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Sunday,
September 14, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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ON RECORD Women as decision-makers |
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Return of Mamata from Kolkata
Defiance of Geelani shows remarkable boldness of his detractors
Another gameplan to fool ex-servicemen?
Sharon’s visit throws Delhi traffic out of gear
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ON RECORD
Excerpts of the interview: Q: What is the state of the coalition as there are reports of rifts and difference among the partners? A: No, these reports are not correct as despite different ideologies and historical background, differences in approach and styles, stress on nuances, one thing which unites all the partners in the almost one-year-old coalition Jammu and Kashmir government, is bring peace and normality. We all want restoration of peace with dignity and honour. Then, there is a strong desire among all of us wanting to give good governance. We all want to see, rather ensure, that Kashmiris come out of clutches of violence. Everybody has not only the interest of the state at heart but also the national interest in focus. If we don’t succeed in our common goals then we will be blamed. This realisation weighs heavily on our conscience. Q: But what are the problems? A: The biggest challenge is to restore normalcy in the state. It is a multi-dimensional problem which requires a multi-pronged approach. Only restoration of normalcy is not enough, it needs to be sustained. A change in the mindset of the people has to be brought about. There are expectations among the people. In this regard, unemployment is a major factor. We have a highly educated and well qualified population as the education till university level has been free in Jammu and Kashmir. Yes of late, some announcements have been made by the Centre and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has also announced a package during his visit last month. The Centre is very forthcoming and helpful too. But announcements are one thing and its implementation is yet another. Defreezing of Central government jobs is the urgent need of the hour. The Centre can create employment. In the State Bank of India, local people can be employed. We need doctors in big numbers. We need a lady gynaecologist at every District Health Hospital. Primary health centres don’t have doctors. We have engineers in big numbers who are without jobs. Same is the case with agriculture graduates. Six or seven months back, a scheme of Home and Hearth Local Army was announced. The Defence Ministry had cleared it. Almost 1,300 jobs were to be created but it got stuck in bureaucracy and the Ministry of Finance is yet to clear it. So, the raised hopes have been dashed and expectations doomed. Q: The picture appears to be bleak. Any hope? A: No, I am not saying that. There are enough positive trends and developments. People are coming out to meet their representatives. Our MLAs are busy meeting people. They spend a lot of time with their constituents. People have faith and that is what matters in the final count. Q: Why are you out of the government? A: So that I can communicate. Joining the government would keep me tied to one ministry but in my present role, I can keep in touch with the people. Small things matter. If promises are made, they need to be translated into action. Otherwise, chasm starts growing and disenchantment sets in. I try to act as a bridge of communication. I try that promises are fulfilled. Even my daddy tells me that I am very nagging when I remind him of promises. Q: How is the command structure functioning? A: Oh! lot of improvement. Coordination among security forces has improved. We have succeeded in sensitising security forces as we have impressed upon them that if one innocent is killed in an encounter then it helps creating more militants. Don’t kill a militant but don’t create more is the new approach. Special care is taken that civilians are secure. In recent encounters, civilians are first evacuated. Like we saw in the operation in Srinagar when militants attacked the Greenview hotel on a busy road. Though this approach is more time consuming, it evokes lot of confidence among the people at large. Moreover, recent initiatives by the armed and security forces have gone well with the people as army helps them in construction. In raids and search operations the local police is present and that gives confidence as people know their policeman and they have confidence in him. In cases of human rights violations, complaint is lodged with the police and then action follows. It is slowly but surely creating confidence as people are beginning to feel that nobody is above the law. A sense of security is growing among citizens. Q: But what about operations like Hill Kaka? A: Yes, there may have been a delay in operation but then the issue of compensation had to be settled before clearance could be given for the operation. Displacement was the issue. People and cattle had to be displaced. We saw to it that compensation was given and people were looked after. Q: Doubts have been raised about the healing touch policy as it is allegedly helping not the victims of terrorism but militants’ families. A: No, this is not correct. Victims of terrorism are part of the policy but we don’t discriminate. Militants are to be punished, not their families. Nobody would support an idea of creating militants out of killed militant family members. In some extreme cases, killed militant’s old mother has no one to attend to her. She is alone. Should such cases be overlooked? Q: The present state of Kashmiri Pandits is worrisome? A: Yes, indeed. The return of the Pandits has a lot to do with the return of normalcy. Confidence has to be instilled. We are taking steps to instil confidence. We are raising permanent structures at Kheer Bhawani temple in Gandherbal area where about 50,000 people turned up recently during the festival. People could come and stay in these permanent structures. In Mattan, where the Sun temple is located, accommodation is being constructed where 300-400 people can stay. My father is very serious about Pandits. I have grown among them. I would like that children of Pandits are included in the Sadbhawna programmes so that they are aware of their roots and culture. We are taking steps for construction of permanent structures in Jammu so that Pandits’ life becomes tolerable. Similarly, we are appealing to states, where Pandits are living in migrant camps, to make the conditions more humane. Pandits are an inalienable part of Kashmir and their return is directly linked to restoration of peace and
normalcy. |
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Women as decision-makers
The woman in this case belongs to the economically weaker section of society. But then, the facts are no more encouraging in the middle and upper middle class. For, it was surprising to see the case of a woman officer from the armed forces who continued to accept the dictatorial attitude of her graduate businessman husband to keep peace at home until one day she could take no more and came to the W&CS Unit to seek help. The only differentiating factor amongst the various cases in different segments of society is the decision-making authority that varies from the father to the son to the husband or father-in-law. Indeed it is rarely the woman herself about whom the decision is being taken. As Manu, the legendary philosopher puts it, “In childhood a woman must be subjected to her father; in youth, to her husband and when her husband is dead, to her sons”. The glamorised image of Indian woman splashed in fashion and glossy magazines might come across as a perfect contrast to this quote but one should not forget that this largely superfluous image reflects only a very minor segment of society and is no indicator of the liberty and freedom available to an average household Indian woman. The fact that 60 per cent of the Indian women living in villages are married below 18 years of age indicates the near negligible involvement of women in the most important decision of their lives. It is, therefore, not difficult to understand why a woman’s assertion to choose a partner is considered almost revolutionary in a society that does not even permit a woman to decide about the age and timing of her marriage. According to a 1992-93 survey, in Punjab which is otherwise known for its affluence and modern outlook, the percentage of mothers in the 13-19 years age group was 64.4 per cent, thus indicating that the most basic decision of whether or not to have a baby and when to have a baby was not in the hands of the mother. The reasons for the negligible or little involvement of women in the most fundamental decisions of their lives are numerous. While many prefer to accept it because of economic dependence, others continue to suffer to avoid the wrath of society. There was this case of a middle class couple wherein the woman decided to separate from her husband after 24 years of their marriage. She said that it took her so long to take this decision since she was hamstrung by the thought and task of settling her two unmarried daughters and hence could not bear the thought of economic insecurity. But now since both her daughters were married and settled she had decided to put an end to her suffering and take this step. All these factors have their roots in an ideology, which is so basic and serves as a guiding factor in the upbringing of a female child. The ideology demands that a woman should learn to abide by the wishes of her father and her brother or other elder male members of the family while simultaneously discouraging her participation in, at times, the smallest of household decisions. She might at best be given the privilege to express her opinion. A woman being the decision-maker regarding the basic and the most fundamental issues of marriage and child birth might appear as a far-fetched thought in a society where she does not even have the liberty to decide if she can visit her relatives or the kind of food to be cooked. A recent survey revealed that more than 80 per cent of women from states as diverse as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh have to seek prior permission from their husbands or in-laws before visiting friends or relatives. In Uttar Pradesh, about one-third women do not have the liberty to decide what is to be cooked at home. There was a similar case at the Cell wherein the husband refused to live with his wife after five months of their marriage. The boy said that he did not like his wife since she did not abide by his decisions; like once when he asked her to wake up at 5 a.m., she instead woke up at 5.30 a.m. The status of women in any society is a significant pointer to the level of progress and the culture of that society. The key to the removal of many social evils and hence for a progressive and healthy society lies in women's liberty, economic independence and the power to be the decision-maker of her own life. In this context, an anecdote is worth mentioning. When Jawaharlal Nehru was once asked, “What do you consider as your biggest achievement as the Prime Minister of our country?”, he replied, “The emancipation of Indian women”. Unfortunately, today after 56 years of Independence, when one comes across such cases as that of the woman seeking a divorce to abide by her parents’ wishes, one realises that we are nowhere near to the vision conceived by our distinguished leaders for the emancipation of Indian woman. Government organisation, women-oriented NGO’s and such other helping societies will continue to fight for the cause of women’s liberation. But to achieve the vision of our great leaders like Nehru, women themselves will have to take the initiative of voicing their decisions and being the sole guardian of the freedom that only belongs to them. The writer is Counsellor, Family Counselling Centre, Woman and Child Support Unit, Chandigarh |
Return of Mamata from Kolkata Mamata did not change her style of living even while heading the Railway Ministry. She wore rubber slippers and a simple cotton sari. When in Kolkata, she lived in her one-room tenement. In Delhi she did not move to a ministerial bungalow but continued in the modest MPs’ flat in the multi-storey building on Baba Kharag Singh Marg; she still lives there. She normally did not use the ministerial car for going to Rail Bhavan, which is less than a kilometer away from her flat and refused the security paraphernalia. During her brief tenure as the Railway Minister, her first priority was to bring in foolproof safety system to check accidents. She was against raising the rail fare and freight because that would mean more burden on the common man. On the political front, she continues to be a force to reckon with. The CPI-M is scared of her. She firmly believes that her party will ultimately replace Marxists in West Bengal and that the Congress is bound to go into oblivion. A Trinamool-BJP poll pact is bound to help the saffron party. Now in mid-forties, once Mamata takes up a cause, she would never give it up. Even when she was a minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government, she staged a “dharna” in front of Chief Minister Jyoti Basu’s chambers in Kolkata’s Writers building. She was demanding justice for a poor deaf and dumb girl who was allegedly raped by certain persons owing allegiance to the CPM. Like the late Raj Narain, Mamata also clashed with the police if it came in her way. She was seen on the small screen groaning with pain in the hospital bed and raising her plastered hand in the Lok Sabha. A slogan coined by her supporters those days said: “Mamata thy name is struggle”. In 1997, when the plenary session of the Congress under the presidentship of the late Sitaram Kesri was held in Kolkata, Mamata raised the banner of revolt. She organised a parallel rally, near Netaji indoor stadium where the plenum was being held. Her rally turned out to be a roaring success while that of the Congress proved a flop. Sarcastically, she described the Kesri Congress as the “Indoor Congress” and her rally as “the Outdoor Congress”. She had not quit the Congress by that time. Mamata burst into limelight and made headlines when she defeated the CPM stalwart Somnath Chatterjee in the Lok Sabha elections held in December, 1984. Rajiv Gandhi had personally picked her to face the front-ranking Marxist leader despite strong opposition from the West Bengal unit of the Congress. Mamata had emerged on the political scene of West Bengal in late seventies when the anti-Indira Gandhi wave was on the rise. She stood by her and Mrs Gandhi recognised the fighting acumen in the young girl from Kolkata. Mamata now embarks on a new phase in her political career full of struggle. She is now a much matured and experienced
leader. |
Defiance of Geelani shows remarkable boldness of his detractors THE rift in the All Parties’ Hurriyat Conference that led it to split last fortnight might only have come to the surface over the past few months but it had existed sharply for a few years. It was in the late summer of 1999 that many of the organisation’s senior leaders were put behind bars for several months and the rift came to the fore soon after their release. The Hurriyat’s founder Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, of course was not detained. Perhaps because of his position as chief priest of Srinagar’s Jamia mosque, he has never been arrested. The one time his colleagues dragged him along when they were arrested from a meeting, he was set free 10 minutes after he arrived at the police station. The only other one of the seven-member Hurriyat Executive who was not jailed then was the late Abdul Ghani Lone. He spent most of that summer in the US — and then most of the winter in Delhi. By the time the others had been released, it was apparent that Lone had changed his tune. Once among the sharper pro-Pakistan voices in the Hurriyat, he began to put India and Pakistan on the same level, stating repeatedly that Kashmir was neither anybody’s atut ang (inseperable part, as the BJP has long maintained) nor anybody’s shah rag (jugular vein, as Pakistan’s rulers have long called Kashmir). During the summer of 1999 already, JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik had come closer to Mirwaiz Umar, who had always been counted as a moderate. So the three banded together as a dovish ginger group during the summer of 2000. Although the organisation announced that the election of Abdul Ghani Bhat as Hurriyat Chairman that summer was unanimous, there was in fact a contest between him and Lone. And Bhat’s victory established the pattern for the next couple of years: Jamaat leader Ali Shah Geelani would dictate the stands the organisation would take. Bhat once told me that he had no idea he was to be a candidate until the day before he was elected — when Geelani told him in the Hurriyat office driveway to contest. It had become clear earlier that day that Lone, Umar and Yasin would not allow Geelani another extension as Chairman. Indeed, it was the malleability of Bhat and the current Chairman, Maulana Abbas Ansari, that allowed Geelani to rule the roost until a few months ago. Mirwaiz Umar told me during an interview in early 2001 that they both secretly backed the faction that he was part of. Clearly, however, they did not feel strong enough to defy Geelani. They only decided to dig in when Geelani pushed for the expulsion of the People's Conference — which has been led by Lone’s sons, Sajad and Bilal, after Lone's assassination on May 21, 2002. Perhaps Bhat and Ansari realised that they would have no chance to ever defy Geelani if they gave in on this issue, for Yasin Malik too has shifted to a hardline position since he returned from the US towards the end of 2001. Geelani was not going to simply throw in the towel. When he found he could no longer control Hurriyat, he split it. Now that a majority of the smaller member groups that are not represented on the Executive have opted to back Geelani, his own party faces a challenge. The new Amir-e-Jamaat of Jammu and Kashmir, Nazir Ahmed Kashani, would like nothing better to withdraw his organisation altogether from active politics, so that it can focus on its basic task of reforming and propagating Islam, but he has hitherto tried to accommodate Geelani's backers too. Of course Kashani must be painfully aware that Geelani could at any moment launch a new organisation and present it as an alternative Jamaat-e-Islami chapter. The Hizbul Mujahideen and the Muzaffarabad-based United Jihad Council have publicly backed Geelani. This backing by militants is what has given Geelani so much clout all these years. Although they have always blamed Indian intelligence agencies when one of them has been attacked — or Lone or the previous Mirwaiz assassinated — or when a bomb was found tied under Bhat’s car, there are those within Hurriyat who have other thoughts about who might be behind such attacks. In that context, those that have opted to defy Geelani have shown remarkable
boldness.
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Another gameplan to fool ex-servicemen? EX-Havaldar Ruldoo Ram, now in his seventies, is a veteran of many wars. In 1947-48, he fought in the Kashmir War and was hit by an enemy bullet in the leg. Later he took part in the 1962 and 1965 wars. He also fought the insurgents in the North East. He lives with his daughter-in-law and grand children in a remote village in Himachal Pradesh. He was retired early. Relentless inflation, since he retired, has left his pension with little purchasing power. His son Naik Ram Dev, his only child, had died in the Kargil conflict. Experience had made him somewhat cynical. He no more cared for the false promises of the government. He had endlessly discussed the subject of ‘one rank one pension’ and the unfair 33-year conditionality, the Fifth Pay Commission had introduced, was meekly accepted by the military high command, and later approved by the government. The issue of ‘one rank one pension’ was first taken up in 1982. Since then, nearly a million ex-servicemen have died, in the vain hope of getting a better deal. Their number is decreasing by six to seven thousand every month. In the next 15 to 20 years, nearly all those ex-servicemen, to whom ‘one rank one pension’ is of concern will disappear from the pension list. Therefore, for the Government of India, it is a case of decreasing expenditure at the annual rate of 5 to 6 per cent. The demand for ‘one rank one pension’, in any case, involves a small amount of money and is poor compensation for early retirement, harsh and risk-filled service environment, turbulence in married life and children’s education, extremely limited promotional prospects and the added disadvantage of 33-year conditionality. Early retirement itself imposes a bar on higher pension, which otherwise would accrue due to longer service, as is the case with the civil employees. Ruldoo Ram asks what could be the compulsions, which prompted the government to suddenly appear sympathetic to the ex-servicemen’s cause over which it showed little concern in the past? A ludicrous case where Brigadiers get more pension than Major-Generals is yet to be resolved by the government. Then how does it hope to fool the ex-servicemen through this new gameplan? Ruldoo Ram’s native wisdom told him that it must be some unthinking babu who had put out the news that the issue of ‘one rank one pension’ had finally been closed by the government. Then some wily politician must have realised the folly of such an announcement when the State Assembly elections were just around the corner. Obviously, it was the prospect of losing the ex-servicemen and their families’ votes in the coming elections which made the government change its mind and reopen the case. Ruldoo Ram was not the one to be taken in by such plays. He says it is a case of dangling a carrot before the ex-servicemen till election time and then jettisoning it. The babus will once more make the politicians bite the dust. They would simply frighten the politicians with the certainty of a similar demand by the civil servants. It is perhaps too much to expect the politicians to grasp the simple fact that the terms and conditions of service of the civil servants are totally different from those of servicemen. Those who retire at 58 cannot claim equality with those who retire in their thirties, forties or early fifties. Does the government not realise that the basic principle of dealing with the troops is, not to raise false hopes and feed them promises, not intended to be fulfilled? It is a dangerous game to play and sure to result in loss of confidence in the system. While Ruldoo Ram was
immersed in a discussion with his colleagues, his daughter-in-law
brought tea for them. As they took their first sip, their eyes met.
His eyes were moist, partly from embarrassment and a bit out of
sorrow. There was no sugar and little milk in the tea; his meagre
pension could do no better. In fact, there was nothing sweet left in
Ruldoo Ram’s life. |
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Sharon’s visit throws Delhi traffic out of gear ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s visit threw us off balance in our very own land. New Delhi’s infamous traffic adopted a deeper shade of sluggish movement even a day prior to his visit. He was forcing even the average commuter to fume and gasp and query, “Why couldn’t helicopters be used to carry him and his army of securitymen from one destination to the other so that we’d be spared of this torture?” Others had their own reasons to lash out, as the general secretary of the Indo-Arab Fraternity, Mr K.L. Malhotra, told me: “I’m upset by Sharon’s visit to our country for I consider him to be an incarnation of General Dyer”. Why? Because that British general had killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in Jalianawalabag and Sharon is doing exactly this day after day on unarmed Palestinians. Sharon’s visit to India has been an insult to our philosophy of non-violence and an insult to freedom fighters who took on the British through non-violent means. Mahatma Gandhi has said that if England belonged to the English, France belonged to the French. So Palestine belongs to the Palestinians but Sharon is killing them in their own land and then talking how to control terrorism. Malhotra would also like to ask if Sharon cannot control terrorism in his own country, how will he able to control ours, especially when there is such a marked difference between the circumstances in both countries. “All this is nothing but gameplans and agendas at work for the US to sell arms to us through Israel”. He says this is the crux of the entire exercise and is upset and sad. “We are a country which believes in non-violence and here we sat and welcomed a man who represents nothing but terror. When he was Defence Minister, he was indicted by his own government for war crimes. So what more can be said about him?” While Sharon was here, I missed some important functions because of the road blocks by the securitymen. Uma Vasudev’s book “Indira Gandhi: Courage Under Fire” (Rupa) was released on September 9 by Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit. I couldn’t make it because the traffic snarls almost scared me. This is Uma Vasudev's third book on Indira Gandhi. Let’s not overlook the fact that she has also written two novels and made several documentaries. What I personally like about the Vasudev sisters — Uma and Aruna — is their attitude. Both the sisters have gone through personal tragedies and though both of them are in their early 60s, they have that bindaas attitude, that carry-on zest. Last year, Aruna was spotted at one of the French Embassy functions the very next day of her cataract surgery and though Uma has had no surgery (not that I know of) but then personal upheavals. Yet one has never heard her complaining about this or that. Not even about the traffic chaos on New Delhi roads. The next book from her is on Hari Prasad Chaurasiya and it is almost complete. Literacy Day just passed by and one of the die-hard writers on literacy — Alka Raghuvanshi — brought her ninth book on literacy. A former journalist, from 1989 she has been writing one book after another on literacy. The latest one, released on September 8, is titled “Voluntary Action in Literacy”. Together with writing books on literacy, she has held five exhibitions. Yes, focusing on literacy. And how does she view literacy in the context of our country? I feel that literacy must be related to vocation otherwise it can be counterproductive, for you cannot make a person literate at the cost of his vocation. I also feel that politics and politicians have seen to it that masses remain illiterate for it suits them in their vote bank politics. And so we, the average and apolitical citizens of this country, have a role to play. I believe in the slogan “Each one, teach one.” The simplest is to begin by teaching your immediate staff or children living near your
homes”. |
In the realm of Truth, dwells the Formless One, God himself who creates ceaselessly, and watches and blesses all with His gracious glance... — Guru Nanak Even as all waters flow into the ocean, but the ocean never overflows, even so the sage feels desires, but he is ever one in his infinite peace. — The Bhagavad Gita The soul departs from the body, People around declare him dead; Births and deaths frequent men who live But no one knows the subtle fact. — Kabir The renunciation of the Gita is the acid test of faith. — Mahatma Gandhi The Bible is a window in this prison of hope, through which we look into eternity. — Dwight |
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JAMMU and Kashmir, possibly, cannot be imagined today without
Mehbooba Mufti, who has become a household name in the state. Almost single handedly, Ms
Mehbooba, 39, resurrected the political
career of her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who after securing 16 seats in the Assembly elections in 2002, went on to become the Chief Minister of the troubled state. In almost no time through her grit and political savy, she nurtured the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) into a political force to reckon with. A Law graduate and having worked in an airline and a bank, Ms
Mehbooba came into politics not for a career but out of conviction. Having refused to join the government, she is keen to act as a bridge between the people and the government headed by her 67-year-old father.
A pale looking woman in her early twenties walked into the Family Counselling Centre of the Woman and Child Support Unit, Chandigarh, with her one-year-old girl child, apparently suffering from malnutrition, seeking divorce from her husband after three years of their marriage. She didn’t specify any compelling reason for seeking divorce. She repeatedly emphasised the fact that her sick parents, mentally challenged sister and 10-year-old brother need looking after and since her husband was uncooperative and indifferent, she wanted a separation in order to be with her family. The incident is appalling and is a pointer of how insignificant women often are in the decision-making process of their own lives.
FIREBRAND but a mellowed Mamata Banerjee is back in the Vajpayee Cabinet. Unlike October, 1999 when she was given the high-profile Railway portfolio, she was inducted in the government last week as minister without portfolio. In sharp contrast to 1999, she was glum, rather crestfallen, at the swearing-in ceremony. Apparently, portfolios offered to Mamata were not of her liking but, possibly, rejoining the NDA ministry has become a political compulsion. She may appear to have been tamed, at least, as of now, but irrepressible Mamata is not the person to sit quiet for long. Some of the traits of her personality are similar to that of socialist leader, the late Raj Narain, mission of whose life, as if, was to put up a fight. She wants to keep up her image of a street fighter in crumpled sari and a khadi bag dangling over her shoulder which she did as the Railway Minister.