E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Old mindset remains
The restriction on the entry of Dalits to the Baba Bhola Nath shrine in Mandor village of Patiala should be challenged by social activists. However, it will surprise only those who think the independent India's anti-untouchability laws are enough to banish caste and communal segregation from society. In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court allowed non-Brahmins, including Dalits, to become temple priests.

Pak precepts & practices
The contrast between what Pakistan says and what it does could not have been starker. It has been pleading before everyone who would listen — and even those who won’t - that it has nothing to do with terrorism. And yet, on the ground, it has stepped up the export of terror like never before. This can be gauged from the sharp increase in the number of militants killed in encounters with the security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir this week.

OPINION

US in Iraq and Afghanistan
The message from hostile public reaction
G. Parthasarathy
For over a month now the attention of television viewers across the world has been riveted on Gen Tommy Franks unleashing his “Cobra” attack helicopters and Abrams tanks across Iraq. They have then watched American negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad trying to persuade reluctant and indeed rebellious Iraqis to accept an American installed interim administration. 

MIDDLE

Infoscion Stock
Rajnish Wattas
I’ve something in common with Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys. While he is “the technical father” of the country’s topmost infotech company, I’m the biological father of one of his organisation’s junior-most employees, known as Infoscions.

Fatehabad: will ideology triumph over caste?
Yoginder Gupta
Fatehabad: Politicians of Haryana have set their eyes on this small but historic town situated on National Highway No. 10 between Hisar and Sirsa. The Fatehabad Assembly constituency, which includes the surrounding 84 villages, will have a by-election on May 21. The by-election has been caused by the death of the sitting Indian National Lok Dal MLA, Mr Leela Krishan, who died in Shimla in March last.

TRENDS & POINTERS

The tyranny of two
Maureen Rice
Is there anything left to say about that over-examined institution, The Couple? Is there anything new or worthwhile to add to the old, old story? Boy meets girl, blah, blah, blah.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

EDITORIALS

Old mindset remains

The restriction on the entry of Dalits to the Baba Bhola Nath shrine in Mandor village of Patiala should be challenged by social activists. However, it will surprise only those who think the independent India's anti-untouchability laws are enough to banish caste and communal segregation from society. In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court allowed non-Brahmins, including Dalits, to become temple priests. Why not? Provided they fulfill the basic requirement of helping the devotees perform the religious rituals as ordained by the shastras. But the Indian society responded to the ruling with customary disdain. Let there be no confusion that untouchability is a crime against humanity. But it is a crime that is very difficult to detect in the normal course. The media highlights, from time to time, instances of physical, mental and emotional acts of atrocities against the burgeoning underclass. The politicians and social activists go through the motion of waking up whenever an act of atrocity against the Dalits is reported. They even raise a public stink before going back to sleep. What is needed is honest introspection to realise that a disturbingly large number of Indians have not yet accepted that all men are equal in the eyes of God. Look around carefully for visible signs of the continued ill-treatment of Dalits. Look in the direction of East, West, North and South for evidence of the caste-barrier being broken willingly through collective social initiatives. Tamil Nadu had provided some hope. But after the passing away of the founders of the anti-Brahmin Dravida movement, the caste-divide has resurfaced.

Laws alone cannot banish evils from society. Those who are expected to work the laws are the ones who should be held responsible for the crimes against Dalits. Politicians make promises that they rarely fulfill. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh is different. At least he appears to be so. For instance, it was at his initiative that a two-day conference of Dalit intellectuals was organised last year. At the end of the marathon brainstorming sessions the participants produced a 21-point Bhopal Document. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has spent a fortune on her birthday and on the Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations. She could have held a similar conference for identifying the causes for the caste-divide in the country in which the Dalits are invariably at the wrong end. The Bhopal Document, among other things, highlighted the self-limiting and, often, negative aspects of the policy of reservation. Had Mr Digvijay Singh made this observation, he would have been accused of promoting "Manuwad". But the limitations of the reservation policy were identified by Dalit intellectuals. The acts of atrocities against Dalits deserve to be condemned. But mere condemnation will not do. The existing pro-Dalit laws and policies that seek to undo the centuries of injustice need a second and objective look for finding a workable political and social mantra for destroying the demons of caste and religious hatred in India.

Pak precepts & practices

The contrast between what Pakistan says and what it does could not have been starker. It has been pleading before everyone who would listen — and even those who won’t - that it has nothing to do with terrorism. And yet, on the ground, it has stepped up the export of terror like never before. This can be gauged from the sharp increase in the number of militants killed in encounters with the security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir this week. The figure has already gone beyond 32 in the last three days alone. And that is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, because the experience so far has been that for every intruder felled, there are several more who manage to sneak through the tortuous border. With the advent of summer, this incursion will be more extensive. By now it should be clear to everyone that whatever Pakistan says for public consumption, it is just not going to shed terrorism as a state policy. It is all right invite Pakistan for talks but India should be prepared for a summer of large-scale mischief. While the leaders talk, the army and the police will have to be at their vigilant best to deal with a slippery neighbour whose vows of innocence are about as credible as those of a pavement seller in a flea market.

It has been given out that many terrorists fell in the army net recently because they did not have trained guides with them to lead them to various destinations. They are facing this difficulty because local support for them has been dwindling. That is a positive development from the Indian point of view and the security agencies need to build on it. Atrocities by the foreign terrorists have disillusioned the local populace and they are now wary of helping them. Since local help is vital for the mercenaries, they are likely to take recourse to armtwisting, which will make them all the more unpopular. The security agencies have to go out of the way to ensure that, one, their own ranks do not antagonise the public in any way, and two, that they act quickly on the information provided by the sources. The battle against Pakistan’s proxy war is at a crucial stage. It can tilt decisively in India’s favour if the hearts of the people can be won over. As far as changing the heart and mind of those ruling Pakistan is concerned, it is a Herculean task. All such attempts in the past have been a roaring failure. There is no indication that they are willing to turn a new leaf. That does not mean India should not make any attempts. In any case, it requires two to tango.

Where are the weapons?

Long before he launched his military campaign in Iraq, US President George W. Bush had declared that only a regime change could save the world from Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). In his opinion, the “cause” was worth fighting a full-scale war despite the Security Council not giving its seal of approval. Now that he has achieved his primary objective, he has asked his administration officials to search for evidence to prove the US claim that the Saddam regime not only had a programme for the manufacture of WMDs but also possessed some of these dreaded things. The claim was made in February when Secretary of State Colin Powell asserted before a UN audience that the US was certain about the existence of Saddam’s arsenal of chemical and biological weapons. The US administration informed the world community that it had “graphic details” in this regard collected through its own technologically superior sources.

The war that began on March 19 to eliminate the ‘condemned’ regime, however, could not lead to the unearthing of those feared sites or the barrels of nerve gas and buried or mobile bio-weapons labs as mentioned in the US supplied “details”. So, the Bush administration has ordered a fresh drive in Iraq, this time not with the help of its armed forces but with weapons experts. UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, who wanted to go back to Iraq to complete the task he was forced to leave incomplete, has been told to forget his role. The US cannot depend on him as he talks of independent verification whereas it urgently needs some face-saving discovery. This can be done only by those enjoying the confidence of the US administration. As part of this programme, 200 weapons experts were assigned the job. Now another 1000 have joined them. Pressure is building up on the administration officials concerned as no credible proof has been found. Those barrels of nerve gas have been found to be full of pesticides. The sites where the WMDs were being produced, as the world was made to believe, have become elusive. Yet, the US has not given up its efforts. How can it do so? It has won the war, but it has to justify it also. This is not only the demand of the international community but also of the American public. The administration can afford to ignore what the people outside the US say, but not the public opinion within America. If overthrowing the Saddam regime was a matter of prestige for the Bush administration, answering the question on the WMDs is more than that. It seems to have become a question of Mr Bush’s political survival. 

OPINION

US in Iraq and Afghanistan
The message from hostile public reaction
G. Parthasarathy

For over a month now the attention of television viewers across the world has been riveted on Gen Tommy Franks unleashing his “Cobra” attack helicopters and Abrams tanks across Iraq. They have then watched American negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad trying to persuade reluctant and indeed rebellious Iraqis to accept an American installed interim administration. Few people have, however, noted that in the midst of their strenuous exertions in Iraq, both General Franks and Mr Khalilzad paid sudden and unscheduled visits to Afghanistan — a country where the United States is finding itself embroiled in a low-intensity conflict, after a quick military victory. It is obvious that the Americans had not bargained for the sort of hostile public reaction their presence is evoking in Iraq. They are finding both in Iraq and Afghanistan that consolidating peace is far more difficult than winning wars against weak adversaries.

The unscheduled visit of General Franks to Afghanistan during the height of the Central Command’s operations in Iraq signals growing concern in the Pentagon at the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. The Taliban has joined hands with the favourite of the ISI and the Jamat-e-Islami, rabidly fundamentalist Gulbuddin Hikmetyar, to pose a growing security challenge to American forces and the Hamid Karzai government in the Pashtun-dominated areas of Afghanistan. The Americans know that the Taliban and Mr Hikmetyar are challenging them and the Karzai dispensation with ISI support. Anti-Karzai forces that operate out of Baluchistan or the tribal areas of the NWFP are now challenging American patrols and posts across Afghanistan. The Americans are itching for “hot pursuit” of Taliban and Al-Qaida supporters across the Pak-Afghan border. On April 16 a joint American-Afghan patrol entered the village of Ghulam Khan in Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency. They were forced back after an exchange of fire with Pakistani forces of the Tochi scouts. Barely two days later, an American attack helicopter operating from its base in Jacobabad was shot at when flying over Baluchistan. Three American soldiers were injured.

There has been a long-standing dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan over Pakistani occupation of Ghulam Khan village. Pakistan has suggested that a joint commission should study this territorial dispute. It should be noted that no Afghan Government has accepted the Durand Line as the legal frontier with Pakistan. Unlike India that seems prepared to accept unlimited damage from Pakistani-sponsored low-intensity conflict and cross-border terrorism, the Americans are not going to show the same forbearance. Mr Khalilzad paid a brief visit to Islamabad and met Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri before proceeding to Afghanistan. Referring to the increasing incursions and anti-government activities across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Mr Khalilzad said: “This is not helpful, this is not good”. He then issued a thinly veiled warning to Pakistan, saying: “Success of new Afghanistan’s stability is in American interests and any effort that undermines that stability, that threatens it, is a challenge to America’s interests”.

Mr Khalilzad acknowledged that the anti-Karzai forces had stepped up their activities after the commencement of the conflict in Iraq on the presumption that American attention was no longer focused on developments in Afghanistan. But it would be wishful thinking to presume that the Americans are going to ditch General Musharraf or apply meaningful pressure on him to cease support for terrorism directed against India. The links that the ISI has with the Taliban and Mr Hikmetyar in Afghanistan and fundamentalist parties of the MMA and jihadi groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir are mutually reinforcing. After having helped the constituents of the MMA like the Jamat-e-Islami and the Jamaat Ulema-e Islam to perform strongly in recent Parliamentary and Provincial Assembly elections, the ISI is not going to stop them from cross-border activity in Afghanistan or J&K. But should these parties continue to embarrass him in parliament, General Musharraf may well move to dissolve parliament-an action that the United States would welcome, despite the protestations of its love for democracy. But any such action by General Musharraf will only lead to increasing public support for right-wing religious and fundamentalist forces in Pakistan. Such a turn of events, could create problems within the Army High Command, where General Musharraf has recently transferred Corps Commanders whose personal loyalty was suspect. Even the four-star Army Vice Chief, General Mohammad Yousuf Khan, who is ostensibly General Musharraf’s successor as Army Chief is now viewed with suspicion.

New Delhi’s response to these developments has oscillated between Mr Yashwant Sinha’s strident advocacy of Pakistan being a fit case for pre-emptive strikes, and Prime Minister Vajpayee’s statements in Srinagar that problems can only be resolved through dialogue and not by war or violence. Given the fact that Mr. Sinha is an astute politician and capable administrator, it is difficult to believe that his advocacy of pre-emption was without support and encouragement from senior colleagues. It is also astonishing that the country’s Foreign Minister should find his statements contradicted and, in effect, disowned first by the Defence Minister and then the Prime Minister. There is, therefore, widespread belief that after a phase of empty rhetoric, New Delhi has yet again yielded to American “reasoning”. But New Delhi cannot ignore the reality that General Musharraf is now under siege domestically from political opponents shouting the slogans: “No LFO (Legal Framework Order), no; Go Musharraf go”. At the same time General Musharraf realises that his army colleagues are increasingly feeling that by clinging on to power he is discrediting the army in the eyes of the people. He also knows that unlike India that has shown in recent years that it is incapable of matching rhetoric with action, American demands to stop destabilising the Hamid Karzai government in Afghanistan cannot be ignored.

When Mr Brajesh Misra and later Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani visit Washington and Mr Richard Armitage comes to India, we will be subjected to endless American sermons about why we should not press General Musharraf too much in getting him to fulfil the promises he made last year that he would unconditionally and irrevocably end cross-border terrorism. The redoubtable Colin Powell no longer describes Pakistan’s support for its jihadis as support for “terrorism” but as “infiltration”. He no longer insists that “infiltration” has to end. He wants us to be satisfied if it has been “reduced”. One hopes that our representatives will make it clear that India will be satisfied by nothing short of General Musharraf fulfilling the assurances he gave last year. Half measures to bail out the beleaguered General will simply not do.

Given his domestic problems and tensions with the Americans in Afghanistan, General Musharraf is not likely to alienate his jehadi friends by ending support for terrorism against India. Prime Minister Vajpayee has ruled out the use of force and appears to have placed his faith in dialogue. What do we propose to do if we are confronted with further terrorist outrages like those at Kaluchak and Nadimarg? Are we proposing to weep again on American shoulders, while issuing empty threats that no one takes seriously any longer? The “healing touch” in dealing with problems of the long-suffering people of Jammu and Kashmir is imperative. Will it work with a hard-boiled military dictator who regards conciliatory gestures by us as manifestations of weakness? 

MIDDLE

Infoscion Stock
Rajnish Wattas

I’ve something in common with Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys. While he is “the technical father” of the country’s topmost infotech company, I’m the biological father of one of his organisation’s junior-most employees, known as Infoscions.

While his stock at the “Wall Streets” of the world is currently taking a hard knock, my stock with my daughter is at an all-time high! Ever since I issued her the cautious advisory to opt for a career with a company whose benchmark was ethics, rather than mere profit, I’ve been a “blue chip” papa.

When the pampered “lil” princess of the cosy family from up North left for her job as a trainee with the company’s biggest campus down South, there were all kinds of trepidations regarding her fending for herself or being homesick in the big, bad world. Well, the despatches from the proud Infoscion have proved everyone — happily — wrong.

While it’s real hard work at the place, the sheer architectural and landscape beauty of the campus makes sure that the eye feasts aesthetically also, rather than just remain glued to the computer screen. The adrenaline-charged ambience takes many warm, human, soulful breaks. In the midst of cracking a hair-splitting software programme, there can be a flash on the Intra-net, “Rush to Venky’s desk - ladoos from home!”

Or sometime back, when an old banyan tree on the campus had to be pruned for its rejuvenation the HRD folks circulated a detailed explanatory memo giving reasons for lopping off its majestic branches. And myriad “leafs” of tender notes were received in response, from mawkish Infys. An organisation that cares for its venerable tree should be a good place to grow old with.

You could be eating your standard “Southy Thali” — which always has kala jamuns i.e. gulab jamuns, to pamper the North Indian palette — at a food court, and your colleague may nudge to say, “Look who is sitting next? Lo-and-behold, it’s good ol’ NRN — Narayna Murthy, as he is popularly called!

The campus bulletin board is the biggest salvation for life’s myriad problems; where lost umbrellas, keys, jokes or souls can be found. Recently when the daughter decided to join guitar classes it came upon her to re-read her favourite Equal Music by Vikram Seth. But as she had left her copy back home she put up a notice for it on the board. And next day there was a mail, “Remembered to remember getting your copy; please collect it … yours sincerely, Murli.”

A lot of sweet music for a wee-bit homesick girl! Thank you NRN for striking the right chords ... My most precious “stock” is with you.

Fatehabad: will ideology triumph over caste?
Yoginder Gupta

Stories of the past: questions remain about the present. — A Tribune photo

Fatehabad: Politicians of Haryana have set their eyes on this small but historic town situated on National Highway No. 10 between Hisar and Sirsa. The Fatehabad Assembly constituency, which includes the surrounding 84 villages, will have a byelection on May 21. The byelection has been caused by the death of the sitting Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA, Mr Leela Krishan, who died in Shimla in March last.

Believed to be 2000-year-old, the town claims to have been established during the days of Ashoka. While one school of historians believe sthat the town was known as Udai Nagari, the other school says it was named Ikdar. But both agree that during that period the “Bheels” inhabited the area.

Surrounded by thick jungles, it was a good hunting place for the ruling elite of northern India. According to the district gazetteer, after the death of Muhammad-Bin-Tughlaq and the coronation of Firoze Shah Tughlaq, the new king reached here on his way from Multan to Delhi. He decided to stay here for a hunting expedition.

During his stay here, he received the news of his force’s victory over the army of Vazir Khwaja-e-Jahan. On the same day he was blessed with a son. To celebrate the occasion, the emperor named his son “Fateh(victory)” Khan, and the place as “Fatehabad”. He also constructed a fort, which had all the traditional security features like a deep lake surrounding it.

The remnants of the fort are still there. The fort has an Idgah in which a 15.6 ft pillar still stands. A notice board put up by the Archaeological Department says: “This Lat stands in the centre of the Idgah was erected (sic) by Feroz Shah Tughlaq (AD 1351-1375). The Lat is in two parts. The lower part is a monolithic block of yellowish buff stone which have been erected by Ashoka. Traces of a line in Mauryan Brahmi characters is visible at the top of the shaft. The upper part is in red sandstone pieces, with partial use of marble. According to tradition, Feroz Shah brought the Mauryan shaft from nearby Agroha or Hansi and erected it at Fatehabad, a town which he named after his son, Fateh Khan.”

The Mandi town of Fatehabad, which became the district headquarters on July 15, 1997, marks the starting point of what is known as the cotton belt, which spreads from here in Haryana to Abohar-Fazilka in Punjab. Cotton being a crash crop, it made the area very rich till a few years ago. No wonder, attracted by the paying capacity of inhabitants of the town and its surrounding villages, a large number of private doctors, including many highly qualified, have set up their shop in the town, having a population of about one lakh. Most of them have a roaring practice.

The national highway divides the constituency in two belts—Sotar and Rohi. If one goes from Hisar to Sirsa, to one’s left will be the Rohi belt and to the right the Sotar belt. The Rohi belt has less irrigation facilities and its land is also less fertile as compared to the Sotar belt, which has a mix of canal water and tubewells.

The Fatehabad belt is one of a few pockets in Haryana where the leftist movement of the CPM brand is still kicking. The CPM candidate, Mr Krishan Swaroop Gorkhapuria, polled over 12,000 votes in the 2000 Assembly elections. The party had contested on its own. Its achievement is remarkable in view of the fact that the Fatehabad area is as caste-ridden as any other area of Haryana.

The Green Revolution, which brought a rich haul for the big farmers, proved to be a curse for the agriculture labour. A veteran CPM leader of the area, Mr Prithvi Singh Gorakhpuria, says with the arrival of combine harvesters, the demand for agriculture labour has suddenly declined. The labour rates, he says, have declined from Rs. 135 to Rs 170 to Rs 72 per day.

With the failure of the cotton crop for the two successive years, the farmers have gone under debt. Mr Gorakhpuria alleges that unscrupulous tractor dealers in connivance with bank officials, out to meet their targets, extend loans to farmers without the actual purchase of tractors. Of course, the dealers get their cut which range up to Rs 50,000. The farmers use this loan amount on unproductive activities to find themselves caught in the debt trap.

The watertable in the area is also declining sharply. This has forced farmers to go in for bigger submersible pumps, which have increased their cost of production.

The area, which has a mixed population of Jats, Punjabis, Sikhs, Bishnois, Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes, besides other communities like the Mahajans and the Brahmins, is thankfully free from caste or communal tension. Because of the strong presence of the CPM in almost all villages, the Khaps (the panchayats of various gotras) do not wield as much influence as they have in other parts of the Jat-dominated areas.

If Fatehabad played a significant role during the freedom struggle, after Independence its electoral arena was patronised by several political heavyweights like Mr Devi Lal, Mr Mani Ram Bagri and Mr Mani Ram Godra. Even the present Finance Minister of Haryana, Mr Sampat Singh, one of the think-tanks of the INLD, who was defeated in the 1996 Assembly elections, re-entered the state legislature by contesting the byelection from Fatehabad in 1998.

The Fatehabad constituency has about 1.50 lakh voters, about 80,000 of them are men and about 70,000 are women. The single largest community in the area is the Jats, who have about 27,000 votes, followed by about 20,000 votes of the Punjabis (settlers from West Pakistan). The Bishnoi voters number about 15,000, almost equal to the votes of the Sikh and Rai Sikhs.

The INLD makes a special claim over the Jats of the areas, who being “Bagris”, share the clanship of the top leadership of the ruling party. On the other hand, the Congress or to be more appropriate, the party President, Mr Bhajan Lal, himself being a Bishnoi considers the community as his pocket borough. After three years of governance, the byelection will be a good test of the Chautala government’s popularity. It will also be an indicator of the standing of various Opposition parties.

TRENDS & POINTERS

The tyranny of two
Maureen Rice

Is there anything left to say about that over-examined institution, The Couple? Is there anything new or worthwhile to add to the old, old story? Boy meets girl, blah, blah, blah.

Love in the 21st century is both the same and different; mutating interestingly as we try to reconfigure it for lives led at a different speed, but its power is undiminished, its grip on our hearts and record collections as strong as ever. But here’s the thing: while all the world loves a lover, nobody loves a couple.

Why put yourself through the pain and work and scorn of conventional coupledom when there are plenty of postmodern alternatives? For all kinds of ideological, biological, practical, romantic and lifestyle reasons, The Couple should be as common as the dodo. Why, in spite of the passion-killing grind that is daily domesticity, do we go on shacking up together? We all know about the 40 per cent divorce rate, so why do we still get married?

Love arrives, or grows, but marriage is a decision. Love feels like something outside ourselves. We talk about being struck by Cupid’s arrow, or `falling’ in love, we’re overtaken by emotion, we ‘can’t help’ how we feel. But marriage happens from the inside out, and in the head as well as the heart, even if we later decide we weren’t thinking straight.

When marriage mutated from the purely economic institution of the Middle Ages to the purely psychological institution of today, its potential for happiness and fulfilment was matched only by the burden of expectation. We want our relationships to be everything: physically exciting, emotionally fulfilling, familiarly stable, mutually nourishing. I’m no expert, but let me give you one piece of wisdom that I know to be entirely true, and which may save your marriage some day: no one person can give you all that. No one person can ever be all things to another. You need friends, interests, work, family. Sometimes you may even need other lovers. My own forecast for the future of relationships is that we’ll reinvent marriages. Just as we make ‘families of friends’, so we’ll re-write the rules on relationships to make them less private, less exclusive and less pressured. Instead of worrying about the new model family, we should celebrate and support it — the stifling conformity and prescriptive nature of ‘marriage’ is what kills it, and lends it its capacity to corrode rather than nourish.

Couples stand accused of everything from dullness to evil. Marriage is often portrayed as nasty, corrosive and suffocating. Happy marriages don’t make it into blockbuster movies or soap operas, except as grotesques. Keeping faith with long-term love is hard to do. But let me ask you this: imagine a world free of marriage or commitment. We each live as we please, with no pain or responsibility for anyone but ourselves. Now, does that world look better or worse? — The Guardian 

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Let your boat be on the waters

But do not allow the waters to enter the boat.

Be in the world, but not of it.

That is the secret of a truly happy life.

Life is a battlefield

with continuous struggle for existence and survival at every stage. 

— From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba