E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Tell Pakistan, not India
Has the international community really woken up to the danger of a desperate Pakistan launching a nuclear attack on India? Rough estimates suggest that a nuclear war would kill at least 12 million people in the sub-continent. Add to it the longer term consequences the two countries will have to cope with to understand importance of a global initiative for defusing tension on the Indo-Pak border.

Police firing in Jind
The farmers’ agitation in Haryana is set to spread after the death of two farmers in police firing near Jind on Wednesday. The occasion was solemn — activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union had gathered in large numbers at Kandela village to mourn the death of a farmer in another incident of police firing on May 20. Their mood was hostile as they felt betrayed. 

FRANKLY SPEAKING

The drive against proxy war
India in a Catch-22 situation
Hari Jaisingh
"We will have to change the method of countering the proxy war". The author of these words is Union Home Minister L.K. Advani. 

MIDDLE

The witty Pandit
P. Lal
Panditji had been fed — he had to be — with burfi, almonds, cashewnuts and fruits, topped with milk, before he could be asked to pronounce on the effects of heavenly stars on earthly mortals. He had been especially summoned to Chandigarh at my residence that very morning from Jalandhar, his usual seat of consultation and prophetic pronouncements.

COMMENTARY

Is Myanmar lost to Chinese dragon?
M.S.N. Menon
The answer is no. The Myanmarese are a fiercely nationalistic people. The country is already part of ASEAN, part of the Ganga-Mekong project, part of the Great Mekong Region and a member of the economic association of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Its future is thus already committed.

TRENDS & POINTERS

Another reason to eat broccoli
Broccoli is not only loaded with vitamins and minerals — it may carry a substance that kills bacteria that cause stomach cancer, researchers have said. A compound that helps give broccoli its distinctive taste, which some love and others hate, also kills the helicobacter pylori bacteria, blamed for most cases of stomach cancer, French and U.S. researchers have said.

• A weapon in tears
• New drug lasts longer than Viagra

Insulin shots do not prevent diabetes: study
Regular insulin shots do not delay or prevent childhood-onset diabetes, according to a new study in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine that appears to dash hopes that the hormone can keep children from developing the blood-sugar disease.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

EDITORIALS

Tell Pakistan, not India

Has the international community really woken up to the danger of a desperate Pakistan launching a nuclear attack on India? Rough estimates suggest that a nuclear war would kill at least 12 million people in the sub-continent. Add to it the longer term consequences the two countries will have to cope with to understand importance of a global initiative for defusing tension on the Indo-Pak border. However, it would be naive to mistake the flurry of diplomatic activity as a serious and just response to the crisis that may escalate into a full blown war. On Wednesday British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw breezed into Delhi and Islamabad to give a lecture on the importance of showing restraint for solving bilateral disputes. Such dilly dallying tactic may suit Pakistan. It is inconceivable that a country tottering on the verge of bankruptcy can afford to send trained and armed terrorists to India as part of its flawed Kashmir agenda without indirect help from countries that want to somehow gain more than a toehold in the sub-continent. Mr Straw said nothing that has not been said before. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is reported to have packed his bags for a short trip to the potentially most dangerous place on the globe after West Asia. He too is not going to tell Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf to back off or face the consequences of collective global displeasure. General Musharraf’s irresponsible statements have become both repetitive and irritating. And what adds to the sense of irritation in India is the lack of sensitivity among responsible members of the global community to the mounting tension.

When they deliver the same lecture of restraint to both India and Pakistan they send out an unmistakable signal that India does not have a case to expect focused global pressure on Pakistan alone for sowing the seeds of nuclear tension in the sub-continent. India is the wronged country. And enough evidence has been supplied to the global community, including the US, Britain and the European Union, about Pakistan’s role in spreading terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and communal tension in other parts of the country. The global community expressed displeasure over the violence in Gujarat. But did it examine Pakistan’s hand in the Godhra and the post-Godhra incidents? India is willing to provide evidence, but will that make the international community take a tougher line against Pakistan than it has taken so far? Will it care to send independent observers to find out the groups behind the bomb blasts in public transport buses in Ahmedabad on Wednesday and their long-term plans? Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was responsible for the Bombay bomb blasts. But Pakistan has consistently denied that he is now hiding in Karachi and enjoying the life of a perpetual state guest. The Ahmedabad blasts are part of a larger and more diabolical game of spreading the vile tentacles of Islamic terrorism to other parts of India. There has been some hint of stopping military and economic aid to Pakistan for making it mend its ways. The usual hint of action is not good enough. The day the White House and 10 Downing Street decide to crack the whip General Musharraf will be singing a different tune. Until that happens the visit by Mr Jack Straw or by US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage or later by Mr Rumsfeld is not going to help much in defusing tension in the sub-continent. The post-September 11 commitment to rooting out international terrorism in all its forms will remain unfulfilled unless the nurseries of global terrorism that are responsible for murder and mayhem in Kashmir and elsewhere in India are destroyed in Pakistan. Has the USA ever dropped a serious hint to the dictator to stop training and sending terrorists to India? The insistence on dialogue between the two countries without addressing the problem of terrorism will not work.

Police firing in Jind

The farmers’ agitation in Haryana is set to spread after the death of two farmers in police firing near Jind on Wednesday. The occasion was solemn — activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union had gathered in large numbers at Kandela village to mourn the death of a farmer in another incident of police firing on May 20. Their mood was hostile as they felt betrayed. The BKU, it is given out, released the seven hostages a few days ago on the tacit understanding that the arrested farmers would be set free in exchange. A DSP had negotiated the deal, but the state government denied any such arrangement. This had naturally inflamed the protesters’ mood. On their way back from the condolence meeting, some of the farmers reportedly tried to block the Jind-Hansi road, which led to police firing and a lathi charge. Given the turbulent situation, the trigger-happy Haryana police could have exercised restraint and tried softer methods of mob dispersal. The BKU has threatened to block roads all over the state and gherao the ruling party’s MPs, ministers and MLAs. Encouraged by the response to its call for protest and inept handling of the situation by the government, the angry BKU leadership is in a do-or-die frame of mind and seems unmindful of the discomfort its agitation will cause to the general public. While the BKU cannot be allowed to indulge in any unlawful activity detrimental to the peace in the state, the government needs to act with utmost caution and avoid adding fuel to the fire.

FRANKLY SPEAKING

The drive against proxy war
India in a Catch-22 situation
Hari Jaisingh

"We will have to change the method of countering the proxy war". The author of these words is Union Home Minister L.K. Advani. What, however, is disquieting is that brave declarations and oft-repeated rhetoric of our leaders — from the Prime Minister downward — have not contained Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. The man-in-the-street apparently does not relish leaders merely bragging without solid action in support.

MIDDLE

The witty Pandit
P. Lal

Panditji had been fed — he had to be — with burfi, almonds, cashewnuts and fruits, topped with milk, before he could be asked to pronounce on the effects of heavenly stars on earthly mortals. He had been especially summoned to Chandigarh at my residence that very morning from Jalandhar, his usual seat of consultation and prophetic pronouncements.

The Indian National Congress was holding its annual session in Komagata Maru Nagar in Mohali (Punjab). Mrs Indira Gandhi, the President of INC and the Prime Minister of the country, was camping at Punjab Raj Bhawan. The year was 1975 (December).

Senior police officers had been drafted from all over the state for security duty. They had arrived a week in advance for rehearsals and briefings.

Two of my colleagues from the IPS who had come from outstation had made themselves comfortable at my residence taking advantage of my bachelor-status then, and of a fairly large first-floor-accommodation which I had hired in Sector 35. I was posted then as an SP with the Punjab CID in the beautiful city of Le Corbusier.

Panditji’s services were requisitioned specially on the asking of one of my two guests, on a Sunday which was free from rehearsals and other official engagements. A constable had earlier brought, on a nightlong bus-journey, the horoscopes of the officer’s children, his wife and of the officer himself from his place of posting, to Chandigarh.

When Panditji’s countenance showed contentment after the generous helpings of sweets, fruits et al, my guest pulled out one of the horoscopes and handed it over to Panditji and begged of him to read his horoscope and to tell him what all lay in store for him in future.

Panditji spread the sheet, looked at the charts therein, made some of his own, scribbled down a few notes and then, after a deep contemplation, declared: “Your star is rising in the south.”

The officer could not conceal his glee and countered: “This means I may get the charge of district Bhatinda?” Bhatinda was to the south of his then place of posting.

“Yes, yes, you will,” Panditji spoke with authority.

The officer’s face shone with joy. Getting charge of a district for a young police officer was no joke then. Many strings had to be pulled for that. He had been desperately doing that for long, with no success.

After a few more predictions on his fate, the officer took the horoscope back from Panditji and passed him another from the lot, and said, “Panditji, this is my son’s. Please read this also.”

As Panditji spread it out, the officer noticed that it had his own name written on it, instead of his son’s. “Panditji, there has been a mistake. The horoscope you have just now read was not mine; it was my son’s.”, the officer complained. His face was ashen now. He remonstrated: “Panditji, how did you then declare that my star was rising in the south?”

Panditji was nonplussed for a moment. But then, he regained his composure and announced with confidence: “If you go to Bhatinda, your son, too, would go with you. What was wrong, therefore, if his charts also showed his star to be rising in the south?”

The officer felt reassured. Panditji had, of course, shown a remarkable presence of mind.

The Panditji left. The officer, too, left after the VIP duty. His star, however, did no rise in the south, not in any case over Bhatinda. He remained for a year or so where he had been and was then posted out to Delhi, on deputation with the Government of India.

COMMENTARY

Is Myanmar lost to Chinese dragon?
M.S.N. Menon

The answer is no. The Myanmarese are a fiercely nationalistic people. The country is already part of ASEAN, part of the Ganga-Mekong project, part of the Great Mekong Region and a member of the economic association of India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Its future is thus already committed.

But what of Burma’s long association with China — for almost four decades? True, China has a strong presence in Burma. And it must have been a matter of great concern to China when Suu Kyi was released from house arrest recently for she has good reason to take Burma away from China. And this not only because of her bitter personal memories, but also because of the deep suspicion in which the Burmese hold the Chinese.

Myanmar has always lived in some fear of the Chinese. Twice it was conquered by China and twice it asserted its independence. But the dragon has never ceased to look upon Myanmar as an emergency gateway to the world — to the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean in particular. To China, the lure of the broad river Irrawaddy is irresistible.

Remember, when Japan blockaded China’s east coast before World War II, China constructed the Burma road with British consent. The Burmese never took kindly to this road and allowed it to be lost in jungles after Burma became independent. China had it revived.

Today, there are about 1.5 million Chinese in Myanmar, concentrated in North Burma. The Burmese never trust them. They have many bitter memories of the Chinese.

In 1945 the Kuomintang forces entered Burma as freebooters. But for the British army, they would have occupied Burma. In 1947 China asked Myanmar to take back the thousands of Chinese who had fled Myanmar during its occupation by Japan. The Burmese leaders refused, calling them “fair weather friends.” It was then that Beijing advanced its claim to 77,000 sq miles off Myanmar territory.

When the communists came to power in 1949, the territorial dispute was settled by U Nu, the Burmese Prime Minister, by conceding some villages to China. China undertook not to support the Burmese rebels in North Burma. But it never kept that promise. It even stirred up the local Chinese against the Burmese government.

U Nu could not control the situation. It was then that General Ne Win seized power. He went out of his way to placate the Chinese, but in vain. This forced him to take a series of steps against China. China was furious. Nationalisation of finance and commerce by Ne Win adversely affected the local Chinese and Indian traders. The Indians took it gracefully, not the Chinese.

Although Ne Win kept up his raids against the insurgents, Burma’s frontier remained troubled because of clandestine Chinese support to the rebels. With a new source of income in the narcotic trade from opium grown in China’s Yunan province, the insurgents became rich. They organised weapons even for the Indian insurgents. China did nothing to stop this.

Myanmar became more suspicious of China’s intentions as its intrigues along the frontier became more open. In 1966 Ne Win visited the USA and made it clear that he was not in the Chinese camp.

The Chinese in Burma might have been divided in their loyalty to Beijing, but on one thing they were united — on need to keep Burma under Chinese influence.

It is against this background that the incident of the “Mao Badge” took place. It showed the extreme sensitivity of the Myanmarese. During China’s Cultural Revolution, the Chinese embassy in Yangon distributed Mao badges to local Chinese students. The Burmese objected to it. But the embassy persisted. This led to the first all-Burma anti-China riots in July 1967.

China vowed to overthrow Ne Win. It called him a “war lord”. Ne Win no more felt the need to keep up the facade of correctness in his relations with China. He closed down all pro-China publications and clamped restrictions on the local Chinese. China, on its part, withdrew its technicians from Burma and cut off aid. It was during this period that China gave full support to the insurgency on both sides of the Indo-Burma border.

With the advent of Deng Xiao-ping, relations became normal. China continued to be the principal supplier of military equipment to Burma. And Deng restricted party to party relations. But, with all that, the junta remained suspicious of the Chinese. It looked to South East Asia for support. And ASEAN was helpful in preventing Chinese dominance over Myanmar.

Can the Burmese ever trust the Chinese after this long history of bitter relations? Never, I went into the details of this history to prove my point. The same can be said about the Vietnamese who fought a thousand-year war against the Chinese. Burma, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia thus form a solid anti-China bloc — the first line of defence of ASEAN against China.

Unfortunately, India’s policy towards Burma is not based on this realism. Nor is it based on a long-term vision of a common civilisation.

China prefers military rule in Burma. It cannot allow the restoration of democracy. It sees Suu Kyi as an enemy. Beijing will try its best to prevent her from coming to power. Did China have a hand in the March coup against the junta? (By the way, if our “Look-East” policy is to win, we must have our own media men in Yangan — not Singapore).

Considering the growing border trade and the movement of people across the border, India has done well in deciding to open a consulate in Mandalay, the second largest city of Burma (By the way, it is a centre of Chinese activity). India has offered to set up a hydropower station in Mandalay.

The military rulers of Burma are not a monolithic body as is believed. They are divided on Myanmar’s relation with China. Some of the generals are against China and for democracy. As for the rank and file, they are against China and perhaps with Suu Kyi.

Myanmar is going through a critical period. We need a dynamic and high profile ambassador in Yangon. If possible, a Buddhist. He must build up our relations with the Burmese from the grassroots. This should have been done years ago. And the best way is to promote tourism with a Buddhist angle. But with special concessions. What is more, it is time to restore the old shipping ferry from Akyab to Kolkata. It can serve both Burma and Indo-China.

Burma is a country of immense resources. Its 45 million people are industrious. But they are lagging behind. Unfortunately, foreign aid was cut off in 1988. America has just extended the sanctions for another year. This is unfortunate, for it only strengthens China’s hold on the junta. And some of the MNCs are withdrawing from the country for want of infrastructure.

India is particularly interested in Burma’s oil and gas, as also its hydropower resources. India has done well in opting for Myanmar gas instead of Bangla gas. We have two alternative routes: (1) which will run along the Kaladan river and join the grid in Meghalaya and (2) an offshore route from Sittwa (Akyab port) to Kolkata. The offshore is cheaper and safer. What is more, Kolkata needs more gas.

We must also explore whether it is cheaper to transport oil from Vietnam by the same route. It is time to provide the economic underpinning to our “Look-East” policy.

TRENDS & POINTERS

Another reason to eat broccoli

Broccoli is not only loaded with vitamins and minerals — it may carry a substance that kills bacteria that cause stomach cancer, researchers have said. A compound that helps give broccoli its distinctive taste, which some love and others hate, also kills the helicobacter pylori bacteria, blamed for most cases of stomach cancer, French and U.S. researchers have said.

“In some parts of Central and South America, Africa and Asia, as much as 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the population is infected with helicobacter, likely linked to poverty and conditions of poor sanitation,” Jed Fahey, a plant physiologist at Johns Hopkins who worked on the study, said in a statement. “If future clinical studies show that a food can relieve or prevent diseases associated with this bacterium in people, it could have significant public health implications in the United States and around the world.” Reuters

A weapon in tears

Scientists have found a weapon in tears and mother’s milk to fight bacteria that are chronic risk to people with medical implants.

The arm is a protein that in effect denies a home to these bugs, preventing them from forming colonies called biofilms that resist the patient’s immune system and even the toughest antibiotics.

The protein, lactoferrin, is abundant in secretions such as tears, nasal mucus and breast milk, according to a team led by Pradeep Singh at the University of Iowa.

Lactoferrin gobbles up iron, depriving the bacteria of an essential nutrient and forcing them to “wander across the surface instead of forming cell clusters and biofilms”, they report in the British weekly Nature. AFP

New drug lasts longer than Viagra

A yet-to-be-approved impotence drug developed by Eli Lilly and Co and Icos Corp appears to be longer-lasting than Viagra.

Patients in a study reported success in achieving erections from 24 hours to as long as 36 hours after taking a 20 milligram pill of Cialis, said Indianapolis-based Lilly and Bothell, Washington-based Icos.

The study did not compare Cialis’ effects directly with those of Viagra, the $ 1.2 billion-a-year drug for erectile dysfunction Pfizer Inc introduced in 1998. “There are other studies that have looked at the length of the duration of Viagra’s effects, and usually it’s in the eight-to-12 hour range maximum,” Dr Raymond Rosen, the author of the Cialis study, said in a phone interview. AP

Insulin shots do not prevent diabetes: study

Regular insulin shots do not delay or prevent childhood-onset diabetes, according to a new study in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine that appears to dash hopes that the hormone can keep children from developing the blood-sugar disease.

“In persons at high risk of diabetes, insulin at the dosage used in this study does not delay or prevent type 1 diabetes,” said Dr Jay Skyler of the University of Miami, who led a team of researchers in the nine-year study.

Diabetes is a chronic illness characterised by raised blood sugar levels. Type 1 diabetes, which makes up around 10 per cent of all cases, usually develops between the ages of 10 and 14.

The study’s findings contradict research published in 1993 and 1998 that raised hopes the shots might prevent diabetes. In the aftermath of those studies, which involved small groups of people, some doctors began giving insulin as a preventive measure to patients at risk for the disease.

The Skyler team had trouble finding patients for its research because they, or their doctors, believed pilot studies had already established that the treatment was effective.

As it turns out, it is not.

The researchers identified 339 youngsters with an average age of 12 who had a 50-50 risk of developing diabetes over the next five years. Half were given twice-daily shots of 0.25 units of insulin for every kilogram (1.6 pounds) they weighed, plus annual infusions of insulin over a four-day period. The rest were put under close observation.

They found that 70 of the youngsters who were not treated developed diabetes, but so did 69 who received the shots.

The findings, Skyler said, not only show the therapy doesn’t work but also suggest doctors should not prescribe treatments only “on the basis of small pilot studies.”

However, the Journal contains another pilot study that offers hope childhood-onset diabetes can be treated. That research, a small study conducted by Dr Kevan Herold of Columbia University, suggests a chemical designed to attack certain cells in the body may be able to slow the progress of type 1 diabetes if it is given early in the disease’s progress.

The chemical, a monoclonal antibody, tries to block the immune system before it can destroy too many insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Reuters

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

The virtuous man delights in this world and he delights in the next; he delights in both. He delights and rejoices when he sees the purity of his own work.

The virtuous man is happy in this world and he is happy in the next; he is happy in both. He is happy when he thinks of the good he has done; he is still more happy when going on the good path.

The evil-doer mourns in this world, and he mourns in the next; he mourns in bot. He mourns and suffers when he sees the evil (result) of his own work.

The evil-doer suffers in this world and he suffers in the next; he suffers in both. He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has done, he suffers more while going on the evil path.

—Khuddaka Nikaya. From the Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon (translator F.H. Woodward)

***

So long as the monks shall become full of faith, conscientious, afraid of blame, become great listeners, stirred in energy, mindful and wise, growth may be expected, not decline....

So long as the monks shall become the part in awakening that is mindfulness, that part that is mindfulness..... the part in awakening that is poise, growth may be expected, not decline....

So long as the monks shall become the thought of impermanence, of not-the-self, of unlovely things, of peril, of renunciation, of dispassion, of ending, growth may be expected not decline.....

Monks, this night a deva.... spoke to me and said: "Lord these seven things lend not to a monk's decline..... Reverence for this Master, dhamma, Order, the training, concentration, conscientiousness and fear of blame....."

—Anguttara Nikaya. From the Book of Gradual Sayings (translator, F.L. Woodward)