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Saturday, February
2, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Bush on the hunt Diplomatic buffoonery Hit by two blows |
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J&K: battle of minds and hearts
Hic, hic hooray!
Amid ‘portraits of grief’
1991, Peace: AUNG SAN SUU KYI
One person commits suicide every nine hours in Hong Kong
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Bush on the hunt India has two prisms through which to view the first State of the Union address of President George W. Bush. One, of course, is India-centric while the other looks at the Bush agenda from a global perspective. If the former is used, policy-makers sitting in Delhi can pump each others' hand smugly, because what the US President has said is quite in tune with the line that India has been plugging all along. For one thing, he has specifically mentioned Jaish-e-Mohammad as an out and out terrorist organisation and has decided to pursue it relentlessly. Two, he has declared that the USA is now working with Russia, China and India in "ways we have never before, to achieve peace and prosperity". Clubbing these three countries is an indication that he has dumped the cold war mind-set and is now attuned to the emerging global reality. The growing importance of the role that India wants to play on the world stage is also duly acknowledged. Not naming Pakistan along with these three is another positive development in that it marks a break from the earlier India hyphen Pakistan equilibrium. It is another matter that the role played by General Musharraf has been praised lavishly in separate references. But that seems to have been occasioned more by strategic necessity rather than sincerity. Latest reports suggest that the USA has more evidence that Osama bin Laden is hiding in Northern areas of Pakistan. This may not be with the connivance of the government, but it is certainly not without its knowledge. There are reasons to believe that the General may even be presented with concrete proof in this regard when he visits the USA shortly. That brings one to the wider ramifications of the Bush fire. He has given a certificate of merit to Pakistan but has called North Korea, Iran, Iraq and their terrorist allies "an axis of evil". The inclusion of the name of Iran is particularly unfortunate because it has been making a conscious effort to break out of the Khomeini mould. Not only that, the USA has threatened to pursue the so-called terrorists everywhere, as if the whole world is a battlefield and the USA has the divine right to establish the order of the good over the evil lurking all over the globe. This kind of strong reaction has come not only from neutral observers but even from American allies who are demonstrably uncomfortable with the intemperate language used by the President, as also by the possibility of spreading the battle against terrorism too thin. Even when action was launched against the Taliban, there was unease among some of the allies. It is only bound to grow. American spokesmen have tried to soften the blow by denying the possibility of immediate strike against the countries on the rogue list, but the damage is done. |
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Diplomatic buffoonery Pakistan does not have a political leadership. What it has is a military dictatorship and a dictatorship-driven bureaucracy. However, even dictators are expected to do business with the global community within the parameters of accepted diplomatic conduct. But why blame the military and civil bureaucracy of Pakistan for rewriting the rules of correct diplomatic conduct? The business of messing around with diplomatic niceties started in Agra and the person who laid down the new rules of the game was Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf. Throughout the extended duration of the summit he conducted himself not like a Head of State, though self-appointed, but like an uncouth person caught in the arclight of global diplomacy. The breakfast meeting exposed the lack of depth of most journalists who accepted the General's invitation. But it also exposed him as an unworthy soldier. He had the entire breakfast meeting telecast live by Pakistan Television and Star TV. He did not have the courtesy to inform the journalists that what they would be saying while biting into the chicken sausages would not be off-the-record. If what General Musharraf did at Agra was not an ungentlemanly act, what is? That single gesture exposed his claim to being an honourable soldier and a gentleman as hollow. It is against this backdrop that the stupid noises that are emanating from the office of the spokesmen of the Pakistan President should be analysed. Dictators do not allow even their spokesmen to make utterances that are not part of the approved script. The fact that Pakistan too wanted to present to India a list of wanted men in response to the list of 20 sent to it showed it was a childish response to an issue that has brought the two countries to the brink of war. And then someone had the bright idea, evidently cleared by the General, to drag in the name of India's Home Minister, Mr L. K. Advani, into the controversy. A media leak linked his name with the plan to assassinate Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan. It was not denied by the spokesmen. They promised to give the details of the alleged involvement of Mr Advani after making enquiries! The latest statement accusing India of having engineered the kidnapping of American journalist Daniel Pearl is not worth even reacting to. If this is the level Pakistan wants to pull down diplomatic discourse to, it is welcome to cut its nose and spite its diplomatic in front of the global community. General Musharraf would do well to study closely how Afghanistan interim leader Hamid Karzai is doing diplomatic business across the globe. He is a perfect role model for even the so-called veterans in global diplomacy. |
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Hit by two blows Thursday brought two fairly shattering news to the Union Finance Ministry. One, the Central Statistical Organisation clarified that its earlier estimate of economic growth for the financial year 2000-2001 was grossly wrong and it was perhaps not more than 4 per cent. This is disturbing for two reasons. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has been claiming a rate of 5.7 per cent and bravely talking of 8 per cent or more in the coming years. But last year’s growth is the second lowest in the past decade and given the global economic slowdown, it cannot improve but only worsen. All the talk of 8 or 9 per cent growth rate to banish poverty before 2010 looks so much hot air. But Finance Ministry senior officials are smiling and for a good reason. With a low base in the past financial year, any progress in 2001-02 will look impressive. That is a statistical illusion but very pertinent to government accounting. The major source of concern is that growth in agriculture and services has decreased marginally but it is worrying that the two sectors which provided muscle to growth have weakened for two different reasons – drought in one case and global and national slump in another. This calls for a structural change and it is the responsibility of the government as the whole and not merely of the Finance Ministry. That calls for close coordination, something missing for many months. In the current financial year things have not looked up and even if agriculture turns in a good performance, there is no promise that the growth rate will climb to a respectable level. Services, particularly banking and real estate, as also information technology, are stagnating and need tax concessions to generate income. Within a month when Mr Sinha presents his budget he has a lot of homework to do to tone up the economy. The second bad news relates to fiscal deficit. The Controller-General of Accounts (CGA) of the central government has pointed out that non-Plan expenditure, that is non-productive revenue expenditure, is shooting up while revenue collection is slowing down. This is so even in December when all advance income and corporate taxes are paid, in other words, a month of fairly heavy revenue collection. This year the fiscal deficit is likely to overshoot the budget target by more than 1.2 per cent. That would upset the framework of financial planning and create future problems. What is scary is the oft-repeated assurance that customs and excise duty would be brought down to a flat 20 per cent in the name of encouraging exports. Exports at the cost of public finance? |
J&K: battle of minds and hearts Terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir started due to a feeling amongst the population of the State that the Government of India was trying to foist governments of its choice in the State from Delhi, as also maladministration in the State. Ranks of terrorists later swelled as a result of arms training and funds provided by Pakistan, cases of highhandedness of security forces, lack of economic development and paucity of jobs for the unemployed. The intensity of terrorist acts subsequently increased due to foreign terrorists crossing over and increased inflow of arms and money. There is considerable, if not total, alienation amongst the Muslim population of the State, which has resulted in locals providing shelter, information and moral support to the jehadis. Thousands of young men have lost their lives and state of mind of affected families can be well imagined. Tourism, which provides livelihood to lakhs of people, is almost at a standstill. No doubt, it is essential to stop aid and help from Pakistan to reduce the number and intensity of terrorist acts. This aspect is being tackled by pressurising Pakistan, using diplomatic and military means. However, there are enough sophisticated arms, ammunition and trained locals as also required cause and motivation for the Kashmiris to continue acts of terrorism on their own, even without overt support from Pakistan, though the intensity may reduce. The most important task to be undertaken by the State and Central Governments, therefore, is to assuage the feelings of the inhabitants of the State, reduce the extent of alienation and provide good administration. This can be done by adopting “bottom up approach” ie attending to legitimate needs of locals, including ensuring more job opportunities and improving the economy with innovative policies and vigorous implementation on the ground. Terrorism can only be eliminated if the local population does not provide any support to terrorists, as happened in Punjab. However, the leadership and the government have not come out with any bold and innovative policy and measures in this regard. During the recent visit of the Home Minister Mr L.K. Advani to the USA, he was asked repeatedly during a TV interview as to what steps the Indian Government planned to take internally in J&K? The answer given was rather disappointing. “We are taking all possible measures and necessary instructions have been issued,” or words to that effect. Does it mean that the government is oblivious of the extent of feelings of hurt/hatred amongst the population or is it felt that this is not a crucial issue and these can be suppressed by security forces and dangling carrot of ‘fair and free’ elections? None of these will work in the long run. The leadership seems to be in a daze, mesmerised and looking towards only the USA and Musharraf and thinking of actions by security forces, may be talking to Hurriyat and the like, as if their actions will unwind the Kashmir situation. They should, in addition, be focusing more on “battle for the minds and hearts” of the locals, which aspect is crucial to deal with roots of terrorism and bring them back in the national stream. Some important steps that need to be urgently taken
are :- 1. Declaring Central rule in J&K and having a new Governor, who is a man of action. He should be given a free hand to sort out the administrative mess in the State. The locals seem to have more faith in a Governor than the present State Government. 2. Posting specially selected officers, including defence officers, for administration in districts. We should think of a special cadre of administrators as was done in the East, long ago. The existing officials are by and large inefficient, ineffective and corrupt. Loyalties of quite a few lie across the LoC. 3. Having a unified command of security forces and intelligence agencies. They should report to the Governor as long as President’s rule lasts. 4. Starting more industrial projects for the State, which will provide employment and help the economy. 5. Confederation of Indian Industry to offer 5 per cent jobs in each company to residents of J&K. The whole nation has to chip in; the government alone cannot provide every facility. 6. Some seats should be reserved in institutes of higher learning like engineering and medical colleges as also IITs, IIS and IIM for students belonging to J&K. 7. More well equipped and manned hospitals need to be opened in forward areas. 8. College students in J&K should be taken on tours of rest of the country to show them places of interest, institutes of higher learning and industry, which will make them knowledgeable and proud of the country. Both the State and Central leadership should start to set its own house in order in Jammu and Kashmir. Any pressure on Pakistan by the USA or change of mind by Pakistan leadership will no doubt help, but at the core is the alienation and dissatisfaction of the population of the State as also immense hurt and even hate. Unless the battle for their minds and hearts is won, all the rest will provide only superficial and temporary relief from terrorism. For this battle to be won, first and foremost, the need for it must dawn on the leadership and then the same planned and executed with new and pragmatic thinking and executed without any loss of time. The writer is a retired Lieut-General. |
Hic, hic hooray! Last Sunday, I almost made it to the Guinness Book of Records by hiccuping non-stop for four hours, 53 minutes and 47 seconds and samaritans proffering outlandish (and landish) suggestions for relieving me of my distressing affliction were many and rest assured when my eagerly awaited 1001 House-Hold Cures for Hiccups is published, their contribution will be handsomely acknowledged. The first to weigh in was the family retainer — a toothless old hag on the wrong side of 80 who should have been pensioned off and sent home packing around turn of the century. “I know just the right cure for you,” she said trying to look bright, but falling flat on her face “I’ll take a little fenugreek and coriander seeds and grind them into a meat paste and after soaking the stuff in tamarind water, I’ll warp the whole stuff in a betel leaf. You stand facing nor'-nor west and holding your nose, you swallow the stuff whole while I chant a mantra in chaste old Kannada. That’s what we do in my native village in Bijapur district for curing hiccups and not once has it failed!” “Oh yeah?” I snarled between bouts of hiccups,” and while at it, why don’t you lace your stuff with a noggin of illicitly distilled moonshine whisky?” The chap who had looked in with a view to striking a lucrative barter deal — a plastic shaving mug for a priceless Benares silk saree took the floor. “I know just what’s to be done sir, “he said “you strip to your waist and lie flat on your stomach, your arms spreadeagled and your knees double up. I’ll sit on the back of your neck and pummel you with all the brute strength I’ve got between your solar plexus and shoulder blades, forcing the air out of your lungs and with it the hiccups. That’s what we do in our native village on the North-West Frontier!” “You lay so much as a grubby finger on my person and I won’t be answerable for the consequences,” I vowed grimly. My next-door neighbour who had dropped in to borrow my ration card and appropriate to herself my monthly quota of maida, sooji and parboiled rice and palmolein oil said: “What you should do is mix clarified buffalo ghee with sour curds and turmeric powder and swallow the stuff”. She didn’t get my ration card. The maid servant wasn’t thru yet. “I know an even better cure,” she said, I’ll take a pinch of ...........” I held up a restraining hand. I can appreciate your eagerness to know if any of the above cures were of any help in curing me of my affliction. Oh yes, very definitely. Hic! |
Amid ‘portraits of grief’ New York. Ground Zero. The friend who takes me there has been many times before and is surprised as we drive down Broadway — this city’s famed theatre district — at how much of the area is now open for business and how quickly normalcy appears to have returned. All of this area was closed, she says, pointing at shops and office blocks that show no signs of the trauma of September 11. The only impediment is a traffic jam that forces traffic to crawl towards Ground Zero so slowly that she suggests it would be better for us to get out and walk. So we set f on a pavement crowded with people of every race. Chinese, Indians, Africans, white people of varying colours and nationality and people who wear their Islamic faith openly in their attire. There are so many different types of people that it comes as a reminder that New York is the capital of the global village. Nobody is a foreigner here or perhaps everyone is. Further down the road as we get closer to where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood this point is made more piognantly in the picture of the dead. They hang on cardboard and wooden frames along the side of the pavement and drape a black wrought iron fence outside and old church. My friend tells me that in the immediate wake of September 11 these pictures with “Have You Seen” or “Missing” written over them were everywhere. Hundreds of people from distant cities and countries walk with us, silently reading messages that say: God bless you. We love you. Your children miss you and God bless America. Some take pictures of themselves beside the messages, most just walk by very slowly. My friend points to the church and tells me that it has survived by some miracle because the towers were directly behind it. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rubble fell at around it but it remained unscathed. In it, she says, is one of the oldest seals in America, it is said to go back to the time of George Washington and it also survived unharmed. How? Why? As a symbol of hope? A reminder of Americans of patriotism, unity, the importance of their nation? You see much evidence of American nationalism around Ground Zero. There is the American flag everywhere and an interest in what happened here so strong that thousands of people come every day. It has become New York’s most important place of pilgrimage. More than 600 people come every hour, according to a police officer guarding the site. So they have been forced to set up a viewing system. A makeshift ramp has been built for those who wish to view the remains of the twin towers and you cannot go in without a ticket that tells you exactly when you can enter for your half hour chance to pay your respects. The tickets are free but you need to walk down to Pier 16, South Sea Port to get them. Only five blocks down that street, the police officer tells us. Pier 16 is a place of restaurants with sunny terraces that overlooks New York’s harbour and in the water stand enormous ships that tower over the small, glass booth at which we queue to get our tickets. The earliest ones available are for two hours later so we sit in one of Pier 16’s restaurants to eat fish and chips and talk about what happened and how it affected New York. My friend is a New Yorker but lives uptown; so it was a while before she could make her first visit to this part of town. The first time she came was a couple of weeks later and what she remembers was the fire that burned in Ground Zero and the acrid smell that hung over everything. This whole area was closed off, she said. Nobody was allowed in except those involved in the rescue effort. She made her second visit in October and noticed that they were still trying to put out the fire and that over all the buildings in the area a thick pall of ash seemed to hang. It took a long while, she said, for the city to recover its spirit. People stopped going out, stopped going to work, stopped partying, stopped everything. And, if you walked in the Central Park, it was usually empty and silent but for the sound of air force planes screeching overhead. All commercial flights into the city were closed. Then, remarkable, New Yorkers seemed to suddenly decide to get hold of themselves and get on with their lives. When you see the events of September 11 from the perspective of New York all you see really is the horror of what happened in this city. Although a degree of normalcy has now returned, the city’s newspapers are still filled with stories of big companies like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs moving out of downtown New York forever. The New York Times reported last week that many of those who lost their offices in the twin towers are now thinking of moving to places like New Jersey so there are more than 20,000 square feet of office space available in an area where a few hundred square feet would have been impossible before September 11. The human tragedy is also still very much alive with The Times continuing to profile those who died in series called “portraits of grief”. Newspapers also report the tragedy of civilian deaths in Afghanistan and the controversy over how Taliban prisoners at Guantanomo Bay should be treated but in New York it is what happened on September 11 that seems to matter most. The general reaction may be horror and revulsion but there are also liberals who try to understand what it was that made those 19 young Muslims kill themselves to destroy the World Trade Center. They ask questions about American foreign policy and criticise their government for not being more sensitive to the Palestinian cause. I even met people who said — or virtually said — that it was good thing that September 11 happened because it taught America a lesson. But, when I returned from Ground Zero and looked out at the lights of New York from my hotel room on the 31st floor, when I jogged the next morning in the Central Park and saw a white moon shine through dead winter trees and when I spent long days wandering through the streets of the most magnificent modern city in the world, found it hard to even try to seek explanations for September 11. There should be no reason to seek explanations. There are plans to build a memorial over Ground Zero, a monument of some kind. It seems unnecessary to do this because as it is today — a raw wound in the heart of New York — it is as moving a monument as there could be. |
A kite-flying tragedy occurred in the Gowalmandi Street, Lahore, on Monday at 2 p.m. A Hindu young man of 25 fell down from a three-storey building where he was flying kites. He sustained mortal injuries, expiring after one hour's struggle. The deceased was an employee in the Loco-Workshop. |
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One person commits suicide every nine hours in Hong Kong One person takes his life every nine hours in Hong Kong as the economic downturn pushed suicide rates to their highest level ever, according to government figures. The number of suicides rose from 868 in 1998 to 984 last year, the highest number recorded in the territory, the Social Welfare Department has said. The most common methods of suicide are jumping from high buildings, followed by burning charcoal in a sealed room and hanging. Hong Kong has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, particularly among children. A high-stress lifestyle and poor communication between family members are among the factors blamed by sociologists for the trend. DPA Mosquito repellents a health hazard, say doctors Mosquito repellents, like coils, mats, oils and creams may cause several ailments like bronchitis, respiratory problems, eye-irritation and nausea, according to latest research. The Gujarat State Consumers Protection Centre has brought out the recent findings, highlighting the various health hazards caused by repellents of various kinds. Very little is known about the long-term health implications of these products and in-depth scientific evaluation of these products has not been conducted so far. However, from the little research that is available, there is enough evidence to cause sleepless nights. These products have also been linked to the Parkinson’s disease. “Even though there is no clinical study on the affects of the fumes from mosquito repellents, the experimental study undertaken in the West suggests that inhalation of allethrin and pyrethroids may not be safe for people, in particular for infants, young children and pregnant women,’’ says Dr Gur Sahaini, neuro-surgeon at Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai. UNI 19 William Blake drawings found in England A book auctioneer has discovered 19 works by the visionary English eccentric William Blake that were last sold in Edinburgh in the 1830s, according to The Daily Telegraph.
“This was Blake’s best-known public project. We expect it to sell for over one million pounds (1.45 million dollars),’’ Dominic Winter said, although he acknowledged putting a price on the collection was difficult. The 19 watercolours are original illustrations to Robert Blair’s poem, the Grave, a gothic meditation on scenes of desolation which was written in 1743. In 1804 Blake was commissioned by the engraver and entrepreneur, R. H. Cromek, to produce “about 20 designs’’ to illustrate a new edition of the poem.
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Whatever moves in the world is pervasive of the Lord. Therefore enjoy yourself even as you renounce; covet nothing, for whose wealth is this anyway? Desire, doing your duty, to live a hundred years. Living thus, karma will not cling to you. There is no other way.... The self is one, unmoving yet moves faster than the mind; even the gods cannot catch up with it since it runs ahead. Standing still, it outruns those that run; the pervasive breath keeps the life of all things in the self. It moves, It moves not, is far away, yet near, within all this and outside all this. — Ishavasya Upanishad *** The ocean carries weeds on its surface, but keeps the precious gems Underneath. People get what is divinely writ — a lion does not fetch a cowrie, but elephants are sold for a fortune. People pluck fruit from the tree but eschew the leaves that are bitter. But the tree like a noble man, bears them all on itself. I revere the noble man who is rare in the kali age He conceals his own virtues to bring those of others to light. — Apabhramsha verses of Hemachandra Suri (12th century Jain scholar) |
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