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Friday,
March 8, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Arundhati effect Stalemate in UP
HARI JAISINGH |
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No monkey business this!
Enigma of Japanese mind
Women as ruthless as men
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Arundhati effect As a Booker Prize winner, Arundhati Roy has her own constituency. Her literary genius is widely acknowledged and admired. Her problem with the judiciary arose because she mixed up her literary talent with her role as an activist in the Narmada Bachao Andolan spearheaded by Medha Patkar. The celebrated writer is certainly entitled to hold and air her views. The freedom of speech is enshrined in the Constitution and is guaranteed under Article 19 which also provides for reasonable restrictions. The question of "reasonable restrictions" is a matter of opinion. The judiciary has had its own way of looking at these provisions at different times and in different situations. What is important in this exercise of freedom is the use of language as a vehicle of protest and expression of views. In her youthful exuberance, Arundhati has been probably more assertive than necessary, going by the tenor of the affidavit filed by her. To say this is not to deny that every citizen has a legitimate right to criticise judicial pronouncements. Democracy is, after all, an open show in opinion-making. All the same, the dignity of the Supreme Court is as valuable as the citizen's right to express his/her views freely and fearlessly. The contempt of court provision has its own deterrence against a deliberate defiance or affront to the judiciary. But sometimes the judiciary tends to overreact which may not be good for the democratic spirit of the people. As far back as 1958, the 14th Law Commission referred to the denigration of the judiciary by persons of eminence. While it will be unfair to search for motives in the Arundhati case judgement, it is worth recalling the commission's general observations: "If the public is to give profound respect to the judges, the judges should, by their conduct, try and deserve it. Not by word or deed should they give cause for the belief they do not deserve the pedestal on which we expect the public to place them." Opinions may vary on how the Supreme Court could have responded to Arundhati Roy's response. Initially, contempt action was also initiated against Medha Patkar and advocate Prashant Bhushan for raising slogans against the court and its judgement on the Sardar Sarovar dam project in 2000. The proceedings against Ms Patkar and Mr Bhushan were dropped as they apologised. Arundhati stuck to her ground, creating an embarrassing situation for all those who not only believe in the citizen's right to freedom of speech but also in the dignity of the judiciary. The question here is not of who lost and who won. What matters in a democracy is how individuals conduct themselves as well as how the judiciary goes about its business of fairplay. No democracy thrives by contempt proceedings alone. There is more to life than slogan-shouting and obstructionist attitudes. The process of development has to continue in the interest of society. At the same time, it is equally vital that the people uprooted in the process are properly rehabilitated and taken care of with due dignity and honour. Unfortunately, too many things have got mixed up in the Narmada syndrome, creating a series of distortions in thinking and action. In any case, a thin line divides an individual's sensitivity and institutional dignity. An over-bearing attitude cannot take us anywhere. Only mutual respect and understanding can help induct a note of sobriety. A bit of retrospection too can help us all draw a "lakshman rekha" for qualitative functioning of individuals and dignified response from the judiciary. It needs to be remembered that without justice there can be no freedom and without freedom there can be no justice. It is equally desirable that no individual, howsoever prominent, should deliberately undermine public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary. |
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Stalemate in UP Uttar Pradesh Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri took the right decision by recommending a spell of President's rule in the state. Chief Minister Rajnath Singh had made it known publicly and during his meeting with the Governor that the Bharatiya Janata Party would prefer to sit in the opposition. Thereafter, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav as leader of the second largest party in the new legislature was asked to submit the names of the MLAs or groups willing to support the Samajwadi Party. The Samajwadi leader sought one month's time and was given a week to show his party's strength. He failed to satisfy Raj Bhavan. The fractured verdict left no scope for doubt that neither the BJP nor the Samajwadis nor the Bahujan Samaj Party of Ms Mayawati was in a position to convince Mr Shastri about being able to give a stable government. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav is crying foul. Who can stop him from protesting? But there can be no denying the fact that the Governor followed the letter and spirit of the Constitution in coming to the conclusion that no party would be able to provide a stable government. However, it is not for the first time that what should have been the last option has become the only option in UP. In 1996 also no party had enough numbers to form a government without support from other parties. The BJP with 174 seats was the largest party followed by the Samajwadi Party with 110, the BSP 67 and the Congress 33. After exploring all the options the then Governor Romesh Bhandari too had recommended imposition of President's rule. In the meantime, Mr Kalyan Singh worked out an arrangement with Ms Mayawati under which she was to be Chief Minister for a specified period. Thereafter she was to step down in favour of a BJP Chief Minister. She never fulfilled the second part of the power-sharing agreement. Mr Kalyan Singh was still able to form a coalition government with the help of the break-away group of Congressmen. But UP was the loser then and it would be a loser this time as well. A spell of President's rule or a government based on an opportunistic alliance cannot be expected to pay attention to the development of the state. The appalling state of the law and order situation came to light in full public glare right in front of Raj Bhavan on Wednesday when a Samajwadi MLA was shot dead by an unemployed youth. The vidhan sabha that was elected in October,1996, held its first session March, 1997. That unhappy political history is about to repeat itself. And the consequences are likely to be as devastating as far as the
socio-economic health of the state is concerned. Outsiders have no idea about what it is like
living in UP. It is a state without roads, without adequate water and power supply. Most other states are marching ahead by concentrating on the growth of information technology. UP has yet to give itself a decent mobile phone service. In the absence of assured political stability corruption and crime have struck deep roots. The party that takes the first step for forming the next government have only two options before it. One, to get unpopular by attacking corruption and crime. Two, join the gangs and rule happily ever after. The parties that ruled UP between 1996 and 2002 preferred the soft option of extending patronage to the double curse of corruption and organised crime. That is why UP is now Bihar. |
Pangs of a wounded nation We have ritualised, vulgarised and marginalised Mahatma Gandhi. Even some sacred symbols and traditional values of secularism have been torn apart. The name of this new-old game is hatred that derives its sustenance from religious intolerance. The pangs of poverty apart, the politics of hate and intolerance shows the ugly face of the Indian nationhood. True, after Partition the communal situation became complex and complicated because of an overactive Pakistan factor in domestic politics. It will, however, be absurd to blame Pakistan all the while for our own failure to meet the challenges before us. In any case, why make a habit of blaming others for our poor house-keeping? Who is to blame for the Gujarat carnage? Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee? Mr L.K. Advani? Mr Narendra Modi? Or, the system and the way we are running national affairs? Well, the leadership at all levels has failed miserably to lead the nation on rational lines. We can churn out a long list of leaders who have contributed to the drift in the polity to the advantage of the competitive lunatic forces in the name of religion. Just look at the drift honestly and objectively and we shall have the right answers. The question here is not of defining or redefining secularism and communalism. Theoretical projection of an ideology cannot take us anywhere. What matters is what we practise in real life. Equally important are functional norms of a humane and civilised society. In this setting, a shock-all barbarism of medieval times should have no place in our attitudes and behavioural patterns. Two wrongs do not make a right. The Godhra carnage was a ghastly act. No sane person belonging to any caste, community or religious group will approve of such a beastly show. Equally unpardonable was the gruesome retaliation in towns and villages of Gujarat. Are we becoming a dehumanised society? We have even lost the moral authority to swear by Mahatma Gandhi. Perhaps, the time has come for the nation to come out of its ritualism of remembering Gandhi on October 2 and January 30. Political hypocrisy of leaders and intellectual dishonesty of the so-called intelligentsia, media persons included, have pushed us to a make-believe world that does not exist on the ground. No wonder, sensitive Indians find themselves tormented by the same set of questions that once figured during Partition. India never accepted the two-nation theory. Still, Pakistan came into being despite Mahatma Gandhi and a host of Indian leaders opposing it. During that bloody period, a great human tragedy followed. Thousands of people lost their lives. Lakhs of Muslims left their homes and hearths for pastures new. Lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs deserted their places of birth to make a new beginning in a truncated India. Bitter memories die hard. A theocratic Islamic state of Pakistan has kept alive fanaticism of the forties and the fifties, occasionally threatening not only the established civilisational values but also the very foundation of the Indian nationhood. Why is it so? Where things have gone wrong and why? I cannot provide ready answers to the questions raised. I can attempt an honest analysis of events which may help us understand the present paradoxical situation. First, with Partition having become a fait accompli, Indian leaders at all levels did not care to give the people a new framework for the Indian nationhood embracing all sections and communities. It is not enough to simply talk of secularism if emotional and socio-economic gaps remain unbridged. The question here is not of majority communalism or minority communalism but of how we practise what we preach without any discrimination on grounds of caste, community and religion. Our failure has been glaring in this respect. Regrettably, there is a growing political bankruptcy to face the communal menace. Second, Indian leaders failed to work out a new deal for those Muslims (their number was in crore) who stayed back and decided to be part of the Indian nation in preference to a theocratic Pakistan. This was the most galling failure of modern India. It ought to have been the endeavour of the authorities to evolve new ethos, new responses, a new synthesis and harmony by strengthening the common bonds among all communities. A blueprint for this purpose would have been a fascinating exercise. But instead of addressing to the difficult task on hand, Indian leaders allowed things to drift, leaving the field open for operators, manipulators and vested interests, to work out their agendas of hijacking the nation. Unfortunately, religions in India have been used, misused and abused not only by the clergy but also by politicians of all shades and hues. This has encouraged politico-religious alignments which, in turn, have sharpened the battlelines between the minority and majority communities. It is no secret that the Muslims became pawns in the hands of unscrupulous politicians like Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav or Maulvis and other obstructionist elements. Socially and economically deprived, the majority of the Muslims could easily fall a prey to the madarsa syndrome. For this plight Muslim leaders are as much to blame as are the central authorities. The new fascist face of the VHP and certain upstarts in the Sangh Parivar have only made things worse. There is nothing democratic and liberal about what we have witnessed in recent months. This saving grace in this setting is the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham Jayendra Saraswati's healing touch. Instead of setting the pace for events, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee gives the impression of presiding over the continuing drift in the polity. And the nation has been paying dearly for this drift. For, the same pattern is repeated at regular intervals. The Middle Age-type barbarism in 2002 is no different from those witnessed in 1947. The 2002 Godhra-Ahmedabad syndrome was part of the crudity and cruelty of religiosity which turned into a frenzy of killings and burnings. Everything has been politicised and overpoliticised. While politicians, the police, mafias and religious leaders play their games, the poor on either side of the communal divide suffer most. In this game, which group or community is more communal depends on how one looks at the complex s cenario. What we see today is a singular mix of religion and politics which seems set to divide both hearts and minds. More than 54 years ago the British imperialists left the Indian shores. Why couldn't Indian leaders take corrective steps to reverse the colonial practice of dividing the people? Just look at the setting. Weak leadership. Faulty and unresponsive law and order machinery. Misguided religious zeal. Absence of economic opportunities for the common man. Lopsided and distorted educational system. Turbulent social order. Amidst this gloomy setting, our thinking shows little signs of change. We reiterate the same old theories, repeat the same old platitudes and reaffirm the same old hopes that are repudiated with unusual haste, sometimes the following day itself. Can we come out of this messy situation? Certainly. But not with the prevailing attitudes, responses, political hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty of the powers that be who do see the problems in set angularities and hackneyed theories of secularism and communalism which cannot stand the test of rationality and logic. What is needed is the evolution of a balanced vision of modern India which should hold all communities together as P.N. Haksar has put it: "If the post-Independence generation of India could somehow come round to having a vision of India as a whole and relate it to a comprehensive view of inter-relationship between politics, economics, social structure, cultural patterns and value systems, the clouds would begin to disappear. "Without such an effort, we can have to be moved by shortcuts and over-simplifications. Clay has a tendency to be moulded but it requires a potter's hand to take shape and form." The answer to the Godhra, nay, Gujarat, divide is to spot the right potter with a total Indian perception of modern and forward-looking India as was once spelt out by L.M. Bookman in his article "Communal Relations and Cultural Integration" (Cohesion Conflicts in Modern India, ed. Giri Raj Gupta. Vikas. New Delhi): "A shared sense of identity and community; a shared perception of and commitment to a set of over-arching values; and a shared culture make cultural integration in a religiously pluralistic society possible. Separate religious affiliation in itself does not preclude cultural integration. Members of different religious groups do not necessarily adhere to distinct and separate cultural traditions in all social situations. It is conceivable that the integrating elements of a 'common culture' at the local level might be extended to larger and larger levels of social organisation in India until an integrated national culture emerges. "I envision that national culture is neither Hindu nor Muslim but 'Indian'. I see it as one in which basic differences between Hindus and Muslims are not eliminated, but, at the same time, are no longer used as the basis for social discrimination and violent confrontation. In short, I must agree with Gandhi, who said of India in 1924, 'what can be more natural than that Hindus and Moslems born and bred in India, having the same adversities, the same hopes, should be permanent friends, brothers born of the same Mother India? The surprise is that we should fight, not that we should unite...." The emphasis, therefore, has to be on synthesis and assimilation without loss of religious identity and, at the same time, evolution of Indian nationhood as a forward-looking modern entity and yet rooted to the soil and civilisational values of this ancient land. |
No monkey business this! It was a particularly hot afternoon when I and my sister-in-law were cajoled into taking our under-two kids to a baby show-cum-painting competition (my first and hopefully the last). My father dissuaded us, but not wanting to be branded a wet blanket for life, a reluctant me gave in. My never-been-so-excited mother was chaperoning my daughter, giving me the luxury to observe the goings-on at the venue for “baby exhibits”, where barring a handful of gurgling infants, no one appeared to be having fun. I noticed a desperate mother egging on her little darling to repeat after her: ‘‘my name is Shireen.’’ The child, whose attention was caught by some children riding a horse, was on her part neither interested nor amused at the constant hammering-in! At one corner, an exasperated father was pestering his five-something son: ‘‘Paint fast and don’t forget to make tiny lines around the sun.’’ It looked like both would break down any moment. Another parent was applying rouge on her daughter's cheeks, never mind if the artificial colour ruined the child's natural charm rather than enhance it. Parents, it is believed, know best! My mother, too, suffers from the my-grandchildren-are-best syndrome. She snapped my head off, saying: ‘‘They (my daughter and nephew) must go to school right away. They won’t mix and pose for a photograph...look at the other kids...what are they crying for...’’ My humble plea — ‘‘Relax mom, it is only a baby show. Let them be...’’ — was left trailing as she bundled them off to yet another photo session where children were wailing, not quite fathoming what the whole hullabaloo was about. At the end of it all, I think everyone, except perhaps some parents with patience of Job, had had enough of everyone else. To me, the judges appeared bored doing all that baby talk and putting the same questions to uncomprehending toddlers. The organisers had had enough of the (over)enthusiastic parents. Even the magician who had been called to entertain the children seemed equally bored and tired. His voice crackled into the mike: ‘‘The next item is the water of India.’’
That he had said it thrice already was, well, another story. It was comical to see some parents running after their children who wanted to see a monkey show nearby. Thank God for small mercies. Just as I thought the pretensions were getting to me, my never-been-so-disgusted mother called it a day. There is, after all, only a thin line of difference between blooming and being blown over. |
Enigma of Japanese mind In 1543 a Portuguese ship reached one of the islands of Japan. It carried with it a weapon that “fired lead bullets with great power and accuracy.” The Japanese copies it and made their own guns. Which is why Japan escaped subjection and colonialism. In 1549 the Jesuit Priest Francis Xavier reached Japan and began to convert the Japanese into Christianity. In 1636 Japan banned Christianity. Thus, Japan has been ready to copy anything foreign that is useful. But it has been a closed shop for everything else. In the early 19th century, the Americans forced open this closed shop. That set off the furious modernisation of Japan. Japan copied everything, including the art of war. By the turn of the 20th century, Japan was already so well developed that it won a war against Russia, annexed Korea, set up a protectorate over Manchukuo (in China), carried out a massacre in Nanking (China), attacked Pearl Harbour and finally occupied much of Asia during World War II. The rise of the British island nation found a parallel in the East — in Japan. It frightened Europe and America. The gods were, however, none too pleased by the growth of this reckless robotic civilisation. And so unleashed the ultimate power of annihilation. That of the atom. Did this great tragedy compel an introspection among the Japanese? None whatever. Japan is still a nation without compassion. It is still robotic in its way. It is still a closed shop. Here was a populous island nation, living in constant dread of instant death from earthquakes, with little resources of its own and yet wanting to turn the country into a factory of the world: It drives its people to the limits of endurance, converts everything that comes its way into cash, piles up huge reserves and remains as insatiated as ever. They call Japan “God’s country” (in all seriousness), worships the Emperor as divine and have a religion which makes them as exclusivist as the Jews. How is one to know this country and its people? Can we be partners with it? India must give serious thought to this before it opts for a new policy. America tried to convert Japan into a Western-style democracy. In this it had some success. That is outwardly. The mind of Japan was beyond the reach of the West. It remained closed. The world was fascinated by the Japanese work culture, especially its discipline. Today that fascination is over, for the Japanese work culture is exacted at a terrible price. It destroys individualism and promotes the collective, just the opposite of what most people believe in. And Japan protects this system from foreign influence. To an ordinary visitor to Japan, it may seem that Japan has sold its body and soul to the American way of life. But, no; its soul is still its own. Japan does not allow its soul to be influenced by foreign ways. Nor does it permit others to have a close peek into it. Thus foreign journalists and academics are kept at a safe distance. They are never allowed a free run, say, as in America. It is not easy to break this cultural exceptionalism. It takes a foreigner years to break down this mental barrier. Japan is not worried that it will be swept off its feet by the information explosion. It has developed a fine filtering system to screen off unwanted news. And Japan has a peculiar way to disseminate information. Its industries, major corporations, business federations, labour unions, political parties and ‘politicians — all are members of “Kisha clubs”, which have a monopoly on news. Foreign journalists are denied direct access to the sources of news. There are about 500 to 1,000 foreign media men in Japan at any time. It is a matter of great frustration for them to work in Japan. Before World War II, the Kisha system was reorganised. It has remained in that mould to this day. There are three fundamental flaws in this cartellised information flow: (1) a privileged group of Japanese monopolises and regulates the flow of news. (2) The reporters’ clubs are retrogressive and serve the needs of public policy and national interest as defined by those in power, and (3) These restrictions are unworthy of an information superpower like Japan. The result of all these is an embittered foreign press. What is more, the Japanese media policy goes against democratic values. If the foreign press is restricted in so many ways the restrictions on foreign teachers are even worse. The idea is: foreign teachers should never get direct access to the minds of the young. From 1893 to 1983, foreign professors could only teach under the Kyoshi system, i.e. under annual contracts. They were never given long-term contracts and never confirmed in their jobs. After 1995 even these “liberal” terms were hardened for those above 45 years of age. The plea was: the younger ones are more in keeping with the latest advances in knowledge. Permanent tenure is given only to a few in the national universities. The only exceptions are the Christian-run universities. This insular academic mentality frightens off foreign researchers and students. Naturally, foreign students hardly volunteer to go to Japan for research. This, in turn, has adversely affected R&D work in Japan, which is why there is a saying that Japan’s economic success is built around “bought, borrowed or stolen technologies”. This may be an exaggeration, but few countries pick the “brains” of the world as studiously as the Japanese. And Japan does it by huge endowments also. Thus, for instance, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has 14 Japanese endowed professional chairs, which carry out mostly basic research in which Japan is interested. This refusal to be open and frank is carried to ridiculous extents. For example, Japanese intellectuals and cultural spokesmen hide the darker aspects of their national life and interests. In the West, they say: truth is sacred, because it is more convincing. But in Japan, they manipulate truth even among themselves. They believe that if one does not talk of a thing, it ceases to exist. Thus Japan never talks of the atrocities it committed during World War II nor is it part of its history books. So frank discussion is almost difficult to have. There is yet another Japanese characteristic. They are impervious to foreign criticism. Thus, they legalised the hymn “Kimigayo” in 1999 wishing the Emperor a “thousand” years of happy reign. |
Women as ruthless as men Female workplace bullies have a different strategy to men but are just as ruthless, said German communications consultant Sylvia Gennermann. “Women tend to be aggressive in indirect ways, but are just as ruthless,’’ she said in an interview with DPA during a seminar looking at the causes of workplace bullying and ways to counter it. Women bullies tend to spread hurtful rumours and remarks behind a victim’s back, said Gennermann. They often cut victims off from the internal flow of information inside the company. Male bullies, on the other hand, tend to prefer open threats or burdening their victims with work. But both male and female bullies try to ally with victims’ colleagues to turn them into “fellow travellers’’. Men and women also react differently as victims of workplace bullying, said Gennermann. “Women rack their brains over how they themselves are to blame for their situation, men are more pragmatic and try to place the blame elsewhere,’’ she said. When women seek help, they first seek out psychological counselling to strengthen themselves. But men are much quicker to seek out a lawyer and orient themselves to seeking a fast solution to their problem. But the cause of mobbing has nothing to do with gender, says Gennermann. “It is always the working atmosphere that allows workplace bullying to thrive.’’ In the final analysis, company bosses are responsible for this, she says.
DPA World record with 111,000 sit-ups A Brazilian weight-training instructor finished sweating his way through 111,000 sit-ups in 24 hours to claim a world record. “I won’t do another sit-up for two months,’’ Edmar Freitas told Globo television after topping world stomach-crunch champion American Bill Evans, who is in the Guinness Book of World Records for doing 103,000 sit-ups in 24 hours. Freitas ate an energy bar and drank coconut milk every hour and was allowed a five minute toilet break every four hours.
Reuters Salt helps premature baby Salt supplements given to premature babies during the first two weeks of life improve their mental and physical development up to their teens, doctors have said today. Babies born eight or more weeks early lose more sodium in their urine than full-term infants so premature infants now routinely receive extra sodium. Doctors at Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’s hospitals in London, who followed up two groups of premature babies for up to 13 years, found that those who had received salt supplements scored about 10 per cent higher on IQ tests than children who had not been given extra salt. They also performed better on memory and language tests.
Reuters. Humour important at work Humour is also the spice of professional life, it seems. As Dusseldorf-published magazine “Handelsblatt Junge Karriere’’ reports in issue 3/2002, many companies actively try to cultivate a sparkling wit among the staff. But carmaker DaimlerChrysler is the first firm in Germany to offer the workforce humour seminars. The idea is from the USA. The Bank of America has created a campaign with the name “Not A Day Without Smiling’’, says the magazine, while Southwest-Airlines has applicants reveal the last time they mastered a situation with humour.
DPA |
Be sober and temperate.... Bask in the sun. Live in the open air. Sleep in the open air. The sun and the open air are your good doctors. Let your food be simple. Never eat too much. Take sufficient exercise. If you do not keep well, fast till you are well again. Assist nature, but do not force nature. Allow nature to heal you.... Medicines and doctors only help nature in its recuperative work. — Swami Shiananda,
Bliss Divine *** Truth is the secret of eloquence and of virtue, the basis of moral authority.... the highest summit of art and of life. Pure Truth cannot be assimilated by the crowd; it must be communicated by contagion. — Henri-Frederic Amiel,
Journal (1883) *** Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God and value it next to a good conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of; a blessing that money cannot buy. — Izaak Walton,
The Complete Anger 1.21 *** How to be healthy? Great is Truth and strongest of all. — Apocrypha, 1 Esdras 4:22 *** Truth sits upon the lips of dying men. — Matthew Arnold,
Sohrab and Rustum (1853) *** The Truth shall make you free. — The Bible, John 8:32 *** The Truth is a child of Time. — John Ford,
the Broken Heart, 4.3 *** All necessary Truth is its own evidence. — Ralph W. Emerson,
Journals (1833) *** Political truth is a libel; Religious Truth, blasphemy. — William Hazlitt, The Round |
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The barbaric act at Godhra. Equally shocking scenes of barbarism in parts of Gujarat. Each ghastly act reminded the nation that it is fast losing its moorings and that it is getting into the clutches of lumpen elements and fanatics on both sides of the communal divide.