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Friday,
May 9, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Can’t recover? Write off Milk of human kindness Bush man in Baghdad |
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Peace feelers in Indo-Pak air
Weapons of mass destruction
Khap panchayats staging a comeback
Signs of tribal culture
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Can’t recover? Write off WHILE the burden on the honest taxpayer keeps increasing with every budget, the defiant tax evader manages to stay away from the reach of the law, courtesy a helpful administration. The Finance Ministry has decided to write off tax arrears of those who owe up to a lakh of rupees to the Income Tax Department. No one would have taken notice of this decision had the amount or the number of defaulters been small. If media reports are correct, the government has admitted its inability to recover a staggering Rs 92,000 crore as tax arrears. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has been empowered to waive tax arrears up to Rs 1 lakh if the defaulter does not respond to notices, has no assets or goes missing. Over the years, the CBDT has failed to maintain the records of tax arrears with the names of assessees being misspelt and their addresses getting changed or wrongly recorded during the carry forward process. Now when the board has decided to computerise the records, it has realised that carrying forward the arrears is inconvenient and does not make sense, specially when a large number of records are incomplete. With this decision, litigation is another headache that the Income Tax Department will save itself from, at least partly. Many tax cases have been pending in courts for years. So the easiest way out is to write off the arrears altogether. It may be all convenient, but at what cost? The Rs 92,000 crore or so which could have accrued to the exchequer is being left with the law-breakers because of bad governance. This gives a wrong signal to the honest taxpayer and
encouragement to the habitual tax evader. Recently, the banks were stopped by the RBI from using strong-arm tactics like sending musclemen to recover their loans or take hold of the loanee’s assets. The publication of names of the loanees refusing to clear their dues was also barred at one time. Politicians used to waive loans at public functions. That culture, fortunately, no longer prevails. Earlier, the RBI had advised the banks to offer one-time settlement to the loan defaulters to bring the mounting NPAs (bad loans improperly called non-performing assets) to the manageable level. However, the enactment of the recent securitisation and reconstruction law empowering the banks to auction the defaulters’ assets has helped banks recover part of the dues. The government, much less the RBI, should not be seen as being soft towards the law-breakers -- whether loan takers or tax evaders. Already, the impression among the heavily taxed salaried class is that VIPs, industrialists and big landlords get away without paying adequate taxes. Remember Jagjivan Ram forgetting to file his tax returns for years? That feeling has to be removed to
encourage tax payment. Simplification of the tax structure will save the government from unwanted litigation and the taxpayers from unnecessary hassles, while a speedy disposal of tax disputes will ensure justice and compliance with the law of the land. |
| Milk of human kindness THE Indian lawmakers did themselves a favour by passing, on Wednesday, the Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottle and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Bill. If the law enforcers do their duty efficiently, the legislation may change the health profile of Indian mothers and children. In simple terms, the new law seeks to promote breastfeeding as the best source of nutrition for infants. The primary objective of the breastfeeding law is to discourage the production and marketing of a range of substitute baby foods. But merely disallowing the advertising of products that are dangerous to the health of infants by itself may not be enough to spread the message of "mother's milk is best". The health of the child is determined by a number of contributory factors, like the physical and emotional health of the mother during the period of conception. Indian society will have to change its gender-incorrect attitude for the new law or other laws that seek to protect the health and well-being of women to usher in the necessary social revolution. The quality and quantity of a mother's milk after the birth of the child depends on the quality and quantity of nourishment she receives during and after pregnancy. A whole volume can be written on the benefits of breastfeeding. It is the most complete food for infants. But a related point that needs equal emphasis is its positive impact on the health of lactating mothers. Research has shown that it provides protection against uterine, cervical, ovarian and breast cancers besides delaying pregnancy. A study by Yale University showed that women who breastfed for two years or longer reduced their risk of breast cancer by 50 per cent. India has a lot of catching up to do in the healthcare sector with the West to be able to make the gender-correct laws work effectively in promoting the health of women and children. The "mother and child health revolution" would automatically translate into a robust and healthy society. An expression used by the Bard in Macbeth has been appropriated by an enterprising group of women in America who discarded "Breastfeeding for Peace" in favour of "The Milk of Human Kindness Project" for creating awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding. Its philosophy is interesting and worth adopting for working the new law for promoting mother's milk as the best nutrition for infants. It is based on the premise that when society raises its children on the milk of human kindness — both literally and figuratively — it helps create a culture for peace. |
Bush man in Baghdad THE US is moving at a slow pace towards rebuilding war-torn Iraq. There is growing criticism from all possible quarters, but President Bush and his colleagues are showing little concern. America’s primary interest is to keep the administration under its tight control so long as Iraqi puppets are found as replacements. So, a former diplomat and counter-terrorism expert, Mr Paul Bremer, has been assigned the task of running the show in Iraq. This “can-do type of a person”, a favourite of Mr Bush because of his strong views against the regimes like those in Iran and Syria, will be the chief administrator. Mr Jay Garner, who functioned as the top civil administrator so far, will have the number two position, if at all he remains there. Besides looking after his administrative responsibilities, Mr Bremer will also set in motion a political process so that the Iraqis are handed over the reins of power in the near future. But nobody can say with certainty when that time will come. Nothing is known about the type of government that will be allowed to take shape. President Bush says that the US will stand by Iraq till democracy is established there so that “Iraq can be an example of peace and prosperity and freedom to the entire Middle-East”. But there is total confusion about the kind of political system that will be promoted. However, two things are clear. One, the Iranian-type Islamic democracy is ruled out because Mr Bremer will never approve of it and President Bush hates the regime in Teheran. Two, there will be no representative government so long as the US develops a mechanism to have its overt or covert control over the key institutions in Iraq. America should not be expected to feel content with Iraq’s oil resources only when it has invested so much there by deploying its military machine. The form of government will be a subject of debate to be continued for as long as America wants it. Consultations may be held with Iraqi leaders like Mr Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Mr Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress, Mr Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Mr Iyad Allavi of the Iraqi National Accord. All this will delay the transfer of power to the Iraqis, with the primary task of reconstruction getting relegated to the background. Mr Bremer is unlikely to press for the supply of massive funds which he will require. His main concern will obviously be different. However, the point that the Iraqis must get a government of their choice as early as possible cannot be overemphasised. |
Peace feelers in Indo-Pak air SUDDENLY, there is euphoria in the air about an Indo-Pak rapprochement. Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s “hand of friendship” offer and the positive Pakistani response have electrified the atmosphere enough for many to believe that the two neighbours are finally ready to forget the bitter past and look forward to a cordial future. While any possibility of forward movement on the broken bridge between the two is always welcome, there is need for tampering one’s optimism with hard realism. The Indian Prime Minister’s avowedly third and last effort at peace was not preceded by any conciliatory gestures from the other side of the border. That is why his endeavour not only came as a surprise but was also devoid of a firm foundation. It takes two to tango and no Pakistani leader — least of all a hawk like General Pervez Musharraf — can be expected to dance with India without annoying the cabal which is dead set against any kind of amity. So, there is every danger that the sincerity that has always been missing from the Pakistani actions in the past will not be making a dramatic appearance this time either. At best, a working relationship between the two countries can develop. As announced by the two countries, they may go back to the situation that prevailed before December 13, 2001, with the air, road and rail links restored and the High Commissioners re-installed in New Delhi and Islamabad. But expecting anything beyond that will be iffy. Pakistan has tried to give an indication of a “paradigm shift” in its priorities and has spoken of trade first and Kashmir later. That is how it should be. But the question is: can it be like that? What should not be lost sight of is the fact that whatever confidence-building measures Pakistan is suggesting come with a “provided the Kashmir issue is resolved” rider. It is not as if the government of that country alone wants to keep Kashmir on the front-burner. So do the army, the mullahs and the terrorists. No different are the Pakistani businessmen who have thrived within the monopolistic walls. Trade with India can harm their interests and they can be depended on to sabotage any attempt to revive normal Indo-Pak trade. Half a century of propaganda has conditioned the Pakistani mind in such a way that any legal import from India is seen as a direct attack on Pakistani entrepreneurs. The man on the street may love the smuggled Indian items that flood their markets, but importing anything from India legally will require making the Pakistani mentality stand on its head. Will the present Pakistan Government really undertake that suicidal mission? It is quite clear by now that whatever happens for the public consumption, the Pakistan-backed violence is not going to be curbed. Even if the government there wants to do so, there are enough renegade elements to make sure that its orders are defied. In any case, the government would hardly like to let the impression go out that the terrorists were doing its bidding. Any noticeable reduction in violent incidents at this stage will give credence to the Indian allegation that it was Pakistan which was sponsoring them all along. Under the circumstances, it is quite likely that Jammu and Kashmir will continue to be on the boil. It is doubtful if any Indian government, least of all the one headed by the BJP, will be able to take the risk of wrapping up a treaty with Pakistan while innocent persons are dying in Kashmir and elsewhere. So, why has Prime Minister Vajpayee taken such a big risk? One oft-mentioned explanation, of course, is that it is the American arm that is twisting the Indian hand into a handshake mudra. That, of course, is a major factor, but there are many other forces at play. First and foremost is the actual image of India in the world’s eyes. As far as the Indian citizens are concerned, their country is the aggrieved party and Pakistan the aggressor. But for the outsiders, India is very much a party to a vexatious dispute, and it is hardly seen as snow-white. At least 50 per cent of the blame comes to it willy-nilly. Again, the almost unanimous opinion in the world capitals is that Kashmir indeed is the most dangerous place on earth, what with nuclear weapons arrayed on both sides of the divide. India may argue against this perception till its mouth goes dry but that does not change the opinion considerably. To address this apprehension, it has not only to be a peacenik but also appear to be so. Even the insult of its Lahore and Agra overtures being spurned has to be swallowed to make the point that it is eager to smoke the peace pipe. Then come the personal ambitions of Mr Vajpayee. His report card as Prime Minister has at best been satisfactory. A success on the Pakistan front can catapult him onto the world stage as a statesman instead of a mere politician. Even if the Sangh parivar is none too happy about his move, he knows that his chances of heading the government in the next term are none too bright. So, he thinks he can afford to take the chance of engaging the “enemy”. All that pre-supposes that the saffron brigade will be willing to do his bidding. That happens to be a tall order. So far, the voices in the Sangh ranks are only slightly raised. But if the lead taken by Mr Pravin Togadia of the VHP is any indicator of the shape of things to come, things may soon turn unbearable for Mr Vajpayee, especially if violence in Kashmir continues. Mind you, this is an election year. As said earlier, there are similar hot heads on the other side of the border too. The most important will be the reaction of the Army. It has been the fulcrum of Pakistan all through its existence. So, whatever that country does in the days to come will be decided not in the offices in Islamabad but in the army barracks. From the present indications, there is no reason to expect them to cut the branch on which they sit pretty. Besides Allah and the Army, the most potent A in Pakistan’s life is America. That is one driving force which can make the army modify its policies. After all, that is what made General Musharraf ditch the Taliban in Afghanistan. But why should Uncle Sam coerce it in any way? On the contrary, it is more likely that it will stand by the Pakistani line. That brings one to the issue of what constitutes a reasonable meeting point for India and Pakistan. Weighing all pros and cons, it seems logical to conclude that the scale will settle at the spot where the two countries will have to agree to make the LoC the international border. There will be cries of a sellout on either side but there will be no cataclysmic protests. The million-dollar question still remains: will that usher in an era of peace? |
Weapons of mass destruction “ALL well, sir,” Capt Walsh said to the Commandant, after giving him a right royal salute. “Did you visit the barracks last night?” asked the Commandant. “Yes, sir,” said Capt Walsh. “Were the soldiers sleeping under their mosquito nets?” asked the Commandant. “Yes, sir,” replied Walsh. “Had they applied mosquito repellent oil on their bodies?” “Yes, sir.” “How do you know?” “I had taken the subedar major sahib with me and he checked everything personally,” submitted Walsh. Capt Walsh was correct in so far as he said that he had taken the subedar major sahib with him on his prescribed nocturnal round of the barracks. But how could the subedar major sahib know what the soldiers were doing inside their nets? The Commandant cut it short and came to the morning. “Everything spick and span here?” he asked. “Yes, sir,” was the Adjutant’s reply. “Have you taken a round?” Yes, sir.” “Have you checked the buckets?” “Yes, sir.” “Has the water in them been changed?” “Yes sir.” “What about sand?” “All the sand buckets have enough of it.” “Do the soldiers know what to do in the event of fire?” “Yes, sir, they have been duly trained in fire-fighting.” “What about the WACIs (Women Auxiliary Corps-India)?” “What about them, sir?” “Are they taking necessary precautions?” “Yes, sir,” submitted Capt Walsh, “they don’t stay in the barracks. They go back home after duty hours.” “Do they sleep under the mosquito nets at home?” “Yes, sir.” “Do they apply mosquito repellent oil on their bodies?” “Yes, sir.” “How do you know? Does the subedar major sahib go to their homes to check that?” “No, sir, but we have issued comprehensive instructions to all WACIs on what to do and what not to do.” “Call their sergeant.” The sergeant was called. A vivacious Anglo-Indian lady, the upper part of her body marching ahead of the lower, she saluted the Commandant gallantly. “Let us go,” said the Commandant. Where? Nobody had the courage to ask. World War II was on and its motto was not to question why but to do and die. Capt Walsh followed the Commandant. So did the sergeant. Quickly, the Commandant and his contingent walked up to the cluster of the hessian closets which had been improvised in one corner of the vast regimental field to serve as urinals. The Commandant was happy to find that lime powder had been sprayed everywhere abundantly. But as he was about to leave, a swarm of honey-bees emerged out of their hives on the nearby tree and descended on all, then stings making no distinction between high and low. Apparently the bees were busy creating their own kind of civilisation and they were disturbed by the sound of the heavy boots of the Adjutant and subedar major sahib and maybe the exuberance of the WACI sergeant. That long-forgotten incident from my WW II days has suddenly come back to me as I read all this muck about the great American search, almost given up now, for the things called WMDs in Iraq. |
Khap panchayats staging a comeback APROPOS of The Tribune debate ‘Are khap panchayats necessary?’ (April 17), khap panchayats, the cooperative clanship groups of landholding villagers that function as the locally-entrenched bulwarks of power-wielding over women and other social subordinates, are exclusive to neither the agrarian Haryana nor the Jat cultivators as willy-nilly premised in the viewpoints proffered by the two discussants Ms. Shamim Sharma (‘A social requirement’), and Mr. Raman Mohan (‘No longer required’). The ‘little tradition’ cannot be eulogised merely on grounds of its origination in some archaic past—real or imagined. Both Ms. Sharma and Mr. Mohan have referred to the supposedly glorious history and impeccable credentials of the “institution” of the khap panchayat. They only disagree in their respective characterisation of the present, in their estimation of the khap panchayat phenomenon in contemporary Haryana. That khap panchayats as a social system thrive today, and need to be retained if only after a little purgation and purification, is one view, and that by their own undoing of late, they have lost in legitimacy and public standing, and must therefore lose as no longer required in currency as well, is the other. Apparent divergences notwithstanding, the two accounts share much common ground. In their approach as also the conclusions, both stand fundamentally flawed. First, the origins. Khap panchayats essentially emerged with the disintegration of tribal social organisation. They retained kinship principles as the basis upon which to build and operate. In this, they retained an unmistakable tribal instinct at the very core of their existence. Khap panchayats came to occupy a centrality in the emergent small agricultural and cattle-rearing society that developed with the long-drawn habitation and settling into the village-based productive agriculture in the plains around the Ghaggar, the Yamuna, and beyond, of the peoples now identified, based on their respective places of displacement and migration, or the modes of living adopted, as Jats, and also, to a greater or less degree, Gujjars, Ahirs, Meos, Rajputs, Rors, et al. Khap panchayats came up in areas colonised for settled village agriculture with the proprietory rights over whole tracts of land appropriated in the name of the localised communal outfits of householders collectively as the emergent kingships in these areas in those times were fragile and shaky owing to the meagerness of surpluses generated by the colonising collectivities and their ever-present miserliness over parting with their possession, and resistance to the kingly claims on their part. Yet they per force entered into a symbiotic relationship with the kings, and erected structures of co-operation and collaboration with the kingly metropolis, or centres of power, as they emerged in the overwhelmingly predominant agrarian polity. This, then, is the khap panchayat, born in the field of political economy of medieval communal agriculture, and fathered conjointly by the two poles striding the totality of the productive humans, the central dominating authority that co-existed with semi-autonomous/self-governing local communal units, and the latter. In the absence of strength of force and sinews of power, the centers strove, with the help of the only bureaucracy then available to them, the Brahmin, to castify, to organise along the state-given caste identities as a means of regulating ‘localised political units’ as Arthur Hocart calls them, the land settlers and others. Caste instantly recognised the owners of the village as the dominant group on the strength of their control over land, and further legitimized their base in kinship network inherited by them from prior existences. Orientation of the khap panchayats in caste principles and kingly authority is complete, save occasional disputes as to inter se statuses in the caste hierarchies that have constantly been revised with groups of people graded and regarded as per the exigencies of the agrarian metropolis. Caste as the neo-Brahmanical intervention in peasant muashras armed the dominant village householders, and the khap panchayats exclusively and unabashedly representing their interests, in matters of distribution and consumption of not only the village produce but also the means of production, non-human but also, more importantly, the human, for the caste reduced the women in general, and the non-dominant groups members in particular, to the level of instrumentalities of production of food and of re-production of able-bodied halis and palis (cultivators and cow-herders). Caste that resuscitates khap panchayats, and has also given rise to the Hinduism resurgent today in certain pockets in India, coupled with their hold on land, allowed the local chaudhris, part patriarchs part kings in their own right, to have as their dominion, the domesticated and enslaved women-in-veil constantly toiling with unpaid labour and obliged always to produce a male inheritor to jaddi jaidads (ancestral properties) with the unwelcome daughters legally excluded from stakes in the sanatan parampara, and the subjugated non-dominant caste peoples effectively reduced to landlessness and penury in order to provide-in-perpetuity free services and social servitude necessary to maintain the Vedic harmony and the new order. Dehumanising discourses as to women in society and their sexuality generated at the level of khaps, and insults and deliberative humiliations daily heaped on dalits trapped in the village caste relationships in the field were only thoughtfully devised techniques of assertion of superiority and successes in the social economy of caste. Khap panchayats today survive in a system which places premium on a bovine but dispenses with human lives at will. They act ultra-Hindus in seeking to protect a notion with blood and gore. Only a khap can ordain today that a man and wife erase their present, their matrimonial love, kids born in wedlock, legal protection provided by a secular state, and social acceptance extended to them by a modern society, and time travel to a past in which they are not just strangers but brother and sister bonded together in filial love! When it comes to caste, and the atrocities of khap panchayats emanating there from, the villain of the piece are the kings (and not Brahmins as an ethnicity), and the other end of kingship, the khap panchayats representing in highly inegalitarian and anti-democratic ways the interests only of the dominating castes. As the khap panchayats expressed themselves in the idiom not of the written word but of ritual unmediated by the Brahmin, the sole repository of literacy in those days, their early history can be retrieved only in conjectures and surmises. Yet one thing is clear: they belong to the pre-industrial society, and also to the times prior to the colonial intervention in India. They also intrinsically belong to a political society, as opposed to a civil society. Freedom, liberty, popular participation, democracy, civil rights, gender justice, and everything that is secular, modern, and dignified, is an anathema to them. Khap panchayats today are a survival of the past; ghosts turning very real. But the ground beneath their feet may be as brittle as they are belligerant today. They may not easily be exorcised. But even if we choose not to worship them either, things may start looking up. As to the question of their necessity, we should know that pitted against the inexorable march of history, khap panchayats are bound to bleed themselves out. But that may not happen without colossal sacrifices, and loss of human life and values. The writer is a member of the Haryana Civil Service |
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Signs of tribal culture RESPECTING the sentiments of Ms Shamim Sharma (April 17) but disagreeing with her arguments that the khap panchayats are the need of the modern society, I wish to say that, if so, why do we at all need social legislation? The legislation also derives its strength from social values and customs. There are no two views that the law is an important instrument for social change and the main source of the law of the land is the customs of that society. If caste panchayats have implemented decisions relating to dowry etc, the same could be done through judicial institutions. The author agrees that the elected panchayats are a better developed form of the khaps, then is there any need for having these parallel structures which are largely manned by a handful of persons belonging to particular gotras of the dominant castes? Historically, the khaps comprised members of almost all castes but today’s khaps comprise only of male representatives of groups which share a common gotra. These khaps are mainly prevalent in the land of the Jats roughly comprising Haryana, western UP, Punjab, and some parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Enforcing tradition and checking deviations for social good is very fine, but most of these self-styled leaders hark back to century-old rules defining who can marry whom and who cannot even though such marriages are considered perfectly valid and permissible under the law. Is it indeed a social requirement that these extra-legal and extra-constitutional bodies interfere in the legal marriages of the people, kill them, blacken their faces, tonsure their heads and parade them naked? Do they have any right to punish innocent girls and boys for choosing mates on their own? In some instances these panchayats even order “honour killings”. Such barbarism is an indicator of a tribal culture. Nowadays these bodies want to have a say even in matters relating to murder or settling criminal cases. The people are pressured to strike compromises. Haryana is passing through turbulent times. But none of these khap panchayats seem to be worried over social concerns like gender inequalities, women’s literacy, the falling sex ratio and female foeticide, but of late their only concern appears to be on dissolving legal marriages. Our educated youth since do not find jobs, they are increasingly involving themselves in crimes like looting, snatching and even murder. Nearly more than a lakh of a them are unable to find brides. many others are busy purchasing them from poorer states. If khap culture is so fundamental to the Haryanvis, then it would be better for these groups to come to the rescue of our women and employable unemployed youth. The writer is a teacher at Punjabi University, Patiala |
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Book culture is vanishing NOT for nothing has the T.S. Central State Library in Chandigarh been adjudged the “Best Central State Library in India” for the year 2002 by the Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF), established by the Union Department of Culture and Tourism. Established nearly half a century ago, the library is the biggest in the region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and UT, Chandigarh. It has a collection of over two lakh books, many of them rare and priceless. Its membership today stands at about 32,000. It has also been able to evolve and reorient itself with the changing needs of the changing times. It has gone hi-tech with the installation of a 16-camera close circuit TV monitoring system covering all the four floors of the library building. It also offers CD ROM’s and video cassettes. And, of course, internet facilities are also available. It also offers a unique helpline service under which a member can e-mail his query relating to a subject to the library at www.eslchd.nic.in which is handled promptly. A reply is sent within 24 hours. Another unique service being offered by the library is information on the telephone for issue and return as well as basic information is supplied to readers. Anyone can ring up 0172-701269 to avail himself of this service. “It is these innovative services more than anything else which have won it the best library award”, says Mrs Ramola K.C., State Librarian who has been invited to accept the award on behalf of the UT Education Department at a ceremony to be held at Ahmedabad on May 22, 2003. The Central State Library made its database way back in 1995 and for the last two years has all information related to books and library on the Internet. Anybody may search the data and get detailed information at www.cslchd.nic.in. Despite a host of services being offered here, the membership of the library has been declining steadily. As against 52, 000 members in 1991, the figure today stands at 32,000. The reason for this is not hard to seek. “There was a time not too long ago when people had only books to divert themselves,”points out Mrs Ramola K.C. “The library offered them a wide choice of titles. Now there are so many distractions and demands on their time and attention. The onslaught of the television and the internet has affected everybody. This has led to a decline in the reading habit. Even students are affected by the new trend. The book culture seems to be vanishing. People do not want to browse through books for information. They find that all the information they want is available on the Internet from where it can be easily downloaded and put to any use they want”. However, this does not mean that eventually libraries will become just monuments Nothing can replace the feel of a book. Nothing can replace the world to which a reader is transported when he starts reading. And nothing can replace the feeling of relaxation which comes when one curls up in a corner with a good book. I think books and libraries will always remain relevant,” she says. |
While Jesus is alive, it is dangerous to be with him. No businessman will come close to him — only gamblers might risk it and be with him. It is dangerous to be with him: he can be crucified, you can be crucified. — Osho, Words from a man of no words Your mind is your own to educate and direct. You can do it by the aid of the spirit, but you must be satisfied to work slowly. Be patient and persistent. — Ella Wheeler Wilcox, The Heart of the New Thought |
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