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Thursday,
May 15, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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States have a point CPM all the way Greatest run chase |
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America disappoints India
Packaged fun Living with the pain of a genetic disorder
Chernobyl’s legacy
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States have a point A
major question that came up for discussion at Tuesday’s meeting of the Inter-State Council’s Standing Committee in New Delhi was whether the Centre should be allowed to deploy the armed forces under its control without the concurrence of the state government concerned. The Sarkaria Commission on Centre-state relations has recommended “prior consultation” for the purpose with the state government. After all, law and order is a state
subject. The intention is to provide a foolproof safeguard for the rights of the states guaranteed under the Constitution. Hence the forceful demand by most chief ministers for the “concurrence of the state governments” in such an eventuality. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, however, does not agree with this view. He is in favour of the Centre having the right to deploy Central forces in a troubled area even when the state government says that it can handle the crisis on its own. His argument is that though one cannot find an instance of a suo motu decision of the Centre on the subject, the Constitution should have this kind of an arrangement to effectively deal with a situation when the state police is unable to maintain order. He foresees this ugly scenario particularly in terrorism-hit Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states suffering from insurgency. The matter will be discussed again when the Standing Committee holds its next meeting in Srinagar as agreed to. Two questions come to the fore immediately. Why disturb a system which has worked to the satisfaction of everybody all these years? What prevents the Centre from taking recourse to Article 356 to dismiss an uncooperating state government and do what it wants when it is strongly felt that law and order cannot be maintained without deploying the Army or any paramilitary force? It was on this ground that the first Communist ministry was dismissed in 1959. Mr Advani’s opinion, based on a hypothetical situation, does not go well either with the spirit of the Sarkaria Commission’s recommendations or the general thinking among constitutional experts. Both favour more and more powers for the states with a view to strengthening the federal character of the country. Of course, successive Central governments have shown a general tendency to misuse Article 356 to settle scores with state governments belonging to the Opposition. It is, therefore, heartening to note that an agreement has been reached to amend the Article to ensure that President’s rule is imposed only when it is unavoidable. There are already many safeguards against misuse of Article 356. For instance, the Centre has to get the imposition of President’s rule on a state ratified by both Houses of Parliament within a month. More such safeguards can certainly be thought of. Harmonious Centre-state relations are a must for the successful functioning of our democracy. |
CPM all the way THE CPM has re-confirmed its strength in rural Bengal by sweeping the three-tier panchayat elections. It has emerged as the domineering force in most of zila
parishads, panchayat samitis and gram panchayats. The Congress happens to be far, far behind, but it does have the consolation that it has relegated the Trinamool Congress to a miserable third place. Obviously, Miss Mamata Banerjee’s alliance with the BJP has not gone down well with the voters of Bengal. While there is no denying the fact that the election has witnessed a lot of violence, not many neutral observers are willing to buy her argument that the polling has been a “total farce”. The CPM does remain the main force in Bengal. If it has conceded ground here and there, it is mainly because of the rivalry with its partners in the government such as the
RSP, the CPI and the Forward Bloc. Interestingly, it has won some seats even in those constituencies where an adjustment could not be made with these parties. While the comparatively good performance will warm the cockles of the Congress heart, it should send alarm bells ringing for Mamatadi who was expecting her alliance to fare far better than what it has done. The reverse will not only marginalise her in Bengal politics, but may even cast a shadow on her ambition to get back to power with a Minister of State post in the Home Ministry so that she can get even with the CPM. While the election process may not have been reduced to a total farce as Miss Banerjee has alleged, it has indeed become murky. There was widespread violence in most parts of the state before, during and even after the May 11 polling. Nearly 30 persons lost their lives. The greatest responsibility lies on the members of the ruling party, but instead of acting more maturely than others, they have been outdoing others in perpetrating violence. Since they have the blessings of the ruling party, they consider themselves a law unto themselves. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has hinted at tightening the screws on them, but that seems unlikely because the party is not too keen on annoying them. But it will condone them at its own peril. The excesses committed by them have already cost the party dearly, with the Congress wresting the Murshidabad zila parishad from the Left Front. This is the district in which a large number of people were killed. |
Greatest run chase THE gods of the game of cricket are not always unkind. They do seem to favour Australia, but once in a while they shower their blessings on less gifted teams. Calling the West Indies a less gifted team would have invited the charge of sporting blasphemy from the pundits of the game in the good old days when Caribbean superiority was seldom tested even by the best teams in the game. Not any more. The team under Brian Lara was in danger of letting "Steel" Waugh sully the West Indies' domestic record of never having lost all the games of a Test series to the visiting side. The Australians had established their supremacy by winning the first three Tests by convincing margins. That also helped them snatch back the number one spot from the South African team. The West Indies, with a promising but inexperienced batting lineup, backed by a suspect bowling attack, were in a must win situation to keep at least this record from being trampled upon by the Australian juggernaut. On Tuesday they worked a miracle as their tail made the best bowling attack in the world look pedestrian. May 14 was indeed chosen by the gods of the game for blessing the West Indians with a victory that would become part of calypso folklore. While applauding the remarkable run chase by the West Indians a special word of praise for the Australians would still be in order. Look at the record books. Australia is usually a permanent fixture in most epoch-making games. So is the West Indies. The first 404 plus run chase for victory was accomplished by the Kangaroos under the legendary Don Bradman in 1948 against England. Thereafter it was normally Australia, the West Indies and India - yes, India - who have figured in some of the greatest games ever. Remember the first tied Test? It involved Australia and the West Indies. The only other Test to be tied was between Australia and India. However, India was the first team to get past the Australian record when it scored 406 against the indomitable West Indies at Port of Spain in 1976. India, incidentally, is the only team to have scored more than 400 runs in the fourth innings three times. It won once, lost once and drew once. And don't forget the Kolkata Test against Australia in 2001. India, on the strength of an amazing display of batsmanship from V. V. S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid backed by high voltage spin bowling by Harbhajan Singh, virtually came from nowhere to break the record-setting sequence of Test victories of Waugh's men. On Tuesday the West Indian recorded the greatest run chase in the history of the game. In the process they gave to cricket another golden moment. |
America disappoints India NEARLY a month after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee dramatically offered a “hand of friendship” to Pakistan and at the end of the visit to the subcontinent of US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, where does the peace initiative stand? A short answer to the question is that it remains on track to the extent possible. Atalji is determined to explore every possibility of converting the conflict-ridden India-Pakistan relationship into a friendly and cooperative one. But — and this a big BUT — it has also become clear that the hurdles on the road to rapprochement have turned out to be vastly greater and more hazardous than was expected. It is not merely that after its initially positive response to the Vajpayee initiative, Islamabad has started dragging its feet over the key issue of cross-border terrorism, an essential pre-requisite for constructive talks. Far more depressing is the manner in which the US has “washed its hands” of its responsibility to persuade or pressurise Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, to honour his commitments on ending infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC) and dismantling terrorist camps. The words within quotation marks in the above paragraph are those of a very senior Indian official who was answering questions on the outcome of the Armitage mission to India and Pakistan. In fact, the Indian side is making no secret of its deep disappointment with the message delivered by America’s heavyweight negotiator. This feeling of being let down far exceeds the hype that had been built around the Armitage visit before his arrival. In the Pakistani capital Mr Armitage had quoted General Musharraf to the effect that “nothing was going on along the LoC” and that if there were still some terrorist camps left in the POK, “they would be gone tomorrow”. By the time of the US special envoy’s arrival in Delhi, the deadline fixed by the Pakistani President had expired. And yet top Indian leaders were able to give Mr Armitage voluminous evidence to underscore that cross-border terrorism was continuing and that as may as 4,000 trained and indoctrinated terrorists were lurking on the Pakistani side of the LoC ready to cross over at the earliest opportunity. Mr Armitage did nothing to assuage the Indian feeling of hurt. On the contrary, he added insult to injury. He was asked why the US was describing Pakistan as a “vital ally” in the “war on terrorism” when it knew that India was the victim of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism every day of the week. He blandly and irrelevantly replied, “they have arrested more than 500 terrorists and they prevented a terrorist attack on the US consulate in Karachi”. There are several reasons for Mr Armitage’s evasiveness and prevarication, including the embarrassing fact that it was he who had last year conveyed to this country that General Musharraf would end “infiltration” across the LoC “completely and visibly”. But the decisive reason is that America gives top priority to its own interests rather than those of any other country. In this connection, the core reality is that General Musharraf would not and indeed cannot end completely cross-border terrorism whether directed against India in Kashmir or whether directed against the US and the interim Afghan government on its western border. It is not merely that the Pakistani President has to placate the extremist and jehadi groups in his country. The bitter truth is that the day General Musharraf ends the two-fold terrorist activity, he would have ended also his own utility to the United States. Meanwhile, the US needs Pakistan and, in keeping with its traditional policy, believes that the reigning military dictator suits it better than anyone taking his place. With all that we must ask ourselves whether it behoves a great country and a growing power like India to behave like a bunch of whining schoolboys in our dealings with the United States. There is no point declaring time and again that we are quite capable of fighting cross-border terrorism on our own while all the time asking America to pull our chestnuts out of the fire by forcing General Musharraf to live up to his word. On this score, the word from Islamabad is quite clear. Mr Ishrat Ahmed Haqqani is one of the prominent Pakistani journalists holding a high position in the widest circulating newspaper “Jang”. A former leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, he is known to be very close to the military regime. Pakistan watchers therefore take his writings seriously. In his latest column, Mr Haqqani has declared that while a dialogue with India would be welcome, there is “no need for Pakistan” to make any concession to India on the issue of “so-called cross-border terrorism”. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, he adds, have risen to the comfortable level of $ 10 billion. Its economy is on the mend, and its relations with the US are on an even keel. On the other hand, General Musharraf is to visit the US, as President George W. Bush’s guest in June shortly after Mr L.K. Advani returns home from a sojourn in Washington at the invitation of US Vice-President Dick Cheney. It stands to reason therefore that until then at least, Pakistan, even while continuing its policy of “bleeding India from a thousand cuts”, would try to avoid such horrific outrages as Nadimarg and Kaluchak that would disrupt the peace process and might even force India to take retaliatory action. In other words, what can be looked forward to in the short run is a concentration on confidence-building measures, such as the resumption of air, rail and road links, besides, of course, restoration of full diplomatic relations. The rest would depend on the state of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on the ground. But even small and seemingly simple steps may not be easy to take. For instance, India’s concept of resumed air links is that aircraft would both land in each other’s country and overfly it. New Delhi’s priority is to be able to fly to Kabul without having to take long and hugely costly detours. Pakistan, anxious to prevent this denouement, is saying flights between the two countries should resume but without the right to fly over each other’s territory. Evidently, this country would have to press ahead with its joint project with Iran to build roads from Chah-Bahar to Herat to Kabul to reduce the sea and land journey from India to Afghanistan by a thousand kilometres. A word on the appointment of High Commissioners by the two countries is also called for. There were several front-runners for the post in Islamabad that is highly coveted despite the hardship of having to live in a terribly hostile atmosphere, under constant surveillance by the ISI. The Prime Minister personally picked on a dark horse, Mr Shiv Shankar Menon. He could not have made a better choice. Although Mr Menon has never worked in or on Pakistan earlier, as Ambassador to China he knows the intricacies of the two troubled triangles, those comprising India, Pakistan and China and of India, America and Pakistan. Islamabad has yet to make a decision on its envoy to New Delhi. But if, as seems likely, the new High Commissioner is going to be Ms Maleeha Lodi, the Indian foreign policy establishment better watch out. She made a tremendous impact during her two tenures as Ambassador to the United States. Here she is almost certain to outshine her famous predecessors like Mr Ashraf Qazi, Mr Riaz Khokar, Mr Humayun Khan, and even the legendary Mr Abdul Sattar, put together. |
Packaged fun HOLI has gone hi-tech. Children armed with plastic spurt guns and fancy syringes bought fully assembled from some toy store go around shooting jets of coloured water. The equipment comes in different shapes and sizes, and can even be connected hydraulically to back-packs that hold the liquid. This year one even saw disposable aerosol cans dispensing “foamlets” as the latest addition to the packaged fun paraphernalia. Half a century ago, we had to rig our own apparatus. Hollow bamboo was sawn in small sections with only one knot at the end. Through this a hole for the water to squirt out was punctured. A stick with a piece of cloth tied to it was the plunger. And, hey presto, we had a pichkari ready. Admittedly, the contraption did not last very long and the jet of water was not very powerful or accurate. But, at least, we had the pride of doing it ourselves. If the pusher failed we could fix it ourselves. That is what makes the hi-tech toys of today different. Buy them, use them and throw them away. The thrill of creating something with your own hands is gone. The distinctive feature of children’s games of yesteryear was improvisation, using native ingenuity and whatever else was readily available. If cricket had to be played, we did not wait for a regular bat. The takhti used to practice writing was good enough. No fancy gadgets were required to set up a game of marbles, which no one seems to play any more. A little recess would be dug in the ground and we were in business. Or geete for the girls for which the only equipment needed was five pebbles from the roadside. The mango plant was a particular source of joy and not only because of its fruit. It was the most suitable of all for climbing up. If not the three, the saplings’ that grew wild could be pulled out and the kernel in its root rubbed clean of all fibre. And then a small opening would be ground at one end to turn it into a piercing whistle. In the rabi season the ears of the wheat plant became the instrument of a very irritating prank. The dynamics of its bristles are such that if it is slid down the back of anyone’s shirt, or up the trouser leg, it can never be pulled back. It has to go down, or up, all the way and come out in very embarrassing
circumstances. Nirad C. Chaudhri recalls of his own school days in his Autobiography: “The best part of the pleasure of walking was to feel one’s bare feet sinking in the dust, just as the keenest edge of the joy of kicking, that activity so natural in children and so essential for them, was in raising dust as high as the head.” Even 50 years ago when I was a student in Jalandhar the tyranny of heavy homework and time-bound school transport was unknown. Time was no constraint. From Government School on Ladowali Road to home in Civil Lines one could loiter timelessly through the fields “kicking dust”, as Nirad Babu would say. Around this time mechanical gadgets and wind-up toys had also come into circulation. The bicycle was a particular sources of joy. It gave mobility a new meaning. If the junior size was not available one used the adult machine with one leg reaching out for the pedal on the far side from under the horizontal bar. One learnt to ride not with the help of wheeled props, but the hard way, after taking some nasty falls. No less innovative was the manner of announcing the acquisition of a new bicycle. This was done by flattening an empty cigarette pack and attaching it to the rear brake clamp. As the spokes of the wheel struck the hard board of the pack in quick succession it created a racket that could match, decible for
decible, the sound of any phutphatia. Today a battery operated siren does the job of the empty cigarette pack. Games come neatly packaged, with printed circuits and push buttons, and precise instructions on how to use them. It is not that they are not entertaining, but children are losing out on the use of their inventive skills and the elements that nature provides freely. They are, except from some regulated sports in schools, missing the great outdoors. Amusement is a different ball game with the television screen figuring ominously large in it. In the cities there are no dusty tracks to waddle through, no mango saplings to pull out and no roadside trees to scamper up. And no time for activities “so natural in children and so essential for them.”
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Living with the pain of a genetic disorder
EVERY slight body movement is a painful reminder of their miserable ethereal existence. Muscular dystrophy can well be the most pernicious curse on humanity as the mere survival becomes a challenge for the patients. In many cases the death wish often clouds the reason to live for those affected with muscular dystrophy (MD), a genetic disorder which leaves the person disabled. Besides living with the pain of gradual incapacitation, the patient has also to bear with the guilt of total dependence on the family. A disease which has no known cure, the medical fraternity is still grappling to come to terms with the enormity of its incidence in India. The degeneration of weakened muscles causes disability and incapacitation leading to a painful death. Lack of awareness and inadequate diagnostic facilities have meant that many thousands die every year where the killer disease goes undetected. The Himachal chapter of the Indian Association of Muscular Dystrophy made a small beginning in 1992 by bringing the similarly affected on an interactive forum. “Since there is hardly any data available about the number of such patients in the country, we are trying to reach out to them to spread awareness and share their joys and sorrows,” says Ms Sanjana Goel, President of the Himachal chapter. Sanjana and her two brothers, who have been afflicted with the disease since childhood have become living examples of will and determination for other MD patients . While Sanjana is running her own boutique in Solan, her two brothers are normally managing their business. “I would be lying if I say that living with the disease is not depressing and painful but when we know there is no cure, why not learn to live with it in the best possible manner,” says Vipul Goel, who runs his own gas agency. Sanjana and her siblings are not the only ones to suffer such a fate. Being a congenital disease, the MD runs in the family, most often affecting more than one member of the family. “Our aim is to instill confidence among the patients so that they are more confident to face the world and with the right support are able to do everything they wish to achieve,” feels Sanjana, who with her determination has cleared all hurdles. While there is no collective data available about the exact number of MD patients in India, Dr I.C. Verma, Senior Consultant and Head of the Department of Genetic Medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi estimates the birth of over 25,000 children afflicted with the disease every year. Amidst this gloomy scenario and lack of governmental concern about the MD, some NGOs, like the Indian Association of Muscular Dystrophy (IAMD), are endeavouring to make the lives of these unfortunate patients less cumbersome. The annual summer camp organised by its Himachal chapter at Dagshai last week was another such effort to bring together the patients . However, lack of awareness about the disease is so rampant that panicky parents often get duped at the hands of quacks. Despite knowing that there is no cure for the disease, many hopeful parents pray for a medical miracle. Desperate parents seek all sorts of medication and even tantrik help in some cases in the hope of cure. Mr Jaspal Sharma, father of seven-year-old Rajesh, hailing from a remote village near Solan, has visited not just vaids, hakims but even exorcers, looking for a cure for his child. “I am willing to even sell off my land to save the life of my only son. We were so happy when we were blessed with a son after five daughters, but it was shattering when he was diagnosed with MD,” he says. Mrs Khemavati, mother of 13-year-old Arun from Sarkhaghat in Mandi, is not so optimistic. “After trying out various types of treatment, we are now losing hope. My son is now totally bed-ridden and we have now left everything to the Almighty,” says a tearful Khemavati. Given the incurability of the disease, the medical fraternity prefers aborting the foetus to giving birth to a new MD patient. For that Dr Verma, stresses on pre-natal diagnostic testing to prevent the birth of an afflicted foetus. “But we need to upgrade the health facilities. At present only five centres in the country have this facility, which needs to be extended to every state capital,” says Dr Verma. Amidst all the misery that MD patients go through, the association is making efforts to make their lives better by motivating parents and instilling a degree of confidence in patients. Twenty two-year-old Suman, from Bilaspur, is one such motivated patient. “Encouraged by the Association members, I picked up the threads of my life and took to painting. Now I am in a position to financially help my father, which gives me reason to live despite all odds,” she says proudly. Taking a cue from the Himachal chapter, a group of patients in Chandigarh started the local chapter two years back. For inspiration they have Mr G.S. Kochhar as their President, who is an engineer with the Punjab State Electricity Board and whose disability has in no way come between discharging his duty normally. “Remaining active is the key to fight against the disease, as regular activity slows down the process of degeneration of muscles,” he emphasises. It is sheer grit and courage that sustains the fractured lives of these unfortunate souls. Living a life which is under the constant shadow of death is no mean achievement in itself. —
The writer, a Tribune staffer, had attended the camp organised for muscular dystrophy patients at Dagshai in Solan district on Saturday. MUSCULAR dystrophy (MD) refers to a group of genetic diseases characterised by a progressive weakness and degeneration of the skeletal muscles, leading to irreversible disability. Till date there is no medical cure for the disease. The major forms of MD includes duchenne, myotonic, becker, limb girdle and facioscapula. Duchenne is the commonest form of MD, affecting children while myotonic affects adults. Although myotonic affects people of all ages, some forms first become apparent in infancy, others might not appear until the middle age or even later. There is no specific treatment for any form of MD. In case of Duchenne MD while the carrier of the disease are women, it mostly affects the male child. On the other hand, in Becker MD, the female children get affected and become carriers, while the male child remains unaffected. Physical therapy to prevent contractures leading to painful positioning of the joints, use of orthopaedic appliances and corrective orthopaedic surgery to improve the quality of life. Life expectancy may depend on the degree of progression and later respiratory deficit. In Duchenne MD, death usually occurs in the late teens to the early twenties. The life span of limb girdle and Becker MD patients is generally above 50 years . Since there is no cure for the disease, the only way out is to at least prevent the birth of affected children. This is possible with the help of a CVC pre-natal diagnostic test costing Rs 9,000 to see if it is carrying the disease. —
As told to Pratibha Chauhan by Dr I.C. Verma, Head of Genetic Medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi.
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Chernobyl’s legacy — Pavel Kovekarov has little choice but to feed his children poison. On government orders, he has to farm radioactive land around his home and eat and sell the crops. He cannot afford to move away, yet knows only too well that both his family and the crops are growing up in the still-lethal shadow of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, Chernobyl. Svetilovichi is more than 200km (125 miles) from the Ukrainian site of the Soviet-era catastrophe, yet its impoverished, contaminated community daily breathe in its radioactive legacy. Animals die early. Children drink toxic milk. The once-edible local mushrooms can kill. On April 26, 1986, reactor 4 at Chernobyl exploded, spouting tonnes of radioactive material and airborne dust that reached as far as Scotland. Dozens died, but, more insidously, the health of more than 3.4 million citizens suffered. Crippled by a chronic cash shortage, the then-Soviet government evacuated thousands without ever admitting to the scale of the problem. In a country living with the remnants of a police state, where restrictions on the press, free assembly, travel, religion and even internet use all intensified last year, it is not wise to disobey the president. Most contamination is in food. Milk from cows eating contamination in the grass is the most dangerous and is vital to the vulnerable —children. Half the local milk is made in the ‘private sector’, a euphemism for without any controls. Critics claim the state has written this population off, but the government justifies its decision with a cynical logic — in a region where the average monthly wage is pounds sterling 35 and alcoholism rife, poverty is the real killer. People need jobs and food first. Chernobyl’s legacy will infect generations to come. The state likes to claim the UN supports its recultivation programme while dismissing offers of international help as ‘intellectual, not practical’. But the UN Development Programme representative, Neil Bonners, said: ‘We made a report last year. It said life was getting worse which may have been due to exposure to the highly radioactive iodine emitted afterwards. Radiation exposure was occurring mainly through food.’ The report also pointed to social and economic problems. Bonners said: ‘People had lost control over their lives, communities had been weakened and the young had left, but people did also not have information about how to minimise exposure. If people choose to stay, they should have the means to protect themselves,’ he
said. Yet people feel abandoned, their children condemned by contaminated blood and soil.
The Guardian |
Death is the black camel that kneels before every door. — Sanskrit proverb Sages who live on air, who are ascetics and observe continence, who have pacified their senses, renounced the world, and are pure reach thy status known as Brahmin. — Srimad Bhagavata, 11.6.47 Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. — Mark 10:42-4 |
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