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Tuesday,
March 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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American duplicity Reviewing POTA Bogus voters |
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State of Indian universities
“Swimming uncle”
Pitch report favours change in Zimbabwe
Don’t ignore flat feet
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American duplicity The American claim that it will continue to fight against international terrorism till the monster is finally eliminated has always been doubtful. The Bush administration’s actions, one after another, since 9/11 make one believe that it has some other agenda to implement in the name of stamping out terrorism. The primary reason to suspect the American intentions is its friendly attitude towards Pakistan, virtually the biggest nursery of terrorism today. Gen Pervez Musharraf’s promise to disallow terrorist networks to use Pakistani territory for their destructive operations had proved to be hollow within a few months after he made the well-publicised announcement in January, 2002. As reports suggested, terrorists initially slowed down their activities as a tactical move. India too noticed it . But this had happened only for a short period. Soon the terrorist networks operating in India’s Jammu and Kashmir regrouped themselves and relaunched their activities. It is a well-established reality that all of them draw inspiration from Al-Qaida and its mastermind, Osama bin Laden. Their support structure remains intact. Militant jihadis are able to cross over to this side of the Indo-Pak divide with arms and ammunition as they had been doing earlier — with the support of Pakistan’s armed forces. The latest proof is the attack on a police post at Ind village in Udhampur district, resulting in the death of 11 persons, including nine police personnel. The killers were armed with highly sophisticated weapons, including rockets. Yet the USA takes seriously any statement of innocence coming from Islamabad and rewards the Musharraf regime for its “cooperation” in the war against terrorism. It is difficult to accept all this as an anti-terrorist drive with no end to killings in Jammu and Kashmir at the hands of Islamabad-sponsored militant jihadis. Though Friday’s waiving of the US sanctions imposed on Pakistan in the wake of the 1999 army coup by General Musharraf is being interpreted as part of America’s appeasing tactics to win Islamabad’s support in the UN Security Council over the issue of war against Iraq, the decision will definitely bolster the military regime to continue to work on its terrorist infiltration programme. There is a strong feeling in Pakistan, which gets reflected in debates and discussions, that the USA will not punish it for the proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir so long as it appears to be on the side of the Bush administration in the operations against the remnants of Al-Qaida and the Taliban. No doubt, the Musharraf regime has helped in the capture of 450 Al-Qaida operatives, including two key figures, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Yassir Al-Jazeeri. But this is no big gain, as the campaign has been continuing for a long time. The truth is that Osama bin Laden’s network has grown stronger in Pakistan during this period. He is the latest hero of the Pakistanis. Any amount of American rewards is unlikely to change the ground reality. Washington’s gesture in favour of Islamabad only exposes the US duplicity in handling cross-border terrorism. |
Reviewing POTA The Deputy Prime Minister's announcement setting up a committee to review the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) is a step in the right direction. Yet it is only the first step. The committee is to be headed by a former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Arun
Saharya, and will have other members who will comprehensively examine the way in which this legislation has been used in various states and give a report on the shortcomings in the implementation of POTA, as well as specific suggestions to check the misuse of its provisions. This is, indeed, a tall task. That POTA has been misused is now an accepted fact. It has been specially misused in Jharkhand (over 200, ranging in age from 12-81, held at one time), Uttar Pradesh (political scores being settled, MLA Raja Bhaiyya and his father Uday Pratap Singh held), Gujarat (in the wake of the Godhra carnage, 123 persons were held under POTA) and, of course, Tamil Nadu where MDMK leader Vaiko and TNLA leader P. Nedumaran have had POTA charges slapped on them. At least, the government has now acknowledged that the Act, which had been for so long trumpeted as a necessary weapon against terrorism, has been misused. Human rights activists and the Opposition have held that POTA had the potential of becoming, and has become a double-edged sword like its draconian predecessor, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA), which was withdrawn in 1995, after an inglorious 10 years. The fact of the matter is that both POTA and TADA presume guilt, rather than innocence, which is the bedrock of all jurisprudence. This makes them suspect, and even under the kind of special circumstances like terrorism that are cited in support of these laws, the state should not act in a manner that violates the principles of natural justice. In any case, it has often been pointed out that the 1980-vintage National Security Act permits Central and state governments to "preventatively" detain persons regarded as dangerous to the security of the state. If only laws could make persons act in a lawful manner. What is often covered through draconian laws is the inadequacy on the part of investigative agencies in building proper cases against the accused, and the generally slow pace of the judiciary in handling such cases. What is needed is good investigation, and prompt judicial action in deciding such cases, so that people do not languish in jail on charges that later turn out to be unrelated to the provisions of the law they have been arrested under. While Mr L. K. Advani's statement has acknowledged the difficulties in the fair use of POTA, it should be followed by concrete and prompt action such as empowering the review panel to even recommend the scrapping of the law that has shown its draconian potential more than its preventive nature in an amazingly short duration. |
Bogus voters The confrontation between the Election Commission and the Madhya Pradesh government over large-scale discrepancies in the preparation of electoral rolls in the state is most unfortunate. The showdown was avoidable. It would have been better for Chief Minister Digvijay Singh to put an end to this controversy forthwith. The Election Commission, having been satisfied over glaring irregularities in the electoral rolls in three districts —
Khargone, Rewa and Shahdol — directed the state government to suspend the three District Collectors-cum- Returning Officers and other junior officials responsible for the lapses. However, no action has been taken against them. He met Chief Election Commissioner J.M.Lyngdoh on Monday and said that the officials could be suspended only after chargesheets were framed against them by the Commission. His statement that “the errors were just printing mistakes and not deliberate irregularities” is amazing. In fact, a cursory look at the scale and magnitude of these errors will leave one astounded. For instance, in Kasaravad of Khargone district, which is represented by Deputy Chief Minister Subhash Yadav, 54,000 new names were left out from the final list. Here for some reason another 42,000 names meant for deletion have been retained. Similarly, in
Rewa, 42,000 new names have not been incorporated and 8,000 have not been deleted from the list. In
Shahdol, 42,000 names should have been deleted, but continue to remain in the rolls. On top of all this is the case of the Manegawa constituency in Rewa district whose sitting MLA is Assembly Speaker Sriniwas
Tewari. The sheer number of voters from a single house in Manegawa is mind-boggling. Reports suggest that the electoral officials never visited this house and finally put the figure of voters at 1,237! While free and fair elections are the sine qua non of a functioning democracy, people’s faith in the system will get eroded if elections are not held in a transparent manner. How would people have faith and confidence in a system if it does not ensure correct electoral rolls? The Bharatiya Janata Party has every reason to see politics behind the controversy. Madhya Pradesh BJP President Uma Bharati led a delegation to President A.P.J.Abdul Kalam the other day to complain about the lapses. As the Assembly elections are expected to be keenly fought, the BJP is worried that a flawed voters’ list would mar its prospects. The Chief Minister, on the other hand, seems to be wary about taking action against the bureaucracy. He wants to keep the officials in good humour so that they implement all the developmental programmes with full vigour in the election year. Whatever Mr Digvijay Singh’s compulsions, he does not have a choice in the given situation. Monday’s meeting between him and Mr Lyngdoh will carry weight only if the larger goal of rectifying the defective electoral rolls is achieved. Clearly, the choice before the Chief Minister is not one of defiance, but of extending all possible cooperation to the Election Commission to hold elections in a free and fair manner. |
State of Indian universities While restructuring the salaries and grades of university and college teachers a few years ago, the University Grants Commission (UGC) recommended the incorporation of a system of periodic performance appraisals of every teacher and researcher in the universities with a view to assessing his claim for promotion of graduation into higher salary and status. However, the academic fraternity felt piqued at this proposal, and was widely resented. So, the recommendation has failed to materialise as yet. Close on the heels of this unresolved tangle, recently yet another dimension has been added to the controversy, manifesting in the proposed adoption of performance-oriented contractual service arrangements for university teachers. While no one denies the relevance and desirability of some sort of performance assessment of teaching and research going on in the universities, but the manner it has been contemptuously harped and blatantly contrived to be thrust upon the teachers in all its vicious forms and frequency has raised doubts and suspicion in the minds of this sensitive section of society. In the UGC scheme, a three-tier system of performance evaluation of university teachers was proposed to be instituted — evaluation by students; evaluation by teachers themselves (self-appraisal), and evaluation by subject expert committees constituted at the time of promotion of the incumbent. While the first two were proposed to become a regular annual feature, the third one comes into operation at the time of screening and personal interview for different stages of promotion. This evaluation structure implies that a university teacher is expected to be relentlessly evaluated for his survival and growth throughout his career. Whereas no one resents the last form of evaluation, which has already been in place since long, the focus of ire of the university teaching faculty is on the first two types of performance evaluation methods, because in the typical politico-academic milieu of our campuses, which are yet to fully mature and gear up for an impartial and unbiased performance assessment, these methods are liable to be abused by the authorities and others. As a matter of fact, performance evaluation is an extremely delicate and solemn task, which requires a high degree of uprightness and integrity on the part of the assessor. He must be discreet and impartial while evaluating one’s performance, and should give an objective and above-board assessment without any extraneous influences. However, such sacrosanct performance assessment has remained elusive in our academic realms, and that gives us nightmares in the event of a possible implementation of the proposed UGC scheme in totality. For one thing, the blind adoption of the Western model of performance appraisal of teachers by students will be simply misfit in our university environment because of the entirely different set of personality traits of our students. Whereas the Western student is more independent-minded, more confident and, above all is assured of bright prospects in the job market, our students are largely more insecure and uncertain of placement in future, and hence are submissive and docile and prone to be misled by a motivated direction from peers and superiors. Therefore, our type of students would have an inbuilt tendency to be manipulated as pawns in the image-tarnishing game of the “not-so-worldly-wise” teacher. So, we are apprehensive that student evaluation of teachers may not be thoroughly unbiased, objective and straightforward. Similarly, self-appraisal reports by teachers may either tend to be exaggerated or, as it is alleged, may be misused by the managements and authorities to scorn and demean certain “targeted” academics whenever required to demoralise them. In the current policy for the selection and recruitment of university and college teachers, a prospective incumbent has to pass through a rigorous process. First, with all his socio-economic limitations, he has to slog in academics in order to excel in university examinations so as to be a cut above the rest in an inhospitable job market. Then he has to clear the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the UGC in order to mark up his credentials for selection as a university teacher. Thereafter he is subject to a stringent screening process at the time of interview, where his academic and pedagogic qualities are put to a severe test subject to high norms. Once he is selected, he is expected to continue to brush up his researching and teaching skills. He is expected to write and publish research papers and present his research results at seminars and conferences, where he is grilled and tested by his fellow researchers. This is no mean task and is an inalienable part of his continuous inbuilt assessment process, though it is paradoxical that on the one hand the UGC proposes to assess the research performance of university teachers, while on the other their teaching load has been unduly inflated, which has certainly impinged upon the teacher’s limited time for research, and would obviously impair their research performance. The university teacher is unabatedly assessed daily in the classroom by his/her students, bearing upon his/her reputation and examination results of pupils. He is also put to relentless testing by the strength and veracity of the research output of his doctoral and postgraduate students. Besides that, he has to undergo the drudgery of onerous examination work, academic inspections and meetings and what not, which take a heavy toll of his time and energy for research, but might go unaccounted for in any scheme of performance evaluation. Given all this, it is but natural that the university teacher feels pestered if he is “threatened” with the superimposition of an exasperating multi-layered evaluation criteria. On top of that, the university teacher feels disgusted when he is disdainfully told that the continuity of his job will be linked to his performance evaluation under the proposed contractual service arrangement. This proposed measure is most obnoxious and despicable, particularly in the absence of proper comprehensive social security system and a hostile job market, characterised by favouritism and nepotism. This will be enough to shatter the initiative and confidence of the teacher, who will always dangle between the situations of uncertainty and hopelessness. The university teacher also feels discriminated against and intrigued as to why alone he should become the focus of such a pernicious evaluation system, whereas he is surrounded by all sorts of sleaze, evil and bureaucratic inefficiency, which all go unchallenged. Why such a harsh evaluation system is not imposed on other professionals and officials, including doctors, lawyers, politicians, businessmen and a whole tribe of insensitive government officials. In sum, any talk about initiating a string of performance appraisal schemes for university teachers looks to me completely absurd and oppressive. Why should one expect the teacher alone to be an icon in the sea of mediocrity and substandard quality? As a matter of fact, a teacher is also a part and product of the socio-political system and hence cannot be expected to be different from his fellow
beings The writer is a professor at the Punjab School of Economics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. |
“Swimming uncle” “Papa, look, swimming uncle !” exclaimed my eighth grader, eyes lit with spontaneous excitement and abundant joy. “There, papa, that side,” she continued, as I spotted a short-statured, old gentleman nestled in a solitary corner in the cool confines of the dining hall in the Defence Services Officers Institute. For the rest of our dinner proceedings, we were treated to an incessant commentary by my little one on the glorious achievements of the “swimming uncle”. “Papa, uncle is this, uncle is that, he can teach any child swimming in one hour, you know ! Uncle is so good... he makes children drive also. All children love him”. “Papa you must meet him”, came the final demand, as we inched towards the pudding. In between, I could see children from toddlers to teens, thronging the “swimming uncle” for a probable thanks-giving. Every visitor was rewarded with a prompt reciprocation and an affectionate hug. I indeed got curious to meet the old man. My little daughter was by now, nearly bulldozing us towards the uncle. “Good evening, sir” I wished, “Good evening”, the response was warm. Pleasantries done, a brief chat ensued.... “Your child is talented. Must encourage her” “All due to you sir”. “Thanks, by the way, she is my 963rd student”. “Sir, may I have the honour to know your name”. “Well, I never tell my identity to anyone, I am ‘Swimming Uncle’ to all Children, but since you have asked specifically, I will give you my card. Only on one condition that you will read it at home... (Uncle put the card in my pocket). Back home, I realised that, the “swimming uncle” is a very senior General Officer of yesteryear. Armed to the teeth with rare technical and professional qualifications, he holds an extremely senior position in the corporate world today. I wonder, what spurs him to be “swimming uncle” to hundreds of children, spending hours and hours on end, teaching each one with seamless patience, love and affection.... Indeed, some relations are strange.... bound firmly with no strings, no commitment... no expectations, where only the blessing of the elders are reciprocated with nascent love and sheer respect of so many little angels. Where is the place to don the rank, stature, hierarchy, in this pious domain. I wonder.... |
Pitch report favours change in Zimbabwe We should not ignore the small political gesture by Andy Flower and Henry Olonga of wearing black arm bands during their country's opening cricket World Cup 2003 opening game to “mourn the death of democracy in our beloved country”. Ideologically, Mr Mugabe belongs to the African liberation tradition of the 1960s — strong and ruthless leadership, generally anti-western and anti-capitalism and in the long run deeply intolerant of dissent and opposition. Mr Mugabe was the messiah of his people only for a short duration of time after Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. There is little that separates Mr Mugabe in his present avtaar and the Rhodesian dictator Ian Smith who now lives in exile in England. The unhappy turn of events in the country that he ruled as ruthlessly as its present ruler has brought back a tinge of hope in the eyes of Mr Smith, who at 81 had otherwise begun to take his prayers seriously. He seriously believes that he has a chance of reclaiming the lost throne. Such is the irrational nature of political ambition. Be that as it may, the point of interest is the unexpected role that two Zimbabwean cricketers have played in reviving the dream of 11 million countrymen. The dream of freedom and democracy being restored in their benighted country. Andy was acclaimed as the best international player a few years ago and Henry at 26 had a bright future ahead of him as a promising pace bowler. Andy is from a family of white settlers and Henry loves flaunting his tribal origins through an outrageously flamboyant hairstyle. Together they may have inadvertently fashioned a political role for themselves — a role they should not duck if they love their country as much as their black armband protest over “the death of democracy” indicated. Ten days after the protest against Mr Mugabe, the first of its kind in the history of international cricket, all eyes were again on the new “revolutionaries” on the day of the match against India. There was sadness beneath the smiles of the vast local and Indian-origin. Smiles because both Henry Olonga and Andy Flower invariably play their best cricket against India. And sadness because the crowd did not see a future for either beyond the World Cup. The hunch of the crowd was right. Andy Flower announced his retirement from international cricket after the super six match against Sri Lanka. But Olonga's situation was more delicate. Announcing retirement from cricket would not have served any purpose. He had already been punished under instructions from the powers that be by being dropped from all the remaining games after the opening match against Namibia. The cops were after him to escort him back home where he would have been tried for treason. His retirement had elements of drama. Seven plainclothes officers, believed to be from the Central Intelligence Organisation, arrived in East London on Friday and were entertained by World Cup
officials. The pace bowler himself was made to go into hiding in South Africa by friends. It was all done very discreetly. Olonga was seen performing the duties of the 12th man during the game against Sri Lanka to put the Zimbabwean officers off guard. It was from an unknown place of hiding that international cricket's most colourful character issued a statement on Saturday that may see him play a more active role for the liberation of his country from tyranny and dictatorship. Olonga said “I was never under the illusion that my stand would have no consequences... I believe that if I were to continue to play for Zimbabwe in the midst of the prevailing crisis, I would only be neglecting the voice of my conscience. I would be condoning the grotesque human rights violations that have been perpetrated against my countrymen.” In Ian Smith's Rhodesia it was a crime to be black. In Mugabe's Zimbabwe the white settlers have become the target of attacks. And white cricketers have not been spared. The Ervines were ejected from their farm and are living in the manager's house on a neighbouring property, rearing chickens and rabbits. The Streaks and Whittals are back on their land but the invasions continue. Olonga has promised to continue from exile the fight for restoration of democracy and human rights in his country. Andy Flower too has promised not to give up. The free world should give these two soldiers of freedom a standing ovation as they say goodbye to the game through which they brought glory to Zimbabwe. The two of them represent a balanced team for bringing democracy back to their country. Olonga's deceptive pace should see him bowl Mugabe out of political reckoning; while Flower should continue to bat for restoration of human rights. A black native holding the hand of his white neighbour is the Zimbabwe the two of them should give to their country — a country that has seen avoidable bloodshed in response to Mr Mugabe's jingoism. |
Don’t ignore flat feet A new study suggests that surgery to correct flat foot in children before adolescence period was greatly successful. If left untreated this can lead to arthritis and other foot problems later in life, according to findings presented in the annual meeting of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons in Florida. It was also found that the problem can be difficult to distinguish in young children until the arch develops between the ages of six and nine. Some children eventually outgrow the condition, but those who don’t frequently complain of cramping, calf pain or fatigue. Parents may notice collapsed arches and ankles that turn inward, reveals a report in
HealthScout. Experts say that treatment options for flat feet include shoe modifications, orthotic inserts, physical therapy, stretching exercises, anti-inflammatory medications and surgery. The study evaluated 37 children for 18 months following surgery to correct flexible flat foot. The success of the structural correction was assessed using X-rays, physical examination and a patient satisfaction questionnaire.
ANI |
Blessed are the meek for they alone shall survive when the rest have finished destroying each other. Blessed are they whom the world condemns, for they shall be its judges. Blessed are they whom the present persecutes, for they are the children of the future. —Paul Richard, “The Gospel of the Mountains”. |
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The weather report for the match between Zimbabwe and Namibia on March 10 in Harare provided no clue of the political storm that an inconsequential game of cricket would whip up. A storm that did not make Zimbabwean strongman Robert Zimbabwe lose sleep, but may ultimately see him lose power.
They may at some future date be remembered with nostalgia and pride by a nation that has stopped living because of the fear of the man who had played a key role in ending white rule in Rhodesia. Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has dominated Zimbabwe's politics since independence in 1980.