The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDITORIALS

Nuclear chicanery

THE outgoing Chief of Army Staff, Gen S. Padmanabhan, only stated the obvious when he asserted that the troops were ready for war with Pakistan last year and did not go across the border because the green signal in this regard was not given by the political leadership. It is common knowledge that the Indian response was well calibrated and the plan unfolded according to a clear strategy. In a mature democracy the final decision is taken by an elected government and is faithfully carried out by the uniformed forces, unlike in dictatorships where Generals act as tin-pot war-mongers. The possibility that Islamabad might press the nuclear button because it could not withstand the Indian might in a conventional war was very much factored in. Even the western media speculated on this worst-case scenario endlessly. What is galling is that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is still repeating his blackmailing tactics by saying that his country was ready to use nuclear arms. What the USA and other backers of the General must take note of is whether he is telling the truth or not; he is making this claim with a palpable sense of pride. He is too shrewd an army man not to know that if he had actually done the unthinkable, India would have been hurt but Pakistan would have been wiped out. He is flaunting his dirty bomb with childish glee only because the USA has not only condoned his armtwisting strategy, but also cited it to force India to exercise restraint instead. Since the General has got away with this irresponsible behaviour for so long, he is encouraged to employ it time and again.

The USA is finally having to pay a heavy price for propping up dictatorships right since the time of the Cold War. Osama bin Laden is the most obnoxious consequence of this ill-thought-out policy. Earlier, it was insensitive to the Indian suffering at the hands of the neighbour which had made terrorism export the cornerstone of its official policy. Since India was a poor democracy and not an ally of the USA, its status as the country with the second largest Muslim population was conveniently ignored. It is high time the sharp contrast between Pakistan’s reckless flaunting of its nuclear might and India’s unilateral “no-first-use” commitment was appreciated. The latter has remained steadfast in the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes and has never shown any inclination to deploy it as an instrument of offensive. Even when India made nuclear weapons, it was only as a deterrent, because it could not ignore developments in the rest of Asia, including China. The bottom line is that nuclear weapons are a far bigger threat when these are in the hands of upstart dictators as compared to their possession by democratic countries committed to certain values and traditions. General Padmanabhan’s statement only underlines this fact. Looking the other way while General Musharraf preens himself with his nukes will be tantamount to ignoring a similar threat from men like Bin Laden.

Cricket world (hic)cup

THE team for the Cricket World Cup has been announced. The International Cricket Council cannot accuse the Board of Control for Cricket in India of not picking the best players for the tournament beginning in South Africa in February, 2003. However, the road ahead is still bumpy. Picking the best team for the World Cup was easy. But unless the contract controversy is sorted out, the Indian team cannot be expected to concentrate only on the game. As it is, the wise men of the Indian cricket administration have virtually destroyed the confidence of the team that after a long time had begun playing like the potential world champions in the tournaments in England and Sri Lanka. The decision to rest key players during the domestic series against the West Indies and now in the series being played in New Zealand has done more harm than good to the morale of the team. Look at the track record after India shared the Champions Trophy with the host team in Sri Lanka. The West Indies beat India 4-3 in the one-day series played in India. During the on-going tour of New Zealand Saurav Ganguly’s dream of winning a Test series abroad turned into a nightmare. The 2-0 drubbing at the hands of the Kiwis was humiliating. It was the worst ever overseas performance by any Indian team. Now they are trailing 2-0 in the one-day series. Ideally, the first three years after the last World Cup should have been spent on trying out new talent and on improving the fitness, fielding and running between the wickets of most players. The last year before the premier tournament should have been devoted to just ironing out the flaws of what had emerged as a winning combination after the impressive showing of the team in tournaments in England and Sri Lanka.

Be that as it may, the contract controversy has taken a new twist. BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya’s decision to resign from the World Cup Contract Committee should make the ICC realise that here is a man who is willing to go the whole distance for protecting the financial interests of Indian players. The terms that the sponsors of the World Cup dictated to the ICC are absurd. The Indian players simply cannot sign the contract in its present form. They had to play for the ICC Champions Trophy without a team sponsor. Why? Because of the conflict of commercial interests between the sponsors of the tournament and that of the Indian cricket team. The Indian team participated in the mini-World Cup on the explicit understanding that the ICC will review the terms of the contract. Instead of amending the terms, the ICC is trying to arm-twist the Indian players to sacrifice their commercial interests. Mr Dalmiya has done well to throw his weight behind the Indian players. He has promised to refer the dispute to the International Court of Arbitration in Switzerland if the ICC refuses to remove the unfair terms from the contract. The BCCI is not seeking a review of the terms because India generates 80 per cent of the ICC’s earnings, but because they were drawn up without protecting the existing commercial commitments of Indian players. Most of the product-endorsement contracts were signed by the players before the ICC began negotiations with the 2003 World Cup sponsors.

OPINION

Evading real issues in financial scams
Need to review policy priorities for investment
Balraj Mehta

THE Joint Parliamentary Committee has clearly and indeed brazenly evaded the real issues in the financial scams, which have erupted in the regime of the market-friendly economic policy. The question of accountability too should not be related to the role merely of some individuals in the scams but the overall policy frame of the sovereign regulator, that is the government of the day.

SEBI (the Securities Exchange Board of India), for instance, is supposed to regulate trading on the stock markets. But it has to take measures within its mandate and competence to moderate speculative fluctuations in the trading of stocks and shares. Its efforts are bound to be compromised when its regulatory measures are circumscribed by the government’s policy and directives.

There has been sudden and dramatic expansion of trading on stock markets with the switch of the government policy to the so-called market-friendly economic growth. But this spurt has been primarily of a speculative nature rather than by way of flow of savings in the primary market for investment for steady and sustainable economic growth. It has not been fortuitous either that the primary market for trading in stocks and shares soon collapsed and there have been wild fluctuations in the secondary market.

The talk of thousands of crores of rupees wealth in the economy created by speculative upswing in the prices of stocks and shares traded on the stock markets is, of course, balderdash. The cornering of stocks and shares can result in only the redistribution of claims of individuals and business corporations on the existing wealth in the economy.

The brokers who operate in the stock market trade earn their own cuts from trade in the secondary market. In the primary market, they act as agents of those who seek to mobilise private savings for investment in business ventures, old or new. The trade in stocks and shares is also open for international portfolio investors, who have moved to India smartly to play the leading role in this activity. They are now in a position to mastermind the movement of prices of stocks and shares. They can drain away large profits with small investments. The domestic brokers and their financiers have been reduced to play a subsidiary role in stock market trading. The management of the inflow and outflow of hot money across national boundaries is the specialisation of FIIs. This helps them to prepare the ground in the developing countries for the acquisition of domestic companies, private and public, by multinational corporations.

India is still an underdeveloped country where capitalism is in the early stages of development. The increase of trade in stocks and shares witnessed in the wake of the liberalisation-globalisation policy is not warranted by the present depth and scale of market in India. The ratio of trading volumes on stock exchanges to market-capitalisation in India is three-four times than in the USA. Further, price fluctuations in the prices of stocks and shares are out of step with their value in real terms. This has vitiated trade in stocks and shares. What may be normal and legitimate business on stock exchanges in developed capitalist economies has quickly degenerated in India into manipulations of prices of stocks and shares by the cartels of stock brokers, Indian and foreign.

The question is whether the trade in stocks and shares in the given conditions and the present stage of economic development in India can be properly and effectively regulated. The talk of strengthening the regulatory mechanism to protect the small savers who are lured into trading in stocks and shares has neither conviction nor credibility in the prevailing economic and social conditions in India. It is noteworthy that only 1 per cent of the household savings in the country is invested in the stocks and shares which are traded on the stock markets. This is so in spite of many fiscal concessions and incentives, which have been given to attract household savings to trade in stocks and shares. But small savers are still reluctant to entrust their savings to brokers operating in the stock market and business corporations. This reluctance has increased in the wake of successive stock market scams.

The official penchant is to treat stock market scams as mere aberrations. The truth is that the stock market scams erupt year after year after the presentation of the Union Government’s budgets. It is disconcerting, therefore, that the votaries of liberalisation and globalisation of the economy inside and outside the government in India persist with the policy to induce and even pressurise the general public not to put their savings in public saving instruments. The stock market is treated as the newly discovered and fancy instrument for the mobilisation of resources from the public for domestic and foreign investment to pick up. The tax instrument for raising investment resources for investment has also been blunted. The small savings schemes are being dismantled. The need, therefore, is to introspect and review the policy on savings and resource mobilisation for economic and social development.

Speculative trading on stock markets does not provide a reliable basis for sustainable and equitable growth of the economy. The maximisation of returns for the owners of capital, especially foreign capital, which has become the principal concern of official policy, is not the way to increase production and productivity at the present stage of social, political and economic development in India. On the contrary, it has a baneful influence on economic policy as well as private business activity in India. It does not help to forge socially meaningful and economically rewarding forward and backward linkages with economic activity of the mass of the people and satisfaction of their essential needs. The diversion of the savings of the community into stocks and shares and the so-called innovative financial instruments and practices do not result in investment for productive purposes based on social objectives.

So far as the UTI in crisis and its near-dismantling are concerned, Mr Yashwant Sinha in the Finance Ministry was squarely in the dock. But in this case too the JPC report has been lackadaisical. The precept and practice of ministerial accountability in formal democracy often diverge but here is a case, which should not have been so cavalierly treated.

The loss of the small investors is, of course, not something unique and is an essential part of primitive accumulation of capital. Sovereign guarantees to protect the returns are, after all, reserved in India for only large domestic and multinational corporations in the regime of market-friendly economic growth.

A solid and sound savings-investment instrument was created by the government in the regime for planned economic development. It has now been brought to near-liquidation. The default in the redemption and payment of dividends on savings entrusted to the UTI is bound to result in further disillusionment among middle classes with the ruling junta’s economic policy and performance.

It is not at all surprising, however, that the regulatory mechanisms set up with much fanfare in the market-friendly economic regime tend to quickly become effete. Reliance on market forces to determine investment and growth priorities exposes the mass of the people to incalculable hazards. There is need to review policy priorities for resource mobilisation and investment. This has not been done by the JPC. The fact is that small savers have good reasons to prefer depositing their hard-earned earnings in nationalised banks and public savings instruments for security as well as fair returns. It is remarkable that while the speculators have been let loose on stock markets to corner savings of the people, interest payments on deposits on small-savings instruments have been cut and the cuts in tax rates for the rich and corporate business are applauded as growth-oriented. It is not surprising that the savings rate in India has gone down and investment has been sluggish in the so-called economic reform era.

MIDDLE

Goodbye, 2002
Ramesh Luthra

HI dear! Just the other day you were ushered in by the young and the old with a bang in shimmering discotheques, restaurants and lanes. Born out of the entrails of 9/11 attack on the WTC and December 13 attack on our Parliament, your first sunrise and sunset were fraught with fear and anxiety. You generated such a ferocity of response after the attack on Parliament as left Pakistan nervous and the USA puzzled.

Like your predecessor you will go down in history for making poor Gujarat the soft target. The earthquake-torn state witnessed unprecedented riots after the Godhra mishap. Kept Gujarat in the limelight. And then the feverish elections in the state!

Very clever of you. Like your fraternity you harped on the Kashmir issue. Militants struck to thwart any peace move, especially whenever a foreign dignitary visited India. Hence the Kaluchak massacre. It brought Indo-Pak relations to an edge. This time the External Ministry and the PMO showed commendable synergy in handling international community. Frequent visits of US Defence Secretary and Deputy Secretary of State proved that India’s coercive diplomacy paid rich dividends. Forces were mobilised on the LoC to keep pressure on Pak and the latter too followed suit.

History was created by you when instead of a politician the learned ‘Missile Man”, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was elected to the highest office of the country. Rare honour you won for yourself.

The J and K elections! Another mega event from your casket. You routed the NC and brought to power the PDP and the Congress coalition. A turning point in the troubled valley! With free and fair elections you boosted India’s credibility in the international field. Simultaneously, you imparted a new form and meaning to militancy. Suicide attacks on sacred places like Raghunath temple and Akshardham temples exposed its destructive intentions.

You naughty! Changed the political frame of the country bringing new faces and forces in UP, Punjab and Uttaranchal. Another change — silent yet perceivable — was the emergence of Sonia as the “New G” — a force to be reckoned with in Indian politics.

Hats off to you! You have won laurels for the country’s diplomacy. The Indo-ASEAN summit in Combodia vindicated India’s look-East Policy. It is an acknowledgement of India’s emergence as a key player in the Asian-Pacific region.

God knows why you ditched us by derailing our economy. Very strange of you to think Sinha and Singh swapping places would revive the dead horse! Like Hardy’s characters our poor heads were pelted with misery after misery. Failure of timely monsoons followed by drought played havoc with the already shattered economy. You exulted hurling death and devastation through railway accidents. The Rajdhani Express accident revived the blood-curdling memories of the Khanna and Fatehgarh Sahib railway accidents.

In the firmament of sports, of course, you outdid 2001 winning for Kapil Dev The Wisden “Cricketer of the Century Award”. You won us the prestigious ICC Championship Trophy in partnership with Sri Lanka and the match series against the West Indies too. Another feather in the cap! Our athletes won us laurels in the Commonwealth and the Asian Games. But the Sunita episode is still corroding our hearts.

As if bored with wry politics, you reopened the Shivani murder case — Not less than a national crime thriller that kept the media and the public awfully busy.

You turbulent one! Spilled stormy event after event. Now that the sun has set on you dearie, be at ease and sleep well in your dome. Goodbye dear!

PM’s musings from Goa
No difference between Hindutva & Bharateeyata

HEARTY New Year greetings to all my dear countrymen and to all members of the Indian Diaspora living in far-flung corners of the world. I also send my greetings to our brothers and sisters both in the neighbouring countries and in countries far and wide. May the New Year bring greater peace, prosperity and happiness to the entire humanity.

I have come to Goa to see the sun set on 2002 and to welcome the first morning of 2003. I had come here more than four decades ago to participate in the Goa Liberation Struggle, which saw the sun set on this last enclave of colonial rule in India. Since then, Goa has progressed in many ways, retaining its old charm, which is the alchemy of diverse historical influences, and yet adding many new features that heighten the appeal of its original attraction: the unique combination of the sun, the sand, the sea, swaying coconut trees, the rivers and forests, and of course the natural hospitality of the Goan people.

The sight of the sea and the sound of its waves can easily make one’s mind wonder about the eternal and the infinite. My wandering thoughts, however, return to India.

How many waves of history have crashed at the shore of our Motherland! How many New Year suns have dawned on its vast expanse! In our preoccupation with the Here and Now, we sometimes tend to forget how ancient, and yet how enduring and self-renewing is our civilisation, indomitable, inclusive, absorbing all the positive influences brought ashore by the tides of history and making them its own.

I recall the ringing words of Swami Vivekananda in his essay, The Future of India: “It is the same India which has withstood the shocks of centuries, of hundreds of foreign invasions, of hundreds of upheavals of manners and customs. It is the same land which stands firmer than any rock in the world, with its undying vigour, indestructible life. Its life is of the same nature as the soul, without beginning and without end, immortal; and we are the children of such a country.”

Our diversity is as much a source of India’s greatness and of Indians’ pride in their nation — as her antiquity. Foreigners have always wondered how we can embrace so much diversity in religion, ethnicity, language and lifestyles, and yet remain a united nation. What they may not understand, and which we must never forget, is that living with diversity, and yet weaving a thread of unity and harmony through it, has been a way of life throughout India since time immemorial. This is as true in Goa as it is in Gujarat, in Jammu and Kashmir as much as in Kerala, in Manipur as much as in Madhya Pradesh.

From time to time, the theme of unity in diversity provokes intense debate, even controversies. I wish to comment on two distinct voices, which have become louder after the Gujarat elections. On the one hand, secularism is being pitted against Hindutva, under the belief that the two are antithetical to one another. This is incorrect and untenable. Secularism is a concept of the State, enjoining upon it the duty to show respect for all faiths and to practise no discrimination among citizens on the basis of their beliefs. In this sense, India has been secular since the beginning of her known history. We chose to remain wedded to secularism even when Pakistan was carved out on the basis of the spurious and communal Two-Nation Theory. This could not have been possible if the majority of Indians were not secular.

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore has explained it very well: “India has all along been trying experiments in evolving a social unity within which all the different peoples could be held together, while fully enjoying the freedom of maintaining their differences. The tie has been as loose as possible, yet as close as circumstances permitted. This has produced something like a united states of a social federation, whose common name is Hinduism.”

Hinduism’s acceptance of the diversity of faiths is the central feature of secularism in India. As Maharshi Aurobindo points out, “Indian religion has always felt that since the minds, the temperaments and the intellectual affinities of men are unlimited in their variety, a perfect liberty of thought and of worship must be allowed to the individual in his approach to the Infinite.”

On the other hand, Hindutva, which presents a viraat darshan (broad, all-encompassing view) of human life, is being projected by some people in a narrow, rigid and extremist manner an unfortunate and unacceptable interpretation that runs totally contrary to its true spirit. Hindutva is an integral understanding of the entire Creation, showing the way both to the Here and the Hereafter. It emphasizes the inseparable relationship between the individual and society, as well as between man’s material and spiritual needs. Hindutva is liberal, liberating and brooks no illwill, hatred or violence among different communities on any ground.

We need to affirm and promote that true understanding of Hindutva which is forward-looking, not one that seeks to take us back, that which makes us capable of meeting the challenges of the modern world, not one that is stuck in the grooves of the past, that which is reform-minded, and not one that protects obscurantism and injustice, against which all the reformers of the past have fought. If understood and practised in this enlightened sense, which is how Swami Vivekananda and other great patriots propounded it, the current controversy over Hindutva will be seen as wholly unnecessary.

There is no difference between such Hindutva and Bharateeyata, since both are expressions of the same chintan (thought). Both affirm that India belongs to all, and all belong to India. It means that all Indians have equal rights and equal responsibilities. It entails recognition of our common national culture, which is enriched by all the diverse religious and non-religious traditions in India. For centuries, both have synonymously pointed to our national identity. Even the Supreme Court has held that Hindutva is neither a religious nor a political concept, but connotes a noble and elevating way of life. This Indianness is what we should all celebrate and further strengthen.

It is obvious that we have to remain committed to the task of strengthening our common Indianness in spite of every provocation, big or small, coming from our western neighbour. I often find it odd that whereas India reconciled itself long ago to the creation of Pakistan, the latter continues to find it difficult to accept the unchangeable reality of a united and secular India.

Pakistan, even after five and a half decades of failed pursuit, seems to be unready to face the truth that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so.

For the past several years, the rulers in Islamabad have, almost as a last resort, surrendered to the temptation of targeting India with terrorism, inspired by religious extremism. Innocent children, women and men are being routinely killed, temples are stormed, our symbols of democracy are attacked, and our security forces are challenged all in the name of a “holy religious war” and “freedom struggle”.

This campaign of jehadi terrorism, too, is doomed to fail. By rejecting Islamabad’s call for boycott of polls, and participating enthusiastically in the free and fair elections to the State Assembly held in October, the people of Jammu and Kashmir have yet again expressed their will and preference. I am convinced that someday hopefully soon—the people and rulers of Pakistan will realize the futile and counter-productive nature of its Kashmir policy.

Pakistan cannot fight religious extremism and modernise itself as long it chooses to be in a position of permanent confrontation with India. Therefore, it must stop cross-border terrorism and abandon its insistence on the “centrality” of the Kashmir issue. Let our two countries agree to promote mutually beneficial trade and economic ties, strengthen cultural relations, and encourage greater people-to-people contacts. Once our two peoples experience the fruits of a tension-free and cooperative environment, we will be able to see the Kashmir issue in its proper dimension and arrive at an amicable and lasting solution.

Dear Countrymen, many pressing tasks confront us in the New Year and in the years ahead. As far as the Government is concerned, we are determined to accelerate the pace of implementation of numerous developmental initiatives that we have begun in recent years and to unveil several new ones in the New Year. I would like to characterise many of these initiatives as various components of the “Connectivity Revolution”.

Highway connectivity and rural roads connectivity are two of the most ambitious infrastructure projects since Independence. We are also strengthening the rail and air connectivity in our country. Telecom connectivity, Internet connectivity and the attendant IT revolution have rapidly modernised our economy and society.

I must also add here that our many foreign policy initiatives have yielded a better connectivity between the international community and an India that is today stronger and more self-confident than ever before.

Another important endeavour will soon be added to this revolution. It is the River Connectivity project.

I would, however, place a far bigger importance on another connectivity effort, one to which I referred earlier Connectivity of the Hearts and Minds of One Billion Indians. No nation has ever attained greatness without first attaining success in the awakening and organising of the whole strength of its people. Unity of minds, unity of purpose, and unity in action this is what we have to demonstrate in every sphere of our national life. We have to strengthen the spirit of nationalism, and make it an inspiring and motivating force to drive all our endeavours.

This is how India won the struggle for becoming a Free Nation. And this is how India will have to win the struggle for becoming a Developed Nation — free at last of poverty and unemployment, of illiteracy and disease, of poor shelter and sanitation, and of all other curses of underdevelopment. For this, we have to expand the area of consensus on economic and other urgent reforms, so that these can be implemented speedily and effectively. To me, the true test of reforms is when they beneficially touch the lives of all Indians — especially the poorest and those living in backward regions.

We are making progress on all these fronts. But the progress is not always as rapid and as regionally and socially balanced as we desire. There is a lot that the Central and State Governments have to do to speed up this process. I appeal to all our legislators, both at the Centre and in the states, to show the same dedication to doing their duty as was seen in the last session of Parliament, when a record number of bills were passed.

But there is an even larger area where people’s own self-initiated and self-organised effort will produce the desired results. I am convinced that there is an immense untapped energy in our society, which can and must be channelised for constructive purposes, in order to bring about a positive change, even if such change is on a small scale and its impact is felt only locally. I would like our people to reduce their dependence on government for everything.

For example, why should our cities and villages be so unclean and unhygienic? Can this not be changed visibly by changing the habits and the mindset of each one of us?

Shouldn’t citizens themselves initiate a drive for water conservation, energy conservation, and conservation of our precious cultural heritage? Shouldn’t our society come down heavily against those who commit atrocities against women, dalits, adivasis and other weaker sections? Shouldn’t our rich people provide more philanthropic resources for the care of the orphans, disabled, destitute, and senior citizens? My thoughts especially go out to our children, who are the future of our nation. The government and society should work together with greater commitment to make all the emotional and material investment we can, to ensure that every Indian child is well fed, well educated and well looked after.

As a matter of fact, there are tens of thousands of unsung or little-sung heroes of development, both individuals and organisations, all over the country. They are inspired by the spirit of nationalism and the true meaning of religion as service to society —Nar Seva is Narayan Seva. Many of them are young people. Few things bring me greater joy than when I get to meet these selfless volunteers with soaring idealism. May the number of such individuals and organisations increase a thousand fold, and may they inspire each of us to do something more for our country in the New Year.

These are some of the thoughts and reflections that the idyllic setting in Goa has triggered in my mind, and which I wish to share with you.

Once again, I wish you all a very Happy New Year”.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

To be killed is the only “natural death” for a prophet.

It would not be to the honour of the Son of God not to be put to death by the sons of men.

To know how to live is to know how to die.

To know how to die is to know how to be reborn.

It is because Jesus willed to be born that He knew how to will to die.

It is its purpose that gives to death, as to life, its value.

To conquer death, make it the servant of your work.

A useless death is the only one to feel sad over.

Jesus had the art of utilising death.

What is it in us that fears death?

That only which has not learned to live outside itself.

To die is to become as large as the earth; it is to give her our body in exchange for hers.

We die because we know not how to follow Time in its march.

To avoid dying one day, one would have to be incessantly reborn.

Perhaps the Gods, to adorn their dwellings, gather our children as we gather their flowers.

— From The Scourge of Christ by Paul Richard

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There is only one father and we are all His children.

— Shri Guru Granth Sahib, Sorath M 5. P.61

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With the consciousness of “mine” and “thine”, one was held in bondage; the Guru effaced the ignorance and freed him from the bonds.

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Asa M-5, page 400

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Where there is love there is no sin.

— Montenegrin Proverb

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Verily those who fear their Lord in secret, for them is forgiveness and a great reward.

— The Quran, Surah LXVII, 22

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All pervading God!

Whatever heinous sin

we may have committed,

Be it one of downright jeering at God—

Or scorn of Him—by tongue, mind or action,

We pray for pardon

For that haughty and perverse God-hater

Who is ever busy tempting us to evil paths.

— Rigveda, 4.54.3