even the media is not highlighting the plight of the victims to the extent that it should. It is true that the monsoon has been exceptionally heavy in the state this year. The downpour for four or five days early last month submerged the entire region. But the situation has been made worse by human failures. Despite past experience, flood preparedness was sketchy. There are also allegations that excessive water was released from the Hirakud dam without sufficient warning. The combined result has been disastrous for the state already reeling under the trauma of the previous tragedies. There has been no rain during the past few days. That has eased the situation a bit. But things won't improve even when floodwater recedes. The government will have to undertake a gigantic rehabilitation operation. It can be completed only if the entire nation contributes its mite. Road network has been smashed. Outbreak of infectious diseases is a grim possibility. To make its cup of woe brim over, there are reports from experts that Orissa may have to again face a drought in October-November. Unless a long-term plan is implemented, this flood-drought cycle will continue to torment it year after year. |
A look at India’s strategic interests FOR the last two months the media and its young television anchors spent huge amounts of time and money trying to discover “concessions” that should be given to Pakistan’s military ruler even before he arrived in India. The entire country appeared to be afflicted with the strange phenomenon of “Musharraf mania”. Few people seemed to realise that their fatal obsession with the prejudices and preferences of the visiting military ruler were tending to make India’s entire approach to foreign policy unbalanced, unifocal and warped. Thus, while on the one hand India’s strategic thinkers were speaking of its role as a regional power, its fixation with Pakistan seemed to make us lose all sense of perspective on happenings across the globe and even in our immediate neighbourhood. It was interesting that amidst all this “Musharraf mania,” new dimensions were being given to India’s relations with the USA. Following the low key visit of National Security Adviser Brajesh Misra to Washington, there seems to be a clear understanding emerging that while India and the USA may not entirely agree on how to deal with Gen Pervez Musharraf and his jihadis, both sides are looking at new dimensions to their bilateral and strategic relationship. The visit of Gen Henry Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in the Pentagon, was the first clear sign that the Bush Administration was seriously looking for a new strategic partnership with India in the Indian Ocean region. While Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca was in New Delhi to get a first-hand feel of the South Asian region, the first Cabinet-level visitor from the Bush Administration will be United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. India’s economic interaction with the USA is going to largely depend on how New Delhi reconciles its differences of approach to a globalised world economic order. It was largely because of India’s obsessive commitment to the so-called “Third World unity” that it was unable to strike deals to safeguard its interests with major powers like the USA, the European Union and Japan during the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations that led to the establishment of the WTO. India should have an open mind in agreeing to a new round of trade negotiations that would improve market access for it on agriculture and services. New Delhi should link its support to a new round of trade negotiations to its concerns on the imbalances of the WTO agreement being effectively addressed, especially on issues like anti-dumping, standards, intellectual property rights and other non-tariff barriers it is now facing. The time has also come for India to agree to binding its industrial tariffs at lower rates in return for lower tariffs on industrial products and products like textiles being introduced by the OECD countries. India will find itself isolated unless it shows imagination and flexibility on such issues. Further, given the rejection of the Kyoto Protocol by the Bush Administration, India needs to evolve a new approach to dealing with environmental issues in world forums. New strategic dimensions to India’s relations with the USA will have to be crafted in an imaginative manner. It is obvious that in course of time there will be increased military-to-military and diplomatic interaction not only on issues of maritime security and security of energy supplies in the Indian Ocean region but also in coping with the threats posed by extremism in the garb of supranational religious zeal that is threatening to spread across Central Asia, the Persian Gulf and even South East Asia. Strategic cooperation with the USA is not something new. The Reagan White House was consulted, and in fact it lauded our intervention in the Maldives in 1989. The USA welcomed our moves because it was not in a position to act swiftly and decisively during the Maldives situation, despite its facilities in Diego Garcia. Earlier, President Reagan personally congratulated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, just as the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement was being signed in Colombo in 1987. Strategic interaction with the USA on developments in our Indian Ocean neighbourhood is, therefore, not an entirely new phenomenon. It assumes added importance now, given our increasing dependence on this region for our energy supplies. One cannot also ignore recent developments like the announcement of General Musharraf about China being provided facilities by Pakistan to base its navy at Gwadar port, located at the very entrance to the Persian Gulf. New Delhi’s assertions about its role in its neighbourhood will be regarded as empty rhetoric unless it assumes a much more proactive role both bilaterally and regionally with countries in its neighbourhood. On July 24 the LTTE launched a devastating attack on the Katunayake air base, near Colombo. At least six combat aircraft and helicopters were destroyed. India surely could have responded by offering to supply the beleaguered Sri Lankan government with half a dozen MiG 27 strike aircraft on loan till Colombo was able to replace its losses. This would have been a symbol of India’s commitment to terrorism worldwide. India should not shy away from such proactive measures because of imaginary fears of adverse reactions in Tamil Nadu. The Congress-AIADMK alliance, after all, swept the polls in 1989 during the height of the IPKF operations against the LTTE. India should similarly take up issues pertaining to river water projects in Nepal in a manner that convinces people in Nepal that the implementation of projects like Pancheswar, Sapatakoshi and Karnali will add immensely to their economic prosperity and well-being. It is heartening that the Government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is not dealing with the Maoists in western Nepal exclusively as a law and order problem but as a socio-economic issue requiring a political response. It is in India’s own interests that it cooperates in a discreet and cooperative manner with the government, the palace and all the political parties in Nepal in addressing these issues. Given the increasing use of India’s open borders with Nepal by the ISI, it is imperative that the exchange of information with Nepal on issues of mutual interest are expanded and energized. Apart from measures to expand bilateral cooperation with India’s neighbours, the time has also come for this country to take an activist, project-oriented approach to regional issues. The SAARC Foreign Secretaries are to meet shortly in Colombo. India should insist on early adoption of measures to implement the “Vision 2000” report and ask for the setting up of a high-level group and work out the modalities for making the subcontinent a free trade area by 2008 and an economic community by 2020. India also needs to combine efforts to conclude free trade agreements with Bangladesh and Myanmar with measures to make the entire Bay of Bengal Association (BIMSTEC) comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand a free trade and investment area. With Thailand and Singapore keen to enter into free trade agreements with India in tandem with moves for the establishment of an ASEAN Free Trade Area, New Delhi should shed its intrinsic protectionist inhibitions and move towards the establishment of a larger Asian economic community. The Bay of Bengal region remains an area of immense potential for cooperation in the energy sector. This potential has to be harnessed imaginatively so that the people of the region regard the projects that emerge as being mutually beneficial. It is now clear that given the mindset of General Musharraf and the “military, mullah, madarsa complex” he presides over, the process of bilateral normalisation with Pakistan is going to be a long and difficult, if not impossible, task. While every effort should continue to be made to expand cooperation and enhance mutual confidence with India’s western neighbour, it is now time to pay greater attention to expanding cooperation bilaterally, sub-regionally and regionally with other countries in our neighbourhood in the Indian Ocean and Central Asian regions. One only hopes that during the course of this effort, the luminaries of the media will adopt a policy of benign neglect towards the antics of the military regime in Pakistan. |
Recognition for water conservationist IT was a scintillating achievement for Rajendra Singh. The 43-year-old social activist has been selected for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in spearheading a mass rural movement for water conservation in the arid regions of Alwar district of Rajasthan. The announcement of the coveted award came as a pleasant surprise to Rajendra Singh, who hails from Dhol village in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh. It was in 1981 that the young social worker had first come to Rajasthan to work as a “Rashtrakarmi worker” under the rural literacy scheme. Even though he evinced interest in the various programmes to spread the message of literacy in the region, he voiced concern over the water problem in Alwar. Drought stalked this region most of the time and there was no serious government effort to get to the root of the problem and find out a permanent solution to quench the thirst of the unfortunate villagers. While men were forced to migrate to cities in
search of work, women had no alternative than to trudge long distances to fetch water. Subsequently, Rajendra Singh moved to Bheekampura village from where he started his novel water mission. The year was 1985, when his rural literacy scheme also came to an end. He realised the gravity of the situation when he experienced drought in the village. The Arvari river, which passes through the Alwar district, was only a seasonal river as it remained dry for over six months in a year. Consequently, he launched a campaign with a dedicated team of villagers to transform this seasonal source of water into a perennial source. Rajendra Singh formed an organisation called Tarun Bharat Sangh and his method to tackle drought was simple. He decided to trap rain water and replenish the ground water reserves by reviving the traditional “johads” or check-dams. The result: the Arvari river soon became a perennial source of water because of the hard work and enterprise of about 4,500 villagers under the leadership of Rejendra Singh. During the last few years, Rajendra Singh has been popularising the construction of “johads” as also fighting for changes in the obsolete Irrigation and Drainage Act with a view to facilitating the spread of water conservation work to many parts of Rajasthan and outside the state as well. Kudos to the social activist for having come to the rescue of water-starved villagers. Make education loan student-friendly Education is more than business. The bank loan schemes for education purposes should be restructured from this angle. But the latest report on the subject says that the nationalised banks have set apart a sum of Rs 300 crore for investment in education business in
accordance with the government policy. The interest to be charged has been pegged at the prime lending rate, but those getting more than Rs 4 lakh will have to pay interest at 13 per cent annually. The problem lies here. A good scheme loses much of its attraction because of the heavy interest burden. The investment in human resource development is the best one can think of for nation-building. Therefore, funds earmarked for the purpose should be available at a highly concessional rate, say 3 to 5 per cent, to make it student-friendly. It is good that the procedure for obtaining the loan has been simplified. Now there will be no need for collateral security for a loan upto Rs 4 lakh, and the condition of the 10 per cent seed money has also been waived. There are certain other changes in the scheme like the onus of repayment. It has now been shifted to the direct beneficiary — the student. He/she can be given a grace period of one year or two for the repayment of the loan (up to Rs 7.5 lakh for studies within India and a maximum of Rs 15 lakh for studying abroad). But think of the fast growing cost of education, specially the professional courses. It is not a big money that the banks are offering. The nation should give a serious thought to the question of allocating a much bigger amount for investment in its future — the students — and without any major burden on the beneficiaries. |
What they don’t tell their spouses ABOUT 40 per cent of married Americans admit keeping a secret from their spouses, but most have nothing to do with an affair or fantasy, a new poll has found. The most common secret is how much they spend. Of course with a secret, 48 per cent said they had not told their spouses about the real price of something they bought, according to the poll, being published in the August issue of Reader’s Digest. “I don’t think there’s a marriage where that didn’t happen,” said one respondent, a woman married 26 years. “You always get those good bargains, you know?” Another wife said: “I don’t like to tell him how much I spend when I go shopping. I’m afraid he’ll cut back on the budget”. It wasn’t just women; the percentage was about the same for husbands. One man concealed the price of one small purchase: “The item wasn’t very big but the price of it was”. The pollsters did not ask if the expenditure was for a gift. The second most-kept secrets, at about 15 per cent, are about a failure at work or a child’s behaviour. “There are times your kids do things that you know would make the other party ballistic”, one woman said. Only 2 per cent of all respondents, equally split among men and women, said they had an extramarital affair that remained a secret. Fourteen per cent kept mum about being attracted to another person. In response to another question, 16 per cent of both men and women admitted that, at least once during their marriage, they wished they could wake up and not be married any more. Some people kept secrets not out of guilt but to avoid hurt feelings. One woman said her husband told her for years that her cocker spaniel had been stolen, to spare her the knowledge that it had been killed by a car. The poll was conducted by Ipsos-NPD, an Illinois-based research group, which surveyed 1,000 husbands and wives by telephone in March. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. It also found that 20 per cent of the nation’s marrieds have dreams or aspirations they haven’t mentioned to a spouse, ranging from living somewhere else (50 per cent) to getting a dog (8 per cent). About 40 per cent of wives and 30 per cent of the husbands said they wish they could persuade their spouses to be less messy. About a quarter of each sex said they can’t get their partners to lose weight. AP |
Shuffling officers as chess pawns THE Union Government’s directive to the Tamil Nadu Government to relieve three IPS officers for posting at the Cabinet Secretariat in New Delhi has created a piquant situation following the Jayalalitha government’s refusal to relieve them and its plan to challenge the decision at an appropriate forum like the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). On Friday, Ms Jayalalitha not only dubbed the decision “politically motivated” but also sought from the Centre reasons for the transfer of these officers. The issue is likely to snowball into a major controversy in Centre-State relations if corrective steps are not taken immediately. The three officers — Chennai Police Commissioner K. Muthukaruppan, Joint Commissioner S. George and Deputy Commissioner Christopher Nelson were said to be involved in the arrest of Mr M. Karunanidhi, and the manhandling of two Union Ministers — Mr Murasoli Maran and Mr T.R. Balu — on June 30. The issue is whether the Union Government has got overriding powers on matters relating to the requisition of all-India service officers on transfer and/or deputation, even without the concurrence of the State Governments concerned. While defending the decision on Thursday, Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley may have referred to the Centre’s absolute powers in this regard. However, if reports were to bear scrutiny, opinion in the upper echelons of the bureaucracy is sharply divided on this issue with the onus of the Centre for exacerbating tension between New Delhi and Chennai. Normally, the Centre requisitions the services of IAS and IPS officers on deputation from the States and the latter routinely spare their services without any fuss unless of course the officer themselves are not keen on moving to the Centre. There are also instances when some state governments have politely turned down the Centre’s request on grounds of inadequate strength at the senior level and its consequent effect on the day-to-day administration. What has, however, happened in the present case is that the National Democratic Alliance Government would like to “punish” the three officers, bowing to increasing pressure from its ally, the DMK. The “punishment” is an offshoot of the Jayalalitha government’s failure to carry out the Centre’s directive to take action against those police officers responsible for the bizarre happenings on June 30 on the ground that its officers were not at fault and that it was only the interference of the two Union Ministers that led to their arrest. Meanwhile, in a deft move aimed at buying time, the Jayalalitha government has ordered a judicial probe into the June 30 incident. The one-man commission of inquiry has been given three months time to give its findings. The Centre, however, would not like to be swayed away by Ms Jayalalitha’s tactic and is apparently trying to teach her a lesson. The Centre’s latest directive to Tamil Nadu should be seen in this perspective. Politicisation of the all-India services over the years has disturbed the delicate federal equilibrium between the Centre and the states. The doctrine of neutrality of the civil services has come under severe strain mainly because of the politicisation of the bureaucracy at various levels. While there are cases of officers themselves turning pliable to the political leadership for their selfish ends, there are also some shining examples of upright officers who refuse to kowtow to the whims and fancies of ministers. The independence of the civil services has been seriously jeopardised by the liberty given to the state governments in matters of transfer, suspension and promotion. The power of transfer is very frequently used to bend an officer to the Chief Minister or Minister’s will. The Centre’s latest decision has given a new twist to the issue. There seem to be no well-laid out rules and regulations to govern the policy of transfer. Even the tenure system for appointment of IAS and IPS officers at the Centre on deputation is not being enforced properly. It is moot point whether the Jayalalitha Government will contest the Centre’s decision in the CAT or go to court. But the die is cast and this does not augur well for the federal policy of which the civil services form an integral part. The purpose and significance of the civil services will be lost if the all-India services officers are treated as chess pawns by the political masters at the Centre and in the states. The Chennai episode once again proves that it is always the officers who are made scapegoats by the political masters in their games of political one-upmanship. |
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How to recover
from defeat 1. Understand that losing out plays a major part in everyone’s life. If you see each loss as a personal blow and bitter rejection, you make yourself a permanent victim and are on the road to unhappiness. Far better to see each loss as a lesson which you should master before leaving it behind. British tennis star Tim Henman is a first-rate loser - able to process his disappointment very quickly, recognise his technical failings, revise his game plan and emerge smiling. 2. Don’t be tempted to wallow in your grief, or feel isolated. `It helps if you are in touch with other people who are understanding or who have been through it too,’ says Gill Hankey of the UK-based Bankruptcy Advisory Service. `Lots of people feel they are alone but bankruptcy happens to 30,000 people a year.’ 3. Vent your frustration (in private) so you have allowed your negative feelings to express themselves before moving on. The incarcerated Lord Archer, who has survived many setbacks, advises people to `cry in the morning’ but to get back on course by the end of the day. 4. Get the viewpoints of other people. `Get some advice from third parties you can trust,’ says Rob Yeung of business psychologist Kiddy & Partner. `Often we turn to friends, but they tell us what we want to hear.’ If you have just been publicly demoted or made redundant, they may have views on why this happened - how, despite your brilliance perhaps, you rub people up the wrong way. They may also have ideas on what you can do next. 5. Leave with the best grace possible. Conservative MP (Member of Parliament) Michael Portillo is widely admired for the honest way he has accepted defeat, while Labour MP Peter Mandelson is seen as volatile and difficult. Don’t tell people you are devastated by what has happened to you: they will see you as unable to recover. 6. Avoid blaming others. The fast route to misery starts with holding grudges against the bank manager who pulled the plug on you, the manager who fired you or the colleague who succeeded you. Even if someone has been vicious, you will lead a much more enjoyable life if you can move away from the episode and accept you will sometimes lose out. Always expecting justice and fairness will make you unhappy - because it is unrealistic. 7. Recognise that great achievements often follow enormous blows. Sometimes when you suffer a major setback, it’s a great opportunity to re-evaluate your career.
The Observer, London |
Walk straight with
love and humility THE beauty of life lies in our capacity to maintain contact with our inner self and to uphold the highest ethical standards. Modern man has adopted a utilitarian approach and in his mad pursuit of material gains, he considers all human relationships in terms of trade or transaction where honesty and fair dealing are thrown to the winds. Shallowness pervades the social and political fields and hollow men run the show in which deceit, fraud, tall and double standards dominate. To acquire status or stature in society, we do not care for the means. We compromise with our norms and principles. Short-cuts are discovered for climbing to the top. The number of social and political climbers is multiplying and there remain hardly any moral scruples worth the name. Expediency has become the order of the day. That is why our social and political life is so polluted. Political leaders, instead of looking inward through the window of their mind for knowing and judging themselves, indulge in whomanship and upmanship. The spirit of introspection and inner connectivity is lacking with the result that integrity, truthfulness, authenticity and austerity are the causalities. At present, we need leaders who can adhere to the Gandhian principle of purity of mind and means to achieve the end. Let the leaders acquire the human qualities of simplicity and humility because the greatest persons are those who are willing to be little. If we peep into our own self, purify our hearts, maintain the sanctity of human relations with humility and modesty and at the same time the temptation to be vulgarly rich, we can transform this thorny universe into a fragrant rosy place which would be the envy even of Gods. We expect this from our leaders in every walk of life. But this calls for a complete overhauling of lifestyles and overhaul of the lifestyle and a change of mindset. With the advance of technology we have learnt how to fly high in the sky at supersonic speed, how to dive deep in the ocean, but in the process we have forgotten how to walk straight like a human being on Mother Earth. Let us re-learn to walk straight with love and gratitude in heart without trampling on the weak. Gandhi came to be known as a Mahatma and he acquired a chrisma because he stood by ethical values and humility was his hallmark. Let us emulate Gandhi to make our life sublime. |
Money-Lenders' Bill IT has been learnt with deep regret that the Money-Lenders Bill which taxed the energies and time of the Punjab Legislative Council for so long a time, has been passed within a very short time of an hour without formal discussion in Jammu and Kashmir State by the Maharajadhiraj of Jammu and Kashmir. The Hindu Sabha, Lahore, requests with due respects that it may kindly be postponed for the present and may be circulated among different societies for opinion. |
If a thief robs a house and offers the loot in charity for his ancestors, the spoil is
recognised in the next world and the ancestors are charged with theft. The hands of the "broker" are chopped off; thus is justice done. That alone is received hereafter, O Nanak, Which is earned with one's own labour. —Sri Guru Nanak Dev,
Asa di Var ***** Even a fool when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise. ***** Answer a fool according to his folly. — The Holy Bible, Proverbs, 17:28:26:5 ***** Talk sense to a fool And he calls you foolish. — Euripides, The Bacchae ***** If poverty is the mother of all crimes, lack of intelligence is their father. — La Bruyere, Characters ***** What is folly? It is holding onto that which is harmful and throwing away that which is helpful. ***** The folly of all follies is to find pleasure in doing what one is forbidden to do. ***** To be shameless, uninquisitive, loveless and uncaring are four failings common among all fools. ***** No fool is more foolish than one who eagerly expounds his learning to others while failing to follow it himself. ***** Not knowing how to act, when a fool undertakes an enterprise he does not just fall he shackles himself in chains. ***** Should a fool fall upon a good fortune, strangers will feast while his family starves. — Tirukural, 831-34, 836-40 |
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