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Thursday,
August 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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RBI finds economy sick Violence over Hardwar Israeli-Palestinian cock-fight |
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Weaknesses of Musharraf regime
Mahanta: the fall of a hero
The forgotten days and hounded heroes
A votary of united Punjab
The joy of sharing
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RBI finds economy sick CLINICAL reports on all aspects of the economy are in and the top medical consultant, the RBI, has declared the condition grim. There is a slowdown for the second year and a revival is unlikely in the near future, except for a slight improvement that every year witnesses in the post-monsoon days. This is bad news but the worse is that even in the medium term – that is, over the next few years covering the 10th five year Plan period – the growth rate will remain sluggish at around 6 per cent. In simple words, the RBI has rubbished the target of 8 per cent which the BJP-led alliance government incessantly talks of to banish poverty within 15 years. In its annual report, somewhat more detailed than the earlier ones, the RBI expresses its impatience with the way the government is run and economic policies are not implemented. After listing the many friction points in the economy, the report released on Tuesday says that the quality of fiscal adjustment, the sequencing of stabilisation and the implementation of structural reforms have left much to be desired and all this has taken a toll on the
economy. This is an indirect but powerful indictment of the Union Finance Ministry, if not of the Central Government itself. Government revenue collection is far behind the target and expenditure (non-Plan) is shooting up. The result is obvious. In the first half of the financial year four-fifths (80 per cent) of the budgeted borrowing has been completed. Still not a paisa has been invested in infrastructure or social sectors. This is one factor impeding economic growth. The foreign exchange reserve and balance of payment (the difference between import charges and export earnings) position is comfortable. This is not because of a surge in exports and higher dollar earnings but a slump in imports, attesting to industrial stagnation. As a corollary, manufacturing and power sectors have performed poorly. Capital goods, machines to make industrial goods, are languishing. There is no demand for bank credit, a clear and undisputable indication of a reluctance to invest. There are some bright spots. Foreign exchange position is comfortable – more than $ 44 billion, enough to meet import obligations for nine months. Inflation is hovering around 5 per cent and the rupee is stable in the currency market. Foodgrains output is expected to be 209 tonnes, three tonnes short of the initial target. It is an embarrassment since the country will not know what to do with the grain mountain. These dry details are of no direct concern to the common man but this year the RBI annual report spells a threat. It wants the government to scrap the tax benefit on small savings and cut the interest rates on bank deposits to provide relief to the government in interest payments. |
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Violence over Hardwar THE demand for separating Hardwar from Uttaranchal on Tuesday took a violent turn. Perhaps, the police and the protesters, mostly farmers, were responsible in equal measure for the unhappy turn of events. The protesters had blocked the Dehradun-Delhi highway near a place called Mangalore since Monday. At least two persons were killed and several others injured when the police fired at the crowd. The police evidently first tried to remove the protesters for restoring normal traffic on the busy highway connecting the capital of the new state to Delhi. However, when the situation appeared to be getting out of control " a few rounds were fired in self-defence". The western UP farmers are not known for the respect for the rule of law. They are a law unto themselves. During the infamous siege of Meerut, started at the behest of their leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, they had managed to throw normal life out of gear until even their unreasonable demands were met by the state administration. No one can ask them to pay for the water they use and the electricity they consume. Revenue officials seldom make an effort to do the duty for which they are posted in western UP. During an earlier agitation a youth was killed when the police opened fire on a violent group of farmers near Shamli. The same kind of disrespect for the law was evident in the agitation at Mangalore. As far as the demand for separating Hardwar from Uttaranchal is concerned, the case for and against it can be argued with equal conviction. It is indeed true that there was a very vocal section of people that had opposed the inclusion of the holy city in the new state when the geographical boundaries of Uttaranchal were being finalised. Udhampur farmers too were not happy with having to leave UP. For winning their sympathy and support even Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had supported their stand. However, all that is in the past. Any effort to redraw the boundaries would now only result in avoidable tension. If Hardwar's demand for separation is accepted, the farmers of Udhampur too would be tempted to renew their agitation for remerger with UP. The fact that the non-Bharatiya Janata Party elements are backing the protesters should provide some clue to the real purpose of the agitation. The traders of Saharanpur have given an interesting twist to the controversy by pointing out that they had demanded that their territorial future should be linked to that of Hardwar. Since Saharanpur was not made part of Uttaranchal they want that Hardwar should be returned to UP. Is there any logic in their demand? |
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Israeli-Palestinian cock-fight THE unending bloodletting involving the Israelis and the Palestinians is threatening to destroy all the gains of the peace process that began with the signing of the 1993 Oslo accords. In response to the Palestinian "intefada" (uprising) going on since last September following the abandonment of the path of negotiations, Israel has resorted to its old tactics of "an eye for an eye" or killing 10 Palestinians for the loss of one Jewish life. Thus hundreds of activists of extremist Palestinian organisations have been eliminated with a view to telling them to keep quiet and learn to live with the situation. But there is no let-up in car-bomb blasts or suicide attacks from the Palestinian side. In the process many innocent people both Palestinians and Israelis have perished. Who cares for this aspect of the problem? The orgy of violence with the use of missiles and bombs took a turn for the worse when on Monday Israeli soldiers killed a high-profile Palestinian personality, Mr Abu Ali Mustafa, in a missile strike at his official premises in West Bank. Mr Mustafa was the chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the most militant constituent of the PLO. Only last year he had taken over the reins of the PFLP from Mr George Habash, the legendary leader now too old to head the organisation. The PFLP, one of the organisations resisting any move for a negotiated settlement with Israel, has vowed to respond to "this crime in a bigger way". It is known for going to any extent to take revenge. In the sixties and the seventies the PFLP attracted world attention by hijacking aeroplanes with Israeli passengers. If it takes to its old method to prove its point that "Israel was inviting hell to break loose", it will be impossible to talk of peace in West Asia. So far as a negotiated settlement is concerned, in fact, there is little difference in the views of the Palestinian "rejectionist front" and those of Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who wants his country to forget about aiming for a peace treaty with the Palestinians. In his own words, " a clear-eyed outlook on the continued state of animosity demands a different approach than the one we have tried so far." Contrast this with an editorial in a Palestinian daily, reproduced by the PLO's official news agency Wafa, saying that Palestinians can achieve their goal "only by political means...by the use of rocks to fight the Israelis (but) not inside Israel, and not using firearms. Wafa invariably reflects Palestinian Authority chief Yasser Arafat's views. Somebody should make Mr Ariel Sharon realise that there can be no peace in Israel without reviving the dialogue process that lies in coma. He has formulated his strategy on the basis of the behaviour of the Palestinian rejectionists of the peaceful methods for achieving a settlement with
Israel. This is not a realistic approach. Belligerence begets belligerence. And this means no end to deaths and destruction. Only the USA can bring Israel to the negotiation table to talk peace with the Palestinians. President George W. Bush should pick up the thread left during the Clinton administration to play the role of a peace facilitator before it is too late. |
Weaknesses of Musharraf regime MANY people saw the Agra Summit as a great triumph both domestically and internationally for Gen Pervez Musharraf. After Prime Minister Vajpayee invited him to visit India and even strangely congratulated him while he was in the process of getting rid of the democratically elected President of Pakistan, Mr Rafiq Tarar, the United States government did him the honour of referring to him as “President” Musharraf for the first time, when he arrived at Agra. General Musharraf chose to behave in Delhi and Agra somewhat like a Mughal conqueror rather than an honoured guest. He brushed aside the wishes of his hosts and welcomed the leaders of the separatist Hurriyat Conference at his High Commissioner’s residence at Tilak Marg, even as he kept two former Prime Ministers of India waiting before he said hello to them. Former Prime Ministers may be routinely exiled or hanged by military dictators in Pakistan but they are held in respect in India. While in Agra, General Musharraf chose to address his own people live on television during the course of what was purported to be a background briefing of leading luminaries of our redoubtable Fourth Estate. What people in India and Pakistan got to see was some of the icons of India’s media engaged in a display of servility that would have warmed the hearts of those who adore the likes of Emperor Aurangzeb. This was where things began to go wrong for General Musharraf. Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee is known to be a man of great forbearance, patience and understanding. He was even prepared to pander to some of General Musharraf’s prejudices against agreements with India signed by democratically elected leaders of Pakistan like Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. But even he could not ignore General Musharraf’s brazen justification of his intrusion in Kargil as a Pakistani response to the liberation of Bangladesh and his characterization of his jihad in Jammu and Kashmir as an “indigenous freedom struggle”. The commando instincts of General Musharraf became evident in New Delhi and Agra. But like his misadventure in Kargil, his commando instincts compelled him to aim at capturing one range of hills too many. While General Musharraf has been basking in the glory of his media coverage in Agra, things have now become somewhat more complex for him both domestically and internationally. Eminent jurists in Pakistan like former Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah have started raising pointed questions about the constitutional validity of the General continuing as President, or materially altering the constitution when the time is approaching for him to hand over power to democratically elected leaders. It is known that General Musharraf intends to drastically alter the constitution, so that effective power lies not with the democratically elected Prime Minister and Parliament, but in a military dominated National Security Council that he proposes to head. Commonwealth Secretary-General Don Mckinnon was recently in Islamabad to assess the prospects for a return to democratic rule in Pakistan. While New Delhi may have its own compulsions to deal with the Musharraf dispensation, it should not hesitate to bring his plans to amend the constitution and curtail the powers of democratic institutions and democratically elected rulers to the notice of the leaders of Commonwealth countries and indeed of the international community as a whole. It is clear that an increasing number of people in Pakistan feel that there has been no change for the better that the Musharraf dispensation has been able to bring to their lives. More importantly, the military in Pakistan has not been able to do anything meaningful in dealing with sectarian killings and violence in the country. Sectarian organisations like the Sipah-e-Sahaba not only routinely kill Shias but also have links with the Taliban and with those involved in jihadi activities in J&K, Central Asia, Chechnya and elsewhere. Thus, while General Musharraf can try to placate world opinion by acting against relatively minor sectarian organisations like the Lashkar-e Jhangvi and the Sipah-e-Mohammad, he has neither the will nor the ability to act against strong sectarian outfits especially in Punjab. It would be a serious mistake to read recent moves by General Musharraf to act against some jihadi organisations in Sind province alone for collecting funds as any manifestation of the cooling of his ardor for supporting his favourite jihadis in Jammu and Kashmir. It is significant that no action has been taken against jihadi outfits in Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province, from where the bulk of the ISI-sponsored jihadis are drawn for action in J&K. Under severe pressure from the Indian security forces the jihadis are now hitting soft targets. The recent massacres of Hindus and particularly of shepherds are part of a concerted policy to follow up on the earlier targeting of Kashmiri Pundits. The aim of General Musharraf’s jihadis is to ethnically cleanse the valley and force the exodus of the entire Hindu population to Jammu and Kathua districts. This is not a development that New Delhi can be sanguine about. If such killings and actions like those being undertaken by the Lashkar-e-Toiba across India continue, it may be necessary to consider striking across the LoC and even the international border in a swift, proportionate, measured and internationally justifiable manner. No one should be allowed to presume that our patience and forbearance is unlimited. General Musharraf’s woes and dilemmas are not confined to his domestic constituency only. Pakistan is now finding itself internationally isolated because of its material and military support to the Taliban in violation of the UN Security Council Resolutions. Following unimpeachable evidence gathered by a UN team of experts about Pakistan’s continuing support for the Taliban, the Security Council has now demanded the posting of international monitors in Pakistan to keep a watch on developments along the Pak-Afghan border. The screws are tightening around the necks of those engaged in promoting jihad worldwide. But, in the ultimate analysis, we in India should realise that while the international community may at best pay lip service to cross-border terrorism directed against India, it is for New Delhi to set its house in order in J&K and deal firmly with those across the border who believe that India can be forced out of J&K by “bleeding” it. Many of the bleeding heart liberals have for a long time felt that it is politically incorrect to describe the role of the Hurriyat in accurate and precise terms. The Hurriyat is nothing but an organisation that incites and supports violence, gets funds from abroad and nauseatingly and persistently echoes the line of the ISI. It is heartening that the young Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Omar Abdullah, has referred to the Hurriyat in precisely these terms. There are now clear indications that the ardor of the Hurriyat leadership to kowtow before the visiting General Musharraf at his High Commissioner’s residence has disgusted a wide cross-section of public opinion in the Kashmir valley. It remains to be seen how long this motley crowd, largely made up of political non-entities, or people scared of the guns of foreign terrorists, holds together coherently. General Musharraf may, have done India many a favour by his actions and words in New Delhi and Agra. But, at the same time, New Delhi must ensure that it does not say or do anything that is construed as a manifestation of weakness, or lack of resolve by the Generals in Rawalpindi. The writer is a former High Commissioner of India to Pakistan. |
Mahanta: the fall of a hero FORMER Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta is in serious trouble these days. The man who was the darling of the masses in the mid-eighties is in the thick of a serious controversy which can damage his political career beyond repair. Today people only talk of his affairs with a woman language officer in the Assembly secretariat and not about his heroic struggle as a student leader, who later rose to become the most powerful man in his state. Few people are interested in Mr Mahanta’s denial that he married 30-year-old Sanghmitra Bharali as his second wife secretly in Mumbai in March this year. Nor does anyone take seriously what his first wife, Jayshree, a former member of the Rajya Sabha, claims in defence of her beleaguered husband. Whether he is innocent or guilty of having indulged in bigamy will be known only when an independent enquiry is conducted. But the ordinary people believe in the age-old saying that there is no smoke without a fire. The sex scandal, a new development in Indian politics, has hit Mr Mahanta when it could harm him the maximum. His leadership of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) was under severe strain from growing factionalism when his alleged affairs with Ms Bharali came to light. The Tehelka news portal’s denial with regard to the charge against Congress leader and Assam Public Works Minister Sarat Borkotoky that he had paid Rs 15 lakh to the controversial secretariat employee to claim that she was his second wife did little to save Mr Mahanta’s position. He has been forced to relinquish the presidentship of the AGP in favour of his party’s vice-president. At the moment the arrangement is only for two months, but it seems he will have to ultimately resign in view of the increasing demand from within the party. Mr Mahanta’s popularity began to decline in 1988 when he was the Chief Minister and his government was jolted by a major rice procurement scandal. Then came his mishandling of the insurgency problem which increased the influence of Ulfa in Assam politics. The AGP suffered a humiliating defeat in the 1991 Assembly elections following a split in the party. After some time it improved its position but only as part of a coalition with the BJP. In the Assembly poll in May this year the AGP was trounced by the Congress mainly because of the various controversies surrounding Mr Mahanta. However, as a seasoned politician, Mr Mahanta could face these and other challenges bravely and regain some of his lost ground. Even the old multi-crore letters of credit scandal dug up by the state’s Congress government could have been taken by the people as nothing more than the ruling party’s dirty strategy to destroy the reputation of a powerful opposition leader. But the Bharali episode is too sensitive a matter to be dismissed as something insignificant. Mr Mahanta may find it difficult to explain his position during the September 6 AGP general council meeting called in the wake of the latest controversy. Delhi’s CNG crisis The CNG crisis in Delhi is becoming curioser and curioser with each passing day. This is one example of how political leaders have been acting in a very irresponsible and hamhanded manner, holding the transport system in Delhi to ransom. Close on the heels of the autorickshaw strike on August 10, the country’s Capital witnessed yet another strike by transport operators on August 28, affecting common people, especially school children, who depend on buses for commuting to offices and schools everyday. Even as the Centre and the Delhi Government are blaming each other for the problem, the people have been taken for a ride by the powers that be. Surprisingly, even though more than Rs 8,000 crore has been committed to the CNG technology (investments to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore have
already been made and another Rs 4,000 crore is in the pipeline), no action plan has yet been formulated to tackle the situation effectively. This is all the more distressing because both the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Delhi Government have been pursuing a policy of dithering and delaying which will not lead them anywhere. In view of the long queues of vehicles before CNG stations, Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik has decided to open more CNG stations in the city and import compressors from Argentina and Italy. In fact, it is said that five of the 14 compressors have already arrived. But the question is whether this will help resolve the problem. Mr Naik has expressed fears that it will not be possible to supply the green fuel to more CNG vehicles than those already registered, including the ones which have filed affidavits in the Supreme Court. It remains to be seen whether all the CNG vehicles — three-wheelers, taxis and buses — registered till March 31 get their proper gas supply. Questions are now being raised on the usefulness of CNG as an alternative and environmentally acceptable fuel. But, then, if low sulphur diesel (LSD) is a better alternative and can be used as a clean fuel, why were concrete steps not taken by the government in this regard much earlier? Clearly, it would be difficult for private operators to again switch over to the diesel engine from
CNG as it involves huge costs. And who will compensate the CNG vehicle owners, especially private operators and autorickshaw owners, who have bought vehicles after availing themselves of loans? As this is their only means of livelihood, thousands would be rendered unemployed if expeditious measures were not taken to make CNG available. Union Home Minister L K Advani held a meeting with Delhi MPs on Tuesday in which Mr Ram Naik and Union Minister of State for Surface Transport B.C. Khanduri were present. Hopefully the meeting will help remove administrative bottlenecks in arriving at a reasonable settlement of the problem. Time is of the essence as the Supreme Court has made it clear that it would not allow any commercial vehicle to run on diesel in Delhi after September 30. Of course, the apex court might consider extending this deadline if both the Centre and the Delhi Government convince the court that they are taking suitable measures to resolve the crisis on a war footing. In any case, keeping the larger interests of the daily commuters, including schoolchildren, in mind, a solution to the CNG crisis brooks no delay. There is also urgent need to put in place appropriate safety norms for the use of CNG vehicles. Whenever a new technology is introduced, it is mandatory for the government to first evolve safety guidelines and procedures. Strangely, nothing of this kind has happened in the case of CNG. If reports were to bear scrutiny, the Centre went ahead and introduced the technology first, overlooking the important issue of formulating safety norms. It is surprising to note that even the tail-end emission standards have not been formulated, though the CNG vehicles have been plying in Delhi for more than a year. |
Volcanic eruption IT is reported from Ramree that a volcano eruption occurred about half a mile north of Kin village, which is near Kyankpyu town, which threw lava uphill about 500 feet high covering 50 acres of culturable land and the heat destroying plants in 150 acres around. No lives have been lost. |
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The forgotten days and hounded heroes THOSE were the days when officers of Punjab bloated with authority under the prolonged President’s (read bureaucrats’) rule trembled in their trousers and repainted their car registration plates in violation of the law and in conformity with the diktat of terrorists. Traders of Mohali traded their signboards for the yellow and blue that the boys with guns demanded. The Press obeyed the commands in the covering letters that not a dot in the terrorists’ communique should be changed by the editors. An officer of the Punjab Government on deputation to Chandigarh carried this obedience to new heights by refusing to issue an advertisement in Hindi announcing the arrival of the Prime Minister to this city two days later. Yes, those were the days I saw as Home Secretary of Chandigarh from 1990 to 1992. We had just come out of the trauma of the Mandal Commission agitation when the so-called Panthic Committee laid down its laws for the timorous. No more national anthem, no Hindi, no skirts. The timorous, who constituted the vast majority, obeyed. The few, who looked into tomorrow, dared. The majority bought their insurance by decrying those who dared. The new SSP had just joined from Punjab. He went to the interrogation centre and saw the cloth masks. What are these for, he asked. To conceal our identities while we interrogate the terrorists, said the demoralised cops. The SSP made a bonfire of the masks and told them to go home if they were going to face the terrorists with the psyche of fear. He said he would himself interrogate them without a mask. That brought some shame and some shine to the uniform. Yes, the Press, shouting for press freedom, went to the Administrator of Chandigarh demanding the transfer of the Home Secretary who stood in the way of their faithfully reproducing the terrorist handouts. The Administrator was in a mood to oblige. The visit of the Prime Minister next day changed all that. While he was sitting after inaugurating the waterworks, a reporter asked the Prime Minister about his reaction to the confiscation of newspapers by the Chandigarh Administration for printing the terrorising material. Standing behind the Prime Minister, I waited for the response. The Prime Minister did not wait. It is a good step, he said. I will ask other terrorist-affected states to take similar measures. Things moved fast thereafter. I was not transferred. Copies of our orders were sent to Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Assam for the same drill. Some of them took three months in complying. The bureaucrats who were to sign the orders waited for their transfer orders rather than sign what they construed as their own death warrants. Why am I saying all this after a decade? It had pained me to read about the suicide on the rail track of a police officer who at that time had terrorised the terrorists. The slip in his pocket said that he preferred an honourable death to a life of humiliation. That is what he and others of his ilk had done during the long years of terrorism. They offered themselves for an honourable death everyday as they sallied forth to take on those who had decided to take on civilised society. To them, the killers of innocent bus passengers, the assassins of a devotee on the steps of the holy shrine in Amritsar and the gun-point rapists deserved a taste of their own medicine. The society was to be saved from these desperados even if it meant jumping across the thin line sitting behind which some of the arm-chair proponents of human rights proclaimed human rights only for the terrorists. It is for the state to protect the victims of terrorism, screamed the blurred conscience of these luminaries. But in the process, the rights of the terrorists were to be protected. That was the time when three-fourth of the Punjab police was amassing wealth under the shelter of terrorism. The remaining one fourth comprised K.P.S. Gills, Gobind Rams, Sumedh Sainis and Sandhus who had put not only their lives on the block but also of their family members. They lost all they cherished and they kept fighting. They fought this war and they won. But for their victory, the national anthem would have still been asleep in this part of the country and your daughter, Mr Human Rights Proponent, would not have taken her skirts out of the closet where you had asked her to hide these in those days of the diktat. Yes, a war it was. But with a difference. At Nurmeberg and at Tokyo trials, the victors tried the vanquished. Here, the victors are being tried; by those for whom they fought and won this war. But this is not the first time this has been done to patriots here. Remember, how political prisoners got amnesty after Independence. The followers of men like Chandra Shekhar Azad were forgotten. Nay, they craved to be forgotten. The independent India had not decided that a brave man with a gun who killed the white occupier of his motherland should be honoured. The British-trained and British-tainted leaders under the tutelage of their British Governor-General saw the killers of the British with the eyes of the British. My father, who is no more, was one of those who as a young boy got attracted towards the fire-brands owning allegiance to Azad. He went through the ritual of holding his wrist over the candle flame. He carried the scar quietly till the end. The khadiwalas, he used to say with contempt, have appropriated the term freedom fighter. No self-respecting soldier would share a title with them. He and many like him never desired to figure in the lists of Tamra Patras. Again, why I am saying this almost 60 years after the events? Is there a message for an Indian in the trial of the Punjab officers who killed terrorists and the slipping into silent oblivion of those who fought for freedom with a gun? In both cases, these brave men sacrificed their lot for you and me. In both cases they faced execution more certainly than those who shouted slogans or shouted about bringing the misguided youth into the mainstream. In both cases they succeeded in driving out the enemy. And this society handed over the rewards to the wrong hands. Let me recount, if memories have failed, attempts at another trial. The Press had carried in those days big news items that these human rights proponents will conduct a trial, at Chandigarh, of Punjab Police officers whom they were accusing of human rights violations. I, as Home Secretary, was inflamed. This was the best way of making an officer a target. Try him, find his guilty and leave it to the goons to carry out the execution. Those who are for such a farce are entitled to their convictions. To me, it was barbarism. This happens in NWFP, not in India, certainly not in Chandigarh. We issued an order prohibiting such a trial. One of the proponents, a lawyer, landed up at my residence, protesting against the order. Why, I asked him, should you do it in Chandigarh. The matter relates to Punjab. Go and hold your so-called trial in Punjab, I taunted him. He was looking towards his feet. If he had the courage to do so, he would have been a freedom fighter. To those of the genre of this gentleman, who are today clamouring for punishment to those officers who lived and died for protecting our right to live without threats, I have only this to say: a society which worships false heroes, soon ceases to have any real ones. The choice is yours. |
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A votary of united Punjab TWO years ago on this day (Aug 30) Punjab lost a brilliant leader, Pandit Mohan Lal, former Home and Finance Minister in Pratap Singh Kairon’s and Mussafir’s Cabinets and the President of the Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabha. Born in June 1905 in Fatehgarh Churian town of Gurdaspur district, Pt Mohan Lal, known for his sharp intellect, not only witnessed but also contributed to the events that led to the making of post-Independence political history of Punjab. Having joined the Indian National Congress as a student, it was by virtue of his commitment and hard work that he emerged as a brilliant politician whose worth was valued by Pratap Singh Kairon and Jawaharlal Nehru. A serious reading of Pt Mohan Lal’s book “Disintegration of Punjab” reveals how the vast state of Punjab was reduced to its present size. While translating this book into Punjabi to make it available to a wider section of Punjab, I got an opportunity to peep into his inner self. And this association for nearly one and a half decades left behind many unforgettable moments. Once under the Kamraj Plan, it was decided to install Pt Mohan Lal as Chief Minister of Punjab replacing Pratap Singh Kairon. On learning this, he rushed to Delhi and convinced Pandit Nehru that the proposed change would harm Punjab’s interests. And subsequently, the status quo was maintained. Pt Mohan Lal vehemently opposed the partition of Punjab as he thought it would be detrimental to the interests of the state. The post-partition events established that it did more harm than good. Inter-state controversies over Chandigarh, Punjabi-speaking areas and river waters have remained unresolved. He played a positive role in the crisis over the Regional Formula, the Hindi agitation and the Akali agitation for Punjabi Suba. He would often say: “The safety of Punjab is possible if the Akalis are made to sit together in peace.” Throughout, he was a votary of united Punjab. During militancy, Pt Mohan Lal, organised a convention of 1,000 delegates of the Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabha at Chandigarh. This conveyed a solid message of Hindu-Sikh unity. A few years prior to his demise, Pt Mohan Lal took “sanyas” from politics and devoted himself to religious and educational fields. Women’s education was his priority area. He opened schools and colleges and gave liberal scholarships to poor but deserving girl students. For this purpose, he created a Trust with his own savings. To pay tributes to this great son of Punjab, a “prarthana sabha” is being organised on August 30 on the campus of GGSD College, Sector 32, Chandigarh, where Sharma Bandhu will sing devotional songs. A statue of Pt Mohan Lal will also be unveiled. |
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The joy of sharing MY friend’s daughter was married to a young man in Najibabad in Uttar Pradesh and she was having some problem with her in-laws. He asked me to accompany him to Najibabad and we took a bus from Patiala which was bound for Haridwar. At about 2 p.m. the bus stopped on the roadside and the conductor announced that the passengers could take their lunch as the bus would stop there for half an hour. We got down from the bus and my friend took out a lunch box from his bag. He had some paranthas with him. He was an ‘Amritdhari Sikh’ and therefore, he was not to eat anything from the dhaba. I asked him to separate my share because I was not an Amritdhari. I bought a plate of chana from the dhaba and we both started eating. All of a sudden I looked at the bus and saw a young man standing with his face towards the bus. I suspected that he might steal something from the bus and run away. Without a second thought, with a prantha in my hand, I went to that man and asked him to take something from the dhaba. His reply was: “Actually Sardarji, I had some money when I boarded this bus. With that I purchased my ticket. Now I have nothing left with me. I shall reach my village in an hour’s time and shall take my meal there.” Without any further talk, I asked him if he would like to eat with me. He did not reply. I caught him by the hand and led him to my table. We shared the paranths and took chana from the same plate. I ordered two cups of tea and after finishing the meal I offered him a 50-rupee note saying that it would help him get over the present crisis. He replied: “Please, Sardarji, give me only 10 rupee. Actually, this bus will not pass through my village. I shall have to take another vehicle to my village and that will cost about five rupees. That will save me from walking about 6 km from the bus stand.” Somehow, I persuaded him to take the 50-rupee note. Back in the bus, my friend started commenting on this event. “This man be a Muslim. He might not have taken his bath today. He did not wash his hands before eating with you. You could have given him money and he could have bought his own meal from the dhaba. He could be a pretender. You should not have shared a meal with him from the same plate”, and so on. I remained quiet for a while. But then told him: Our Gurus had told us that we should share our meals with others and I had done that in letter and in spirit. This man was in need and I had helped him. Helping the needy was one of the teachings of our Gurus. I told my friend that after this, this man will refuse to hear anything against the Sikh community which at that time was criticised in the rest of the country because of the conditions that prevailed in Punjab. He would stand up to that extent, I had become a representative of the whole community.” My friend had a long comment on this. After half on hour, the bus stopped and that man got down. He came up to the window I was sitting and stood there silently. In a minute or so, the bus started and he kept waving his hand as long as we were within his sight. Even if I had earned very low marks from my friend, I shall never forget this event and have told this story to a number of friends most of whom have appreciated my action. |
Mind and the senses are only the instruments of the soul. Although the soul is activated in this world through these instruments, yet it is quite apart and independent of them. The existence of soul is neither defendant on body, mind and the senses, nor can its original nature be changed by them. — J.R. Puri and T.R. Shangari: Bullah Shah, The Love-Intoxicated Iconoclast, Section IIEngage in nothing that cripples or degrades you.... Your self is sacred, profane it not. *** Either subordinate your vocation to your life or quit it forever. *** Your influence on others is commensurate with the strength that you have found in yourself. First cast the demons from your own bosom and then shall your word exercise them from the hearts of others. *** For every fact that eludes the analysis of reason, conscience affirms its root in the supernatural. *** Miracles are of the heart; not of the head; indigenous to the soul; not freaks of nature, not growths of history. God, man, nature are miracles. *** Every soul feels at times her own possibility of becoming a God; she cannot rest in the human, she aspires after the God-like. *** Men shall become Gods. Every act of admiration, prayer, praise, worship, desire, hope, implies and predicts the future apotheosis of the soul. —Amos Bronson Alcott (1790-1888), Orphic Sayings. *** Heartening to the Name bestows Truth, divine wisdom, contentment. To bathe in the joy of the Name Is to bathe in the holy places. By hearing the Name and reading it A man attains to honour; By heartening, the mind may reach The highest blissful poise Of meditation on God. — The Japji, 10 |
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Ashok Sharma