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Saturday,
January 12, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Negativism
to the core A welcome
firmness Read the
small print |
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Nuclear
war in the sub-continent
Life in
Panchkula
Giving
in or giving up
Is
English Press cynical?
1973, Physiology or
Medicine: FRISCH, LORENZ & TINBERGEN
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Negativism to the core IT is churlishness on the part of the Congress and immature policy on the part of the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) that have exposed a non-existing disunity at the highest political level on presenting India’s case vis-à-vis Pakistan. The Congress has initially decided to keep away from the all-party delegation to Muslim countries in West Asia and southern Africa but its sense of anger can still be overcome as it realises it would harm itself by boycotting the diplomatic duty. It is not totally wrong in taking umbrage at the government’s unilateral selection of members and where they would go. The decision to send high profile teams of politicians and academicians to present India’s case was arrived at an all-party meeting on December 30. It was understood that the BJP-led NDA government would consult the opposition parties in the composition of the team. But the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and then the PMO took a long time in picking and choosing the members, with the result the list was ready only on Wednesday, although the delegation was to leave India to their respective destination in the weekend. Somebody leaked out the informal list to the press, and to a newspaper which has a reputation of colouring its reports. The Congress saw a red rag in this and Mr Manmohan Singh issued a bitter statement dissociating his party from the delegation idea. Congress president Sonia Gandhi was away in Kanpur and that added to the confusion. The PMO has by now earned the reputation of being insensitive to the feelings of the opposition parties. And the Congress the reputation of being ultra-sensitive to its importance. But the issue this time is of crucial national importance and both parties should make the right noise. The Prime Minister has already began a damage control exercise by asking his Principal Secretary Brijesh Mishra to talk to Mr Manmohan Singh. There are leaders like Mrs Najma Heptulla and P.M.Sayeed who are amenable to a correction of political etiquette. Even Mrs Sonia Gandhi will fall in line after administering a stiff rebuke to the PMO. In other words, the exchange of harsh words on Thursday is not the last word and much is at stake in taking the Congress team on board. Incidentally and interestingly the six teams are headed by four Muslims, two from the Congress (Mrs Najma Heptulla and Mr P.M.Sayeed ), one from Samajwadi Party (Mr Salim Sherwani), one from the BJP (Mr Sikander Bakht), one from NCP (P.A.Sangma, a Christian) and Mr Manmohan Singh, a Sikh. In other words, in this anti-Pakistan diplomatic offensive Hindu politicians are kept out of leadership positions and prominence has gone to Muslims and other minority communities as it should rightly be. There is a lot that the Congress agrees with this though it is annoyed at the way the list was finalised. It is a technical matter and can be sorted out without disrupting the all-party unity on taking on Pakistan. |
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A welcome firmness SINCE the December 26 announcement of the Punjab Assembly election, the Election Commission has displayed a welcome firmness, which perhaps not many had expected from the low-profile Chief Election Commissioner, Mr J.M.Lyngdoh, in dealing with the blatant violations of the code of conduct by the Punjab Government in general and the Chief Minister in particular. The Commission had received as many as 200 complaints about misuse of official machinery, bungling in the preparation of electoral rolls, motivated transfers, postings, promotions, fresh appointments, particularly of Mr Gurbachan Singh Bachi as Member (Administration) of the Punjab State Electricity Board and of Mr Kartar Singh as Sports Director. The CEC-Punjab Government face-off started when the Election Commission transferred the Deputy Commissioners of Amritsar, Kapurthala and Muktsar. The aggrieved DCs moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which told them to plead their case before the Central Administrative Tribunal. Twentytwo PCS officers have also transferred, mostly for being posted at one place for more than four years. Newspapers carried pictures of interviews being held for the posts of Inspector in the Excise and Taxation Department in violation of the code. But the most humiliating for the state government was when the Election Commission took objection to the large motorcade of the Chief Minister and restricted it to 10 vehicles. Mr Parkash Singh Badal first took the plea that he was going to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, Amritsar, and then tendered an apology since he was widely reported addressing roadside election meetings. All this reflects poorly on the functioning of the Punjab Government. Fair election is the cornerstone of a successful democracy. By taking prompt action, the CEC has not only upheld the public faith in the institution he heads, but also proved that one need not thunder and bully everyone around like Mr T.N.Seshan to conduct an election. In UP also Mr Lyngdoh has displayed similar firmness and impartiality. The three IAS officers have not displayed professional dignity and grace by going to court. A transfer is not such a serious punishment, especially when there were complaints and doubts about their neutrality. The bureaucracy is not expected to express or display any political loyalty. Nor has the Union Chemical and Fertiliser Minster, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, covered himself with glory by publicly questioning the Election Commission’s action. A fair and independent Election Commission is in the interests of all. Instead of finding fault with the Commission, the Akalis should set their own house in order and learn to play the game according to the rule book. It is easy to run down institutions, but it takes years to build them. |
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Read the small print SHOULD foreign direct investment in the newspaper industry be allowed? It is not a simple "yes" or "no" question. There is already a lot of ill-informed noise for and against allowing foreign equity participation in the print media. The immediate question concerns the timing of reviving the controversy. The popular impression was that the issue had been put on the backburner for the time being after being referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology for further deliberation and debate. It has resurfaced almost with volcanic ferocity. The sudden turnaround in the position that was evolving among the members of the Parliamentary Committee has astounded both the media pundits and the lay readers. A number of journalists appear keen to drop the pen and pick up the sword in defence of the position on foreign participation in the media they believe to be correct. The timing of the resurfacing of the controversy has made some sections of the media see a political motive behind the sharp shift in the position the Parliamentary Committee. It was about to say a firm and reasoned out "no" to foreign direct investment in the newspaper industry. However, all of a sudden the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and most other non-left parties began to see merit in allowing only 26 per cent foreign investment. The rider that the editorial control should continue to remain in Indian hands appears to have been picked up from the terms of business that Robert Clive was offered when he landed in India. With most principal political players now pitching for limited foreign participation in the Indian print media the theory that it has been done with an eye on the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections sounds far-fetched. Surely, the ordinary voter is not going to be influenced by what appears at this point of time to be an "outlandish issue". The debate is already on. The Confederation of Indian Industry recently organised a seminar on the theme of "The Media: wrong-footed by events and technology" . Senior journalists who participated in the seminar merely added to the confusion by speaking in many voices. There were those who accused the "forces of monopoly" in the newspaper industry of opposing foreign participation. There were others who said there was no mechanism to monitor that the money that would be invested in the print media had not come from any terrorist outfit. There is no doubt whatsoever that the issue needs a wider public debate. It would help the government to have the advantage of both informed opinion and popular view to help it make the right decision. There is sharp division among the ranks of journalists on whether the newspaper is an industry or a public service. Will foreign investment compromise national security and the objectivity of the print media? The position that most editors took on Kashmir at the Pervez Musharraf breakfast show in Agra last July should not be ignored while debating this point. In the evolving global village no country can afford to keep the doors of opportunity shut for long. Nevertheless, it would be instructive to find out the position the developed countries, including the USA and Britain, have taken on the issue of allowing foreign investment in the print media. |
Nuclear war in the sub-continent The diplomatic and military standoff, which has emerged between India and Pakistan, after the December 13 attack on our Parliament by terrorists sponsored by the ISI of Pakistan, has brought to the fore the nuclear question. It is inevitable that when tension on the borders increases, and this time it is reaching peaks seldom reached before, the nuclear question is discussed in all its dimensions. Unfortunately, the nuances of nuclear weapons and their use are not fully understood, resulting in wrong conclusions about their employment. Such uncertainty results in the development of a fear psychosis. There is thus a need to understand the implications of the use or non-use of these weapons of mass destruction. Since May, 1998, when both India and Pakistan became overt nuclear powers, many interpretations by analysts from both sides of the border, as also further afield, have been offered. Unfortunately, the main conclusions of such analyses have tended to be negative and partisan, as their focus has exclusively been on the enhanced dangers of a nuclear conflagration in the sub-continent. Various Western analysts and think tanks, predominantly from the USA, have repeatedly and persistently published such conclusions. It has also suited Pakistan to pick up these arguments and use them for its own purposes. The upshot is that Pakistan starts threatening to use the nuclear option, at the drop of the proverbial hat. On account of lack of widespread knowledge of the employment of these weapons, a certain amount of avoidable fear and caution are created in the minds of the public. Some of our own analysts, mostly gullible peaceniks, can also be accused of perpetuating such thinking. There is obviously a need to understand the dynamics of how and in what circumstances nuclear weapons are likely to be used. Nuclear weapons, it must be understood, are not upgraded and more lethal versions of conventional weapons. They are, in fact, in a class of their own and their ownership is more important than their use. This fundamental fact should not be lost sight of, otherwise we would be inhibited in our approach to and tackling of the challenges posed by Pakistan, by the use of so called Jehadi outfits to wage a prolonged and low intensity war on us. In case India decides that the war option is to be exercised, so that Pakistan sheds terrorism as an instrument for gaining its objectives, then the threats of use of nuclear weapons by Pakistan, or the highly exaggerated doomsday scenarios being painted by Western analysts must not inhibit us from giving full reins to our operational plans to meet our national and military objectives in totality. India has consciously adopted the doctrine of minimum nuclear deterrence and “no first use” policy. We are thus in the game of deterrence and not nuclear war fighting. The essential components of this doctrine are two fold. First, we will not use nuclear weapons first on any other nuclear state, irrespective of the provocations, and we will not use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear states. Second, if any other country employs nuclear weapons against us, our response will be massive retaliation with our nuclear arsenal. Therefore, massive retaliation will follow irrespective of the type or yield of the nuclear weapon used by our adversary. There has been some obfuscation and attempts at rationalisation by some analysts, who have attempted to interpose hypothetical scenarios, like how will we respond if Pakistan uses a nuclear weapon in its own territory, or if Pakistan uses a low yield weapon, which may come under the genre of tactical nuclear weapons. Would our response be different? The simple answer is it must not be so. The doctrine of minimum nuclear deterrence is very clear that massive retaliation by our nuclear weapons will follow if any nuclear weapon is used against us. Consequently, it is immaterial what type or in what manner or in which place our adversary launches a nuclear attack against us. This needs to be understood and followed ruthlessly. There are many, even in our own country, who would want to draw different conclusions and advance arguments against this doctrine, but such arguments are meaningless and indeed fallacious, as our doctrine recognises that “a nuke is a nuke”, and there is only one response by us, viz-massive retaliation. Over the last three and a half year or so, the debate in our country on our nuclear doctrine has been somewhat hesitant and patchy. This has been exploited by the original nuclear-five, as well as by Pakistan. The former have repeatedly referred to the sub-continent as a nuclear flashpoint, after May, 1998, conveniently ignoring the fact that our doctrine is of nuclear deterrence, unlike the Cold War years when NATO and the Warsaw Pact had nuclear war fighting as the basis of their doctrine. As far as Pakistan is concerned, it has also exploited our hesitancy, by constantly threatening to use nuclear weapons, at the slightest pretext. Resultantly, a mindset has been foisted, even in some of our policymakers, who tend to get inhibited from considering the military option on account of the nuclear status of our adversary. In Hiroshima, where a nominal atomic bomb of 20 KT yield was used, over 1,18,000 persons were killed instantly and the death toll rose subsequently to over 2,00,000. This kind of death and destruction, rhetoric apart, imposes a very high degree of caution and responsibility on the possessor of nuclear weapons. Today, the holdings are much beyond the nominal bomb and range from the sub kiloton to the thermonuclear range. Irrespective of propaganda and threats of use of nuclear weapons, even an irresponsible government will think many times before pressing the nuclear trigger, especially when it understands that the massive retaliation which will follow such a foolhardy action, will literally obliterate that nation into oblivion. There is no reason to assume that a shooting war between India and Pakistan will not be fought within the realms of rationality. Hence, it is highly unlikely that either side will exercise the nuclear option. A nuclear war is neither fightable nor winnable. The “bomb” is a political weapon, meant for deterrence and not for war fighting. In the sub-continental context, the use of nuclear weapons is not visualised, even in exceptional circumstances. Gen Charles Horner of the Space Command of the USA had once stated: “I just don’t think nuclear weapons are usable — what are nuclear weapons good for?” The short answer is that nuclear weapons are predominantly weapons of coercive diplomacy, to prevent wars. Their use implies utter policy failure. Their only utility is in their
non-use. The writer has recently retired as the Vice Chief of Army Staff. |
Life in Panchkula After a 40-year stay on the campus we are now 10 miles away from the academia, in our modest house on the rim of the circle that defines the uniqueness of this satellite town. When friends ask how we feel living away from the tree-lined boulevards of the academe, we say that our new place is no less green, equally open and competitively pollution free. How about grocery, milk and other items? Abundantly available in the morning right at the doorstep. One friend with a weakness for milk products wonders if the cheese that he gets here could be traced in any sector in the town. We say that we get cheesier cheese in the market of our own sector, just a four-minute walk from our house. How about a bank, inquires someone who loves the campus since his residence is at a whispering distance from the bank? In short, we find that convenience faces no threat in this town except perhaps in one specific area: the clearance of mail. Having lived in the City Beautiful for too long we had been used to seeing massive mailboxes at some of the crucial corners. On the first day of our arrival here I asked our neighbour about this facility. He explained the location but the box was both short and slim, visually pathetic and functionally inadequate — not sturdy or fit enough for large envelopes. Yes, this postal limitation does come in the way of a high civic score for the town. But to be fair, what it lacks is ultimately not as significant as something in which this little town outscores its big brother. That I call the USP of this bilingual town wide, winding roads in the central sectors that seem to be planned for mystics, walkers and other health freaks. I’m not referring to the open air theatre or the cactus garden or the topiary park. I’m referring to the vast stretch skirting the famed Town Park which in itself is a favourite spot with yoga learners and gentle walkers. The world beyond this park underscores the morning glory of the town. In all my 60-plus years I have never come across such a large number of walkers, laughers and clappers as I have seen here in less than four weeks. Men, women, pets are all out here on the network of roads leading in different directions, offering a generous boost to self-renewal. On the campus if sometime insomnia drove me out at four in the morning, it looked spooky outside. Not a single soul seen on the circular road. Not here. It appears that the Panchkulaites can’t sleep after three or four in the morning. At five you see droves of people heading to different points in search of peace and fitness. This quest for outer and inner serenity has invented a new art form. After frequent trips to Delhi I was familiar with a segment of this form when I watched people on the Ridge sitting and roaring in the morning, I thought Delhi did require that lung exercise. Here they roar and clap at the same time. I hear the loud laughter the moment I close the gate and hit road in the morning. The laughter gets louder as I get closer to the epicentre of the merriment. And then I notice that these merry souls are all male. In a moment I hear people clapping and, happily, this group seems to be free from the gender bias. Men and women together walking and clapping — while some folks sitting out there simply roaring — highlight the poetics of Panchkula. |
Giving in or giving up We in the Delhi Police, like any other police force, train young Sub-Inspectors. They are all young graduates from Delhi and neighbourhood. Many are diploma holders in computers or masters in social sciences. They pass through a tough examination in physical endurance before qualifying to sit for the written examination. After which those who qualify get interviewed. Thereafter a merit list is prepared and the very few who are at the top of the list get selected. The examination is not by Delhi Police officers but by a Staff Selection
Commission/Board comprising eminent people in their own right. They give us the best from youth of our country who are keen to join the police force. Obviously their appointment becomes an occasion for celebration for them and their families. Their parents feel that their sons or daughters have earned the jobs based on their prayers or hard earned karmas. Even one son (not daughter yet) who gets a government job in our country means education-food-shelter-security and a better groom/bride for the family. The family status moves up as their son is a police officer; a prospective “Thanedar”. After the initial celebrations of selection are over, the young man’s training begins. It is hard and harsh. He starts his day at 5 in the morning with his physical workouts and goes on till 8 evening, closing it with a roll call. He cannot leave the premises without permission. He goes through classes of PT, parade, arms training, riding, driving, law classes, investigation, police practical work, games, human values education, weekly exams, community service, etc. Even after a week’s work he waits for permission to go home. He gets it, but can never be sure of it. The reason being he may be detailed for city law and order duties. No festival holiday is guaranteed to him. For he and his colleagues are required even more when there is a festival. Now the same family which rejoiced in their son’s entry into the police job, yearns to see the face of their son. They do not get to see him easily. On completion of his training, passing-out parade is a big day for celebration. He takes the oath of loyalty and honesty to his work and service to the nation. He swears by the national flag as he puts on the badges of rank which make him the key functionary for all investigation work. Now he gets posted to the police station. A “sensitive” posting as against many other units in the police termed “non-sensitive”. This is yet another event to rejoice for his family. He claims to have jurisdiction over the people of the area, small or big. He can arrest, bail, search, interrogate, charge-sheet or let go. His market value in marriage also goes up. His family starts to negotiate for him and also attempts to take advantage for their daughter’s marriage etc. But there is an irony to it. The young officer does not know when he could go home. He does not know when his day would be over. As soon as he reports to the police station for his posting, he gets a huge number of case files of his predecessors. So he begins with arrears from the day one. He does not know that what had been recorded in the case files so far. But he becomes responsible for those errors of omission and commission. Alongside, he daily gets new cases for investigation. He has no assistant. He does not get enough time to investigate, as there is no separation of investigation duties from law and order work. His whole day is spent in courts, (who insist on his presence); prosecution branch, (which repeatedly calls him); visits to doctors, (who also expect repeat visits); forensic science laboratories, which exercise a huge amount of discretion; conduct inquiries on a number of complaints received daily at the police station, attend law and order duties
(demonstrations/processions/VIP routes); be on emergency duties; and even do night or day patrolling. He has no official transport. He does it all on his own scooter. On his return to the police station, his SHO asks him what he did the whole day. He is asked about the pending cases with him because the SHO has to explain to his own seniors. He, therefore, rushes to complete his case files, at times contrary to the rules to meet deadlines. Alongside, he spends money out of his own pocket for meeting investigation costs some legitimate and some not. He gets no advance money even when sent on outstation duties. To recoup his own money, he has to prepare still more papers and answer many queries. Many times he just gives up. The experienced out of these young officers do not even ask for reimbursements. They make the complainant or someone else pay. For any wrong detected the young officer can have no excuse. He gets punished. And we all know he has many supervisors (read masters) to whom he is accountable within the department and outsider i.e. VIPs and courts. Hence, the same young man who came with all those hopes and expectations of wielding power and influence, works, under insurmountable demands, personal & professional. He any way remains in arrears of work and expenditure. His family too waits for the gains of his job. His sister is to be married or brothers to be educated. There is a lot of expectation. His village elders or college friends expect him by now to have a car, a house or a mobile phone. But they do not even get to see him. So much for the dreams, expectations and reality of our young educated ranks. All these situations are reversible, provided the seniors step down from their high positions and work more closely with the rank and file. Perhaps then we could save these young broad shoulders from giving in or giving up. |
Is English Press cynical? On a cold and foggy evening in Delhi not long ago I had a chance meeting with our Minister of Law and Justice, Arun Jaitley. “I’ve been reading your columns carefully”, he said, “and of late I notice that the cynicism that infects the English language press in India seems to be affecting you”. This was a provocative enough remark to need a longer discussion so we agreed to have lunch last week at the Taj Hotel’s Chinese restaurant, the House of Ming. I chose the restaurant and the food. “Wherever” when I asked where he would like to eat and “whatever” when we got to the restaurant. When Arun has something to say, he usually gets this preoccupied look in his eyes and then launches into his arguments much as he must have done in his days as a lawyer. Interrupting him is like interrupting a stream of consciousness. So the wise reporter listens and interjects with only the shortest, most appropriate questions. Often he interrupts before you have fully asked your question because he has already understood what it is likely to be. “Look at the way the telecoms story has been reported by the entire press”, he said “it has been reported as a scam when it is in fact one of the great success stories of economic liberalisation”. Without going into the technical details of the policy change suffice it to say that the present government changed from raising money through a system of licence fees to raising it by revenue sharing. This move was attacked viciously by most of the media and the attack came spiced with allegations that the policy change occurred under pressure from the Reliance group. The truth, Arun pointed out, is that the availability of telephones to the average Indian had grown phenomenally because of the changed policy which also allowed for wireless communications to become available to rural India. The result in statistical terms is that the availability of telephones which grew at a mere 0.8 per cent between 1947 and 1996 was now growing annually at nearly 4 per cent and was expected to grow at 15 per cent by 2007. Why was the media attacking a policy that brought benefits to the average Indian? I did not have an answer except to say that whenever the Ambanis seemed to get involved in something, most journalists tended to react by looking for scams. Arun was already on to his next point and this related to the coffin scandal that gripped the country just before the terrorist attack on Parliament. It was coffins that had stalled Parliament’s functioning even on the day that the terrorists struck. Thanks again to the media (including your increasingly humbled columnist) taking the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) report at face value the purchase of coffins for the Kargil dead sounded like a major scam. The CAG report said that coffins that should have been bought for $172 each were bought for $2500 each and the average Indian ended up believing that somebody in the Defence Ministry had yet again made money. The fact that this time money had been made on coffins made the government look really bad when, according to Arun, the truth is that coffins were never available for US $172. Why did we need to import coffins at all, I asked, and he said that this was a different question altogether. What he wanted to emphasise to me was that the so-called scam did not exist. Just as, with the Tehelka story, not enough attention had been paid to the fact that Jaya Jaitley had not been caught taking any money from Tehelka’s reporters. He had been over the tapes and the transcripts very carefully, he said, and realised that there was some fudging the day after Tehelka broke when it was found that Srinivas Prasad, whom Tehelka identified as the man they paid the money to, was not even in Delhi on the day they met Jaya. This should have been enough reason for the media to question the Tehelka expose and this had not happened. We were now nearly at the end of our lunch and the Minister had to rush to his next engagement but I felt it important that I explain why the media was becoming increasingly cynical. He was the Minister of Law and Justice. So could he explain why a Bangladeshi girl who was 10 years old when she was raped over a period of several weeks by a group of men that included two policemen is still waiting for justice at the age of 18. She is in Delhi, these days, attending court and seeking justice from a system so sick that her rapists have been on bail for most of the past ten years. She, on the other hand, was thrown into one of our ghastly social welfare hostels where she contracted some horrible sickness before finally being allowed to go home to Bangladesh. She has waited eight years for justice, is that not cynicism? The minister did not answer because by now it was time to leave and he was besieged by politicians from Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere to whom the gang-rape of a 10-year-old means nothing unless she is a daughter. I would like to tell you that I felt less cynical at the end of lunch with Arun Jaitley but I would be lying. |
Madras: The Excise Commissioner of Travancore, with a special party of six inspectors and 30 men, made a smart raid near Vaikom and arrested 63 persons alleged to be engaged in illicit tapping. The Commissioner had received numberous complaints regarding illicit tapping and left Travandrum with the special party making surprised raid on the whole gang.  |
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There is great beauty in simplicity. In silence lies the source of the highest inspiration. The weakness of most people hides in the strength of their habits. Be humble, free of arrogance and remain in noble self dignity. Always remain in pure thoughts and be a well wisher of all. Live upto your promises and perform noble actions. A rainbow encircles the world as we fill it with peace and joy. Every good thing you do, every good things you say, every good thought you think, vibrates on and on and never ceases. The evil remains only until it is overcome by the good but the good remains for ever. The basis of any healthy, harmonious society is always the healthy and harmonious individuals who populate it. Only if each individual has a pure, peaceful mind can we expect peace in society. — S.N. Goenka. From Sayagyi U Ba Khin
Journal, Vipassana Research Foundation, 1998 *** O man! You look down at Hindus for their idol worship Do learn from their deep devotion. I get intoxicated in the holy sanctuary (Kaaba) And on the way to the idol temple, I assume humility; A lot of people come to the congregational mosque for prayer I particularly come to it for worshipping the idol. — From Life Times and Works of Amir Khusrau Dehlavi. *** The point is not to live long.... The point is to remain alive while you are alive. — From purity, August 1985; February 1993; February 1988. |
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