 |
Sunday,
July 6, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Where artefacts are for stealing Wanted: Principals with vision |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
ON RECORD Ilyas: Shankaracharya’s efforts shouldn’t go in vain by R. Suryamurthy & Syed Ahmed Ali KANCHI Shankarachar-ya Jayendra Saraswati’s proposal for resolving the vexed Ayodhya issue has raised much expectations. With the RSS rallying behind the proposal, it has added immense pressure on the All India Muslim Personal Law Board to take positive steps today (July 6) when its executive meets in Lucknow to consider the issue.
In the service of victims of Delhi’s hazardous life
To our representatives
Delhi to host Parliament of World Religions
|
Where artefacts are for stealing
Outside the museum, we bought a full-size copy of the painting at a price we could afford only by sacrificing some luxury. Imagine how we would have felt if it had transpired that the Mona Lisa that we had seen was, in fact, a copy and the original was kept in a safe vault in Elysee Palace! This was the feeling I had when former Punjab Governor J.F.R Jacob claimed with supreme confidence that the pistol stolen from the National Museum in Delhi was not Lt General A.A.K Niazi's. He was vindicated when the Indian Military Academy Commandant, Lt Gen T.S. Shergill, displayed the weapon and the photograph of its surrender to Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora in Dhaka on December 16, 1971. While I am glad that the pistol, which symbolises a proud moment in Indian history and is, therefore, invaluable is in safe hands, I also feel cheated. I was one of the first visitors to the Heritage Maritime Gallery set up at the National Museum where General Niazi's pistol was a star attraction. What took me to the gallery was not so much the pistol as the rich maritime tradition of the country, which became a thing of the past following the Brahminical injunction against crossing the high seas. But what fascinated my son the most was the pistol. Every such visitor would feel cheated by the revelation that the pistol displayed as General Niazi's was not his but some Major-General Sharif's. Heavens would not have fallen had the Museum curator properly labelled the artefact so that there was no room for confusion and the visitors would not have been bluffed.
But then there is a more fundamental problem facing museums in the country. During the one and a half decades that I lived in Delhi, there were umpteen instances when I made arrangements for my guests to visit the main tourist attractions in the Capital. Not one of them showed any interest in visiting the museum. For those who love solitude, the National Museum is, perhaps, the quietest place in the Capital. As I write this I cannot but recall the hustle and bustle we, a group of journalists on a conducted tour of Germany, experienced when we went for an exhibition of Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) that opened at the National Gallery in Berlin a decade ago. We stood in a serpentine queue braving the chilly winds for quite some time before we could gain entry at an unaffordable fee, paid by our generous host. The exhibition had attracted thousands of people from all over Germany, as it was the first time that it was being held after the Second World War. For starters, Nazi officials purged German museums of works they considered "degenerate". From the thousands of works removed, 650 were chosen for a special exhibition of Entartete Kunst. The exhibition opened in Munich in 1937 and then travelled to 11 other cities in Germany and Austria to wean the people from modern art. In each installation, the works were poorly hung and surrounded by graffiti and handwritten labels mocking the artists and their creations. But it attracted three million visitors. After the war, these pieces, which were in private collections, were put together for the exhibition. Hence the unusual crowd at the national gallery that day. The only exhibition that evoked comparable public enthusiasm was when Raja Ravi Verma's originals were displayed a few years ago in New Delhi. Perhaps, the religious appeal and naturalism of many of his paintings attracted the attention of the hoi polloi. However, this does not detract from the basic premise that a sense of history is not a particularly strong attribute of our society. Some may indeed take umbrage at the assertion that but for Sir William Jones' work, we might not have even heard of the great Hindu King, Chandragupta, without James Princep's painstaking work on deciphering Brahmi script, we may have known little of the greatness of the Buddhist Samrat Ashoka, without Lord Curzon's endeavours, our generation would not have seen most of our architectural heritage and without Sir Alexander Cunningham and Sir John Marshal, we would not have known of the existence of the Indus Valley civilization. It is one thing to claim that ours is a 5000-year-old civilization and quite another to do nothing to preserve what remains of it. As I write this, I have before me The Tribune of July 5 with the startling news that some manuscripts of verses written by the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur, in his own hand have been stolen from the house of his descendants in Anandpur Sahib. The incident highlights the utter carelessness with which such precious artefacts and manuscripts are preserved in the country. It was not long ago that an original handwritten manuscript of the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind, was stolen from a museum. Many gurdwaras have warehoused many of these items under terrible conditions. Yet, there was great reluctance to part with some of these objects when specifically requested for by the Smithsonian Sikh Heritage Project in the US, whose museum was opened recently. At the rate at which precious objects are stolen or are allowed to rot for want of adequate care and scientific methods of preservation, it may not be long before one will have to go to the Smithsonian museum to learn more about Indian religious and cultural traditions. Small wonder that when Rajya Sabha member and noted journalist Kuldip Nayar raked up the issue of getting back the Kohinoor, presented to the British Queen by Maharaja Duleep Singh, a wag commented that it would be safer in the Buckingham Palace than the National Museum in Delhi. Even five decades after the British left the country, the British Museum remains the main source of material for any research project on the subcontinent worth the name. It is not unusual to find layers of dust on exhibited items in many of our own museums and libraries. On a revisit to the Patna Museum a couple of years ago, I found even the famous Didarganj Yakshi, an exquisite piece of art, which could be the envy of any museum anywhere in the world, kept like any other statue with the visitors allowed to touch and feel its smoothness. Entry was virtually free but the visitors comprised mostly foreign tourists. So at the root of the problem is the lack of interest in history and preservation. Recently when one of my colleagues visited 10, Downing Street, as a member of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani's Press entourage, he was pleasantly surprised by the lone security guard there pulling out a printed document from his pursue that gave all the details of the building he guarded when he asked him a question just to strike a conversation with him. How many of our security guards would care to know, let alone equip themselves with such information. Anyone who visits the Washington Post in Washington would be delighted to see the first linotype machine on which the paper was composed exhibited in the foyer of its building. In sharp contrast, my search for even a typewriter associated with an Indian newspaper, which is equally old, has so far been in vain. Does not this expose our scant regard for things historical? |
|
Wanted: Principals with vision THE decision of the University Grants Commission and its compliance by the state government with regard to the minimum qualification of the college principals has evoked criticism especially from a section of the academic faculty which believed that age has an edge over scholarship and research. The matter, however, must be analysed objectively for the welfare of the higher education system. It demands an unprejudiced approach to the whole affair. Age and experience indisputably play a significant role in planning, administration and management, but these are not the only factors that are essential. With age tide the experiences and chances for wider and deeper understanding of life and its problems. Thus a person may come out equipped to face and meet the crucial, critical and even the life threatening conditions. But age is no guarantee of a mature outlook, efficiency and administrative potential. Had it been so, all and only old persons would have been the best planners, managers and administrators. Politics, which has been a game of old men in India, would had given the nation a definite direction and prospects of a healthier future. There is no dearth of such example where much of life’s mismanagement continues into the old age. Age ensures more experience but it does not vouchsafe. With waning of life wane certain attributes, which are essentially needed for quality management. To support this fact is the general experience that an elderly person takes more time to develop new skills such as driving or even learning new language for safety and convenience and not growth and development are their priorities. If age and experience had been the sole criterion of being a good administrator, the constitution makers would not have prescribed the minimum age for this nation’s President, Prime Minister, Member of Parliament and Member of Vidhan Sabha as under 30; all Deputy Commissioners would have been of the age above 50 and Jesus, Nanak and Vivekananda would not have been what they are for the entire humanity. Age has certain other drawbacks besides obsession for convenience and security. With age comes debility. With age develop the problems of cataract and inertia. It will not be an exaggeration to comment that much of the stagnation and regression in academic field owes to aged leadership that colleges have so far had. I, however, must admit that exception to these must exist and I, with due respect, exclude them from this category for some people grow and develop not with age but with their vision, keener sensibility and original thinking. This brings us to the crux of the discussion. What makes a good administrator is a very complex question but some of the attributes can be counted. I was once participating in a discussion on this issue when a government official in this group commented that colleges lack sincere principals. Sincerity is a prominent quality of a good administrator. It is necessary to build a congenial educational atmosphere and to earn a good name for the institution. But sincerity does not mean growth orientation. There are many hard working and sincere teachers but they don’t grow into academicians and the principal of a college needs to be an academician who understands the importance of research and scholarly pursuits. Sincerity and hard work become growth orientation when these are combined with vision. It is vision, which makes a person peep into past, grasp the present and look into future. The present is the future in making. Therefore the person who can combine the experience of the past with the vision of the future can alone make present useful. A good administrator, academician, manager and planner must be a visionary. The principal of a college, which is supposed to be a place for imparting research-oriented education in different fields, needs to have more of vision than of first hand experience because one may learn from others’ experiences too. The criteria of maturity and age are two distinct factors. The qualification laid down by the UGC take into consideration all these factors. Hence a person having 15 years of teaching experience and a major research degree is a deserving candidate for the post of college principal and the interviews should be a test of their vision. |
|
ON RECORD Excerpts of the interview: Q: Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati has sent some proposals to the AIMPLB to solve the protracted Ayodhya tangle and it has raised much expectation. How optimistic are you? A: Maulana Rabey Hasane Nadvi, the Chairman of the AIMPLB has seen the proposal and since he has found the contents to be worth considering he has called the meeting of the working committee in Lucknow on July 6. The Committee on Babri Masjid would have already had a look at the proposal. Had the proposal not been in tune with the stand of the AIMPLB, the Chairman at his level itself would have rejected it. Since he has not done that it is a clear indication that the proposal is positive and worth considering. The Shankaracharya’s proposal does not contain what is appearing in the media as they are nothing new than what was proposed last year. There is no proposal like the Archaeological Survey of India allowing Muslims to worship in 1,000 other places in the country or that the Mosque would not be constructed in the acquired area and the idol would not be shifted from the place. Q: To what extent is the AIMPLB ready to compromise on its basic stand on Ayodhya to solve the issue in the interest of communal harmony? A:
The stand of the AIMPLB is quite clear. There can be no compromise on the construction of mosque. There is no historical evidence which has come to light so far to suggest that the land had been acquired illegally to construct the mosque. The Shankara-charya in his last proposal had agreed to shift the “garbha griha” of the proposed Ram Temple but did not give a definite construction plan. He also did not provide an assurance that the VHP would abide by the court verdict. But we are certain that a mosque will be built in the acquired land either in the disputed or undisputed land. The government when it acquired the undisputed land stated that the purpose for acquisition was to build a temple, mosque, library and museum and if any land is left it would go to the owner. On the disputed land if the court verdict were to be in favour of the Muslims, Babri Masjid would be rebuilt. In either of the situation, the mosque will be constructed in the area. We are for the resolution of the dispute based on justice to bring about communal harmony and satisfaction of the community. Q: How much do you think the Hindu leaders need to compromise on their stand on Ayodhya? A: Kanchi Shankaracharaya is held in high respect by one and all. The Seer now has given the new proposal after the AIMPLB rejected his earlier one last year. It is quite likely that he would have considered the objections raised by the members of the community then. Nor would the chairman of the Board have convened the meeting had it not been a fresh proposal. Q: Three proposals have been reportedly sent to the AIMPLB for consideration and the board is meeting on July 6 to discuss it. Do you expect a solution be found soon? A: No. The Shankaracharya has sent only one proposal. It deals with different concerns raised by the Board last year. The working committee which is meeting on Sunday would take a decision on them. It is just the beginning of a process. Of course a solution cannot be found in just a day. But a process to find a solution could begin. In the larger interest of the people, it is a welcome move. Since the proposal has come from the Shankara-charya, the Board is considering it. We have resolved that we would not hold any dialogue with those who demolished the structure. Q: Has the Board formulated any proposal for the consideration of Hindu leaders to solve the issue or it is only awaiting the verdict of the court in the title suit case? A: On Sunday the Board would consider the proposal and see whether it satisfies its concerns on the issue. If it partially satisfies we would suggest some amendments to the proposal. And if the proposal does not live up to the expectations of the Board, the AIMPLB would come forth with a fresh proposal from its side to resolve the issue. Shankaracharya’s efforts should not go in vain. Q: Does the assurance that Kashi and Mathura would not be raked up by the Hindu organisations bestows enough confidence for the Board to enter into a negotiated settlement with the Hindu leaders? A:
We are not worried about Kashi and Mathura as those who rake up the issue do not know the legal position. Any organisation which launches an agitation for these structures would be going against the law of the land. The Religious Places Act which was enacted after the demolition of the Babri Masjid structure had clearly stated that status quo as on August 15, 1947 would prevail in all the religious structures in the country. Q: Several Muslim leaders including Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in Delhi have questioned the authority of the Board to negotiate on behalf of the community to solve the Ayodhya tangle. Does the Board have the mandate and the authority to negotiate on the issue and convince the community to accept it? A: It is the apex body of the Muslims. It has representatives from different strata of community and different sects and schools of Islamic thoughts are represented. Set up in 1972, the body has been fighting for the cause of the Muslims in the country and has been involved in the Babri Masjid issue since 1986. Both the Babri Masjid Action Committee and Babri Masjid Coordination Committee are represented on the Board. Those who challenge the authority of the Board either do not know the standing of the AIMPLB in the eyes of the Muslims nor do they have any standing among the members of the community. Q: Reservation of Muslims in the Scheduled Castes was abolished in the 1950s reportedly as part of a deal to stop puja and shut the doors of the disputed structure. Is reservation to the depressed section of the community, which could act as an impetus for economic upliftment, be considered in the Board meeting? A: There is no caste system amongst Muslims. We have been demanding reservation for the entire community on the economic criteria as Muslims are the economically depressed community. This has been a long pending demand and when the Mandal Commission recommendations were made public, then also we argued for economic criteria. However, one thing that I would like to make clear is that there cannot be any trade off at the cost of Babri Masjid. We are not ready to take any price nor put any price for Babri
Masjid.
|
In the service of victims of Delhi’s hazardous life Dunu Roy says life in Delhi and other big cities is hazardous indeed but the problems could be overcome if there is determination and commitment. See, for instance, the plight of the students in getting admission when the academic session begins. Even principals of known colleges make the young boys and girls run helter-skelter which, inevitably, affects the second generation. The Hazard Centre tries to help youngsters to tide over the admission problems by acquainting them with procedures, rules, other nitty-gritty and counsels them to resist unfair means whereby the undeserving supersede the deserving. There have been legal hazards too whose magnitude is more serious than getting admission in schools and colleges. Certain legal verdicts have debarred people, who have come to Delhi after 1990, for resettlement in new colonies built for squatters better known as “jhuggi-jhopri walas”. According to a study made by the Hazard Centre, there are about three lakh families in Delhi who have no place to live. The Centre strives hard to provide them shelter. But why the number of squatters has risen so sharply in Delhi? Dunu Roy says the Delhi Development Authority was supposed to build 16 lakh units between 1982 and 2001 but they could construct only three lakh. That means 13 lakh people have no place to live. Where do these hapless people go? Cheap housing is the only solution, he says. Delhi’s biggest hazard is the ever-increasing road traffic and alarming rise in accidents which sometime prove fatal. The Hazard Centre made an in-depth study of this problem and identified the lacunae. The round about near Okhla Industrial areas was the place for research in traffic hazard. Almost every day two to three fatal accidents take place at the crossing. The study revealed that about 15,000 cycles pass through the round about every day and the number of pedestrian crossings on the road is over 12,000. As many as 4,000 vehicles pass by every day at this junction. Dunu Roy says, the busy road had been designed only for four-wheel vehicles. Hazard Centre has given the plan and the design to the Metropolitan Council of Delhi (MCD) suggesting separate path for cyclists and pedestrians together with other changes. The Hazard Centre had also done lot of work among domestic help, contract workers and ragpickers. A study reveals that the number of domestic servants has been gradually declining, primarily because a sizeable number is resettled far away from their places of work and the cost of commuting is exorbitant. Also washing machines, vacuum cleaners, electric ovens and such gadgets conveniently substitute for manual labour. Dunu Roy has been working on a project to providing alternative avocation to domestic work. He found that many of them were skilled workers in repairing electrical equipment, wooden items, plumbing and other technical work. His attempt is to help them earn their livelihood. Those who are not skilled can be employed as home delivery boys of domestic items, he says. Water pollution is yet another hazard of Delhi’s civic life and Dunu Roy and his team have waged a relentless battle to ensure potable water to people. He was horrified to find that most of the tap water contains bacterial contamination and the reason was that sewer and water pipeline run parallel to each other and both invariably leak leading to pollution of the water which people are supposed to drink. The
authorities, he says, are aware of the problem but refuse to respond. Fifty-eight-year-old, Dunu Roy gave up his career as chemical engineer as temperamentally he could not be tied down to long office hours and the challenges outside beckoned him. Initially he had done lot of work in tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh covering such areas as environmental planning and imparting education at mass level. The challenges before him now are manifold and of gigantic magnitude but he is not the one to give up. Even if a part of the work he has undertaken yields result, it will be a big leap forward in service to the community.
|
To our representatives A
Question & Answer session rounded off my book release event in New York very recently. I was asked several questions. The answer of one such became a question for me, myself. And it possibly touched a sensitive nerve. Since then I have been at it. Tossing and turning, reading and writing, walking and running, seeking answers from within. The question posed to me was, “what is India of my dreams”? And I instinctively responded, “an India, which is debt free: an India, which borrows no money to administer; an India which gives and not takes; an India which shares not because it wants support commerce or influence but genuinely believes in giving and sharing; an India, which practices equity, immaterial of colour, region, belief, capacity or capability; an India, which has enough for each one’s basic needs; an India which makes giving a way of life; this is the India of my living dreams”. This thought actually followed the speech of the chief guest of the function, Dr Bhisham Agnihotri, India’s Ambassador-at-large. He informed the audience that there are 23 million Indians outside India. This registered in my heart and it became an answer to my inner yearning “India debt free”. And with so many of us spread around the world why could we not make this a collective responsibility? Why must we pass on our debts to children and grandchildren? We could declare a time limit and achieve it. The HOW of it can be thrashed out? August 15 is close by. It is one day when the nation does come together to listen, to the national leader's vision for the year ahead. I therefore am making a written prayer on behalf of many of us, to consider integrating this, for all of us in India and the millions outside, which our Ambassador- at- large was alluding to? Our Prayer is as follows… Part 1…The nation as a whole develops a vision of debt free India, on this day from the ramparts of the Red Fort with the state capitals unequivocally endorsing it from their respective ramparts. I am not suggesting that India does not take advantage of the benefits of international banking systems or support or cooperative or collaborative partnerships. What I am trying to say is that India minimises its dependence on external borrowings to govern. For all of it comes with a huge cost. And we have been paying it every year out of our annual incomes. If this money were saved, we would have this funding for the investments ourselves. It is simple common sense. No different from individual lives. We do not have to be economists or financial experts to understand this. In order that it is not as a mere dream it will require to be stated in concrete measurable steps. That is, without hurting all that a common person gets but declaring all other affordable measures. For this a countrywide debate could be organised where common citizens get an opportunity to contribute to matters of the nation beyond the vote. And it must cut across all party lines. Thereafter all suggestions that emerge could be given over to group of experts comprising capable men and women to produce the analysis for debates in Parliament and state legislatures. One suggestion which does come to my mind is that we all (includes Government of India) create a corpus “I Respect India Bank” also called Maitri Shradha and send into it the said deposit, according to our individual capacities, from wherever we are, And we keep clearing our “debts”, with transparency and accessibility to the management of accounts. Obviously, also, there will have to an be embargo on further “debts”...and the present generation is fully with it. Part 2…For achieving the above three more spirited values will have to be “injected” from the ramparts. And these are, (a) Intense Patriotic Desire. This be made a question of national pride intertwined with self-esteem as an Indian. (b) Persistence. No matter which party comes to power, this national agenda of making India debt free will remain. How this could be ensured too requires to be made a part of nationwide consultations. And (c) Courage…Abundant courage to be patriotic, persistent and visionary. It would not be long before Indians and India will achieve this. Care will have to be exercised that issue remains. India then will not need to lobby or bargain for a Permanent Seat in the Security Council. It will be indispensable as a moral force because it would be a secure and sound country whose power does not come from cruise missiles but from self-belief of a billion people, comprising one seventh of the world. |
People eager to build bridges of dialogue and understanding I ASKED Abdul Ghani Bhat, Chairman of the secessionist All Parties Hurriyat Conference, why his conglomerate had not called for a bandh (closure) to mark the visit of India's President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. “A couple of years ago, you would call a bandh if a Joint Secretary from the Union Home Ministry visited Srinagar,” I said with a laugh. He grinned wryly and replied: “We don't even know who the President of India is.” Of course the repartee was only for the record. The truth, according to Hurriyat sources, is that its senior leaders debated the question and decided not to upset the momentum for peaceful negotiations. Even that is only part of the reason. The fact is that the Hurriyat is riven by a virtual war within. For the first time since it was formed a decade ago, the majority of disparate parties within it are struggling to break the stranglehold of their implacable hard-line colleague, Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Until a couple of years ago, hardly any one in the Hurriyat dared to defy his line on most issues. Indeed, when a colleague turned up to represent him at the Hurriyat executive meeting the day after the Hizbul Mujahideen announced a ceasefire three years ago, the entire executive went to his house, insisting that he must lead them to decide how to react. Now, not only is the majority in the Hurriyat resisting his insistence that the People’s Conference be expelled, his own parent group, the Jamaat-e-Islami, has refused to back him. To add insult to injury, Hurriyat sources reveal that the establishment in Pakistan has signaled to the group's leadership that it does not agree with his hard-line stand. The People's Conference must not be expelled, they have advised, even though it is no secret that it was hand in glove with those of its members who resigned to contest the Assembly elections last autumn. The Pakistan establishment has evidently decided that discretion is the better part of valour. Geelani virtually acknowledged as much when I met him last week. “It will make no difference to our movement,” he said when I pointed out that even the President of Pakistan appeared to have distanced his government since May, when Pakistan banned the Hizbul Mujahideen. Geelani has been Hizb's political patron since the beginning of 1990. It speaks volumes for the tenacity of the seventy-six year old Jamaat ideologue that he remains unshaken even though he has been isolated on all sides. The majority of Hurriyat leaders would stick with the People's Conference if he were to force a split. The reason for the change of heart among them is not far to seek. They are afraid that they will be further marginalised unless they change tack. The fresh public mood was visible around the President's visit. Several Kashmiris have been discussing Kalam's visit to the new Delhi Public School. A senior leader of the People's Conference spoke of the reactions of school children whom the President spoke to. He said a schoolboy had told a television interviewer: “We want sanity.” The fact that common Kashmiris have been discussing the socio-economic propriety of the President’s schedule, and the reactions he evoked among children, indicates the sea-change in public attitudes. Not very long ago, responses would have sullenly, even antagonistically, focused on how the visit made no difference to the lives of common people, dying and suffering daily. That was not the only indicator last fortnight. Just a couple of days after the President's visit, political and media circles here were agog at the prospect of the Hurriyat leader appearing on the same platform as the President of the National Conference, former Union Minister Omar Abdullah. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, founder president of Hurriyat, had agreed to attend a seminar on ways to build peace between India and Pakistan. Not only the National Conference President, the President of the ruling People's Democratic Party, Mehbooba Mufti, too were to speak around the same table. The Hurriyat Chairman had cleared the Mirwaiz’s participation but some of the leaders had at a meeting decided that the Mirwaiz should not go. Then, after the scheduled time for the seminar to begin, Mehbooba Mufti sent a message to say that she was engaged. No doubt, the organs of the state had informed her of the change in Hurriyat plans. The significant aspect of that little drama is not that the Hurriyat played safe but that the local press criticised it for so doing and gave Omar Abdullah kudos. Clearly, public sentiment here is eager for bridges of dialogue and understanding to be built.
|
Delhi to host Parliament of World Religions COME December and a high-power meet is going to be held here — Parliament of World Religions (in collaboration with the Delhi Peace Summit) is hosting a three-day interaction on you know what…fashionable words in today's world ... peace, harmony, religious tolerance etc. In fact, the Parliament of World Religions first met in Chicago in 1993 and then in Cape Town on 1999 and next year, that is in 2004, they would be meeting in Spain. The New Delhi meet is a pre-session to that upcoming one — and, with the best possible frills — what with the President of India inaugurating the event and the Dalai Lama being the guest of honour. Though there are several of New Delhi's who's who in the advisory committee — Karan Singh, Jag Mohan, Manmohan Singh, Mohinder Singh, the unfortunate aspect is that none of these gentlemen have lashed out against the communal incidents in the country. The latest round of rioting in Gujarat (together with the Best Bakery verdict) and none of these men have cried hoarse that the blatantly biased communal leaders be stripped of the power they continue to use and misuse. Iraqi National Day For the past so many years, around this time of the year, I would receive the invite for Iraq's National Day (July 17). This year as expected there is going to be no such event. Don't know whether the US Embassy here would host an aggressor’s party or would adman Suhel Seth who had recently come out with a book full of jokes on the US President and his men and their quotes on the Iraq war be asked to read a joke or two. Changing scenario Yes, the world scenario is changing in every sense of the term. On one hand, I have the latest UN global economic and social survey report and in the other, the telephone instrument is clutched — hearing a friend outpour details of the month-long holiday they had spent in Kenya. “We wore sweaters, coats and used blankets. It’s so cold there”. I couldn't believe, Kenya being cold in June. And then, there’s more to come. In this changing scenario, in today's changing tourism scenario to be nearer precision, more and more people are heading towards Africa. It’s a pity that we seem to know about Africa only in the context of civil wars, drought and hunger. There is more to Africa. Just yesterday, whilst chatting with the Sudanese Ambassador to India, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohammad, I was more than surprised to know the number of industries that are flourishing in the country and high export levels. And the Ambassador is not just a career diplomat, but a writer. He writes on socio-cultural aspects for the newspapers in Sudan. The UN report states “the overall world economy is expected to grow by only 2 1/4 per cent in 2003. Trade also is expected to pick up incrementally, to 4 per cent growth in 2003 as compared to 2 per cent last year. Foreign investment remains hesitant…” I really don't know what is the significance of these words and figures. For a layman the going is getting tougher day by day.
|
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
AS my wife and I were on a shoestring budget, packing as much of Europe as possible into our fortnight-long tour, we purposely went to the Louvre Museum in Paris late in the afternoon when the entry fee was one-fourth. We were shocked to find a long queue of people from all over the world, including a large number of students for whom entry was free at that hour if they had photo identity cards. By the time we stepped into the museum, only one hour was left for its closure. We virtually ran from gallery to gallery till we reached the special security room where the original Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci hang in all its majesty. We had run out of time and a gentle guard guided us to the exit door.
KANCHI Shankarachar-ya Jayendra Saraswati’s proposal for resolving the vexed Ayodhya issue has raised much expectations. With the RSS rallying behind the proposal, it has added immense pressure on the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) to take positive steps today (July 6) when its executive meets in Lucknow to consider the issue. AIMPLB convenor Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas believes the proposals of the Kanchi Seer are positive and worth considering.
DUNU Roy devoted over three decades in the field of rural development. A chemical engineer, holding an M.Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, he provided technical expertise to rural communities, carried out prolonged experiment in environmental planning and now provides succour to those who became victims of Delhi’s hazardous life. He runs an institution with likeminded persons and the organisation itself has been named “Hazard Centre”. He defines hazard as people see it or an event that threatens the survival of a community. The institute’s core team comprises ten dedicated researchers and as many as 50 professionals, some of them well-known in their fields. They provide free service to the victims and needy and hail from such diverse disciplines as public health, environment impact, pollution control and urban architecture.