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Wednesday,
June 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Is Press a priority
area for FDI? General amnesia Weaknesses
in Bush formula |
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Army ammunition management
The diehard radio listeners of yesteryear
Pakistan’s nuclear gamble Student film on Indian male angst
Check bullying in schools
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Is Press a priority area for FDI? THERE
are elements of indecent haste in the Union Cabinet's decision on Tuesday to throw up the print media to foreign direct investment (FDI). It has allowed 26 per cent FDI in newspapers even though the management and editorial control reportedly remains with the resident Indians. This is disquieting, to say the least. The BJP-led NDA government has apparently acted under pressure from certain vested interests, which have been quite active in recent years in this regard. What is surprising is that such a step should have been taken in a casual manner without realising that basic differences exist between the industries producing consumer goods and those in the business of information and news. In any case, the moot points are: Is foreign money really needed for the print media? Has there been any dearth of funds for newspapers in this country? Most newspapers have been thriving and have grown both in circulation and revenue in recent years. Foreign money is actually needed for the development of infrastructure and not for indirectly controlling the spirit of freedom as symbolised by the Indian Press. The government's move hardly makes sense, particularly when the Standing Committee of Parliament on Information Technology had recently overwhelmingly rejected the proposal. In fact, the media policy of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been lopsided and faulty to the core. It seems that the authorities have been playing games all the while without drawing a Lakshman rekha for what constitutes national interests and what represents foreign interests. Newspapers still remain the repositories of public trust and have tremendous bearing on the functioning of our democracy. The people are, of course, capable of holding on their own, though we are still far from being a fully literate and mature democracy. The people's common sense can definitely prevail if national interest so demands. What is, however, regrettable is that the government should have mixed up its priorities and made a mess of such a vital issue simply because a few vested interests could manage to have their way. The question here is not the quantum of foreign equity but the very principle of it. A multinational investor with an FDI of 26 per cent in a newspaper establishment can acquire a licence to control policies and force the management into submission. This is an elementary matter of common sense. The rest of the position that the government has taken is nothing but window-dressing. The latest Cabinet decision totally nullifies the 1955 Cabinet resolution on the subject. It has far wider implications than is being realised right now. Not that we have to be afraid of foreign money and its corrupting influence in the sensitive media sector. We expected the government to be guided by principles and not by invisible hands who would call the shots on the Indian soil. This could be a signal for a sort of proxy war by other means to control free and independent thinking in the Press which is the very essence of India's democratic spirit today. |
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General amnesia THE
joke in Indian diplomatic circles has been that General Musharraf is capable of eating his words for breakfast, lunch and dinner without developing indigestion. This remarkable capacity seems to have become known to the West also, after he claimed with a straight face that he had never given a pledge to US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on June 6 to close down PoK terrorist camps. So, who is lying? If it is not him then it is Mr Armitage and Secretary of State Colin Powell, who publicly revealed the pledge on June 10. The spectacular U-turn that he has made is one of a piece with his yes-no switchover on Afghanistan and on madarsas (days after it was announced that he was making madarsa registration compulsory, his Information Minister Nisar Memon visited the madarsa of Sami-ul-Haq, considered the godfather of the Taliban, and showered lavish praise on it). India was always cynical about his pledge, but even it could not have guessed that he would go back on his words so soon. In a way, it is good that the cat is out of the bag so quickly. The pressure that the Western world was mounting on India to de-escalate will ease. The USA too will need to take a fresh look at its policies, considering that the Pakistani President has put a question mark on its credibility. Can Washington now take General Musharraf at his words, and more important, can it ask Delhi to do so? This breach of trust has been ostensibly committed to ward off pressure from several religious organisations and militant groups like the Hizb-ul-Mujhideen and the Jamaat-e-Islami. But that can hardly be cited as a justification for such a retrograde step. While there has been a vociferous campaign against the “sell-out” by the General, liberal elements in Pakistan have been gaining strength and criticising the old Kashmir policy equally vocally. These sane voices have been questioning the very wisdom of trying to bleed India in Kashmir through terrorism and in the process bringing Pakistan itself to the brink of disaster. Writing in The News, Nasim Zehra, a well-known commentator, went to the extent of asserting that on the Kashmir issue, Pakistan “can only be blamed for substituting diplomatic dialogue with gunpowder tactics”. The General just cannot hoodwink the world by raising the jehadi bogey. He is himself hawkish and impulsive by nature and routinely overrules the professional advice of his diplomats. Some Western nations have tried to convince India that the General’s latest comments are only to ward off criticism within Pakistan, and he will, in fact, deliver on his promises. The question is since he does not stand by even a public pledge, can he be depended on to fulfil a promise made in private? Just recall what Z. A. Bhutto promised behind closed doors during the Simla Agreement and what he did on returning home once he had got his PoWs! |
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Weaknesses in Bush formula THE
much-awaited speech of US President George W. Bush on how to establish peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians has only worsened the depressing scenario in the volatile West Asian region. His Monday’s speech was too hard-hitting so far as the Palestinian leadership is concerned. The formula he has unfolded requires a new leadership to emerge to replace Mr Yasser Arafat, currently heading the Palestinian Authority. If this happens, of course after elections and with a democratic constitution, the Bush Administration promises the creation of a Palestinian homeland within three years with provisional borders which can be negotiated later on. This is part of the political reforms President Bush has suggested to help the emergence of a Palestinian state which will have to learn to live in peace with Israel. There are serious weaknesses in the formula. Mr Arafat happens to be the most popular Palestinian leader with moderate credentials. There is no one who can defeat him in a free and fair election. If one can find any other Palestinian who has the capacity to replace him as the people’s choice, he is Sheikh Yaseen of the extremist Hamas, the main outfit responsible for terrorist killings inside Israel . Obviously, he cannot be acceptable to the USA or Israel, which too wants Mr Arafat to abandon the leadership role he has been playing by virtue of being the darling of the Palestinian masses. The truth is that there is no credible replacement for Mr Arafat. In any case, the super power’s open call to the Palestinians to ease out the moderate leader is unethical. It has set alarm bells ringing in Arab capitals. The Bush formula is unlikely to be acceptable in toto to the Arabs. Curiously, Mr Arafat has described the US President’s speech as a “serious effort to push the peace process forward”. The reason for this diplomatic reaction is available in a statement made by Palestinian Cabinet Secretary Ahmed Abdel Rehman: “It is the first time that an American administration has recognised that the only solution to this conflict is to end the occupation and to have a state to live in peace beside Israel — this is a historic change in the American stand.” Therein also lies the concept of a provisional Palestinian state which has unnerved the Israeli leadership, though Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has welcomed the Bush formula. Mr Sharon’s acceptance may be based on the American call for dumping Mr Arafat into the dustbin of history ( a long-standing Israeli demand) and “getting rid of all those terrorists” who live in the Palestinan Authority areas. Strangely, Israel wants no commitment to be made on an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. One can clearly understand Tel Aviv’s intentions. It is this factor which has strengthened the hands of the Hamas and Islamic Jehad leadership and weakened the position of Mr Arafat. The moderate leader is sought to be punished for the crimes of extremists, who happen to be calling the shots on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide. One hopes this realisation dawns on the USA. |
Army ammunition management THE latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG) has commented very adversely on the storage of ammunition at the Dappar depot, near Chandigarh. What is, perhaps, not known is that there are many other peace and field ammunition depots in the country which are plagued with similar problems of improper storage, shortage of technical and industrial manpower and inadequacy of fire detection and fighting capability. Many fires have broken out in the past in depots and units all over the country, resulting in the loss of ammunition infractural facilities worth crores of rupees and precious human lives. The accidents involving mines which have taken place in the last one year or so may also have a bearing on the improper storage in the units or old and defective initiating devices. Ammunition is the most important item in the Army’s possession requiring a large magnitude of public funds and trained manpower so that it is provisioned accurately, procured at the right time and serviceability maintained till final usage. This requires provision scales to be formulated accurately and well in time by the branches/directorates concerned to allow the DG, Ordnance Services, to procure various items of ammunition and position them as per the current logistic and operational concepts to meet the training requirements and other entitlements of Army units. This is also to ensure that there is no case where a weapon cannot be fired due to the unavailability of service ammunition or the fact that ammunition is defective, be it of import origin or indigenously procured from the ordnance factories in the country. Supply management of ammunition has to be active and flawless at all times. The CAG’s report talks of unavailability of adequately covered accommodation at the ammunition depot, Dappar, resulting in only one-third of the stocks held under cover and the remaining in the open on dunnage covered with tarpaulins. Ammunition in this type of improper storage for a prolonged period is liable to deteriorate fast due to the exposure to the vagaries of weather and termites, particularly when the boxes are wooden. There is not enough transport, material handling equipment and civilian military manpower to even turn over the
ammunition. Termite infestation causes obliteration of markings and paint on the sheets and cartridges besides corroding many functional parts. The ammunition depots in the country have over the years projected their requirements of covered accommodation to their respective higher headquarters, but for various reasons this has not come up. The Dappar depot also had a small fire in October 1997. The recommendation of the court of enquiry should be implemented without loss of time, particularly concerning the fire-fighting capability. In April, 2000, the ammunition depot at Bharatpur too had a major fire causing a loss of over Rs 400 crore. What is worse, the precious ammunition which was lost could not be easily replaced. Non-allocation of adequate funds for the construction of storage accommodation was obviously not given due priority. The depot commanders can do little more than sending reminders to their superior headquarters to expedite the construction of adequate and suitable accommodation. There are at present some positive signals from the government to allocate substantial amounts of money for the construction of ammunition sheds and laboratories. A few suggestions are made to avoid further losses impinging on the operational preparedness of troops dependent on these depots for their requirement of ammunition. (a) Ammunition lying out in the open should be re-inspected, repaired where possible, and destroyed expeditiously if unserviceable or too dangerous to be stored. (b) Sufficient manpower should be made available to cope with the technical activities such as inspection, repairs and turnover of ammunition. At present some of these activities are at a standstill for want of necessary resources. (c) Where the wooden packing cases have perished due to having remained for long in the open and are affected by termites, these should be replaced with steel or plastic cases. Such packing cases should be obtained from the DGOF and if this is not possible the DGOs, after obtaining the necessary government sanction, should resort to direct procurement with the help of the DGQA. These boxes would protect ammunition from ingress of moisture and prolong its life. Wood is already in short supply in the country; the measure suggested would help conserve the dwindling resource. (d) Ammunition downgraded on receipt from the ordnance factories should be got repaired either from the factories concerned, or the DGOs be empowered to train extra manpower, and after obtaining components from the DGOF and procuring other related appliances, undertake repair and complete the job. This will reduce delay in converting repairable stocks into serviceable holdings and eliminate the chances of mishap during storage. Keeping defective and dangerous ammunition in the depots is a hazard not only for the serviceable stocks held but also for the depot workers and the civilians in the neighbourhood. (e) It should be made mandatory for officers both from the AOC and the formation headquarters staff visiting inspecting ammunition depots to record their views on outstanding accommodation projects. (f) The ammunition issued to units against their entitlements from open areas should be reinspected for serviceability. It may have a changed condition. (g) The findings and recommendations of various courts of enquiry outstanding for finalisation for years should be reviewed, and where possible closed. The recommendations accepted for implementation should be taken up actively. (h) The audit and accounting authorities at various levels should be aware of the prevailing conditions and realities on ground and have a positive attitude to solve the problem. In conclusion, storage and day-to-day maintenance of ammunition is of utmost importance. The impact of modern technology will see the induction of highly sensitive missiles and other ammunition items which will require modern storage sheds, state-of-the-art handling equipment and costly testing apparatus. When handling ammunition, there is always the possibility of a mishap occurring. Steps should, however, be taken to contain damage by providing proper fire detection and fighting equipment. Our ammunition depots are holding stocks much beyond their storage capacity. There is an urgent need for rationalisation. Ammunition cannot be locally purchased like most other items required by troops. It has no civil-end use. It is expensive and requires specialised handling capability. The need of the hour is to resolve satisfactorily two key issues: provision of an adequate storage facility and making up of deficiencies of trained manpower, particularly against the vacancies of officers and civilian staff. The writer, a retired Major-General, died a day after he had submitted his article for publication to The Tribune. |
The diehard radio listeners of yesteryear MY greatest objection to the idiot box is that it has thrown the pleasure of radio-listening out of the window. Gone are the days when we used to sit glued to the radio on the Wednesday night listening to the fluctuating fortunes of top musical numbers in the “Binaca Geet Mala” and how we used to win or lose innocent bets to siblings if our favourite number or music director did or did not fare well in that week’s ratings. I remember the days when there was a fierce competition between Shankar Jaikishan and O.P. Nayyar each tossing over the other from week to week as if in a wrestling bout. A friend of mine used to write 10 different postcards in 10 different names to Amin Sayani to inflate the vote bank of his favourite song. And sometimes with discernible success. In fact, the electrifying voice of Amin Sayani was itself an attraction as much as was what followed his enchanting announcements. Those days the cinema and the radio played a mutually complementary role. The only way one could listen to those lilting tunes was either to visit the theatre repeatedly or switch on the radio at breakfast, lunch and dinnertime. No wonder a fan saw the film “Nagin” 50 times over having fallen prey to the mesmerising tune of the famous “been” played to charm the snake-woman on the screen. And how fashionable it was to hum the theme tune of the film on all social occasions as also in the privacy of the bathroom. Apart from the celluloid world was the equally enjoyable world of news and cricket commentaries. Listening to English news from Melville D’ Mello or Borun Haldar or Lotika Ratnam was as much a pleasure as listening to Hindi news from Bajpai or Ramanuj Prasad Singh. Your ears were so accustomed to those highly anticipated voices that lesser mortals interpolating between them came in as poor substitutes. The cricket commentators like Maharaj Kumar of Vijiangram (Vizzy) and Dev Raj Puri used to impart all the vicarious thrills to the cricket commentary by their vociferous exclamations. Later in the day the mellifluous Hindi phraseology of Jasdev Singh offered quite a delight to the discerning ear. Our diehard generation of radio listeners still prefers to switch on a radio and shut our eyes to the music which has enjoyed supremacy in our psyche over the decades rather than watch the gyrations of present-day singers on the stage. The shift from auditory to the visual is a shift to the phantasmagorial world of illusions, which are far more transitory than the auditory ones. The auditory sticks in the mind longer than the visual which is as fleeting as the myriad images it registers on the retina. That is why a Lata Mangeshkar or Talat Mahmood or Mohammad Rafi of yesterday send greater thrills down the spine then the titillating cacophony doled out by modern-day sizzlers. The marriage of sound and sense which was the characteristic of the olden music has slipped into a dancing din. The punctuality with which we used to listen to K.L. Saigal’s song at 7.57 a.m. from Radio Ceylon every morning was a greater regime of our lives than the morning prayers or going to school. |
Pakistan’s nuclear gamble THE threat of an Indo-Pakistan war appears to have subsided. This is a welcome development because a war, even a conventional one, between two nuclear armed states can psychologically be an experience for the whole world. There were no actual hostilities between the armed forces of the two countries and yet there was much more talk of the dangers of the use of nuclear weapons this time than during the Kargil war of 1999. It was because Pakistan had now decided to play the nuclear card more seriously. Interestingly, the rest of the world appeared more worried about the likelihood of a nuclear war than the Indians, who generally showed little concern about its consequences. Partly, it was because they were so angry at Pakistan in view of the terrorism sponsored by it. They were even willing to face the possibility of a nuclear strike to punish it. More pragmatically, however, their complacency was due to the conviction that Pakistan would never use nuclear weapons because it knew that India had a bigger arsenal than it and would be able to inflict much more damage in return. This line of thinking could have led to dangerous consequences because in nuclear warfare the scale of damage that would be suffered by both sides is beyond imagination. The words more or less are only relative and therefore irrelevant. Fortunately, there was no nuclear war. The systematic manner in which the possibility of an Indo-Pak military confrontation developing into a nuclear war was built up leaves little doubt that it was part of a planned strategy by Pakistan. First, one of the country’s ministers hinted at the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons. Then Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN explicitly stated that his country could use nuclear weapons if the situation so demanded. President Musharraf was forced to contradict him on hearing the hue and cry raised around the world at the idea. But within a few days, no less a person than a former Army Chief once again reiterated that the use of nuclear weapons was very much an option with his country. All this brings out two things. First, the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons under certain circumstances in a conventional war with India, is very much part of Pakistan’s military thinking. This, of course, comes as no surprise because Pakistan has all along asserted that it has acquired nuclear weapons to achieve strategic parity with India. Second Pakistan knows that even though it has a smaller nuclear weapons inventory than India, in strategic terms it is not entirely at a disadvantage. India’s promise of no first use of nuclear weapons gives Pakistan the option of initiating nuclear hostilities at a time of its own choosing. Talk of immediate and massive retaliation by India presupposes that the Indian nuclear command and control will continue to remain functional after a nuclear attack. It also presumes that the Indian leadership and people will continue to be in a normal state of mind in the face of the cataclysmic destruction of men and material caused by a nuclear attack. The reality could be different. There has never been a full-scale nuclear war and none really knows what would really happen. If Pakistan uses the bulk of its weapons in its first strike, it is possible that the very scale of death and destruction caused will stun the Indians into inaction. India would also not be able to retaliate in time if its nuclear command and control system is destroyed. Pakistan could then hope to delay India’s response long enough for the international community to step in and dissuade it from retaliating. Despite these advantages, it is doubtful if Pakistan would actually use nuclear weapons. General Musharraf may be telling the truth when he says that it is unthinkable. What Pakistan is more likely to do is to use the threat of nuclear weapons to forestall or halt military action by India and, at the same time, draw the world community in by playing on its fear of a nuclear holocaust. That is what it tried to do in the recent military standoff. President Musharraf is known as a man who likes to take calculated risks. It is also known that his calculations often misfire. As a Brigade Commander he launched a surprise attack against the Indian positions in Siachen which ended in a complete failure. As the Army Chief he masterminded the Kargil operation calculating that on finding the heights occupied, the Indians would initially threaten, then complain and finally settle for negotiations that would never result in an agreement. In the meantime, Pakistan would fully establish itself in the encroached area. These calculations went awry again. Foreign Minister Sattar went to India uninvited to negotiate, but the Indians refused to talk and decided to regain its lost territory by force. In the present case, Musharraf appears to have planned to get the Americans to pressurise India into pulling its forces by raising the fear of a nuclear war. The danger was sought to be further augmented by a series of not-too-cleverly-timed missile tests. On this occasion too, the gamble failed. Instead of leaning on India to pull back its forces, the Americans put pressure on Pakistan to take steps to end cross-border terrorism
permanently. The assurance by Pakistan to cease cross-border terrorism cannot however be seen as a complete victory for India. The strategy used by it is a double-edged weapon and could be counter-productive in the long run. To begin with, it is clear that in future other countries will not remain mute spectators when there is a possibility of a war between two nuclear armed states. They will step in and use all possible means to try and stop them because of the possibility of nuclear escalation. This means that India may not be able to use military build-up on the borders again to coerce Pakistan into acceding to its demands. The second is that even if it were to try the same strategy again, there is no surety that the end result would be in its favour. The next time the western powers may side with Pakistan and ask India to immediately agree to negotiate on Kashmir. It is clear, therefore, that though forced to give in this time, Pakistan’s nuclear gamble has paid off to some extent. India will not be able to use military threat in the same way as it did last time. It will have to evolve a new strategy that will give it the required results without giving Pakistan an opportunity to ring the nuclear alarm bells. India’s success in the current round, though temporary, does however provide it an opportunity to firm up its position with the local population of Kashmir before the issue boils up again. It must not lose this chance through political shortsightedness.
INFA |
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Student film on Indian male angst DON'T gossip like women, be a man. Take responsibility, be a man. Don’t look at cosmetics, be a man. Don’t cry, be a man — every dad almost always tells these things to his sons. But are they really the measure of a man? Are men really like that? Three young, male Indian filmmakers have brought out on camera all that their dads used to say. Called “That’s what my Dad used to say,” the 35-minute documentary has been selected as an official entry for the Dahlonega International Film Festival at Atlanta, Georgia (June 27-30). From getting homework done on time to shunning an urge to explore makeup, from male attitude about sex and women to failing to talk about sexual abuse — it explores, with great sensitivity and sardonic wit, all things male. Twenty-something filmmakers Laalit Lobo, Sharat Katariya and Vikram Singh Rohella made the film as a final student production at the Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia Millia Islamia. It tells tales from the lives of the trio, as each of them faces the camera, by turn, to talk about never-spoken-before experiences that would perhaps haunt them forever. Like constant bashing Rohella received throughout his childhood from his father. Like Rohella’s and Lobo’s complexion about their skinny physique, like Lobo shuddering at the thought of “being the man of the house” during his father’s illness and like Katariya remaining silent about his sexual abuse by a neighbourhood tutor. “Some things you can’t do anything about,” said Katariya in the film. “You just have to let them pass, you can’t do anything about them. “I wish I were close to my dad. At least women can talk to their moms, I just couldn’t talk to anyone. I just wish I were close to my dad.” Rohella talks about the “freedom” in his house, as he shaves his chest in the film: “I had control of the TV remote and could watch whatever, so I can say there was a lot of freedom in my house.” In a poignant scene Lobo’s mother plucks the hair between his eyebrows and cajoles him to go to a hairdresser. “Instead of me doing this, why don’t you go to a (beauty) parlour? Nowadays it’s important for even men to look good.” Cut to a gym, where the men make desperate attempts to build muscles. “If I had a better body I would be more confident with girls,” said Rohella. It is just this sort of ironies that the film explodes on screen, tearing apart clichés like “men only study science”, and examining the Indian man’s dilemmas.
IANS |
Sodar—literally The Door — is an eulogy to the creator of the universe, the Sikh version of 'Te Deum' (to God). Lesseer gods, goddesses, saints and warriors and the elements join the chorus to sing praises of their creator. What kind of doorway? What kind of mansion? Where you sit and care for your creation! Where melodies of countless strumming instruments, And countless minstrels playing on it are heard. In how many ragas and raginis are your praises sung? And how many celestial musicians sing of you? 'There' Wind, water and fire glorify your name, 'There' sings Dharamaraja 'There' sing Chitra and Gupta, the recording angels putting up records for Dharamraja to read and adjudicate 'There' To your glory sing, Shiva, Brahma and goddesses adorned by you; Indira on his celestial throne, Together with other deities sing at your door. 'There' Ascetics in deep meditation Holy men in contemplation Long haired ascetics, men of truth Men of peace and contentment And warriors bold Sing your praises manifold. Pandits through their scriptures, Sages who have praised you from age to age; Heart bewitching fairies in paradise, Earth and regions underground With your praises resound. Sparkling gems created by you, And the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage with your praise reverberate. By doughty warriors brave in battle By the sources four from where came life — Of egg, womb, sweat or soil Is your name extolled and magnified. Rehras, Sri Guru Granth Sahib. |
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