 |
Thursday,
February 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Ayodhya issue, again! Mistreating undertrials Tension in MP |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Iraq war and diplomatic window
Beware of the danger ahead
Spiritualism and everyday life
A nice strong cup of tea is good for you
|
Ayodhya issue, again! IF one were to view the current political scene in India from the outside, it would appear that the most pressing issue before the country is that of Ayodhya. Poverty, unemployment, hunger …everything else pales into insignificance before it. Only when one gets the insight of an insider does one realise that even those swearing by it get passionate about it only on the eve of elections. It remains on the backburner during the rest of the time but turns into a matter of life and death when the battle of the hustings approaches. However, what is unusual this time is that nobody is in a position to fully explain what everybody is fighting for and why the Budget session has begun with adjournment motions galore. The ruling party as well as the Opposition agrees that all concerned should wait for and respect the Supreme Court verdict. Then, prey, what is all the fuss about? After the Left and the Samajwadi Party stalled proceedings for over 30 minutes on Tuesday, it was “agreed” by all that a discussion on the subject would take place on February 26. It is not as if sane counsel has prevailed all of a sudden. Actually, the Congress apprehends that castigating the Hindutva cause as this stage might not be very pragmatic in view of the elections in Himachal Pradesh and so, has decided to preserve its lung power for another day. On the other hand, the saffron parties themselves have dusted the whole issue specifically at this time for similar motives. So much for the commitment to the cause. Be that as it may, it will be a travesty if Parliament is again paralysed after a few days on this issue. There are other vital issues which have been hanging fire before it because of the paucity of time. Disrupting the proceedings of the august institution only worsens the situation. Nearly all Opposition parties came together at Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s dinner party to chalk out a common strategy. Can’t the NDA constituents and the Opposition make it bold to have a similar, all-party conclave and agree to give a go-by to divisive issues which are a drag on the country’s development? By now, all of them must have come to the grudging conclusion — at least in their heart of hearts — that the country is saddled with more pressing problems than those on which they have been expending their energy all along. We have had more than enough of communal hatred, fundamentalism, obscurantism and bigotry. It is time to make a new beginning. |
Mistreating undertrials MANY newspaper readers would remember a picture published a few months ago of four undertrials confined in a cage and loaded in a truck being carried from a courtroom to a jail in Ludhiana. It came as a horror to many who wondered if such things could still happen in a so-called civilised society like ours. It was but natural that the Supreme Court should take notice of such blatant abuse of human rights of prisoners. On a public interest petition on Monday the court issued notices to the Punjab Government and the National Human Rights Commission seeking their reply to the charges levelled. The undertrials were accused of killing peacocks in a forest area. A serious crime, no doubt, but it no way justified the beastly treatment meted out to
them. This is no isolated incident. In February last year a warrant officer of the Punjab and Haryana High Court rescued a 45-year-old undertrial, Kuldeep Singh, who was chained to a hand pump inside the Baba Bakala police post in Amritsar district. The inhuman treatment given to prisoners in Punjab has often been highlighted in the media, but the police top brass as well as the civil authorities have refused to take any corrective measures. Undertrials have often complained that they are denied food when taken to courts. Recently the Sessions Judge of Chandigarh had to intervene and direct the jail authorities to provide food to undertrials when produced in local
courts. The hardships that undertrials go through on account of judicial delays are all too well known, but again there is no effective check on this. As a result, many continue to languish in jails for years before their case is decided. The Punjab Police does not seem to realise that an undertrial is innocent until convicted by a court of law. Even the convicts are entitled to certain rights under the rules which cannot be violated. Why does the police ill-treat undertrials as well as citizens so often? It is not that the years of dealing with militancy have brutalised the state police force. It is the widely shared feeling that they can escape punishment even if they break the rules or take the law into their own hands. In the days of terrorism many had got away with murder. The law enforcing agencies have failed to bring the erring policemen to justice. This fact has been emphasised by Amnesty International as well in its report on custodial violence in Punjab released recently. “Torture in Punjab persists as a result of the continuing culture of impunity developed within the criminal justice system in the state during the period (of militancy)”, the Amnesty report noted. Politicisation of the police has only made matters worse. Political protection enjoyed by certain policemen encourages them to act against the rules and spread a culture of indiscipline. Otherwise how could the police in Punjab treat undertrials so shabbily, especially when the Supreme Court has held even the handcuffing of undertrials as violative of Article 21 of the Constitution. The escorting authority has to justify in writing why a prisoner is handcuffed. Putting a prisoner in a cage is simply inhuman.
|
| Tension in MP Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is reported to have expressed anguish over the malicious campaign against him by Congress workers in Madhya Pradesh. But there was no reference to the avoidable tension that a Sangh Parivar outfit has created in Dhar over the restrictions on praying at the
mandir-cum-masjid called Bhojshala. The situation is going to get even more ugly close to November when assembly elections are due in the state. It takes two to play clean and an equal number to create communal mayhem as part of a perverse election strategy. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh is said to have given the green signal to party workers to answer fire by fire, because that is the ostensible purpose for which Ms Uma Bharati was made to give up ministerial comforts in Delhi. The Madhya Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party can expect adequate pre-election support from the various Sangh Parivar outfits. The tension in Dhar was the result of the attempt by Hindu Jagran Manch activists to force their way into the Saraswati temple, that shares space with the Kamal Moula mosque, on Tuesday. The complex houses what experts say is one of the finest examples of Hindu sculpture. It was constructed in the 11th century by Raja Bhoj as a centre of learning with goddess Saraswati as the presiding deity of the magnificent complex. The idol of Saraswati is now part of a collection in London. So the dispute is essentially over the control of the structure that is associated with the goddess of learning. The controversy surrounding the status of Bhojshala dates back to the period when aggressive “cultural nationalism” became the political liet motif of the Sangh Parivar. In the early 1990s the Vishwa Hindu Parishad sought to expand its constituency in Madhya Pradesh by getting involved in the welfare of the adivasis. In the mid-90s the Bhojshala became the focus of attention. The VHP made an unsuccessful attempt to install a Hanuman idol in the temple in 1994. When it tried to storm the temple again in April, 1995, it resulted in riots in
Dhar, Indore, Ujjain and Dewas. The Bajrang Dal too has had its share of whipping up tension when it tried to unfurl the national flag at the complex on Republic Day in 1994. The primary reason for the failure of the Sangh Parivar campaign thus far is the resolve of the local community, both Hindus and Muslims, not to allow the communalisation of
Bhojshala. The Muslims offer prayers at the Kamal Moula mosque on Fridays while the Hindus arrange special puja at the temple on Basant
Panchami, a festival associated with Saraswati. The Sangh Parivar outfits want the complex to be thrown open for puja on Tuesdays. But the power to alter the present arrangement lies with the Centre. Given the volatile situation in Dhar and its neighbourhood, Mr Digvijay Singh is unlikely to take the huge risk of ensuring peace if the Centre introduces a formula of “equal opportunity” to both communities, without a clear direction to the Sangh Parivar outfits to desist from creating tension. |
Iraq war and diplomatic window AT the NATO headquarters in Brussels they have repaired the rift that was so damaging to America’s plans for the impending war on Iraq and so frightening to Turkey, one of the frontline countries from where the onslaught on President Saddam Hussein is to be launched. But the key question is whether a similar “miracle” can be wrought with equal ease and speed at the UN Security Council in New York. From all available indications at present this seems unlikely, and that should explain the frustration of the USA so amply voiced by President George W. Bush’s national Security Adviser, Ms. Condoleeza Rice. She spent the weekend going from one talk show to another, declaring that the “diplomatic window must be shut soon because defiant dictators do not respond to appeasement, only to toughness”. More time to UNA weapons inspectors, according to her, would only “play into Saddam’s hands”. This is clearly unacceptable to the USA, particularly to Mr. Bush. The trouble, however, is that France, Germany and others anxious to avert a rush to war have, on the basis of the testimony of the chief weapons inspectors, Dr Hans Blix and Dr Mohammed
ElBaradei, made out a strong case for giving the weapons inspectors more time. They don’t want to be steamrollared into compliance with American dictates. America does not appear to have the nine votes in the Security Council, the minimum necessary to push through a resolution authorising almost immediate use of force. And even if this “mandatory majority” can be mustered somehow, the possibility of the French veto cannot be ruled out though both Washington and Paris would like to avoid such a possibility. The other side of the same coin is that, as in so many situations in the past, a determined America is bound to prevail, however indefensible its moral position might be. Realpolitik has an inexorable logic of its own as this country knows from its own bitter experience. Even in the bipolar age, in the course of the war for the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, the USA had no compunction to “tilt” towards a country that was morally in the wrong and militarily doomed to defeat. In later years, in session after session of the UN General Assembly, it could mobilise enough votes to give Cambodia’s seat to the execrable Pol Pot regime. And so on. Today the world is unipolar. America is the cock of the global walk. It is what the French call the only “hyper-power”, and it is led by a President who, in true Texan style, would shoot first and ask or answer questions only later. Even so, it seems that before taking any precipitate action unilaterally — albeit along with “willing allies” best typified by Britain — the USA would try to evolve a compromise resolution. Its aim would be to give Mr Hussein a rather short deadline for conforming to certain specified benchmarks, failing which punitive military action would follow automatically. The Franco-German draft resolution, despite the undoubted merit of several of its elements, is not acceptable to the USA because it has no fixed timeframe or any provision for automatic triggering of action. If the developments within NATO are any guide, the kind of compromise that the Bush administration seeks might be reached. France was doubtless absent from the meeting of the NATO planning committee that took the decision to extend to Turkey all the protection it had asked for. But, significantly, the decision to refer the matter to this committee (from which France is excluded because it is no part of the NATO command structure) was taken at the French initiative. Nor should it be overlooked that though, at the meeting of the Security Council on Saturday, both Russia and China had also favoured a peaceful solution of the problem, their positions were milder than those of France, Germany and Syria. It would be no surprise, therefore, if all concerned so arrange things as to pass the Security Council’s next resolution by consensus and without having to put it to vote. Such a course of action would make life easy for several countries and particularly for Pakistan, since January a non-permanent member of the council. The Musharraf regime is impaled on the horns of a tormenting dilemma. The public opinion in Pakistan is opposed to any US-led war on Iraq and the Islamic parties, well represented in the National Assembly by the Muttahida
Majlis-e-Amal, are taking the lead in demanding that the Americans be expelled from their country. At the same time, there is no way the military-dominated government in Islamabad can afford to be out of line with its main benefactor and supporter, the mighty USA. Mr Bush and General Pervez Musharraf have been having long talks on the telephone. At the UN, the Pakistani Ambassador, Mr Munir Akram, has been making the right noises about avoiding war and forcing Iraq to abide by the UN’s demands diplomatically. But there is not the slightest doubt about on whose side Pakistan would be when the chips are down. Already the publicity machine in Islamabad is busy telling the people that no tears need be shed for Mr. Hussein because “he has consistently been supporting India over Kashmir”. In short, on the issue of the impending war on Iraq there is a great and growing gap between rhetoric and reality. Nowhere is this gap more yawning than in the Arab lands bordering the targeted country. In each of the Arab country, the volatile street remains bitterly hostile to the USA and its plans but the ruling family or the establishment, dependent on America for its survival, meekly toes the US line. The latest meeting of the Arab League ministers vividly underscored this bizarre state of affairs. Anti-American rhetoric there was at its most strident. But the meeting could not fix a date for an Arab summit. Nor did it say a word of criticism against the three Arab countries — Kuwait, Qatar and Oman — which are hosting formidable American forces in full readiness to invade Iraq. Under these circumstances harsh words such as “Bush is a thief and a liar” or “America is the Evil Empire” break no bones. In sharp contrast to this is the attitude of Turkey. Its government candidly declared that the Turkish people were opposed to America’s war plans but national interest demanded that the country should go along with the USA. Consequently, the government sought and secured Parliament’s approval for allowing the US military machine to wage war on Iraq from Turkish soil. Hence the need to seek NATO’s protection, now assured to it. To say all this is not to deny that among the people in general across the world there is tremendous resentment and ire against what America is doing. Massive demonstrations from Sydney to San Francisco via Indonesia and Europe underscore this but Mr. Bush and his cohorts couldn’t care less. Nor are they daunted in the least by the mind-boggling problems that are bound to arise even if America’s expected victory is swift and smooth. As both the US State Department and the UN anticipate, the disruption, devastation, starvation, chaos and violence in the post-Saddam Iraq could be of gargantuan proportions. On top of it, Turkey, to safeguard its own security and strategic interests, is almost certain to march into the Kurdish territory in northern Iraq that is out of Baghdad’s control even today. Understandably, the anti-Saddam Iraqi Kurds would not like it. Moreover, Iran that suffered heavily at Mr. Hussein’s hands during the eight-year war in the 1980’s, has stakes in the future of the Shia majority of Iraq that lives in the south of that country and has been traditionally oppressed by the powerful Sunni minority. All this, combined with America’s declared intent to use its occupation of the post-Saddam Iraq to “reshape the regimes” in all of the Middle East, cannot but create a multi-faceted mess. India’s interests in the region are also enormous. It is the source of Indian energy needs. More than three million Indians live and work in the Gulf countries, remitting home $ 6 billion a year. Their safety and wellbeing are vital. This should explain why some experts are suggesting that an Indian Navy task force should be positioned in the Gulf to evacuate Indian nationals, if necessary. There was never any question of India supporting the US policy. But its criticism of it has been mild and has now been made even milder by the President who, in his address to Parliament, referred not to the dark war clouds on the Iraqi horizon but to the “unhappy situation about Iraq”. |
|
Beware of the danger ahead The BJP is working on a planned, deeply thought out divisive strategy for next state and parliamentary elections. This is highlighted by the call that Hindutva is a way of life and not a religion. Every spiritual soul in each religion having reached the height of communion with the Universal Soul has the same message of universal love, common humanity and the acceptance that same divine power runs through all human beings though outwardly professing different religions and practices. Thus Hinduism’s “Vasudhaiva-Kutumbakam” (world is one family) is equally reciprocated in the Quran which says, “All the created ones belong to the family of God... so, an Arab has no precedence over a non-Arab, a White over a Black”. And Christ said succinctly, “All are children of God.” Evidently, all great souls and prophets have the same vision of God. There is that indissoluble unity of thinking that no religion whether Hinduism or Islam can claim to be the sole interpreter of God’s Vision. Their paths to reach God may differ, but the goal is the same — mainly how to obtain God’s mercy and blessings. Another not-so-clever slogan being projected by the BJP is by seeking to equate Hindutva with Bharatiya. This is utterly unwarranted. I can accept that all people of whatever religion living in this country are Bharatiya — that is resident of Bharat, because our Constitution under Article 1(1) says “India, that is Bharat” — the later has a connotation to territory stretching back thousands of years even before the advent of Islam or Christianity. But if I were a Muslim or Christian I would certainly resent being called Hindu because it amounts to denying me the identity of my religion. No, the BJP cannot be allowed to get away with the unacceptable formulation of equating Hindutva with Bharatiya. Yes, we are all Indians and Bharatiya and proud of it, and also equally proud of being Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, et al. As it is, it is more apt to call Indians as Bharatiya because already in our social set-up because of the policies of globalisation there is a conflict of India vs Bharat — the former represents the elite and the minority of the privileged few while Bharat represents the overwhelming poverty-ridden masses. This is not a
clitche. It is a reality. According to the Human Development Report, a country in which the capacity of each individual to spend is limited to US $ two per day is passing through a situation of below poverty level and if $ 1 per day is below extreme poverty level. The per capita income of India is $ 480 annually. It is quite clear that barring a few privileged, the overwhelming millions of residents are living below extreme poverty level. Thus, this is the real conflict between India vs Bharat. One of the tragedies of our narrow outlook is that though some of most crucial and important parts of respective religions are similar, they are not known to the other side. Many non-Muslims are not familiar with the fact that pre-Islam society in Arab land worshipped as many idols as are worshipped in India today. Prophet Mohammed’s movement was a revolt against idolatory and a call for belief and faith in one universal God. Similar onslaught was initiated by Swami Dayanand in the 19th century who was the bitterest opponent of
idolatory. He maintained that there is not a single verse in the Vedas to sanction the invocation of the Deity, and likewise there is nothing to indicate that it is right to invoke idols. He said, “Idol worship is a sin.” His remedy, in his own words: “Under a righteous government these lovers of idols (priests) would have been compelled to earn their living by breaking stones, making bricks and carrying materials for building purposes or doing the like work.” The BJP government, which invoked reverentially the name of Swami Dayanand in the Gujarat elections, may consider acting on his advice. In its quest for power the BJP is totally indifferent to the damage it may do to one of the still surviving institutions — judiciary. I am referring to its application to the Supreme Court for the release of acquired undisputed land in Ayodhya to be given to the VHP for building a Ram Temple. I am surprised that because the BJP has a set of talented lawyers, including the Law Minister, whom it had given impartial advice would have certainly advised them that it is not possible to persuade the Supreme Court to accede to this request when the matter of mosque is pending in the High Court. The VHP still maintains that it will have the sanctum sanctorum
(Garbh Griha) of the future Ram temple at the very site of the masjid. Thus the court is being asked to predetermine the decision of the suit. There is no way the Supreme Court can accept such a request unless the VHP publicly gives up its claim to the masjid site and the case before the High Court is withdrawn. As a matter of fact, the Supreme Court had positively ruled in 1994 that handing over the so-called undisputed area can only be done after implementation and in terms of final adjudication in the suit. Knowing full well this situation, the only motive of the BJP is to do public relations exercise with its Parivar and then innocently turn round to blame the court for want of honouring the Hindutva sentiment. Must cynacism and political morality fall so low. It is now quite evident that in the fight for secularism the Congress will not be playing the leading role as is clear from its falling a victim to the issue of cow slaughter raised by the BJP, considering that the slaughter of cows and she-calves is already prohibited in the whole of India excepting Kerala and the North-East. The talk of cultural nationalism is
phoney. The persons living in Punjab have more cultural closeness in the matter of folk lore, marriage customs and eating habits with the Punjabi Muslims in Pakistan. The Hindus and Muslims in the South have common dress and food habits and social manners far different from the Hindus and Muslims in the North. The effort of the BJP to split the Hindus, Muslims and other religious groups into separate categories is doomed to failure because it is contrary to commonly shared history, culture and philosophy for centuries. The writer is a former Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi. |
||
Spiritualism and everyday life Spiritualism is not an invocation for sloth; nor does it induce inaction. A spiritually evolved person considers action to be the most essential element in life. He is aware of the fact that fate or destiny is determined by action or Karma. Actions done in previous births determine one’s life. These actions are called in spiritual terms, ‘Sanchit Karmas’ or accumulated actions. The second category of Karma is ‘Parabadh Karma’ or destined actions. Spiritual lore prescribes that one cannot escape the influence of his deeds done in one’s previous birth, maybe one is breathing within a mountain or living on the surface of an ocean. The actions done in earlier existence reflect the later nature of an organism, the description of diseases — physical or mental — to which it is prone in the present birth. An individual reaps at the same age — infancy, youth or senility — that which he had sown in his previous birth. Destiny draws him to or from even an exotic country and subjects him to the consequences of his karma despite his resistance and efforts to countermand them. We get in life what we are destined to get. Even the supreme power cannot or does not avert destiny. That what is destined to happen, must happen. However, Karma is all powerful. That is why, it is consequential to mind one’s actions. Our Karma, however, must be based on truth. God all religions aver, can be realised by means of purity and truth. Gandhi used to maintain, “my uniform experience has proved that there is no other God than Truth (Satya). The time-honoured shinto teachings popular in Japan emphasise the urgency of good, truthful individual conduct. A gist of these precepts is as follows: Do not violate the instructions of Almighty. Remember your obligations to your ancestors and the holy spirit. Do not forget that this world is a large family and we are puny, insignificant creatures. Be good to all and do not show indolence or indiscretion in your day-to-day conduct. “Watch your actions”, Swami Vivekananda elaborates the same thought in his inimitable style. He holds that all of us are multiple forms of God as He exists in all beings. He alone serves God who serves all the beings as His ingredients through rightful actions — Karma. Isho Upanishad exhorts us to behold this Universe as the glory of God and make our world more congenial, and our existence more fruitful. Swami Ram Teerth enjoins, “leave the transient. Seek peace in the eternal”. Sivananda opines, “we perceive this world through our senses but our senses are incapable of perceiving the metaphysical entity of God who is beyond the domain of senses”. The primal source of wisdom, the Vedas, have given us this invocation in the form of a universal prayer for His grace. “Asato ma sad gamya, tamso ma jyotir gamya, mritur ma amritam gamya”. (From the unreal, lead us to the real. From darkness, lead us to light. From death, lead us to immortality) Is man small or insignificant? Hafiz Shirazi says, “You are not small or base. In you is hidden the entire Universe”. To sum up, the essence of spiritualism lies in doing your Karma ploddingly and stoically. |
A nice strong cup of tea is good for you It’s true what many people have said for ages: “Have a nice cup of tea, you’ll feel better.’’ And the stronger and hotter it is, the better you’ll feel, according to a researcher at New Zealand’s University of Auckland, who has studied the beneficial effects of certain varieties of Chinese tea. A strong, hot brew contains more antioxidants - which health experts say slow down or halt oxidising damage that can cause cancer and heart disease - than a weak one, said Joy Hsu. She investigated the (polyphenol) antioxidants in 33 types of green, oolong and black teas during research for her master’s degree. Hsu found that green tea had the highest average levels of antioxidants - though oolong and black teas were not far behind - and they increased with temperature and dropped markedly in reused tea. “In Asian countries the first brew of oolong tea is usually discarded as being too bitter,’’ she said. “However, our testing has shown that this first brew contains the most benefits.’’ Hsu said research into antioxidant properties, and consequently the health benefits, of foods was a hot topic and her studies on tea had been stimulated by similar investigations into antioxidants present in red wine. She said tea had traditionally been identified with having health benefits, and now her research was proving it. Her research supervisor at Auckland University, Dr Paul Kilmartin, said other research had shown that antioxidant levels in the blood increased shortly after consuming substances such as correctly brewed green tea. “However, only about one per cent of the individual antioxidants consumed and known to be present in the tea can be detected in the blood stream,’’ he said. “We just don’t know enough about them to explain why this is. We don’t know where the rest go or what they turn into. Perhaps they link with other compounds in the blood stream and we don’t know where to look or how to find them.’’ He said this was the fascinating next step for research into antioxidants, as well as determining the amount of tea required to be drunk each day to gain the maximum benefit.
DPA |
Be not faint hearted when thou maketh thy prayer. *** Prayer is worship in the heart *** If you pray to the deity with sincerity, you will assuredly realise the Divine Presence.
—Chucho Jijitsu |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
