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Sunday,
October 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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GUEST COLUMN
A POINT OF VIEW |
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Tapping the youth potential for growth A paper tiger Lokayukta
Harihar Swarup
Tectonic shifts in separatist camps
Two flew into Cong from CPI nest
Sonia monitoring developments in J&K
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GUEST COLUMN ARE economic and social rights as important as civil and political rights? Can they both be practised with equal felicity? The Report of the International Advisory Commission of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) squarely meets questions of this kind posed not only by the western governments but the globalising reformist elites of the developing world as well. Logically and convincingly, it asserts that civil, political, economic and social rights are indivisible and no where is this “more clearly demonstrated than in the consequences of poverty and prescriptions to over come it”. The report declares that “for the human rights framework to be effective, the importance of economic, social and cultural rights must be more strongly recognised by policy makers”. The 2001 millennium report is a landmark as it examines incisively and powerfully the poverty situation in the countries of the Commonwealth from a human rights perspective and pleads for concerted action to banish it using a rights based approach. Margaret Reynolds, in her foreword, recalls how way back in 1991 the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) adopted the Harare Declaration on poverty and the time has now come to evaluate the Commonwealth's ability to tackle poverty through its own fundamental principles of good governance and human rights. The report has drawn on the expertise and research of NGOs, thinkers and activists drawn from a wide spectrum as evidenced from the six substantive chapters and the 197 ends notes it lists. It is a well conceptualised document. The points are well-supported by appropriate boxes of real life processes drawn from various countries. There are no loose ends in this report and is a must read for those interested in poverty eradication and human rights and as to how the two impinge on each other. The chapter on “The rights-based approach to poverty eradication” discusses the justification for the central theme of this report — a rights-based approach to poverty eradication. It summons Amartya Sen's argument as to how diverse political freedoms are linked with other types of freedoms like those to escape starvation and stresses the natural synergy between poor people's capabilities enhancing human development as advocated by the UNDP's Human Development Report and human rights. It recalls the signal contribution made by the Copenhagen World Summit on Social Development (1995) which placed human rights, including the importance of equity and equality between women and men, at the centre of economic and social development in its Declaration. The chapter places firmly the rights-based approach against discretionary charity as the basis of development and rejects the idea of the effect of trickle down as an unproven “accidental by-product of the market”. The fundamental principle of equality of all human beings and their right to participation in governance, inherent in the rights-based approach, is a basis for political and social mobilisation and an antidote to the ideology of globalisation. The essential point of the report, namely, that the artificial chasm between human rights in the civil and political domains on the one hand and human rights in the economic, social and cultural domains as assumed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) division is an unreal one is argued powerfully. The report discussed the
elabThe report concludes with a warning to the Commonwealth that it is in imminent danger of losing its credibility in regard to its rhetoric of endless commitments to eradication of poverty unless it matches it with deeds through the premier means to overcome it — human rights. The CHRI calls on the CMAG to treat the lack of significant progress by member states in poverty eradication as a serious and persistent human rights violation. It reiterates its decade-old demand for the appointment of a Commonwealth High Commissioner for Human Rights (CHCHR) and revamping of the Commonwealth's Human Rights Unit (HRU). It emphasises training as a strategy and calls for indicators to measure progress. The CHRI calls for an end to the culture of remoteness practised by the Commonwealth by demanding that Commonwealth meetings of all kinds including CHOGMs be thrown open to NGOs and media and calls for assistance to NGOs from the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation. There is a slight lack of balance in the gathering and analysis of the data in and between the various countries of the Commonwealth. Military expenditure by India is strongly referred to while similar aspects in her neighbourhood are not touched. India receives a lot of attention in certain other respects also while others do not. Also, the report may have missed an opportunity in failing to analyse the causes behind the contradiction between the high Human Development Indices of Sri Lanka and the conditions obtaining in her EPZs on the one hand and the raging ethnic conflict in that country, on the other. While the report has dealt with splendidly the debilitating impact of globalisation and multinational corporations and how many of the World Bank, IMF and the WTO decisions adversely affect the human rights of the poor, the reader could get an impression that all the sins of poverty including corruption in the Commonwealth are sought to be laid at the door of the Structural Adjustment Programmes, when lack of accountability of national governments has a lot to account for. However, these do not by any means detract from the overwhelming merits of this report. Every point made in this report on the reforms required in the organisation of various administrative bodies of the Commonwealth is fully justified and urgent action by the next CHOGM is called for on all of them. The ultimate and inescapable responsibility for eradication of poverty lies with the national governments and civil societies. International assistance can make any difference only if national political will, accompanied by efforts of national societies, is shown to be in evidence. The report contributes to our understanding this requirement fully by rightly anchoring the issue in a unified CPR and ESCRs paradigm that would lead to social mobilisation and organisation of the people around those rights. Unless people are organised around these rights and their massive power is brought to bear on governments on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi's independence movement in India or Martin Luther King's civil rights movement in the USA was fought, poverty will stay. The need of the hour is large-scale moblisation of the poor and the education both of the poor and the non-poor, of the rights of the poor. A massive, non-violent movement involving the organisation of the poor around their rights on a long-term basis may yet be the strategy we require to eradicate poverty in the Commonwealth. The report, in my opinion, makes a trilogy along with the 1992 Report of the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation of the SAARC and the 1995 Report of the Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development (WSSD). Essentially, the three reports are saying the same thing, namely, that human rights-based policies are key to poverty eradication with social mobilisation and organisation of the people as the means. The CHRI should move the ideals and contents of its millennium report to the field for the report to translate itself to a talisman, as defined by Mahatma Gandhi. There is a precedent for it. Following the SAARC and WSSD reports, at the initiative of some of us who were instrumental in developing and formulating the paradigm that those two reports advocated, the UNDP was got involved in setting up actual projects in six SAARC countries in 1996, five of whom are Commonwealth countries. The results of that effort need independently to be evaluated, preferably by the CHRI as a forerunner for CHRI's own effort. The difference between the UNDP and CHRI effort should be the latter being a purely non-government effort. The CHRI and its Director Maja Daruwala deserve the Commonwealth's appreciation for an excellent report on a subject of extreme urgency and relevance. The writer, a former IAS officer, was Secretary to the Prime Minister, and Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission. |
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A POINT OF VIEW WHILE an enquiry into the attack on the Akshardham Temple in Gandhi Nagar is in progress, it is time to stop and look into the political implications what has happened and what might happen. The attack on the temple would not have taken place but for what happened at Godhra on February 27 and the subsequent events. What really happened on that day remains a mystery so far. According to the Chief Minister, he is aware of what happened. But he is not talking about it. Why the findings have been kept secret is something that only the Gujarat government can explain. One thing, however, has become clear. This unravelling of the mystery took place some three months after the Godhra incident. Scientific investigation has shown that the railway bogey was set on fire from within the compartment and not from outside. This was contrary to the general impression that the attack on the bogey was led by the local Muslims. Therefore, by implication, the local Muslims were responsible for the attack and should be punished for it. And punished they were. To some extent they were punished by the general public but to a larger extent by the state. The role of the state was particularly indefensible. The Chief Minister persisted with his
approach. It is difficult for outsiders to figure out what happened behind the scenes. The outcome, however, was totally negative; Narendra Modi was not censured. Instead he was applauded. Two things call for special notice. One was the manner in which the Prime Minister changed his public posture under the pressure of his party and the second was the unconditional support extended to the Chief
Minister. Modi had been Advani's choice for the job. Evidently Advani did not want Modi to fail. But the latter with his limited vision had formulated Muslim-baiting. This new strategy had a good deal with to do with the loss of standing of the BJP throughout the country. In each state where elections had taken place, the BJP had not acquitted herself well. Clearly the performance of the BJP had led to disenchantment among those who, of late, had started supporting it. The deeper meaning of Muslim baiting was not lost on the strategists of the party. What occurred in Gujarat was not a riot. It was Muslim baiting this time. This was something both novel and deadly. Whoever masterminded it, the overall reaction to the attack on the temple was that excesses had been committed and the attack on the temple was a reaction to those excesses. The lukewarm response to the call of a general strike by the VHP and the Shiv Sena was significant in so far as it was far from enthusiastic. Of course, both Vajpayee and Advani had told the Chief Minister, “This far and no further”. What was more notable, however, was the public response. The public had been certainly outraged by the attack, but this sense of outrage was tempered by the feeling of partial regret thereby implying that the excesses committed were now leading to a reaction and to react any further would be to start a general conflagration which might be difficult to control. Despite all that has been happening, the inner core of the nation is sound if one may venture to say so! Before the attack, it looked as if Muslim baiting would be undertaken in different parts of the country and there would be considerable political mileage in the bargain. One of the VHP leaders had almost boasted on a visit to Amritsar that Gujarat had shown the way. The unstated part of it was that Muslim baiting could be practised without inviting any adverse reactions. That way of thinking has been put to rest for the present. While polarisation between the two communities is unmistakable, the feeling both in Gujarat and elsewhere is: Let us find out how it happened, if possible, punish those responsible for it and not continue with Muslim baiting. In my opinion, this is the deeper meaning of the developments in Gujarat. If this reading turns out to be correct, this would mean a spell of comparative peace in the country for some time. But nobody should forget that peace is not what suits most political parties. Only when there is tension do the parties get the attention that they are seeking. Otherwise attention turns to issues of governance; and that is uncomfortable for those in power. Therefore tension must remain on simmer all the time. This is what has been happening for the last couple of decades. To assume that the BJP alone uses the communal card would be to assume too much. The Congress hands are not clean either. In the early 80's, the Congress party handled the Punjab situation in such a way that the Akalis got projected as the secessionists of the country and the Congress appeared as the defenders of India's unity and integrity. Certain sections of the Akalis were foolish enough not to see through the game and played the role more or less as scripted by the then political leadership. When the situation reached its climax in Operation Bluestar followed by Indira Gandhi's assassination, the Congress party called a general election even before it was due and got a massive mandate in its favour. But did that mandate endure? Did governance improve? Did the country get launched on the path of development? Nothing of the kind happened. In about two years, disillusionment set in. Another year and the Congress party had started playing the same game as she had played earlier in the Punjab. In the beginning of the 80's, the Akalis had provided the occasion. Now it was the Ayodhya situation which was sought to be converted to Congress advantage. Who got the court order of locking the mosque reversed? Who launched the election campaign from Ayodhya? It was the Congress in both cases. Only this time, the BJP played its cards better than the Congress party did. The rest is history, as they say, and the issue need not be pursued any further. The BJP might have burnt its fingers in Gujarat. Muslim baiting — some would call it ethnic cleansing — turned out to be a costly experiment and might not be repeated so soon. But it would be too much to assume that the wolf has turned a vegetarian. The truth of the matter is that no political party is prepared to do an honest job. Neither growth nor governance can take place without the crucial input of honest and efficient functioning. Sadly, even the Congress had played the same game during the earlier two decades as the BJP is doing now. The real meaning of the Gujarat developments is that playing with the communal fire is dangerous as well as unwise. Apart from all the havoc that it causes, it derails the country from following the path of development. The manner in which the derailment is carried out — by fanning communal passions — is much too ugly and destructive. The country cannot afford it. The writer is former Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala. |
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Tapping the youth potential for growth THE Government of India has recognised youth as a group that needs special attention. The nation’s urge for youth welfare is reflected in the various plans and policies. Almost every five-year plan has emphasised on the development of youth. The Department of Youth Affairs and Sports had formulated National Youth Policy (1988) for promotion of youth welfare in order to integrate them with the national mainstream. According to the policy, the key areas of concern for the youths are education, training, employment, health, environment, recreation and sports, art and culture, civics and citizenship and science & technology. The United Nations, after studying practices in various countries, has suggested 15-24 years for defining youth. However, in India, they fall in the 15-35 age group. According to 1991 Census, youth in this age group constitute 33.6 per cent of the total population. Sadly, 50 per cent of youth are not gainfully employed. They are underemployed in urban areas, while in rural areas, unemployment, underemployment and disguised unemployment dog them. Youth belonging to upper caste rural families are not adequately motivated to pursue self-employment activities launched under different rural employment schemes. The literacy rate and educational status among youth have to be raised for the social development of the nation. Despite formal and non-formal education, adult and continuing education programmes, the literacy and the level of education are far from satisfactory. Healthcare development is another vital aspect of youth welfare. An ICMR report envisaged that adolescent girls are malnourished, their dietary intakes are deficient and poor nutritional status increases the risk of child bearing among adolescents. Malnourished adolescents may also suffer from various health and maternity-related problems such as infertility, less fertility, still birth, low birth weight baby, spontaneous abortion, etc in the future stage of their maternity. The National Population Policy, 2000, has rightly envisaged that “improvements in the health status of adolescent girls have an inter-generational impact. It reduces the risk of low birth weight and minimises neo-natal mortality”. In recent years, youth suffer from sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS and are also becoming drug addicted. In India, researches reveal that 89 per cent of infected cases fall in the age-group of 15-49 years, and over 50 per cent of those infected are in the age group of 15-24 years. Child sex is a rapidly growing business in India; nearly five lakh children enter prostitution before they attain 15 years. Drug addiction among youth is another malady. This not only impairs their adulthood but also affects their future parenthood. Drugs affect the chemistry of brain cells. Alcohol and tobacco cause maximum physical damage to the body system. Drug abuse among adults and adolescents would affect their physical, psychological, social and future family life. Youth are the strength and vigour of the nation. Empowering them according to their capabilities and ensuring them opportunities would certainly hasten the pace of economic and social development. Every community and social development (CSD) programme need to have a component of youth and development (YAD). The CAD programme will remain lopsided if it fails to address the rights and duties of youth. Unlike Panchayati Raj Institutions, every village should have a functional youth club. The wage-employment and self-employment programme needs to be effectively implemented and properly monitored for raising the economic status of youth. Youth in general and adolescents in the 13-19 age group should be given Family Life Education (FLE) at home and in schools. The FLE is defined as “a study of self-awareness, understanding of others, of sexuality, marriage and parenthood. The knowledge gained and skill developed will contribute to the adults’ and adolescents’ ability to cope with social change and with relationships in socially as a citizen, spouse or parent.” Some of the components of FLE can be as follows: (a) changes in adolescents (b) personal hygiene and RTIs (c) STDs, HIV/AIDS, (d) substance (drug) abuse, (e) reproductive healthcare of adolescents, age at marriage and gender role in sex determination and (f) responsible parenthood. The National Social Scheme (NSS) and National Cadet Corps (NCC) facilities should be available in all secondary and senior secondary schools. The National Social Volunteers (NSVs) consisting of boys and girls formulated by NYK at the grass-roots level for activating youth clubs is a useful step for the welfare of youth. The National Youth Policy should be reviewed and reformulated from time to time after conducting Youth Need Assessment (YNA). States could also formulate separate policies to address the problems and needs of the youth. The writer is Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Research in Rural & Industrial Development, Chandigarh. |
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A paper tiger Lokayukta THE Haryana Lokayukta Bill, 2002, was passed when the entire Opposition was absent, demanding deletion of some provisions and a fresh look by a select committee of the House. The Bill, which could not be enacted during the last 34 years, has been a victim of delay and dithering. The Haryana Lokayukta Bill, 1997, was passed in 1998 during the Chief Ministership of Mr Bansi Lal. Justice I.P. Vashist of the Allahabad High Court was sworn in as the first Lokayukta of the state on January 5, 1999. But he was unceremoniously removed within eight months of his tenure by an ordinance. Thereafter, the Lokayukta Bill, 1999, was passed on November 16, 1999, covering offences committed by public servants since 1966 when the state was formed. Given the chequered history of the Lokayukta Bill, it is clear that the crusade against corruption by the legislature is half-hearted. This is surprising because instances of senior officers’ involvement in embezzlement, bribery, money laundering, crimes and perjury have come to light. Having taken cognisance of complicity of top officers’ in such cases, it is imperative to examine whether this Bill, passed in 1999, will really serve the intended purpose — tackling corruption in governance — or become a toothless tiger. Of course, there is bound to be scepticism in this regard because of the poor track record of the Lokayukta in Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Delhi, to mention a few. First, in the present system of appointment of Haryana’s Lokayukta, the Chief Minister has sweeping powers. Under the Act, he is empowered to recommend the name for the post after “consultation” with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India in case of appointment of a person who is or has been a judge of Supreme Court/Chief Justice of the High Court and the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in case of appointment of a person who is or has been a judge of a High Court. This process of consultation shall have mere “persuasive value” and not binding on the Chief Minister. Secondly, the Lokayukta shall have powers to investigate public servants including the Chief Minister, other ministers and heads of different local government bodies, societies, companies and universities. He can enquire into allegations of misuse of office by public servants causing hardship, pecuniary losses, maladministration and corruption. Surprisingly, however, the Lokayukta cannot start probe without “receipt of a reference from the Government”. Consider how his independence and sense of fairplay are again curtailed. He shall have powers to summon records from the government, local authority, corporation, government company, society, university, affiliated college and persons connected with the inquiry. But he can summarily be refused access to the government records on grounds of security or public interest in accordance with the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, or the Indian Official Secrets Act, 1923. Thirdly, the Lokayukta Act contains a retrograde provision causing dismay and disappointment to plaintiffs who are deprived of resources to provide corroborative evidence substantiating their allegations. Possibly, such cases could be disposed of as malicious false complaints and on conviction, be punished with rigorous imprisonment extendable to three years or with fine extendable to Rs 10,000 or both. Under such circumstances, who will come forward to file complaints against ministers or officials. And finally, the Chief Minister is empowered to take action against public servants on the findings, recommendations and suggestions of the Lokayukta. But will he carry out this task in a fair and objective manner? He may selectively pick up cases for political witch-hunting or to save the skin of his partymen. As no public servant has been brought to the book upon the Lokayukta’s recommendations in other states, it is doubtful whether Haryana's Lokayukta will be anything different. The writer teaches Public Administration at Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Karnal. |
A lesson to learn for Salman The 37-year-old superstar may have run into trouble but his larger-than-life macho image remains intact; he always lived dangerously. Stories of his antics at parties have been toast of Bollywood. An infuriated Salam once emptied a bottle of Coke on the head of a girl friend and that too in a restaurant. The relationship, obviously, broke down instantaneously. His recent relationship with the former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai, has been the most talked about subject in Bollywood and provides grist to gossip columns. According to her, Salman drove down to a film set where she was filming with another superstar, Shahrukh Khan, and forced her to leave. The BBC quoted Rai as saying in an interview to a leading newspaper that she was beaten up by Salman. She admitted she broke up with Salman — not just because she was suffering physical violence at his hands but also because he was cheating on her. Salman’s brash manners strained his relations with two more girl friends — Sangeeta Bijlani and Somy Ali. Sangeeta later married cricket star Azharuddin. Apart from his macho image, the superstar has another, though little known, facet of his personality — his kind-heartedness. He was seen giving all in his pocket to beggars and providing lot of help – monetary and physical — to cancer patients. There were instances when he vacated his room for his fans and going out of his way to help friends. Also he is fully devoted to his family, particularly two brothers. His name is written in bold letters on the huge wooden board, listing the names of donors, at the Cancer Patients Aid Association. Salman regularly visits cancer patients howsoever busy he may be. Children at the association love him and virtually run amok at his site, sitting on his shoulders, in his arms and in his lap. Inmates of the CPAA say Salman is a wonderful human being and wonder why he gets such a bad press. According to them a little boy was refusing to take chemotherapy and his parents could do nothing. The doctor rang up Salman on his mobile and the superstar told him to pass the phone to the child. After about ten minutes of conversation, the frightened child broke into smile and agreed to have his dose of chemotherapy. Cancer patients have been Salman’s top priority and for them he is just a phone call away. He may be shooting anywhere but he would ensure that he is accessible to them. So much so that he would make special arrangements for them to go to the site of shooting free of cost. Those who know the superhero intimately say he could be very moody and unpredictable and also, at the same time, very caring, protective and loving. Salman does not like formal dress and always prefers casuals like jeans and T-shirts. He likes to shop in London, which has been his favourite city and Singapore. His family is absolutely secular; his brother-in-law is actor Atul Agnihotri and sister-in-law too is a Hindu, Seema Sachdev. Salman is eldest of three sons of well-known screenplay writer Salim Khan. Salman has given India two of the biggest hits — “Hum Apke Hai Koun” and “Maine Psyaar Kiya” and with them he soared like a meteor in the filmdom. The unfortunate car accident has overshadowed his promising career and put a question mark on his future. It would be sad indeed if he is booked on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Benevolent, as he is, Salman may willingly pay compensation — Rs. 19 lakh or more — to the victims. This should be an apt lesson to him to desist from kicking up controversies and give up his hot temper.
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Tectonic shifts in separatist camps A
Congress-led coalition has been elected, most of the Congress seats coming from the Jammu region. However, even the Congress and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s People’s Democratic Front between them are short of nine MLAs for a majority, once they have elected a Speaker. There is no dearth of independents and other smaller groups but each will want his pound of flesh, in ministerial berths or other potentially lucrative appointments. Mufti told me a few days ago that a clean government would be his priority, but the pressures of keeping so many disparate members happy will make that rather a tall order. The result no doubt will be public disillusionment sooner than later. Expectations run high. A young village voter in the Ganderbal constituency told me minutes after Omar Abdullah’s defeat had been announced that the PDP man who had won the prestigious seat would end unemployment. That is an even taller order. In its six-year stint, the NC made tens of thousands of appointments at government expense – most of them to friends, relatives, neighbours, or for cash. This leaves little largesse for the new government to disburse. The result inevitably will be disillusionment sooner than later. Indeed, the anger that drift, corruption or non-performance by the new government will generate might in a few months make the current anti-incumbency surge seem like child’s play. The next few months could witness turmoil in the secessionist camp too. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference has smartly challenged the new government to deliver on restoring peace through tripartite talks, as at least the PDP has repeatedly promised. Knowing that it would be laughed out of court if it tried to challenge the fairness of the electoral process, some senior Hurriyat leaders quickly confabulated at lunchtime on Thursday, even as the trend of results was just becoming clear. They figured that holding a weak, unstable regime to its campaign word was the best strategy in its awkward situation. Common people too talk of their expectation that this new government will cause a resolution of the larger Kashmir issue. Obviously, that is even tougher for it than to provide a clean, purposeful administration. Its task will be made tougher by the intricate network of NC activists, as well as those among the hitherto secessionist groups who have been encouraged by the success of this process to seek participation in the next round of elections. Shabir Shah and Azam Inquilabi were on the verge of participating even this time. The People’s Confe-rence, which was founded by Abdul Ghani Lone, actually backed proxy candidates – and not just two or three but 15. Now, I believe the sons of the assassinated Hurriyat leader want to enter the electoral arena directly in the next few years. They are just waiting for a credible opportunity to leave the Hurriyat, possibly along with the Mirwaiz. They would like nothing better than for the Hurriyat to expel them but, predictably, Pakistan has pulled out all stops to persuade them to stay. With mainstream politics so precariously poised and such tectonic shifts in the separatist camps, Kashmiris are in for a hot summer next year, if not a sweltering winter. |
Two flew into Cong from CPI nest
Sahib’s
charisma Politicians are pastmasters in the art of winning friends and influencing people. Sahib Singh Verma is no exception. Very recently the Union Labour Minister, known for trying to meet unrealistic deadlines for his back-to-back public functions, reached late at a function organised by Dr Ratan Lal Sharma Smriti Nyas, a trust engaged in pioneering work in promotion of children literature in Hindi for past eight years. The trust has instituted an annual award comprising Rs 15,000 in cash which is the highest prize money in the entire country for promotion of children literature in Hindi. Though Sahib Singh apologised for reaching late, the Trust organisers, particularly the Trust Chairman Shalabh Kumar Sharma, kept harping on the chief guest’s late-coming. But the soft-spoken Jat leader knew exactly how to make amends. He began his speech by drawing parallels between himself and the late Hindi literary figure Dr Ratan Lal Sharma who had instituted the award in memory of his wife Ratan
Sharma. There was a thunderous applause when he pointed out the uncanniest of similarities between him and the Sharmas. He said: “Ratanlalji’s wife’s name was also Ratan and my wife’s name is similar — Sahiba”.
Politics of
unity The rare unanimity among rival political parties on the issue was evident when Krishna rang up a senior Cabinet Minister in Vajpayee Government, who hails from Karnataka, to have a piece of advise on whether he did the right thing by not succumbing to the contempt petition. The Union Minister’s reply to Krishna was pithy: “Had I been in your position I would have done the same thing”.
Ghulam’s
tactic Ghulam Nabi Azad is said to be ruing why he reluctantly accepted presidentship of the Congress unit of his home state Jammu and Kashmir recently. A party leader says Azad’s initial reluctance was tactical aimed at preparing ground for retreat, if necessary. Another leader commented: “At that time, Azad was a Ghulam of his past but now he has freed himself from the chains of his past.”
It was not just an air show this time. The 70th Indian Air Force Day on October 8 had some surprise VIP guests — the country’s most recognised family, the Gandhis. The newest addition in the Priyanka-Robert Vadra household was in his father’s lap. Rahul and Robert turned up at the Parade at Palam grounds with the Vadra junior apparently with the intention of providing the infant with some early lessons of what his maternal grandfather used to do for livelihood. Press photographers had a feast day as they focussed on Vadra junior. Apparently, Robert Vadra and family did not realise, till a friend told them in the evening, that publication of the toddler’s photograph would be a security risk. Grapevine has it that the Gandhis contacted various newspapers asking them not to publish the now-controversial photograph. Most complied. Still, a few newspapers chose to go by the fundamental rule: a good photograph is better than a thousand news reports. Contributed by T.V. Lakshminarayan, Prashant Sood, Satish Misra, Girja Shankar Kaura, S. Satyanarayanan and Rajeev Sharma.
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Sonia monitoring developments in J&K HECTIC activity is on at the Congress headquarters in the Capital on the new chief minister of J&K. Though initially there were apprehensions that trouble could erupt between Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's PDP and the Congress over the issue, the Congress is apparently controlling the situation. Dr Manmohan Singh and Ambika Soni are leaving New Delhi to hold talks with Mufti and Ghulam Nabi Azad in Srinagar. They would be camping in Sringar till the issue is sorted out. Till late night rumours were floating that PDP and Independents were keen to have Mufti as the Chief Minister and Azad as the Deputy Chief Minister. But Azad is said to have made his position clear — either he is on the hot seat or not. Whilst talking to Mehbooba Mufti, one got the impression that she is not even contemplating to head the government “No, there's no question of my becoming the chief minister...it has to be someone with a lot of administrative experience...” Informed sources say, Sonia Gandhi is personally monitoring the political situation in J&K. She is concerned that the vital issue of chief ministership shouldn't cause friction with the PDP. That one liner from her during the campaigning that she is ready to hold talks with the militant groups has sent a ray of fresh hope. Cutting through political ideologies, political lobbies say that a dialogue has to start otherwise these elections would mean very little. PDP's top brass is happy with their success, but they say, these elections are just a means to solve the actual problem.
Wajahat CS? There is speculation of complete overhaul of the administration in J&K. According to informed sources, Wajahat Habibullah, presently Director of Mussorrie’s Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, is being recalled to J&K as the new Chief Secretary (CS). Consequently, all those advisers to outgoing Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah — which include Tony Jaitley (Samata Party leader Jaya Jaitley’s ex-spouse) — would be replaced.
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SOMETIME back superstar Salman Khan was asked: “What is your motto?” His prompt reply was: “Go straight and turn right”. This precisely he did when he ploughed his land-cruiser on sleeping pavement dwellers killing one and paid the price for his recklessness; now languishing behind the bars having been charged with “culpable homicide”. One does not know how he must be feeling in jail though he had some experience of prison life. He was booked for shooting blackbuck, endangered species, in 1998 but treated almost like the state guest at Jodhpur jail. The crime branch lock-up in South Mumbai has not accorded him the celebrity prisoner status but treated him as ordinary criminal. Salman had told many of his interviewers that he wanted to be alone. One of them even asked him: “If you were marooned in a desolate island, who or what you will choose for company”. His reply after a pause was: “I would want to be alone so that I could enjoy some peace of mind”. Unfortunately, instead of desolate island, he landed in a prison cell, apparently, with no peace of mind.
THE Congress-CPI feud in Punjab is causing discomfort to Madam. The CPI is among the very few parties which have consistently backed Sonia Gandhi on the issue of her foreign origin. Among the parties of the Left, the CPI is considered closest to the Congress. It was not without reason that the high command decided to fight the Punjab elections along with CPI (giving them as many as 11 seats) though many Punjab Congress leaders were opposed to the tie-up.
No one would have thought that the relations between the two partners would turn sour so soon. There is a view in the party set-up here that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh should have adopted a more sagacious approach in inducting the two CPI MLAs into the Congress. Even after Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s visit to Delhi, the high command leaders were not sure if the two MLAs had resigned from the CPI before they were made members of the Congress. The AICC has a three-member team of Ambika Soni, Motilal Vora and Ahmed Patel which decides cases of inductions of past and present legislators. If Punjab example is replicated by other units of the Congress, the committee will have little work to do.
It is rare for political rivals to come together for a cause, cutting across party lines. What did not happen in the country even during the Kargil war has happened in Karnataka on the Cauvery waters dispute. The other day when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa slapped a contempt petition against Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna,
the latter refused to abide by the Supreme Court’s directions of releasing water to Tamil Nadu and battle out the issue in courts.