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Monday,
September 15, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Talks or court can decide Arafat is still needed Condoning violations |
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Iraq is an American problem
Acrid perfumes of Paris
Hope for a new dawn in the Valley
CONSUMER RIGHTS
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Talks or court can decide THE Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) appeal to the people to join the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's campaign for legislation that will settle the Babri Masjid issue once and for all needs to be rejected. As we have argued in these columns earlier, the dispute on Ayodhya is not something to be settled on the basis of the majority opinion in Parliament. The demand has arisen because of a wholly wrong interpretation of democracy. Democracy does not mean supremacy of the majority, but of the law. It was precisely for this reason that Rajiv Gandhi's decision to circumvent a Supreme Court ruling on alimony for Muslim women by enacting a law was considered absolutely wrong. Political organisations, including the RSS, acquired the moral authority to question some of the laws passed during the infamous Emergency, not because Indira Gandhi did not have majority support in Parliament but because they negated the rule of law. If the vote is the ultimate arbiter, it will sound the death knell of democracy and usher in fascism. Democratic values - human rights, self-governance, personal liberty - are considered applicable to all the people. Democracy offers an objectively devised framework that encompasses a variety of communities and cultures, enabling individuals within each of them to participate in the larger society. In doing so, democracy creates a culture of its own, with values such as individualism and liberty. These cannot be sacrificed at the altar of majoritarianism. So long as these principles, which constitute the cornerstone of the Constitution, are upheld, it is immaterial whether the majority wants or does not want a temple to come up at the very spot where the mosque once stood. In its own way, the Supreme Court on Friday underlined this point when it snubbed the learned counsel of the Gujarat government who argued that Mr Narendra Modi was a democratically elected Chief Minister who draws his sustenance from the people. If democracy is understood in the right perspective, a political campaign on such a divisive issue as Ayodhya will never acquire legitimacy. It is, therefore, unfortunate that with elections round the corner, there is an attempt to revive the Ayodhya issue. Of course, this is a reflection of the degeneration of mass politics, which is now far removed from the values enshrined in the Constitution. Nonetheless, there are only two ways to solve the Ayodhya dispute -- allow the disputants to reach an amicable settlement or wait for a court verdict. There is no other way. |
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Arafat is still needed THE
Israeli decision to expel Mr Yasser Arafat from the Palestinian Authority areas, though not immediately, may be based on a wrong perception that he is the brain behind the unending suicide bombings resulting in the death of innocent civilians. So, he must be punished, his repeated denials notwithstanding. It seems for the Israeli authorities the claims of the militant outfits — mainly the Islamic Jihad and the Hamas — for sponsoring suicide squads are meaningless. This is strange. How can one ignore the truth that the Palestinians have powerful militant movements with Sheikh Yasin as their spiritual guide, and Mr Arafat has no control over them? His Al-Fatah too has a militant wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, but it is no match to the Hamas or the Islamic Jihad. Last Tuesday’s bomb blasts in Jerusalem and near Tel Aviv were the handiwork of the Hamas, which forced Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to cut short his India visit. The Israeli military’s targeted killings, resulting in the death of mostly innocent Palestinians, has made these outfits too powerful to be reined in by Mr Arafat. He continues to remain the leader of all shades of Palestinian opinion. Despite differences, Mr Arafat had a hand in the success of former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in securing a ceasefire agreement with the militant outfits. It could not last because the Israeli army refused to abandon its unrealistic policy. Without doubt, Mr Arafat remains the soul of the Palestinian struggle for an independent homeland. Once he disappears from the scene, there will be more confusion in the region. That the US too has joined the rest of the world in opposing the Israeli plan to “remove” Mr Arafat from Ramallah, where he has his headquarters, is proof of the position he occupies in the hearts of his people and his relevance. American disapproval has special significance because Washington has never had as pro-Israel administration as the one headed by Mr Bush. It is, therefore, better to hold talks with Mr Arafat to end the Palestinian-Israeli crisis than go in for the dangerous expulsion plan. Only talks with a willingness to give and take can establish the much-needed peace in that volatile region. |
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Condoning violations THE
general belief in Punjab — as in the rest of the country— is that if building laws are violated by a fairly large number of people, no action is likely to be taken against anyone of them. Rather, chances are that these unauthorised constructions will be regularised sooner or later. After all, politicians have to garner votes and what better way to ingratiate themselves to voters than offering to condone various irregularities? This earthy wisdom has been proved correct once again with the Punjab Cabinet announcing a voluntary disclosure and settlement scheme for building bylaw violations. Although it has been specifically mentioned that this is a one-time immunity, hardcore violators are unlikely to be deterred. They know that tomorrow is another day and the violations that they may commit in future will also be treated equally leniently. This kind of magnanimity sends wrong signals. Those who disobey laws feel emboldened to repeat their mistakes and those who abide by them feel disillusioned to such an extent that they too may decide to join the violators. The government’s argument that there is a lot of unnecessary litigation going on because of the violations is specious. The settlement has more to do with electoral needs. It will be in the fitness of things if the bylaws are suitably amended once and for all. Some of them have become archaic with the rise in population. The Punjab decision also raises uncomfortable questions whether disputed encroachments of municipal land in the urban areas will also be regularised. If that happens, it will erode the authority of the administration. There has to be a clear demarcation between a minor, need-based breach and a major, wilful encroachment. The former transgressions can be permitted, while the latter need to be removed by force. It is a travesty that those who misuse government land accuse the latter of being anti-people when they are punished. By targeting them without fear or favour, the government only discharges its responsibility. Government property should not be pawned to gather a few votes for self-serving politicians. Laws, like houses, lean on one another. —Edmund Burke
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Iraq is an American problem THE
danger of the Government of India yielding to pressure from US Assistant Secretary of State Christena Rocca to agree to send its troops to Iraq needs to be immediately scotched once and for all. In my view the fig-leaf cover of the UN, even if it comes, will not justify India sending its troops to Iraq. An over-all appreciation of why the US took the unprecedented step of going to war in spite of strong opposition from the rest of the world (barring its lackey the UK) would inevitably show that the only course consistent with the Indians’ dignity and past is to finally announce officially and not through indirect Press speculation that it will not send troops to Iraq under any circumstances. The US is reeling under the response of Iraqi nationalism. The Iraqis have realised that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was not the only item on Washington’s agenda. The real objective was what was spelt out by the US Secretary of State to Mr I.K. Gujral, who, as India’s External Affairs Minister, met him in 1990 (during the Gulf War) to discuss the evacuation of Indians from Iraq. His response was direct and acerbic: “Oil is our civilisation, we will not let that demon (meaning Saddam Hussein) sit on it.” The Iraqi venture is not going to be a picnic for the US. There are no welcome hugs or arches. At a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting, the US Army Chief made it clear that Washington needed a large peacekeeping force and that conditions in Iraq were more serious than in Bosnia. The US forces have, after all, been in Bosnia for over eight years and there is still no end in sight. Are our politicians ready to do the dirty work of the neoconservative group controlling Mr George W. Bush? The attacks on the UN office in Baghdad, the missile attack, the daily sniping, and mass processions even by Shias show the ground reality. The humanitarian point of view, in all fairness, must be considered in the background of the fear of the Iraqis that Iraq is being made a vassal of US neo-conservative imperialism. Now efforts are being made to give it a veneer of the UN fig leaf coverage. Their objective of UN cover is extremely limited so as to obtain troops from countries like India. Must our young soldiers, besides falling a victim to Iraqi bullets, also be demeaned and disgraced by being treated as an occupation army? The US position is very clear: it will not give up its control of Iraqi oil or the right to determine how the economy of Iraq is to function in the future. It was always an open secret that the main purpose of the Iraqi invasion was not to flush out any WMD, which, it was well known, did not exist, but to capture the oil wells and give this as a boon to the American companies. These apprehensions were confirmed by Executive Order 13303 by President Bush in May 2003. This order provides that US oil companies operating in Iraq will have immunity for their working. It also specifically provided that their assets will be free from any decree or execution or other judicial process, and any such order shall be deemed null and void until December 31, 2007, at the minimum. All this benefit obviously will go to the multinational companies with high officials close to the Bush administration. It is now an open secret that one of the companies that has bagged immediate extractive contracts has close connections with members of the Bush administration. Oil industry-related contracts have been awarded to a subsidiary of Halliburton, one of the biggest oil service companies in the world. United States Vice-President Richard B.Cheney was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000. This favouritism shown without inviting competitive bids for contracts worth $ 300 million to K.B.R, a subsidiary of Halliburton, has invited loud criticism in the US Senate and from competitors. No wonder, US forces are on a 24-hour alert. Thus, even the immoral temptation to send troops to Iraq in the hope of getting some crumbs of reconstruction money thrown from the table of US multinationals is apart from showing low conscience, not even reasonable prospect. Our heritage is noble. Our young generation deserves better. Or has neo-liberalisation, backed both by the BJP and the Congress, made us so impervious that self-respect and honour have ceased to be the condition in Indo-US relations? How unnatural is the strategy of the US is shown by the fact that the pivotal role in the formulation of the war plans was played by Ahmad Chalabi, a refugee from the Iraqi revolution of 1958, who has been a resident of the US for much of the time since then. He has been nominated by the US to serve as one of the nine members who will hold the presidency of Iraq’s Governing Council in rotation. But his extradition is now being sought by parliamentarians of Jordan, who are keen to see him serve out a 22-year sentence for corruption and embezzlement awarded in 1992. The apologists for sending troops are trotting out the argument that it will help India, as the US may put pressure on Pakistan to stop terrorism. This is a perception which has been exposed already. The US will only give public statements apparently to confuse Indian leaders into agreeing to send troops to Iraq but nothing concrete. I am against sending troops to Iraq even if the Security Council passes a resolution to give some kind of voice to the UN. This is for the reason that the troops are being asked by the US because unfortunately its forces are suffering too many casualties in Iraq. For Mr Bush to face this tragedy of body-bags with the presidential election due next year is a nightmare. The US went to make war on Iraq on its own in spite of opposition from different parts of the world. We in India at least have no right or obligation to draw chestnuts out of fire for the US to ease its internal problem. A free country with its thousands of years old cultural contract with Iraq can never contemplate to send its troops to fire at Iraqi people. That would be sacrilege, and not all the waters of the Ganga would be able to wash off our sin at shedding the blood of ordinary Iraqi, who is fighting for his freedom from US enslavement. The fact that Saddam was an evil dictator is no reason to forget the contribution of the Iraqi civilisation. In the same manner, because Germany produced Hitler is no reason to forget our debt to that country which gave the world those legendary stalwarts like Marx Goethe and Beethoven. The writer is a retired Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi. |
Acrid perfumes of Paris ON reading about the thief of long jump bronze medallist Anju’s bag containing her passport, credit card etc as she jogged at the Charolety Stadium with her hubby, Robert, preparing for the Monaco World Meet, I was transported to Paris! The night before I was to fly there, I had checked up my e-mail and found a set of “Do’s and Don’ts” mailed by my cousin there, advising me to bring along spare photo-copies of my passport and warning me in capital letters that since Paris was highly prone to pickpockets, I should be careful about my belongings, particularly passport, tickets, cash or credit cards. Good heavens! I thought Paris was famous for perfumes; and not pickpockets. Within hours of landing there, the same do’s and don’ts were reiterated, asking me to be extra careful about my pockets while travelling in metro or at tourist spots, Eiffel Tower and museums. And within days, I had not just learnt but had also experienced the modus operandi of the pickpockets. While on a metro on the way to Louvre Museum, a small group of French boys in their teens, boarded the metro at one of the stations just as the automatic doors slammed shut. They were a noisy bubble-gum chewing bunch disturbing the passengers. Yet not many paid much attention to their uncouth behaviour or loud talking and pranks! Shortly before the train halted at the next stop, I saw one of the boys bend low and violently tug at the trouser of my travel companion, whose entire attention got focused down below. He was scared as if something had entered the trousers! And another boy had by then scooped up a coin, as if he had dropped it. Making more noise, jostling and pushing they had disembarked when the train stopped. Soon thereafter my companion realised that some Euros had been picked from his back pocket! I can imagine how Anju and Robert must have felt in a place where unless one has working knowledge of French, one is at sea. As Anju’s plight made me sigh and feel sorry for her, I still remember yet another incident details of which my cousin had e-mailed me. The incident relates to a colleague of mine, who along with a senior police officer, was to make a stopover in Paris. They had asked me for my cousin’s contact number ‘’just in case’’... As the two went sight-seeing to Eiffel Tower, much to their horror they discovered that the travel-bag of the police officer was missing! It contained his passport, return-tickets and all cash! Language was a handicap, as the French Police could not understand their loss and request to register a complaint. They contacted my cousin. While my colleague proceeded on the scheduled flight, the officer’s luggage was unloaded. He was forced to spend two days in Paris, till a duplicate passport was obtained from the Indian Embassy and fresh tickets procured from the airlines. He was given money to continue with his trip and even return home! Even as the aroma of these bitter experiences still hangs in my mind, Anju’s loss has added yet another acrid flavour of the Paris perfumes to my memory! |
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Hope for a new dawn in the Valley
PEACE is returning to the Kashmir Valley slowly but surely. After 12 years there were Israelis, Japanese and Germans in the Valley and the intrepid Kashmiri had not lost the art of extracting money out of tourists while maintaining that inscrutable smile and lamenting over the years of penury sans tourists. The shrouds were lifted off the chinar and teak sofas and beds. But the houseboats creaked because of disuse and a musty smell emanated from the moth-eaten carpets. The small shikaras were skimming across the Nagin and Dal lakes, laden with flowers, fruits, vegetables, papier mache souvenirs and gifts galore. At Marco Polo, the large houseboat on Nagin Lake, the visitors’ book had been dusted and given the pride of place. The last entry in the book was dated 1989. Aziz had postponed for another year the maintenance work on the tug that had been with the family for over half a century. The carvings on the ceiling and doors of the houseboat were intricate and elegant. Almost every evening an amazing assortment of hand crafted carpets and durees were displayed as the tourists on the boat were regaled with the story of Kashmiri craftsmanship, the knots per square inch and the history of the patterns and designs in an effort to lure them to take home a treasure. Close to Nagin Lake was Kashmir University buzzing with life and activity. Despite strong political affiliations all across the Valley, on the campus there are no student unions and political bonding is strictly taboo. There were a large number of women students as smartly turned out as their counterparts in Delhi or Mumbai. While some wore a burqa, others did not even have their heads covered. Of course, you could not see a skirt or jeans on the campus. Salwar kameez was the order of the day. In another part of the sprawling campus, with chinar trees reaching to the sky, 33 handpicked young women from the poorest and most backward districts were undergoing a nine months special course that will enable them to go back to their villages and start pre-primary schools in their homes. At the end of the course, Kashmir University as well as the Human Resource Development Ministry at the Centre will be giving each of them a little over a lakh of rupees (in cash as well as kind) to set up schools. This again is a sign that order is being restored and young girls, who could not set out of their homes because of militancy, are being equipped with entrepreneurial skills. As Zaboora Akhtar, one of the young girls, pointed out, “my life has moved from pessimism to optimism. I hope I can transfer my positive vibes to others in my village.” This note of hope coming from a 28-year-old who has lost her elder brother in an encounter augurs well for the Valley for psychiatric disorders and cases of depression have been on the increase. This year over 36,000 cases of psychiatric disorder have been registered and between April and July this year there were 312 cases of attempted suicide. Land prices are booming and those whose businesses are suffering are now investing in land. When the Kashmiri Pandits left the Valley bolting their homes, sympathetic Muslims held these in trust. Now some of the Kashmiri Pandits are coming back to sell their homes at much higher prices. Another sign of the return to normalcy is the large number of Bihari labour to be found in the Valley. Even shawl and carpet weavers hire Bihari labour to manage their land because the rough work of tilling could make their hands unfit for the finer work of weaving and embroidery. All the bright young Kashmiri boys have left the Valley for higher education and jobs abroad. After 12 years of violence and uncertainity in the Valley there is hope of a new dawn. Everyone wants to forget the past and get on with his life. Noor-ul-Sama, a young girl training to be a teacher, voices the fears of many in the Valley when she asks “do you think all Muslims are militants?” The peace that reigns over the Valley is fragile. The militants are not willing to give in that easily. Every second day you hear of militants killing people and being shot down. Outside Kashmir University, close to the Hazratbal, two militants get off a bus and in broad daylight gun down two policemen without any provocation. While many of these sporadic incidents are reported in newspapers, those happening in villages and the deep interiors of the Valley are not even reported. This June 30-year-old Dilshada Abanu, who was working with the Association for Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), was shot dead in her home in Handwara in Kupwara district, close to the border by unidentified persons. Her husband, a surrendered militant, called Ikwani, disappeared in June, 1997. She had just delivered a baby and was returning home with the newborn and her husband when the bus in which they were travelling was stopped and a gunman asked her husband to get off. That was the last she saw of her husband. Dilshada approached the State Human Rights Commission and filed a complaint with the support of the APDP. Later she began working for them. Dilshada’s father and brother-in-law died of a heart failure soon after, and Dilshada was left fending for a family of 10 with no means of a livelihood. She was constantly troubled by militants. This June she was killed inside her home while ironing some clothes. Her six-year-old son was injured. It was a two-line news item, tucked away in a corner of a small newspaper. Some 8,000 people have disappeared in the Valley in the last 14 years. The number of “half widows” (women who don’t know if their husbands are dead or alive) is on the rise. These women don’t know if they should remarry or stay single. By religion they have to wait for four years to remarry if their husbands disappear. Some have been waiting for eight years, going through a great trauma. It will not be easy to wipe out the years of travail and sorrow and these sporadic shootouts do not assuage the traumatised. The healing touch has to be synchronised with economic revival in the Valley. The state has the capacity to generate 18,000 mega watts of hydel power of which just 0.75 per cent is being harnessed. There is so much fruit in the Valley but jams are all from Bhutan. Three Prime Ministers have laid the foundation stone for a railway line from Kazipur to Baramulah since 1973 but not an inch of the railway track has been laid as yet. |
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CONSUMER RIGHTS WITH the festive season round the corner, the union ministry of Consumer Affairs has advised the enforcement officials of legal metrology in all the states and Union Territories to ensure that consumers are not cheated on quantity and price. It has, therefore, suggested that the enforcement officials conduct, during September, intensive inspections of jewelers, super markets, restaurants and hotels and of course sweet shops to ensure compliance of all relevant laws. The ministry has also advised enforcement agencies to associate representatives of voluntary consumer organisations in this work so that the process is transparent. In addition, consumers in those areas would get to know who are dishonest businessmen. Referring to the increased sale of gold jewellery during the festival season, the ministry points out that given the high cost of gold , even a small error in measurement could cause a considerable loss to the consumer. And there are reports of jewellers cheating consumers by short weighing gold ornaments. It is therefore important to make certain that jewellers are not using unverified balances or balances that are not prescribed or approved. The ministry has also referred to complaints against hotels, restaurants, cinema halls, airports, railway and bus stations for charging more than the maximum retail price (MRP) on packed foods such as soft drinks and bottled water and suggested more checks in this area too. In the last several years, consumer groups have reported instances of packed goods, including tea, oil, ghee, biscuits, toilet soaps, rice and wheat flour weighing much less than claimed on the pack. While these are goods packed at the manufacturers’ level, the ministry has also received a large number of complaints from consumers about foodgrains and other essential household items packed by large department stores. Such packages not only do not carry all the label information such as the date of packing and expiry required under the Packaged Commodities Rules as well as the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, but have also been found to weigh much less than claimed on the label. So the ministry has suggested verifications in this area too. Under the Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act, short filling could invite a maximum fine of Rs 5000 in the first instance and for the second offense committed within three years, the imprisonment could be as long as five years. Consumer groups should make use of this opportunity to the fullest. Participating in these inspections would give them an insight into various unfair trade practices indul-ged in by traders and help them educate consumers about it. For example, jewellers should use only class 1 and 2 weighing machines for weighing gold or jewellery and the weighing machines should be inside a glass case and at the time of weighing, the door of the glass case must be shut so that external factors such as a strong wind blowing from a fan or a cooler does not affect the accuracy of the weight. The presence of consumer representatives during inspections would ensure transparency and prevent corrupt practices. |
The pious receive the gift of the Name By gentle ways and good conduct. — Guru Amar Das You are in many forms manifest At one place You are a beggar, at another a king; You create life from egg, womb and sweat And from the earth many riches beget — Guru Gobind Singh There is great happiness in not wanting, in not being something, in not going somewhere. — J. Krishnamurti Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them. — Oscar Wilde |
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