The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDITORIALS

Old peril in new form

AT the height of cold war American academics and journalists dubbed China yellow peril, referring in a derogatory way the skin colour of the people. That changed after the dramatic and hush-hush visit of Mr Henry Kissinger to Beijing in 1971. But the peril has re-emerged in the industrial field, at least for India. Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, not one to indulge in boasts or rhetoric, says that the production cost of a vast variety of goods in his country is just about one-fourth or even less than in India and it would be wise for this country to import sub-assemblies, put them together and flood the market. If this advice, tendered at a meeting of business bigwigs in Mumbai on Wednesday, is seriously taken by industry, it would simply spell the finis of manufacturing. Mr Zhu listed the items where his country enjoys a huge edge like in household electrical and electronic appliances, white goods (refrigerators. washing machines and micro ovens, among others) and computer hardware. China also has plans to produce two-wheelers in collaboration with well-known Indian brands. He was not talking off the cuff. He has brought a delegation of 140 consisting of market consultants, legal specialists and industrial advisers. These people did not stay put in the five-star hotel but fanned out into the market to collect information. Mr Zhu based his speech on the details given by his delegation.

Mr Zhu’s speech and offer should make the Indian industry and government sit up and take notice. China started its new economic course just a decade before India did. But its success in rejuvenating the economy is by far dramatic compared to this country’s. Its annual export is well above $ 195 billion and it receives a foreign direct investment (FDI) of more than $ 40 billion in comparison to slightly over $2 billion in the case of India. That country’s success is easily explained. All male workers are educated (the literacy rate is near 100 per cent), highly motivated and with low inflation rate over decades, productivity is very high. Also, largescale production, unthinkable in India, helps in cutting down the cost. Mr Zhu posed a dilemma. Either India should become a sub-contracter of China or pull up its socks and become competitive. He has made up his mind and wants this country to play a subsidiary role. The government can thwart this plan by improving infrastructure like carriageways, harbours, power supply and communication. This will add impetus to the advantage of low wages and will help the country compete with China on equal terms. Right now India is spending its energy in filing anti-dumping cases with the World Trade Organisation – 50 by now – against China. The trick is to confront the northern neighbour at its own game.

Mysterious fire

As there is no smoke without a fire, there is no speculation without an atmosphere for it. Thus, it is natural for the world to doubt the officially offered theory of short-circuit behind Wednesday's major fire in which 13 of the 16 floors of the Pakistan government's Shaheed-e-Millat building complex in Islamabad were destroyed. The building housed the offices of the Interior Ministry, besides those of other ministries, believed to have sensitive documents relating to the banned terrorist outfits and extremist organisations. These documents were reduced to ashes. The incident occurred between 6.25 pm and 6.40 pm on a top floor of the building. The flames, besides engulfing the upper floors, also leaped down, reducing to rubble the entire building except the three lower stories. As logic says, if the fire broke out in the 13th floor of the building, only the three upper stories should have been affected. That is why it all appears to be mysterious. Then the incident was reported nearly two hours after the offices had been closed for the day. The Musharraf government has initiated a drive against terrorism and religious militancy, but there are sections in the ISI, Pakistan's powerful intelligence network, not happy with the move. These disgruntled elements mostly come from a madarsa background and may have played a role in the episode. After all, it is a do-or-die situation for the madarsa system of education. Militant religious organisations have already warned that they will not take what General Musharraf is doing lying down. The government's explanation that the fire tenders took at least 12 hours to bring the blaze under control because the building was not equipped with a fire-fighting equipment, is also surprising. Can one believe a 16-storey complex in Islamabad, from where 20 offices of various ministries, including the Interior Ministry, functioned, not having a fire-fighting arrangement?

This is not for the first time that such a thing has happened. On October 10 last year a major fire was reported at Pakistan Army Headquarters at Rawalpindi, and the affected offices dealt with operations and intelligence matters. This was immediately after the US-led anti-terrorism military campaign began in Afghanistan and General Musharraf was forced by the Americans to punish the then ISI chief, Gen Mahmud Ahmed, for his being a Taliban sympathiser. General Mahmud was very popular in a section of the ISI who could not tolerate the humiliation of their boss and hence, it was believed, the fire to destroy sensitive documents. Incidentally, US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was in Islamabad when the secretariat building was gutted, was about to reach Pakistan before the suspected sabotage at Rawalpindi was reported. This time it is also speculated that the fire might have been engineered by the authorities to part with uncomfortable files dealing with international terrorists, including those figuring in the list supplied by India. Nobody is prepared to accept the official Pakistani denial at this stage. Whatever the truth, one thing is certain: Islamabad does not seem to be serious about the ongoing fight against terrorism. What other conclusion should be drawn when it has not made foolproof arrangements for the safety of the files relating to the scourge?

FRANKLY SPEAKING

Lahore runs in our Punjabi blood!
Musharraf sahib, this ‘blood’ talk is a double-edged weapon
HARI JAISINGH

ONE more example of how history and historical facts can be conveniently distorted has been provided by General Pervez Musharraf. In his much-hyped speech last Saturday, he indulged in rhetoric and talked big on Kashmir while reversing Pakistan's pro-terrorism policy. He said, "Kashmir runs in our blood" and declared that Pakistan would never "budge an inch" from its principled stand on Kashmir.

What principles? And what blood? From the bloody wars of the years gone by, the General swears by Kashmir running in "our blood". Perhaps he is referring to the blood of thousands of innocent citizens who have been victims of jehad and cross-border terrorism sponsored by the military establishment in Islamabad.

The General is apparently playing with the hysteria of Pakistanis on Kashmir built up by military dictators right from the birth of Pakistan on August 14, 1947, following Partition.

General Musharraf's compulsions are understandable. He has succumbed to American pressure for his own survival after losing out in Afghanistan.

Blood is thicker than water. General Musharraf has only to have his own and his countrymen's blood tested to find out the ancestry of "our blood"! Blood knows no religion. It does not change colour or become thicker with the change of religion.

By the logic of General Musharraf, cannot we say that Lahore runs in the blood of every Punjabi on this side of the border? The emotional bond that the Punjabis have for Lahore is to be seen to be believed.

Most Punjabis here fondly recall their golden days in Lahore. And when Punjabis from both sides of the border meet, they often shed tears over the days when nothing much divided them.

Religion, for that matter, should not be an instrument of dividing people. This is how Indian leaders have looked at free India. They always see this country as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and secular polity where total freedom prevails to pursue one's faith. The problem with Pakistani leaders is that they have never reconciled themselves to the concept of a secular India.

Kashmir actually has been one of the major nurseries of Indian civilisation. For millennia, it was known to be a Shivite centre, especially in the valley, which was considered to be the embodiment of Goddess Uma, wife of Lord Shiva.

Srinagar, situated on the banks of the Jhelum, finds mention in the Rig Veda. It is a known fact that Vedic Indians who settled along the banks of the Indus were very much familiar with the valley.

Kashmir was once a major centre of culture. At one stage Buddhism flourished there. Yuan Chwang, a Chinese traveller, recorded in 631 AD that the people of the valley loved learning and were highly cultured. In the 11th century, Al Beiruni observed that the land of Kashmir was "the high school of Hindu science". The valley showed remarkable development in disciplines such as medicine, astrology and astronomy. I have studied Jammu and Kashmir in all its dimensions in my book "Kashmir: A Tale of Shame".

Kashmir's long history and civilisation have one striking feature which indicates that the people's way of life was based on tolerance, coexistence, peace, non-violence and respect for all religions. By the 13th century Islam made its presence felt throughout North India. A large number of Kashmiri people adopted Islam led by Sufi saints. The synthesis of Arabic and Persian culture produced a new order of sufis called rishis. These rishis projected religious tolerance— a far cry from what Osama bin Laden preaches.

When some early Muslim rulers took recourse to religious persecution, Sheikh Nooruddin emerged on the scene as a powerful symbol of protest against the use of force in religion. This marked the beginning of the exclusive rishi cult, akin to sufism. The hallmark of rishi and sufi cults was peace, non-violence and respect for life to the extent of strict vegetarianism which the followers of the rishi order observe.

Never in the history of Kashmir have bigoted and tyrannical rulers or fanatics been looked upon with esteem. On the contrary, the people's icons have been men and women like Budshah, Nund Rishi and Lal Ded.

It is the result of Kashmiriyat, which is nothing but love for coexistence, that fundamentalists have not been able to win more than five Assembly seats in the Kashmir valley out of 42 even during the days of intense political turmoil.

For people, irrespective of their faith and belief, shrines have always acted as a force that bind Kashmiris together. During the past over 600 years, shrine believers have outnumbered the fundamentalists and fanatics. It has been a common sight in Kashmir with Hindus and Muslims offering prayers and donations in several shrines.

The shrines of Baba Rishi in Tangnarg, Dastgir Sahib, Shah Ramdan, Saed Sahib (all in Srinagar), Rishi Moalan in Anantnag and Charar-e-Sharief in Budgam stand as a symbol of togetherness and people belonging to different faiths visit these shrines with devotion.

The doors of Hindu shrines and temples were never locked for Muslims and Muslims shrines have invariably remained open to Hindus. Many Kashmiri Muslims would be seen circumambulating the Pari Parbhat fortress which is dotted by Hindu and Muslim shrines. Hindus have been seen bowing their heads at the doorstep of the shrine of Maqdoom Sahib in Srinagar before praying at the lower Ganesha temple.

It has happened and it can happen only in Kashmir that Hindus eagerly wait for a share from "Qurban Maaz" (sacrificial mutton) during the Id-ul-Zuha celebrations. It can happen only in Kashmir that Muslims look for a share from drenched walnut during Shivrati celebrations.

The rulers of Kashmir have come and gone but the blood of Kashmiris remains the same. It has not changed colour with the change of religion. The basic ethos remains the same. So do age-old traditions though Islamic extremists have left no stone unturned to spoil the secular atmosphere in the valley.

The point which General Musharraf ought to remember is that nothing can be gained by his "blood" talk. Kashmir has been an integral part of Indian civilisation and culture. It is a symbol of secularism which is the very basis of the Indian nationhood. This secular legacy is visible even in the Amarnath temple tradition. The offerings there are shared by both the Hindu and Muslim custodians of the temple.

For decades, fanatic exponents of Islam have tried to destroy this sufi and secular tradition in Kashmir by the cult of the gun and a distorted form of Islam practised by the likes of Osama bin Laden.

Unfortunately, frequent invasions have disturbed the secular fabric of Kashmir. It is also a fact that the conversion was not voluntary. That is the reason why the converts retained much of their Hindu past.

Distortions of history cannot be accepted as a fact of life. The rich tradition of sufism along with the cult of rishis provided for a healthy and multi-layered religious homogeneity at the ground level. It is a pity that vested interests of the military dictators in Islamabad have tried to destroy the social fabric of Kashmir by ruthlessly pursuing parochial views on Islam with the help of jehadis and foreign mercenaries.

Kashmir is very much rooted in the Indian psyche. I have repeatedly said this in my earlier columns. For millions of Indians, Kashmir is not a piece of real estate. It is the very basis of the Indian nation based on secularism, tolerance, understanding and mutual faith among different communities.

To take Kashmir away would amount to a total erosion of the Indian nation. No Indian government can accept such a proposition. Nor will this be acceptable to the 112 million Muslims of this country. General Musharraf, we expect you to keep this in mind while talking about "our blood". Think of the real blood that runs in the veins of Indians from times immemorial.

It needs to be appreciated by the world community that India has refused to become a theocratic state simply because such a course would have done grave injury to the genius of our people and their civilisational values. As a part of our tradition we allow our quest for truth to continue, preserve the right to differ and remain secular multi-ethnic and multi-religious.

Our civilisation is imbued with the spirit of enquiry and it cannot abandon its quest. The day Hindus close their minds and become less tolerant, their civilisation will be in trouble.

It is tolerance that creates diversity. We must not allow the fear of diversity to snuff out our tolerance and create an intolerant society.

If Kashmir has become a problem, it is because we made a mess of the accession issue. We also allowed personal factors to determine national issues. Moreover, we probably did not know how to deal with a border state. Perhaps we thought we had to purchase the loyalty of the Kashmiri Muslims by giving them concessions.

However, membership of a union of states is not like membership of a society. Once you become a member of a federation of states, you cannot withdraw from it except under extreme circumstances. We have seen the consequences in America in the latter half of the 18th century. The Americans fought a bloody civil war to prevent secession.

In any case, historically religion has been found wanting as a cementing force. Throughout history Muslim countries have waged bloody wars among themselves. The Caliphate and the Turkish empire broke up because of internecine feuds.

India, on the other hand, in spite of its vast diversity, has been able to hold together. In Pakistan, deep fissures still threaten to erupt into ethnic conflicts because of the very nature of its birth. People who refuse to coexist with others soon find that their own differences prevent them from living together.

After the Afghan developments General Musharraf needs to keep this basic fact in mind instead of indulging in useless rhetoric of "our blood" and "their blood". In any case, he needs constantly to remember that Lahore runs in the blood of the Punjabis here.

MIDDLE

Puppies, lovers and husbands
V. K. Kapoor

TO be loved is a deep human need. Puppies, lovers and husbands desire to be loved, liked and cuddled. Love has a festive transience. It has sensual, social and spiritual significance. Love gives radiance to life. Without it life remains a catacomb of darkness.

The essence of a puppy is innocence and loyalty. It has a fragile vulnerability in its helpless wordlessness. Its guileless stare brings out a mothering instinct amongst the women and a protective one amongst the men. Puppy love is associated with raw fascination and freshness. Puppy love is an ideal assemblage of abstract emotions that make up the architecture of a dream. A puppy remains in the vicinity of a woman’s heart. A famous Hollywood actress remarked that “The loyalty you will find in a pup can never be found in a man. You can keep a pup on the leash but not a man”. It is the eternal desire of female species to keep the male on a leash.

People keep on falling in love in spite of constant pain of living. Men and women react differently to the emotion of love. Women take love more seriously than men. Madam-de-Stael remarked: “Love is the whole history of a woman’s life, it is only an episode in a man”. Some episodes deserve to be bottled. In distant closeness love lives, in wrong familiarity it dies. In love does mood follow situation or does mood create situation? Both happen. Sometimes the existence of lovers becomes an archive of unhappiness. We become victims of those who love us. They dream our destinies and plunge us into nightmares. We are both dreamers and conspirators.

Freud said that “Each love we experience leaves a deposit in the self, enlarging and maturing it. Love is a completion, a satisfying of deep needs. Most of us fall in love with someone whose personality is the complement of our own (the strong driving person with the trail timid one) and through whom we can try to fulfil ourselves”. Signals become reality, mask is followed by the substance.

“Ik lafze-e-Mohabbat hai, Adana Sa Fasana Hai,

Simte To Dil-e-Aashiq, Phaila To Zamana hai”.

When a lover becomes a husband, he discovers new dimensions of the relationship. What is obvious in hindsight is oblivious in foresight. Familiarity is comfortable, but it is also deadening. Romance is the first victim of marriage. The pink world starts acquiring grey hues. A lover who becomes a husband is like a burnt rope, which loses its binding power though it still looks like a rope.

To love the same person with abiding loyalty for a long time is a difficult job. With the passage of time a husband’s character becomes two halves of an incoherent whole. Husbands are both arrogant and ignorant. They are arrogant in their masculine behaviour and ignorant about the needs of their spouses. A husband is always in conflict between his duelling nature of a feudal and a democrat, a master and a companion.

Women — from breast to cradle to cuddle — can nurture in ways that men cannot. After some years of marriage husbands and wives do not live together, they live side by side. There is an increasing vacuum and incoherence at the cove. The smugness of a lover turns into the malice of a husband. A woman who floats like a butterfly before marriage stings like a bee after marriage. Most of the Indian husbands have a cattle market mentality. They are uncouth, uncultured, unsophisticated, crude and lack imagination. They get bogged in the messiness of life and matrimony and make life a chronicle of sins, shadows and sadness.

A puppy, a lover and a husband are generally impulsive by nature. One thing common between puppies, lovers and husbands is their genetic inclination for adultery. Faithlessness comes to them naturally. All of them react to the fresh female scent. A puppy strains at the leash, a lover fantasises, and a husband plots. Adultery has a narcotic thrill as Bob Dylan Sings in Sugar Baby: “There ’an’t no limit to the amount of trouble women bring”.

COMMENTARY

The future of Europe
M.S.N. Menon

THE European Union (EU) has crossed yet another milestone with the issue of euro notes and coins on January 1, 2002. It was the biggest currency conversion in history.

When the Common Market was launched, it was a great gamble. The imponderables were far too many. Yet it can be said today that it is a great success.

A common currency is not merely notes and coins. It is the building block of a common European identity. It has high political significance. It is a step towards a real European state.

The economic impact of the euro is no less important. The introduction of the euro has brought about better competition, integration, cross-border acquisitions and mergers and greater uniformity in prices. Europe is more flexible and efficient today. Exchange rate instability, a common condition of most European currencies, has become a thing of the past. And the euro has been able to reshape Europe’s economic ground rules.

Behind euro’s acceptance were great sacrifices. The Germans were proud of their currency. But Helmut Kohl, the German Chancellor, gave it up in return for French support for the reunification of the two Germanies.

But where is the EU heading? Is it pioneering an alternative model to that of America? We are not sure. The final choice will be determined by the global circumstances. And by the logic of its internal life.

Germany and France are the most important nations of Europe and of the EU. They will shape the future of Europe and, in a way, of the world.

But how? The EU is already the largest trading bloc in the world. It controls 40 per cent of the world trade. And with 15 members — all industrial nations — and 12 more in the queue for membership, the EU may well become the largest bloc for years to come.

With it, the era of bloc dominance will begin. And peace and stability will have greater chance with the decline of the dominance of powerful individual states.

The USA, the superpower, has a feeling of fatigue today. This feeling was expressed by no less a person than US Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil. He said: “The world must not rely on the USA as the engine of global growth.” It is time for other economic centres to play a more dynamic role.

If the EU had identified itself with the USA before, it was because of the cold war and Europe’s dependence on America. The EU bought its security cheap from NATO, and enjoyed all the benefits that flowed from the US leadership of the world economy. Remember, only the USA could have organised the world to the advantage of the West. Which explained why the EU continued to support globalisation, although it had serious differences with the USA.

Today, the EU is big enough to look after its own security. And Russia is no more a threat to Europe. In fact, they are potential allies. As for the economic outlook, the EU is becoming less and less dependent on the USA with every passing year.

It is true that those who expected the euro to challenge the dollar are disappointed. The euro has failed to erode the position of the dollar.

It will be recalled that Europe was never reconciled to the dollar as the international currency because it gave unfair advantage to the USA. So the French took the first opportunity to challenge the dollar by asking for payments in gold. As the USA refused to comply, Europe saw the need for a reserve currency of its own.

Today the EU has a different world outlook: it wants the euro to become an alternative international currency and compete against the dollar. And it is right in taking this line for the Japanese yen and the Chinese yuan may well become international currencies in the near future.

Experts have deprecated the dominance of the dollar. They welcome more international currencies and fewer national currencies. Growing currency crises call for a safely net.

Unless the euro is more competitive and beneficial, it will not be able to attract countries outside Europe to hold their reserves in the euro. If the euro has not done better, it is because it has been losing value against the dollar ever since its inception. The euro must gain greater stability and strength.

Has the euro then a future? Will it survive? Here are some facts which are interesting: of the 500 top corporate worldwide, 170 are euro-based, 153 dollar-based and 140 are yen-based.

The EU is India’s largest trading partner, accounting for about 25 per cent of India’s foreign trade. The EU has also overtaken the USA as the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in India.

The EU has shown special consideration to India by inviting it for an EU summit meeting. It recognises the unique position of India in Asia and in the global context. India was the fourth country to be invited by the EU for the summit after the USA, Japan and China. But for various reasons, the French consider India more important than China.

It is true, this is not reflected in India-EU trade, which is no more than $ 20 billion i.e. less than 2 per cent of the EU’s trade. Indian banks were slow to adjust themselves in order to take advantage of the euro. As a result, they have lost substantial business.

The EU is important to India for another reasons: It is closer to the EU ideologically than to the USA. And this is the way Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia and China are heading — all to a form of capitalism with a human face.

But India continues to put all its eggs in one basket in the American basket. It holds most of its reserves in dollars. And yet it states that its objective is a multipolar world — the same view held by the EU.

The integration of the EU has lessons for India, which is yet to integrate politically and economically. There is still no free movement of goods in India, no alignment of taxes, no uniform prices and no water and power management across regions without hassles. And yet European ethnic differences were far wider than in India!

TRENDS & POINTERS

New method to detect deadly blood clots

BRITISH researchers have discovered a fast, accurate method to detect deep vein thrombosis (DVT), potentially deadly blood clots that can develop during long-distance travel.

Unlike standard techniques that rely on monitoring blood flow to detect a blockage, the sophisticated scanning method — known as magnetic resonance direct thrombus imaging (MRDTI) — reveals the blood clot.

Scientists at the University of Nottingham, who developed the method, said it could be particularly helpful for pregnant women and travellers.

DVT has been dubbed “economy class syndrome’’ because of cramped conditions on airliners but experts say it can occur during any mode of transport after long periods of immobility.

“The great advantages that MRDTI has over other methods to detect thrombosis are that it is non-invasive, quick and reliable,’’ said Prof Alan Moody, who led the research team.

Until now DVT has been detected with venography, in which a catheter is inserted into the veins, and ultrasound. The condition can be particularly difficult to diagnose during pregnancy if it originates in the pelvis where it is hard to detect. Reuters

Head injury patients prone to depression

Concussions and other head injuries in early adulthood may significantly raise the risk of depression decades later, a study of World War II veterans has found.

The study has disturbing implications for football and hockey players, motorcyclists and others who have taken blows to the head.

Other research has shown that head trauma patients may be prone to depression shortly after suffering their injuries. But the new findings suggest that the risk persists even 50 years later.

The study involved 1,718 veterans hospitalised for various ailments during the war and questioned 50 years later.

About 1 per cent who had had head injuries said they currently had major depression, compared with 8.5 per cent of those hospitalised during the war for other reasons. AP