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Tuesday,
May 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Verdict before hearing Torture, not honour Cricket minus two icons |
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The US-South Asia triangle
Oh! For those days!
Akali unity a challenge to Cong: Jagmeet Brar
Towards a professional Punjabi theatre
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Verdict before hearing MR
NARENDRA MODI’S friends and admirers have been issuing him “not guilty” testimonials ever since the communal riots rocked Gujarat last year. But now he has even managed to get one from an authority which should have been more circumspect about issuing it. Justice G.T. Nanavati, who heads the two-member commission to look into the Gujarat riots, has announced that the evidence recorded so far does not indicate any serious lapse on the part of the police or the administration in controlling the communal clashes. This certificate would have carried a lot of weight had it come after the enquiry was complete but the judge has issued it even before the evidence in the most-affected Ahmedabad and Vadodara districts has been recorded. The last leg of recording evidence in these two and Bharuch and Narmada districts will begin only on July 15. Needless to say, the Gujarat Chief Minister will be delighted to be thus “vindicated”, but all those who have seen the situation from up close will be shattered. The judge should have thought about the implications before making this sweeping “disclosure”, particularly in the light of the fact that the Concerned Citizens’ Council has already indicated complicity on the part of the government and named the persons responsible for the post-Godhra riots. Surely, the commission was not appointed to give its opinion in a piecemeal fashion. Logically speaking, hearings should have been taken up in the first leg in Ahmedabad and Vadodara because of the fact that these were the worst affected. The opposite has been done on the plea that the hearings were scheduled but could not be held on account of the fragile communal situation prevailing in these areas. But this is exactly the kind of situation anyone fearing an adverse verdict would create to fend off the enquiry. To that extent, the commission has played into the hands of suspect persons. The unfortunate consequences are becoming manifest. For instance, many key witnesses are turning hostile. The riots had shown their ugliest face in the Best Bakery case of Vadodara where 14 persons were allegedly burnt alive on March 1 last year. Ms Zahira Shaikh had gone to the police naming 21 persons in the 15,000-strong crowd that had set the bakery on fire. She was made a key witness and the 21 persons were arrested. But she has now gone back on her word, denying her own statement to the police. The case before a fast track court has become very weak. That she was whisked away by the local BJP MLA after her deposition reveals a lot. There are reasons to suspect that many more such witnesses may become hostile by the time the Nanavati Commission gives them a hearing. |
Torture, not honour BY killing a leopard single-handedly with a sickle while others of her village kept watching helplessly, 37-year-old Nirmala Devi of Pipli village in Mandi district has displayed rare courage which has won her numerous admirers. As she got seriously injured and was admitted to Indira Gandhi Medical College hospital in Shimla, many prayed for her early recovery. A little known Chandigarh-based private immigration agency decided that the best way to attract media attention for its proposed seminar for nurses was to “honour” this brave woman from Himachal and also roped in the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front President for publicity purposes. It was strictly not a case of terrorism requiring the services of Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, unless Mr Bitta has decided to extend his “anti-terrorism campaign” to include animal terror too! It is equally inexplicable how the valour shown by the leopard killer could inspire the nurses, who were being wooed for immigration. Unmindful of the bed-ridden Nirmala’s plight and, worse, without seeking the attending doctors’ permission, the immigration agency, according to media reports, “whisked her away” from the hospital at Shimla and brought her all the way to Chandigarh. Such was her condition that she could not walk or even stand without support. If the intention had been to genuinely honour this village woman, the organisers could have held a function in Shimla itself without subjecting her to a gruelling journey. All this would have been less painful, had Nirmala Devi been taken care of properly. After the ceremony was over, she was all forgotten and left to fend for herself. Mr Bitta had talked of taking her to Delhi for better treatment, but there was no trace of even the van that was supposed to take her back to Shimla. After Chandigarh, he promised to organise “a felicitation programme for the brave woman in Delhi also”. There is a growing trend of this honour business which involves grabbing those in the news, particularly ordinary citizens in need of financial help, bringing them on to the stage for waiting media persons. The media too cannot escape responsibility for giving undue publicity to motivated individuals of doubtful integrity and contribution, and to trivial or business-oriented non-events. That is what encourages persons like Mr Bitta who, like the ambulance chasers in the West, are after people who are in distress so that they can get cheap publicity. Nirmala Devi needs treatment, not honour of the type she was subjected to on Sunday. |
| Cricket minus two icons THE cricket buffs will miss the absence of Javagal Srinath and Wasim Akram as the bowling spearheads of India and Pakistan for well over a decade. They were both fast bowlers of contrasting styles. Srinath, who announced his retirement from Test and first class cricket, will now concentrate only on his fitness for the more exciting and challenging abridged version of the game. And why not? His splendid form in the 2003 World Cup inspired Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra to raise the level of their game. But his own form in the competition was largely responsible for taking India close to the pinnacle of cricketing glory. In the final against Australia the enormity of the moment got to him. He lost his touch and the final turned out to be a one-sided contest for Australia. But it can happen to the best players. No one can deny that throughout the tournament he led from the front. He was a bit unlucky in not getting the recognition he deserved early in his career because of what can be called the Kapil Dev factor. It was only after the delayed retirement of the Haryana Hurricane that Srinath became a regular member of the Indian team. Wasim Akram, on the other hand, was lucky to get to play for Pakistan when the charismatic Imran Khan was at the peak of his illustrious career. Ever the one to encourage youngsters to perform above their best, Imran took personal interest in grooming Akram. His record, in the Test matches and the one-dayers, speaks about his amazing consistency. He is sure to find a place of honour among the all-time greats. Who can ever dream of equalling his record of two hat-tricks each in Test and one-day cricket? The 500 plus wickets he took in the shorter version too is a stiff target to overhaul. However, after the exit of Imran, petty politics again took control of the game in Pakistan. And as captain he had to pay the price for it. In 1996 when India beat Pakistan in a World Cup match in Bangalore, in which Akram did not play because of injury, his house was ransacked and he had to go into hiding to avoid being at the receiving end of the irrational anger of the fans-turned-mob. His health problems showed up after the unhappy episode. After Hansiegate, he found himself being investigated for match-fixing. Be that as it may, his countless fans know that most of the charges levelled against Akram were the result of player-rivalry. The only regret is that he did not do justice to his batting potential. It would have ensured him a place of distinction among the great allrounders of the game. |
The US-South Asia triangle INDIA received two distinct kinds of visitors this past fortnight: US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, on an official mission; and 13 Pakistani members of parliament (MPs), from different parties, carrying a non-official mandate. The first visit highlights divergences between New Delhi’s and Washington’s priorities. The second has generated optimism among citizens and underscores commonness between India and Pakistan — despite a slowing of the pace of improvement in relations which began with Prime Minister Vajpayee’s “hand of friendship” offer a month ago. Thereby hangs a tale. The key to improved relations may partly lie in citizen-to-citizen exchanges. US mediation, by whatever name, is unlikely to ensure peace, especially a just peace, between India and Pakistan. During his subcontinental visit, Mr Armitage goaded India and Pakistan to take confidence-building measures and draw up a “road map” for a bilateral dialogue. He also delivered a message: It is up to “India to make up its own mind” on whether President Pervez Musharraf is fulfilling his promise of ending “cross-border” terrorist infiltration. During his five official meetings in New Delhi, he said the US won’t intercede with Pakistan, or use an economic “squeeze”, to ensure that it lives up to that commitment. He also said that the onus of how to assess “progress” on infiltration and how to respond is on India. This bears contrast to June 2002, when Mr Armitage conveyed a solemn assurance by General Musharraf that cross-border terrorism would be ended “permanently” and “verifiably”, following which India permitted overflights by Pakistani aircraft. This eventually led to troop demobilisation. This time, too, Indian officials expected that Mr Armitage would offer to play a pro-active role on the terrorism issue. When they suggested to him that Pakistan had adopted a dual approach to terrorism — that of cooperating with the US against Al-Qaeda, but obstructing India’s struggle against groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba — he emphasised that General Musharraf was himself vulnerable to groups like LeT, which is rabidly anti-US too. Mr Armitage also remained unmoved by the argument advanced by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani that the US could put effective pressure on Pakistan because that country was highly “dependent” on it. He refused to discuss Indian claims about cross-border interceptions in recent months. But he did convey America’s keen interest in India-Pakistan rapprochement. There is reason to be far more upbeat about the Pakistani MPs’ visit than Mr Armitage’s. The MPs crossed the Wagah border to a rousing welcome. It’s rare for that border-post to witness signs of India-Pakistan friendship. In fact, twice a day it becomes the site of a bizarre ritual. As the two national flags are raised and lowered at dawn and dusk, the gates, separated by a small strip of no-man’s-land, are opened in a perfectly synchronised, and well-rehearsed, sequence of goose-steps. Ceremonially dressed moustachioed guards of India’s Border Security Force and Pakistani Rangers march with a swagger, and through rooster-like movements, display machismo, anger and hostility as they throw open the gates. The spectators cheer their side — and condemn or parody the other. Sometimes, members of families separated by Partition get within handshake distance of each other, across a fence. The Pakistani visitors met a number of Indian MPs, especially from the Left, the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. They also interacted with scholars, journalists, artists and representatives of citizens’ groups which advocate India-Pakistan reconciliation. Their visit has produced remarkable goodwill — and hopes of better mutual understanding. It is likely to be reciprocated soon by Indian MPs. One hopes that such exchanges will snowball and lead to freer “cross-border” people-to-people interaction. The MPs’ visit, organised by the Pakistan-India People’ Forum for Peace and Democracy, was itself the culmination of a number of citizens’ initiatives launched more than a decade ago amidst soured state-to-state relations following the outbreak of the trouble in the Kashmir valley. Citizen-to-citizen interaction took an organised form in 1995 when the India-Pakistan Peoples’ Forum was launched at a conference in Delhi, attended by over 100 delegates from each country. The forum is a composite body and has Indian and Pakistani co-chairpersons. Its members comprise social activists, teachers, trade unionists, human rights defenders, theatre-people, retired soldiers, writers, journalists — citizens who believe that the two countries must peacefully co-exist. The forum has held half a dozen conventions alternately at Pakistani and Indian venues. It is a pity that the Indian government missed a chance to make a goodwill gesture towards the people of Pakistan by welcoming the MPs from that country. Had Mr Vajpayee agreed to meet the MPs personally, he would have created a tremendous impact among Pakistan’s media and public. Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi was willing to invite the MPs to the Lok Sabha as observers. But the Ministry of External Affairs didn’t “clear” the invitation. Besides, Mr Joshi would have to look over his shoulder at his super-hawkish Shiv Sena boss. It is vital that the Pakistani MPs’ visit is reciprocated by India. Under a SAARC agreement, MPs don’t need visas to cross borders within South Asia. They should use this privilege to a worthy purpose. The two visits, especially Mr Armitage’s, should provoke some serious rethinking in New Delhi. It is now clear that India’s best bet doesn’t lie in trying to persuade the US to pressure Pakistan on the terrorism issue. It lies in sustaining the present momentum for a thaw. Indian policy-makers must not misread the nature of the US-Pakistan relationship and overestimate US leverage over Islamabad. The US needs Pakistan just as much as, if not more than, the other way around. America’s mortal fear of Taliban-style fundamentalism — September 11 was the biggest-ever attack on mainland US and exposed its vulnerability — makes it regard Pakistan as an indispensable ally against terrorism targeted at itself. Pakistan has carefully divided or segmented its approach to terrorism by distinguishing between forces directed at the US, and those active against India, which can be influenced by its own agencies. It has gone out of its way in arresting and extraditing US-identified Al-Qaeda suspects, sometimes in breach of its own laws. The US is probably aware of this duality, but content to allow short-term considerations to overrule doctrinal consistency on coherence. America also knows it isn’t easy to bend Pakistan to its will. There are limitations to US power. For instance, Pakistan-US relations plummeted to their lowest point after the 1998 nuclear tests, especially after Kargil and General Musharraf’s coup. Even in that vulnerable phase, the US couldn’t compel Pakistan to stop its covert operations in India. This situation can change only if India and Pakistan open their own lines of communication, and build on the post-April 18 opening. This is not the best alternative. It is the only one. Therefore, both India and Pakistan will do well to announce unilateral concessions, CBMs and steps to promote goodwill. |
Oh! For those days! I
completed the eighth year of my life a day before Lord Mountbatten made his plan of vivisecting the Indian subcontinent known officially on June 3, 1947. Thereafter educational institutions were closed indefinitely and we were happy to have been saved from the cane of my own uncle. The belligerent activities from both sides started. Our village, Pattian, where my father had settled after his retirement as Subedar from the Punjab Regiment in February, 1946, was only 5 km from the border between Angrezi Ilaqa and Maharaja’s Riyasat. During each raid the children, the aged and women were made to enter the bajara fields for safety. Therein with trembling torso I used to see the grannies of the village kneeling down and praying to the Pir to save the situation. I saw a score of such scenes during that half year. Our father, a strict disciplinarian and a staunch patriot, made it amply clear that we the two brothers would never go to the villages along with local looters, wherefrom the Muslim populace had been made to flee. On the contrary, in one such nearby village, Qullian, wherefrom the entire Chib Muslim population had been ousted, an octogenarian lady who could not move out for obvious reasons was offered a safe haven in our home by my father. But she preferred to breathe her last in the kachha kotha which had been built by herself and her spouse with mud, stones and hay. Our father put me and my elder brother on duty to fetch her water every morning and provide her cooked food twice a day. God knows what happened to her when we were ourselves made to flee in front of the marauding Pak-supported tribal raiders on October 28, 1947, sunset. Hundreds of such stories are narrated on both sides. When cultural troupes exchanging their experiences visit each other, a lot of warmth, happiness and jubilation is exhibited. The author during his visit to China in 1995 got such a warmth and affection from Dr Mohammad Iqbal, hailing from Sialkot and then Director of a unit of the Geneva-based WHO. The common man on both sides wishes to live in communal harmony, fraternity feeling and mutual understanding. But at home we have the Ayodhya dispute, the Godhara incident, Karachi riots, maltreatment of Hindus all over Pakistan, etc. Probably Dr Iqbal was correct when he remarked to Western delegates: “I and Chib like and love to live together but these politicians are an insurmountable barrier in our harmonious coexistence”.
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Akali unity a challenge to Cong: Jagmeet Brar What was the issue that cost you an important party position in the Lok Sabha? Do you think you are a victim of circumstances or has there been a communication gap between you and the party high command? The issue was regarding frequent crashes of the MiG fighter aircraft in the country. I had given a calling attention notice a week earlier which was admitted by the Speaker. The issue was grave as the Indian Air Force had during 2002 alone lost 17 planes. The cost of each aircraft is about Rs. 100 crore. The cost of training a pilot is about Rs. 25 to 45 crore.(Fifth Pay Commission report volume III Page, 1921.) Since April 1, 1993, India has incurred a loss of Rs. 10,000 crore on account of the cost of the aircraft and another Rs. 2,250 crore due to the loss of pilots. The new aircraft, if ordered on time, would have cost Rs.660 crore initially and Rs. 3600 crore now. Keeping in view the gravity of this issue, I prepared myself in the Parliament Library for two days. Yes, there was a communication gap because I was not able to attend the morning Political Affairs Committee meeting of the Congress Party of which I am a member. My Chief Whip, Mr Priya Ranjan Munshi, was away to Calcutta for panchayat elections. So there was definitely a communication gap. Where do you stand now ? Your detractors in the party are feeling jubilant at the recent action against you. I am waiting with patience for the decision by the party high command on my explanation letter. I have full faith in my leader Mrs Sonia Gandhi. I gave her a sacred pledge the day she became the Congress President to stand by her in all eventualities. I respect her as an angel who will definitely give justice to me. I have a few detractors in the party but the people and my sympathisers are more vociferous and effective. I was distressed that there was no discussion on the Subramaniam Committee report on the Kargil intrusions. What do you think are the chances of the Congress party in Punjab for the coming Lok Sabha elections ? Frankly, the next Lok Sabha elections in Punjab will be very tough. During the Lok Sabha elections, 1999, we had a lead in more than 80 assembly segments out of 117 which came down to 62 in the 2002 assembly elections. If we take the right issues before the people of which national security should be a top priority, we will win at least seven to ten seats. We should not deliberately denigrate a person for a cause which is above personal interests. The organisational base should be strengthened. Interaction with grassroots-level workers should be increased. Of late, you have been taking little interest in important issues facing Punjab. What is the reason for your silence? During my four years in the 13th Lok Sabha, I have participated in all major debates and taken up important issues relating to the future of Punjab. I have not mellowed down. Who opposed the new anti-Punjab amendment on the sharing of the river waters during a discussion in Parliament? Who took up the Nanawati
Commission`s slow progress in punishing the guilty of the 84 riots? I got introduced the joint condolence resolution condemning the Chatti Singhpura killing of 35 Sikhs and of Amarnath Yatris massacred in Kashmir. Farmers are in distress all over the country. I highlighted their woes in Parliament. Drought relief for Punjab, scandal of missing foodgrain sin the state, I spoke on all these. The Delimitation Commission’s report implementation so that the Dalits could get justice was also raised by me. The Baghdad gurdwara and Indo-Pak issues were also raised by me . In fact, I have the maximum participation in Parliament on home issues. How is your relationship with the Punjab Chief Minister? My relations with the Chief Minister are very good. He is a decent, kind and loving person. My relationship with the family goes back to the days of Maharaja Yadavinder Singh, who was an MLA with my father in the sixties. We also share the same roots of the Sidhu-Brar bhaichara (brotherhood). In the Lok Sabha,
Mrs Parneet Kaur has always supported me on all issues. Do you think Akali unity will pose a major challenge to the Congress during the coming Lok Sabha elections? Yes, Akali unity will be a big challenge for the Congress in Punjab. Their combined strength will be a force to reckon with. But this unity will not be based on principles but on short-term political gains. The issues have taken a back seat in Akali politics for a long time. Money matters now in the Akali party. The days of “tyag” and “sacrifice” are gone. Mr Badal has commercialised the Akali party. You are hardly seen in Punjab! To fulfill one’s responsibility as an MP, one has to remain present during the session and committee meetings in Delhi, which count for at least nine months a year. I was regularly attending the Parliament session and committee meetings. The party also sends me occasionally to other states for party work. This has been a major reason for my stay away from Punjab for long intervals. Any reasons for your absence from the first meeting of the executive of the PPCC in Chandigarh on May 12? I thought let the storm be over. Otherwise, the entire focus would have been on me in the May 12 meeting and other issues would take a back seat. I also had a prior engagement at Dehradun. Besides, I also had to pay my respects at Gurdwara Paonta Sahib on the banks of the Yamuna in Himachal Pradesh on May 12.
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Towards a professional Punjabi theatre THEATRE on the stage and in real life, Harpal Tiwana bridged the gap without any effort. And he got people to listen to him at both levels. Be his commanding performances in his plays, which he also directed and produced, or his stylised movements, gestures and the ability to reach out spontaneously to people around him, Tiwana was a performer par excellence. Devoid of a professional theatre movement, Punjabi theatre is still finding it difficult to survive on its feet despite the fact that Harpal Tiwana had in collaboration with his wife Neena established a professional theatre movement as far back as 1975. For ten years Harpal Tiwana produced and directed plays in a theatre hall which had been given to him by the then Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh, M.S. Randhawa. Each and every performance was ticketed, a feat which is still to be surpassed even today. Tiwana also invited other theatre and performing troupes from around the country to perform during breaks which stopped with the death of Randhawa. Coming back to the country in 1975 on the Chief Commissioner’s invitation, Tiwana did not stop with the end of the theatre performances in Ludhiana. He continued with his own productions and even forayed into film production with “Long da Lishkara”. The film, which captured the essence of life in feudal Punjab, was followed by “Deewa Bale Saari Raat”. Earlier Tiwana had made a name for himself as a talented bhangra dancer during his days in Mohindra College in Patiala. His dramatic abilities saw him joining a local theatre group after which he joined the National School of Drama. Immediately after graduation, Tiwana was in action as a stage actor in plays like “Death of a Salesman” (1964-65), “Nasha Kursi Da” (1967-68) and “Kaali Raat”. He moved to Canada in the early seventies where also he established a
professional theatre group before coming back to India in 1975. Talking to Harpal Tiwana on his work and his life was always an experience in itself. A showman, he would ensure his hosts were well looked after from the point they entered his home. The “basta culture” was furthest from his mind as he always talked of a professional Punjabi theatre which was commercially viable. “I have made theatre commercially viable during my lifetime”, he would say. For him personally, theatre was like his own life journey which had to be made entertaining and commercially sustainable. Tiwana had opened an institute at his sprawling home “Play House” on the outskirts of the city in which his drawingroom also served as an intimate theatre stage and the seating area could accommodate 200 persons. The Play House had a few thousand members who would play an annual subscription and be part of the audience whenever a theatre production or other cultural programme was held in it. “No one knew about Punjab drama when Harpal and me passed out from the NSD and formed our own troupe in 1962”, says Tiwans’s actress wife Neena. “Harpal was very strict as far as ticketing of his performances was concerned. Even my father-in-law shelled out Rs 3 for a ticket for a play in 1965 even though he was able to get me to make him sit in the Rs 5 ticketed front row. Punjabi drama is done more as a hobby, which cannot sustain the movement. I remember we did performances of “Hind di Chadar” (a play on Guru Tegh Bahadur) all over Punjab besides Delhi, Calcutta and even Madras for one full year. Neena says the group’s repertoire during the hosting of these plays included Gurdas Mann and Girja Shankar: “Earlier Om Puri and Raj Babbar were part of our team when we set out to do professional theatre in the sixties selling tickets from door to door. It was the conviction of Harpal and his students which made this possible. “I tell Manpal (her son who has taken over his father’s production company) you have to be very strong. In our times none knew about theatre. Now everyone is much more aware and you need to compete with other entertaining arts for the viewers’ attention”, Neena added. Raj Babbar says no example of theatre in Punjab can be given without Harpal Tiwana. “He tried to lay the foundation of professional theatre in Punjab with the help of amateurs who came in his contact. It is because of him that a number of amateurs are blossoming into theatre persons in the state. “However, I cannot say how the movement will proceed after Tiwana as it requires a lot of dedication. Harpal gave his youth to the theatre movement by laying its foundation even though his ‘manzil’ is far away”, he added. Kewal Dhaliwal, who has started a theatre movement in Amritsar on the lines of Tiwana and is among the few professionals in the field along with Neelam Mansingh and Gursharan Singh, says Punjabi theatre has become technically stronger due to the earlier benchmarks created by Tiwana. He said new experiments were being tried, including dramatising poetry, besides the concept of mobile theatre through which it had been taken to the border areas also. The last wish of Tiwana for a commercial, professional theatre building devoted solely to staging Punjabi plays still remains unfulfilled. After his untimely death on May 19 last year, his friends, students and fans have made a foundation in his name to perpetuate his vision. The foundation, which has Raj Babbar, Om Puri, Jagjit Singh, Sardar Anjum and Dr Dalip Kaur Tiwana as its members, is working to make his last wish come true with Jagjit Singh, even asking the Punjab Government and the people of the city to come forward to support the foundation during a concert held in Patiala as part of the Heritage Festival in February this year. |
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MR
JAGMEET SINGH BRAR, MP from Faridkot, was in the news after he was removed as the Congress Whip in Parliament last week. Why was this action taken against him? Has he, once considered a firebrand Congress leader from the Malwa belt, mellowed down? Why is he keeping away from Punjab? To know answers to these and some other questions, the TNS buttonholed him during his recent visit to Chandigarh. Excerpts:
One year after his death in a tragic road accident after returning from a shooting of a serial on Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Punjabi theatre continues to be at the crossroads. With few artistes of similar stature and resources, Punjabi theatre is still to come of age even as Punjabi pop singers are making hay.