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| Friday, September 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
George turns critic Police power & responsibilities |
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By Hari Jaisingh
A billion people’s power to “strike”
The search for a global
order
A clothes bank in Hyderabad
Love is not
forever
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George turns critic NDA convener George Fernandes has turned a critic of the alliance government’s policies. And that is bad news for the ruling conglomeration. He is unsparing in his adverse comments on economic policies in general and the proposed labour law reforms in particular. These are emotional issues and if skilfully handled, can set the wage-earning middle class against the government. And Mr Fernandes is an experienced hand at this. There are striking incongruities in the former Defence Minister’s conversion from being a staunch believer to a carping dissenter. One, he aired his trenchant views at a meeting of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a hardline offshoot of the RSS. Two, he zeroed in one two problems that are causing concern to a good cross-section of the people. And, three, he shifted his position when his former political colleagues like Mr Sharad Yadav and Mr Ram Vilas Paswan are sulking over their demotion. Mr Fernandes himself is not content with his powerlessness, considering that he resigned in March and the Venkataswami commission will take many more months to complete its enquiry and find him guiltless following the Tehelka revelations. Mr Fernandes was once a trade union leader given to verbal and policy extremism. The Bombay taximen’s union, which he forged into a dreaded force and which launched him into Left politics, is a shambles now. The militancy he injected into the union turned out to be the nemesis. He also headed the trade union of the then Bombay Municipal Corporation and BEST (Bombay Electric Supply and Transport) and in the seventies led a prolonged strike which collapsed and the union itself withered away. His role in frequently splitting the socialist movement and the Janata Party in 1979 (with the active help of Madhu Limaye) is well known. All this is not to denigrate him, who has emerged as a mass leader in Bihar where he migrated to fight the 1977 Lok Sabha election from Muzzafarpur. He has not lost an election since then. It is only to highlight his potential for wrecking and his unique personal trait. It must be stated that Mr Fernandes has nothing to do with the SJM. The only common link is the phobia for foreign goods and he expectedly promised to launch a nationwide awakening campaign not just against Coca Cola – his pet aversion – but against all commodities. If and when he starts it, it will scare away more foreign investors than what the vexatious Enron tangle has done. He did not identify the economic policies he was opposed to. He merely said that the government took away from the people more than what it gave them. On the labour theme he was specific. And if he returns to his excessive exuberance, the government should be ready to face unrest, he has predicted. |
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Police power & responsibilities THE
task of security forces has always been a delicate one. It becomes more complicated when there is a serious threat to the nation's unity and integrity. They responded to such a challenge admirably in Punjab only recently, and are in the midst of fighting an almost similar battle in Jammu and Kashmir. This is besides their valiant role in containing the insurgency in the North-East. What they did in Punjab should not be treated as merely performing their hazardous duty. They fought the nation's battle for unity and integrity, as they are in the process of accomplishing it in the valley. They deserve the country's gratitude and sympathy. It is the government's responsibility to go out of the way to protect their interests even if the laws are to be amended for the purpose. Thus, one must appreciate Home Minister L. K. Advani's assertion at Wednesday's conference of the chiefs of the state police, intelligence agencies and central police organisations that the police personnel who "acted firmly" against terrorist elements should be accorded the protection of the law. This has become unavoidable for two basic reasons. One, since the police personnel and other security forces risk their and their family members' lives during a drive against terrorists and their sympathisers, their morale must remain high under all circumstances. Two, they should have no fear of being hounded out by different interest groups on extraneous considerations. Such groups did not take in the right spirit the Home Minister's earlier statement which came in the context of the cases against 600 police personnel for their role during the days of terrorism in Punjab. This is, however, only one side of the picture. Power always comes with responsibilities. In a democracy no one can be given unbridled powers, whatever the circumstances. Call it a minus or plus point of a democratic polity, but this is the reality. Therefore, security personnel must not forget that even while handling an extraordinary situation like that created by terrorists or insurgents, it is their responsibility to protect the lives and limbs of all innocent citizens. Even a single innocent life lost in a fight against the enemies of the nation is a serious crime. When such an offence is committed by the guardians of law and order it has dangerous implications. Sometimes this goes to defeat the very purpose of the deployment of the security forces. The demand of human rights' organisations obviously cannot be music to the ears of the
government or the security people who give two hoots to this aspect of their duty. That is why their many achievements get ignored when they commit one or two serious offences. But there is a difference between a mistake committed wittingly and that unwittingly. A grateful nation must ignore the follies done without mala fide intentions. |
A Janus-like government AFTER
riding high on popular support, the BJP-led NDA government headed by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee appears to have betrayed the people. To say this is not to question the honourable intentions of the Prime Minister but to underline the gaps between promise and performance in today’s scam-ridden politics of Delhi darbar. Looking closely and objectively at the government’s performance balancesheet, it is clear that its thinking is governed by adhocism and its operational thrust is powered by factionalism and fractionalism. It does arouse people’s expectations but these are invariably dashed to the ground, adding to its long list of non-performance. The test of governance does not lie in the number of Bills adopted hurriedly by the Lok Sabha. It depends on how promises are translated into practice and also on how the priorities are arranged and rearranged for the good of the people. Equally relevant are the priorities which are both distorted and misplaced. The name of the new game is money and more money. A number of scams — some known and some unknown — tell us all as to how the present government is no different from the previous regimes even though it had started with a clean state. It so happens that things are no longer all that clean. Take the latest case of priority of Mr Murli Manohar Joshi who presides over the Human Resource Development Ministry. Should it be primary education, or astrology and astronomy as he insists? We ought to be seen as a science-and-technology-promoting and forward-looking nation and not a backward-looking one. Why not leave astrology to private institutions so that government resources are used for fighting illiteracy which continues to be a black spot on the face of our democratic polity. Indeed, in the prevailing confused setting of distorted thinking and misplaced zeal, the political bazar of the national Capital gives the impression of being a Theatre of the Absurd. I am saying this more in anguish than in anger. I for one do not relish what can be called “two-facey” in the government’s thinking and governance. Take the latest reshuffle of the Union Cabinet. At one stage, certain knowledgeable insiders gave the impression that Mr Vajpayee would act tough and start “Operation Performance” and would accordingly “reward” and “punish” the Ministers. The nation held its breath and hoped that Mr Vajpayee would put the nation before the party and factions and once again begin to assert himself. But that was a shortlived illusion. The reshuffle shows that everything in the government is a matter of adjustment and accommodation and not of reward on merit and performance. No wonder, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha continues to survive and thrive despite the terrible slidedown in the economy. Exports have plummeted. The industrial production is sagging. The job market is getting tighter and tighter. Even the IT (information technology) market has ceased to tickle. The economic reforms are already sick and shaky as they have been politicised. Foreign investors are shying away. Privatisation has become a big joke. Air-India is a classic example of how the government is destroying the established public sector units. The economy is not a matter of bargain. Nor is it a free play of statistics, though data do matter even if they, like a bikini, happen to hide the real stuff. Statistics on the Indian economic transition tell their own tales, and quite effectively. They speak of successes as well as failures of growth and transformation. They also do provide certain clues to the strengths and the weaknesses in the system. In the present period of recession, lack of investment and non-performance, what the political parties and other opinion-makers have generally failed to see is that economic growth as such means little so long as the fruits of growth do not reach an increasingly large proportion of those in dire need of an increase in their real income for mere survival. But, then, who cares? Not the Finance Minister and others presiding over the related ministries. Take agriculture. The WTO and the total dependence on the market are increasingly appearing to be as dangerous as is one’s faith in miracles. The government thinks that the agricultural output will grow if the export of farm products is encouraged, or if the agricultural prices go up faster through the market mechanism it has chosen to strengthen by its policies. Where is strengthening? Where is infrastructural support? The only saving grace is God’s mercy by way of another good monsoon. Still, the starvation in Orissa is a national shame. This is a big scandal and all those at the Centre and in the state responsible for this bloody mess ought to be sacked. Has the Prime Minister the requisite courage to do that? Rhetoric cannot take the nation far. Then, what about 110 million agricultural households having no operational holdings? More than three-fourths of them do not get enough to feed them for even six months a year and most of them are heavily burdened with debt at a high rate of interest. Nothing can be more shameful than the WTO-related confusion on the agricultural front. We could have performed better had we been clear about the priorities and gone about the task of nation-building in a professional and business-like manner, keeping in view the need for a strong, competitive, efficient and poverty-and-corruption-free vibrant economy. It is not yet too late to realise that social progress, individual freedom, cultural and spiritual fulfilment and economic growth are all interdependent. And the only way to the India of our dreams — as a great society with the tremendous creative energies of millions — is to concretise a vision of a new India and create conditions and an atmosphere for allround progress on merit and performance while taking the poor, the backward and the havenots along the path of progress with dignity and care. South Block and North Block lack the required seriousness in tackling the problems, but what is equally depressing is the never-ending game of adjusting favourites and faithfuls. What is also ironic is even “faithfuls” of today’s brands have begun to show signs of divided faith as they are caught in factional politics of the ruling establishment. There are any number of Ministers in Mr Vajpayee’s government who deserve to be axed on the basis of performance. But they have either been rewarded for the survival of the government or simply because they are “blue-blooded” politicians in today’s factionalised BJP. However, one person who richly deserved to be rewarded was Mr Jagmohan as Minister for Urban Development. But he has been sidelined with the allotment of the Ministry of Tourism sans Culture to him. Mr Jagmohan rightly feels hurt. So are large sections of educated Indians. His only crime was that he acted tough against land-grabbers and urban land mafia. He was even harsh on the influential class in Sainik Farms in South Delhi. But instead of helping him in his onerous task of freeing the country of wrong-doers and land-grabbers, he has been shunted off from the Ministry so that entrenched vested interests are able to thrive and carry on their activities unchallenged. What sort of message this act alone gives to the nation? Very simple. The Prime Minister is a prisoner in the hands of politico-economic vested interests and the Gang of Three belonging to his own party in Delhi. No, Mr Prime Minister. This is a betrayal. Of course, no one can question the Prime Minister’s prerogative. But he has to be true to his words. We do not expect him to do things wrongly and in an unjust manner or buckle under pressure. This is no governance. As things stand, reforms may have to begin with the PMO itself. Excuses do not make history, Mr Prime Minister. Nor can the mental blocks, meaningless cliches and manipulations of a variety of vested interests change the course of history. History belongs to the brave and the bold. The urgent need is for tough and bold decisions on the economic and political fronts. We have to be more competitive and freer than in the past. Here I am reminded of what Urdu poet Akbar Allahabadi said decades ago: Hareefon ne rapat likhwaee hai ja-ja ke thane mein Ke Akbar naam leta hai Khuda ka is zamane
mein. |
A billion people’s power to “strike” I
do not have an iota of doubt about the power of the nation, a billion-strong, to “strike”. At will. With cause. Without cause. Provoked. Unprovoked. Pampered. Ignored. When least expected. Anywhere, any time. The “strike” is hard. The spasm is strong. It lasts long. My friend, Ashok Gupta, often screams: “A billion is enough”. Knowing, perhaps, where the nation is headed given its potency and power to “strike”. Hence his cry. Not in wilderness. One of concern. Alarm. He suggests home-made remedies. He is saddened. Saddled. The import of the “strike” sags him. He sighs. He smiles. He shrugs. He chugs on. Each one of you sit back. Just for a moment. Ponder. Mull over the nation’s “striking” power. Sure, you all will end up agreeing: “Yes, with such a strong ‘striking’ power where are we headed”? The nation “strikes” in different ways. In different places. At different times. At times at the same time. A chain “strike”. Each one, each segment, each class, each community, each profession “strikes” somewhere, all the time. Individually. Collectively. My reference is not to the nation’s Kargil-style “striking” power. In defence. Of the defence forces. (Nor to the power of a punch of a clenched fist squarely struck on someone’s nose.) My reference is to the “striking” power in the context of the people — the multitudes. Who matter. Who are at the cutting-edge of the system. Social. Political. Administrative. Judicial. Economic. Civic. Essential services. The people who band together. Unions. Organisations. Associations. Conglomerate out of fellowship. Professional “ekta”. Opportunism. The morning newspapers bring fresh news of the nation’s “striking” power. Each day. Every day. Day after day. The “striking” methods are many. So are the means and ways. Forms. Each more crippling. More paralysing. More agonising. More vicious. All over the nation. From the Capital to a subdivision. A village. Today, “safai-karmcharis” of the nation’s premier medical institutions show their ‘striking’ prowess. The following day, residents join them. Patients begin to leave. The court intervenes. Sanity is restored. Another day. The CNG queues lengthen. Every home’s economy is affected. Long wait. Short tempers. Impatience. Fidgety administrator. Opportunist politician. Adamant judiciary. Transport service operators “strike”. Children miss schools. Babus attend offices. Curse. Busy roads are deserted. Life thrown out of gear. The Prime Minister talks of “alternative” fuels. Look for fuels beyond CNG. So are feuds beyond “strike”? On another day, a busy road is blocked. People have “struck” protesting police excesses. Students “strike” because the UGC has increased compulsory attendance in classes to 75 per cent. Teachers “strike” for higher pay. Pensions. Demanding abolition of Ph.D clause to become a Principal. Traders “strike” because of higher tax-rate. Babus “strike” because bonus is denied (for file-pushing or sitting on it). Buses go off the roads; drivers “strike” because traffic cop has hit a fellow-driver. Commuters are stranded in the middle of no where. Lawyers “strike” because a colleague has been roughed up by a cop. Litigants can wait, not that cases are decided expeditiously. Elected representatives, MPs to MLAs to MCs (Municipal Councillors), “strike” stalling proceedings of their respective Houses in protest over some issue or non-issue. Unmindful of the public exchequer. The power-men “strike” plunging helpless consumers into darkness letting them sweat and fume. Letters and parcels, financial documents, examination roll numbers, interview calls pile up because post-men have decided to “strike”. The variety and spice of the “striking” power are by no means either complete or exhaustive. Only illustrative. A sampling. There is still a wide range of “striking” power that outspaces the middle space on this page. After all the sub-editor has his own “striking” power. No one can survive that “strike” of the blue-pencil. His golden rule, “In doubt, ‘strike-out:”. Do those, who “strike”, do so for a purpose or vengeance? As a last resort? How justified is their right to “strike”? At what price does the nation allow those with such a “striking” power to “strike” again and again and yet again? Everyone and anyone “strikes”. Why? Has anyone, anywhere, ever, analysed if all those who “strike” have a genuine “striking” point forcing them to “strike”? What a loss to the nation! Working hours. Man hours. Time. Energy. Finance. Peace. What does the power to “strike” symbolise and reflect of a people, a billion-strong and continuing multiplying? Can someone, somewhere present a genesis of the nation’s “striking” power? |
The search for a global
order THE world we knew is no more. Of the world to come, we know but little. The human brain has been overtaken by electronics, biology by technology. Can man ever again plan his future? We are not sure whether there is a purpose in the universe. Or a purpose in human life. these are questions for which we have no answers yet. And yet life without a purpose is unthinkable. If there is none, we have to invent one. From hedonism to utopia, the choice is indeed wide. We have to make the right choice. That history is an unfolding of the mystery of God’s design or that it is the story of the progressive evolution of man — all these are comforting theories to which we cling on with less and less conviction. But there is no other alternative. Science generates both hope and hopelessness. We cannot rely on science. Has a meteor the intelligence to skirt the earth on its onward journey? Growth of evil destroyed our faith in religion and God, faith in “progress” by the growing destitution and squalor of the world, and injustice by the triumph of the unjust. Hopes of a social revolution, predicted by Karl Marx, ended in the nightmare of the Gulag. Ideology has thus become taboo. Man has misused every ideology. All that mankind had gained from the Reformation, the Age of Reason, the right to vote and the educational revolution, were of no avail against the dark forces of Fascism and Nazism. They overwhelmed Europe. But, irony of ironies, Europe was engaged then in “saving” the rest of the world! The human spirit, however, triumphed over these dark forces. Perhaps it was too early to close the chapter on the history of man? The end of the war against Nazism kindled hopes again. The colonial empires were decolonised. The spiritual and moral emptiness, amidst all the apparent affluence, was, however, not what was expected. Those who were dissatisfied wanted to stop the world and get off. The “flower children” were all about the world — as nomads of our age. It is not material progress that prods forward the evolution of man, they said. That it is the spiritual and moral impulse that will ultimately determine the further evolutionary process of man and its direction became the new hope. But doubts about the destiny of man never die. No religion holds out the promise of a noble human destiny. Neither Christianity nor Islam. Instead, they all talk of a slide to Sodom and Gomorrah, to a world dominated by evil. Some predict a fiery end, others a watery end. The Hindus believe in a cyclic theory. But scientists hold out the promise of an evolution to higher forms of life. Aurobindo talks of a journey to spiritual perfection. These comfort us. Stephen Hawking advocates genetically engineered human beings. He wants to tamper with the DNA to produce a man to overtake technology. But are there no dangers in this tampering with nature? Can man ever equal nature in intelligence? Man has freedom. Here lies his opportunity. But it also spells danger, for he can make mistakes. We have been making far too many mistakes of late. The nuclear terror is one of them. That terror is by no means banished. Thus, to most of the intelligent and sensitive people, the world has ceased to make any sense. It has become a frightening and absurd place, without a first cause, without a beginning or end — in fact, an enigma. In such a universe, one looks in vain for explanations of an ultimate purpose. Religions have failed to make man peaceful and good. Politics has failed to make man just. And economics has failed to create equitable societies. All the babble on economics — and it has become shrill today — has failed to make man less greedy and acquisitive. Private affluence and public squalor — this is what capitalism has given us. In such a situation, it is the existential philosophy of Heidegger, Sartre and Camus which makes some sense. For a time, the search for explanations shifted to the inner world of men, with Freud in the lead, but only to discover that it is as chaotic a world as the external one. There is no calm there, only turbulance. True, the world made no sense except to the bovine and assinine, who were content with the certainties of yesterday. The times were, therefore, bound to produce a new breed of hedonists, whose sole aim is to eat, drink and be merry, who deliberately fostered nonsense. According to David Corten, a former World Bank official, the world is now ruled by a global financial casino staffed by faceless bankers and hedge fund speculators, who operate in the shadowy world of global finance. And the Editor of Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, proclaims that the world has moved from politics to economics — that is from power to greed. And greed will express itself in two ways: by creating global crises through speculation and by trying to monopolise the energy resources. If knowledge and technology are to take the lead in future, America’s present lead may become a thing of the past. It cannot maintain its lead unless it imports brains on a far bigger scale than it used to. This will not be easy. Political equality and economic inequality — this is what the West has produced. It has been the principal cause for the disorder of the world. It has no future. Prof Immanuel Woolerstein, President of the World Sociological Congress, gives capitalism another fifty years! What is more, market and democracy are anti-thetical. “A free market and a fully democratic order cannot co-exist,” says Prof John Gray of Oxford. The demand is for an ethical society. In its report: “The World Ahead: Our Future in the Making”, UNESCO says that we must create an ethical society and this, it says, cannot be done by the market. A “knowledge society” must be an ethical society. |
A clothes bank in Hyderabad A
unique “clothes bank” has been launched in Hyderabad by Dr Reddy’s Foundation for Human and Social Development to help the underprivileged section of the society with the basic need of clothing. The bank, already in operation for about nine months, encourages people to donate their old clothes which are in good condition. After collecting the clothes from donors they are washed before distributing them. The Director of the foundation, Nalini Gangadhar, said that the objective of the programme is to organise systematic and hygienic distribution of clothes among the needy people. The project is in partnership with Hindustan Lever. The programme depends on volunteer housewives for collecting clothes from various places. The foundation also plans to start similar banks in places like Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
ANI
Houseboats losing charm in Kashmir
Houseboats in Kashmir were once the living quarters of prosperous houseboat owners but today they have lost their past glamour. The owners of these “dongas” once belonged to the well-to-do sections of society but today they lead a proverty-stricken life with measly meals. Ghulam Mohammed, a house boat owner, said that there is a great difference between the past and the present. He said: “Earlier we used to earn a lot and lived a happy life but now after the escalating terrorism, we can only look for jobs as labourers”. “As tourists no longer visit us we are finished,” he added. “This is a houseboat which I got from my grandparents who led a luxurious life. Even I earned a lot but things are no longer the same,” said another boat owner. Some of owners who reside in the “dongas” want to leave their boats and have a house elsewhere as they feel that would give them a more secured life. The boats have become a burden for the owners as they have to spend above Rs 5,000 annually for maintenance. This 15th century innovation by Mughal Emperor Akbar which had a prominant place once, is now dying as the tourism industry has been hit by the mounting violence in the valley.
ANI |
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Love is not
forever “Titanic” star Kate Winslet has joined the long list of showbiz casualties whose marriages wilted under the spotlight. Yet another big star has found out the hard way about the perils of permanent romance in an ephemeral world where egos and insecurity abound in equal measure. Last month, it was the turn of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise to split, firmly burying show business tales of the perfect Hollywood marriage of two stars happily juggling their careers. Now it is Winslet’s turn to face the misery under the full glare of the media picking over the remnants of her marriage. “A Titanic Mismatch”, was the conclusion of the Daily Mail after her split from Jim Threapleton, the assistant director she met on the set of her film “Hideous Kinky”. “In the end, a house husband proved to be not quite enough for a truly international superstar”, the paper said. “Hubby so unhappy living in Kate’s shadow”, decided the Sun tabloid, which devoted a five-page special to the end of a high-profile marriage that lasted less than three years. Winslet, twice nominated for an Oscar, was hailed as direct and down-to-earth, the star who wouldn’t let the stardom go to her head. She was going to be different. In interview after interview she gushed adoringly about the love of her life. “I saw this glorious boy and I knew that was it”, she said. Only once did she hint at storm clouds ahead, confessing in one interview: “Although having a baby has strengthened the relationship there are highs and lows — and at times it is tough”. After the surprise split, red-eyed Winslet clutched their 11-month-old daughter Mia to her side and insisted: “Jim and I have a great respect for each other. There’s no malice. It’s extremely sad but we are all fine”. Threapleton’s grandfather Norman told a very different story: “She’s a star while Jim is trying to make his way in his own field. Jim is a bit of a quiet type and I don’t know whether all this theatrical and film life has gone down well with him.’’
Reuters
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The glory of the worldly kings is shortlived. — Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Var Sorath M 4, page 645 *** If the Milky Way were not within me how should I have seen it or known it. *** Perhaps the sea's definition of a shell is the pearl. Perhaps time's definition of coal is the diamond. *** A root is a flower that disdains fame. *** Fame is the shadow of passion standing in the light. *** There is neither religion nor science beyond beauty. *** Worms will turn; but is it not strange that even elephants will yield. *** When you reach your height you shall desire but only for desire; and you shall hunger, for hunger; and you shall thirst for greater thirst. *** If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees. *** There are only two elements here, Beauty and Truth — beauty in the hearts of lovers and truth in the arms of the tillers of the soil Turtles can tell more about the roads than hares. *** We are all seeking the summit of the holy mountain; but shall not our road be shorter if we consider the past a chart and not a guide. — Khalil Gibran, Sand and Foam *** The king cleanses his mouth through justice. — Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Var Sarang M 4, page 1240 |
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