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Saturday,
October
4, 2003,
Chandigarh, India  
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Mother of expansion Master of the minimal |
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Fear
is the key Why it works in Punjab and not on the Net FORMER Chief Vigilance Commissioner N. Vittal could not figure out why his methods failed to make dishonest bureaucrats mend their ways. He may find an explanation for the failure of his "honesty mission" in the approach of the Punjab Government in dealing with an identical problem. It decided to put up the names of economic offenders for public display. In rural societies even hell hath no place for an "exposed" crook.
Indo-Pak
search for peace
Invitation
to a royal wedding
Mystery
over Sikh Reference Library
France
compensates Resistance orphans
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Mother of expansion FRIDAY'S expansion of the Uttar Pradesh council of ministers — 24 Cabinet Ministers and 67 Ministers of State — was a please-all exercise by Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Considering the fact that as many as 91 new faces were inducted into the seven-member ministry taking its total strength to 98, Mr Yadav has created a record of sorts. The previous record was held by Mr Kalyan Singh who had 95 ministers. Compulsions of realpolitik do force chief ministers to go in for jumbo-sized ministries, but reports in the last few days suggested that Mr Yadav was in favour of a “model government” and that he was not going in for a huge expansion. The Rashtriya Lok Dal president, Mr Ajit Singh, also indicated that the expansion would be of an “optimum mid-size level”. But this was not to be. Obviously, Mr Yadav has succumbed to pressure from his allies, who have got as many as 78 berths. As he has been critical of the Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh governments for having bloated ministries, he can be said to have eaten his own words! Clearly, Mr Yadav threw all ethics and norms to thin air and anointed every defector with a ministerial berth. The group led by Mr Amarmani Tripathi, who had split the Bahujan Samaj Party and pledged support to Mr Yadav, has been doubly rewarded in the expansion. Independents too have extracted their pound of flesh. He also sought to mollify both Mr Ajit Singh and the Rashtriya Kranti Dal chief, Mr Kalyan Singh. As two of the four RKD members were inducted into the Cabinet along with Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav a month back, there was heartburn in the RLD, which has been demanding a larger representation in the council of ministers. The political comfort level of the Chief Minister has, no doubt, gone up, but at what cost to the exchequer? By Mr Yadav’s own admission, the state is passing through a serious financial crisis. Can it afford such a huge ministry? Sadly, there is no modicum of shame on the powers that be in such an unprincipled grab of power. This is indeed a transparent form of political corruption and cynical pursuit of power at all costs. The use of political power and public money to entice members either to gravitate towards or remain with the Chief Minister is a flagrant abuse of power by the Chief Minister and a mockery of the basic norms of democracy and representative government. There is also the moral angle. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s supporters today are loyal to the ‘kursi’ than to any political ideology or philosophy. Ultimately, the bloated ministry will have a disruptive impact on governance. |
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Master of the minimal MANY things can be said about J M Coetzee’s literary art but one thing that truly defines him is his ability to make a grand project stand out and shine because of its sheer minimalism. Perhaps, no other author carves out huge chunks of history and culture, of politics and relationships and draws on the inherent paradox of the power and powerlessness of language to communicate the violence and aggression of the modern times as well as he does. But in his writing, there are none of the literary flourishes that one would expect from a writer who set out to “explore the farthest reaches of what it means to be human.” Rather, he delivers the story with one hammer stroke and the charm and essence of it lie in its bare bones. In choosing this South African for this year’s Nobel Prize, the committee has not only honoured a genre of writing but also the art of a man who has seen and felt, perceived and critiqued the different dimensions of the idea of justice and truth, love and revenge. Coetzee is, therefore, both an honest historian and a “wry visceral, yet strangely tender” novelist and essayist committed passionately to literary and political integrity. Coetzee’s fiction as such recreates, in order to evaluate, the major strands in the history of colonialism and apartheid over the last three centuries and brings to the forefront the pain and anguish of the people caught up in this socio-political web. The grace in his Booker Prize winning novel, Disgrace, lies in the fact that despite two traumatic sexual violations involving the main characters who are in the midst of the changing ethos of South Africa, the writer does not define victimhood in racial stereotypes and reconciliation in terms of guilt and repentance. To him, truth is not absolute nor is it in just two colours. “I write perversions of the truth. I choose the crooked road and take the children into dark places. I follow the dance of pen,” he remarked on his concerns. The clarity on his choice has often won him a comparison with the great Russian writer, Fyodor Dostovesky, whose book he retold in The Master of Petersburg in his own inimitable way. Daniel Dofoe’s Robinson Crusoe also came under his gaze and he invented a female character in Foe to reflect and tell about Crusoe from her own point of view. But eight novels and many collections of essays later, which won him all the major literary awards in the English-speaking world, including the Booker twice, Coetzee was an obvious choice for the Nobel Prize. It is not too extravagant an honour for the master of the minimal. |
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Fear is the key FORMER Chief Vigilance Commissioner N. Vittal could not figure out why his methods failed to make dishonest bureaucrats mend their ways. He may find an explanation for the failure of his "honesty mission" in the approach of the Punjab Government in dealing with an identical problem. It decided to put up the names of economic offenders for public display. In rural societies even hell hath no place for an "exposed" crook. The Army must have lifted its seemingly flexible code of conduct for jawans and officers from the rigid social norms that village communities follow. After explaining the "dos and don'ts" the final piece of "friendly" advice to the officers and the jawans is not to get caught, for then even divine intervention will not work. Indeed, no method is more effective in making honest folks out of economic offenders than the threat of their act being made known to members of their "biradari". Who would want to take the risk of being denied the right to break bread with or have their daughter accepted in marriage? The "roti aur beti ka rishta" is the ultimate benchmark for measuring social status in rural communities. According to reports, certain panchayat members and even state-level politicians from the ruling party in Punjab have begun returning outstanding dues in the nearest sarkari treasury to avoid the social stigma of having their names displayed at the village square or on the panchayat notice board. Mr Vittal had put the names of corrupt babus up on the Vigilance Commission's website for the "world wide web" to see. The babus made a mild protest, but the thought of their names being on the Net did not make them lose sleep. Would the "Punjab formula" have worked on the bureaucrats? Perhaps not. Urban societies are usually as insensitive and indifferent to the "goings-on in the neighbourhood" as the web-based world. The Punjab initiative is proving to be effective because rural societies have yet to reach the comfort zone of facelessness. The decision deserves to be lauded because the offbeat approach is proving more effective than the known procedure of sending notices and registering cases. The Punjab initiative can be compared to the path-breaking directives of a judge of the Madras High Court. In a bounced-cheque case he ordered the culprit to spend time with children in an orphanage. In another case he asked an MLA, guilty of using intimidation for the settlement of a land dispute, to read Gandhian literature. Making someone with criminal proclivities read Gandhian philosophy is a worse form of punishment than a spell in the torture chambers of the dark ages. The MLA has promised to mend his ways. |
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Thought
for the day Friendship is love without his wings!
— Lord Byron |
Indo-Pak search for peace THE relations between India and Pakistan continue to be in a state of flux. There has been some movement in mending fences, but we are still at the exploratory level, which is not as bad as it may sound, for we are talking of undoing, hopefully, what we have left undone for decades. Activities have been at both Track-I and Track-II levels, with the latter perhaps leading in the number of initiatives. This is precisely as it should be, for Track-I (the government) has to be, perforce cautious, weighing and re-weighing each move. Since April this year, when the hand of friendship and peace was extended by Prime Minister Vajpayee, at the Track-I level, new High Commissioners are in place; the bus between Delhi and Lahore is running again; some prisoners have been released and repatriated; playing cricket, at the junior level, has been cleared; and the resumption of direct air links may well follow soon. At the Track-II level, much more has happened. A number of delegations of politicians, businesspersons, journalists and even school children have visited each other’s countries, in a bid to expand the people-to-people contacts. Young Noor was perhaps symbolic of this great thaw, for she touched the hearts of the young and the old alike, on both sides of the border. Does all this add up to a mending of fences and an end to the era of confrontation? Does this signify an end to the bloodletting in Jammu and Kashmir, which is now in its 14th year? Does this mean lifting of trade barriers, granting of the MFN status to India by Pakistan and free flow of goods and services and information? The brief answer, at this point of time, is an emphatic “No”. However, what happens if we persevere? I have drawn only a partial list here, but one that is a good indicator of how much the two countries have lost, during the last 56 years. I was part of the recently returned delegation to Pakistan, which had been organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA). For starters, it was a really large delegation, comprising parliamentarians, journalists and experts from India, and the numbers from the Pakistani side were even larger. At the political level, most parties from both countries were represented, and the journalists were well known and eminent in their field. My perception is that this Track-II initiative made a major impact on the people of Pakistan belonging to practically all strata of society, barring some fringe elements. This has to be judged or assessed at two levels. The first is the level of hard facts, and data; past behaviour; documentation; etc. At the second level, it is the gut feelings which dominate and become pointers, relying on wispy, unconventional, obscure, uncertain and even ambiguous indicators - body language, emotions, sincerity or otherwise of public and private utterances; sentiments; criticism or lack of it; and so on. At the first level, I do not see sufficient change to come to a favourable conclusion. On the other hand, at the second level, I am highly optimistic that peace and amity are desired by a large majority, for there is a realisation that in the game of one-upmanship played by the elites and the governments of the two countries, it is the people who have lost out. Historically, when a country breaks up, either by design or machinations, the successor states seem to become antagonistic neighbours! This has happened in many countries like Germany, Korea, Vietnam, Yugoslavia and some of those in Africa, besides India and Pakistan. We have also seen that suddenly a time comes when old animosities disappear. The catalysts are many and varied, and cannot really be categorised. Are India and Pakistan moving towards such a situation, advertently or inadvertently? The answer today is “not yet”, but, at the same time, more and more people in both countries seem to have seen the light, which says that there is goodness and well-being in peace, and only death, destruction and backwardness in confrontation. Let us tabulate the reasons for this change of perception among the people of Pakistan. The foremost is the apparent awakening that there are no pay-offs in the path of confrontation. They are fed up with the constant tension-filled and antagonistic standoff, which has existed between the two countries for the last 56 years. The “wasted years” have stunted economic growth, social and cultural interaction and a harmonious and peaceful life for the two peoples. The second reason, especially for the people of Pakistan, is the highly adverse fallout they perceive of the current unilateralism of the US. The religious parties of Pakistan, who for their own reasons feel a rapprochement with India will pay dividends in preventing the Americans from interfering in Pakistan’s domestic affairs, have played this up. The third reason is the perception that despite confrontation, India seems to be doing better economically, diplomatically, culturally and in other related spheres, than Pakistan. The fourth reason has domestic connotations, particularly the burgeoning Kalishnakov culture, resulting in increased ethnic strife and adverse law and order situation; the extremely low pace of economic growth and development; disillusionment with the army; the inability of the political leaders to provide good governance; and the widespread corruption, at a scale which is even higher than in India! On the other hand, there are many vested interests, which would not like a change in the present dispensation. The Pakistani Army is perhaps the biggest and most powerful institution, which would prefer a continuance of the status quo. An end to confrontation with India will be highly disquieting for the Pakistani Army, as it will then lose its predominant position, its vast perks and privileges, and its dominance in the affairs of the nation. Such a diminution of its status for the overall good of the country will only be acceptable if the army can be convinced of the larger benefits, by leaders who have both stature and wide acceptability. So, what are the prospects of an India-Pakistan rapprochement? Will Track-II initiatives work, or are these efforts mere assertions, akin to shouts from a man at the bottom of a deep well, whose cries no one hears? These are the imponderables and pitfalls in the India-Pakistan conundrum. Yet, talking to the people, listening to them, the sincerity with which they were uttered, and the yearning amongst both the young and the old for peace and amity, do augur well for the future of our two nations. The road is indeed difficult, but then which road is easy? Whether the perceived change of heart in the majority of the peoples of the two countries force their respective governments to change and adopt a path of cooperation, remains to be seen. Much will depend on how both Track-I and II initiatives in the coming weeks and months mature, and how much pressure the people and their representatives can generate on their governments. We would do well to take stock of all facets that trouble the two countries, and perhaps this may result in, if not a solution, at least a way
forward. The writer is a former Vice-Chief of Army Staff |
Invitation to a royal wedding THE Prince Charles-Diana wedding was an international affair by all standards. The preparations for this occasion had started several months in advance. For general public the glamorous aspects of certain associated ceremonies were quite exciting. It was planned that the royal couple would embark on board the royal yacht Britannia which would sail from London for their honeymoon within a week after the cathedral ceremony. The destination for honeymoon was a spacious seaside villa in Sicily owned by His Highness Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan. The Prince, known as Sadri, was a family friend of British royalty and was quite close to Prince Charles. Even six months before the date of marriage Sadri was closely associated with the chancellor of royalty household in providing final touches to various public ceremonies associated with the wedding and the honeymoon to follow. Sir Stanley Rawson, the managing director of John Browns at Clydebank where the Britannia was built, had arranged a visit for our group to the royal yacht 10 days prior to this wedding. The yacht had a select crew, a spectacular band and was commanded by Rear Admiral, Sir Rawson whom I knew from Glasgow days. He was gracious enough to arrange this guided visit. Berthed in Tilbury she was flying the flag of Rear Admiral Neil E. Rankin, CB, CBE. This proud ship has served British royalty for 44 years during which she undertook 968 official voyages flying the royal standard/sovereign’s ensign on her masthead from the remotest regions of the South Seas to the frozen lands of Antarctica covering a total of 1087623 nautical miles between 600 ports in 153 countries. Besides the specially decorated suites for the royal couple we were shown the banquet hall and the elaborately managed royal kitchen. The design of Georgian tapestry and the linen was exquisite while the glitter of silver on the huge dining tables was sparkling. As we boarded the ship the royal band was practising the famous “Abide With Me” and “The Blue Danube”. The large wardrobes for Princess Diana were designed by one of her French friends who showed us an album of Diana’s childhood days in France. As we finished our high tea hosted by the right honourable Sir Viscount Younger of Leckie a short radio message startled him. We were told that the royal household had forgotten to issue a formal invitation to Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan who, in fact, was going to host this honeymoon trip. Her Majesty the Queen was furious but decided to keep this lapse in low key. A frank apology for this mega slip was drafted and conveyed to the Prince at his Chateau Bellerive residence in France. The royal couple’s honeymoon is now a pleasant history. The winding paths lined with flowerbeds, well-kept lawns and splendid evergreens had added to the luxury of the refreshingly clear blue water sea coast. Incidentally, it was not the first time that Sadri got himself in an embarrassing position. His late father Aga Khan who died in 1953 was famous for his marriages, fast cars and race horses. Prince Karim Aga Khan ascended the chair bypassing Prince Sadruddin. Also on the day his late father Aga Khan III was to be weighed against diamonds, by a sheer quirk of fate, a bundle of precious diamonds was found misplaced. As a result of the pandemonium which followed Sadri almost missed the gorgeous and historical ceremony. My father recalls that when Mr Suleman, an eminent Ismaili surgeon from Darulslam Tanzania, called on Sadri to present his gift he had to spend nine hours to locate
him! |
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Mystery
over Sikh Reference Library
COME to think of it, there is little mystery in the gutting down of the Sikh Reference Library (SRL) during the Operation Bluestar in the Golden Temple. I know of a few serving Army officers who were there in Amritsar in those terrible days, and at least one of them was inside the Golden Temple when all the action was taking place. So what transpired then is by now well known to many. Even from which Cavalry Regiment the tanks that went into the temple that day, is well known to most soldiers, though they might shy away from telling the truth as a matter of convenient prudence. The infantry battalions that went in, along with the other services and arms attached for this operation, would be still etched in the memory of many a soldier. A senior Sikh retired Army officer in service then and who went to pay
obeisance at the Harmandir Sahib 2-3 days after the operation, saw the smouldering embers and the smoke still rising from segments of what had once been the SRL, the repository of the Sikh documented history, culture and ethos. Though the fire might have consumed the recorded
accoutrements of the Sikh faith, it is necessary for all of us Indians to understand that few Sikhs will rest until the true facts of what happened then are brought before the public gaze, and all the books, scriptures, photos or paintings, manuscripts and other artifacts, believed lost in the fire are fully accounted for, and all the material that was believed to have been pulled out of the
building before it took fire, returned to its original abode soon, through the SGPC, Amritsar. The Centre or the state government should stop dilly-dallying with the feelings and ethos of millions of Sikhs and other Punjabis to whom the Sikh faith is as dear as their own religion. They should tell us where the precious religious and historical treasure lost in the fire has gone, when will it be relocated within the Golden Temple premises, and who will be held responsible for this ugly deed. Many statements have been made by the Defence Minister who was not in power in 1984. While confirming the gutting of the SRL, the government has confirmed that it did return the books and manuscripts taken away from the
building, but is not clear how much of the original material has been returned. It is also not clear how much and when was this material taken away and for what purpose. On which day between 4-6 June or even thereafter was the material carried away, and were
separate inventories made of the items lost in the fire and those that were removed to another location and place. If the material was lifted during the period of the military action, but before the SRL was actually gutted (in the crossfire or otherwise), where did all the bag loads of material go, and who were the intermediate recipients of the material before it reached its final resting place with the CBI, the Army, the Amritsar district civil authorities at the time, or
wherever else it was supposed to have been moved to. Most officials, be they from the Centre, state, the Army, or the CBI are still around and can be summoned by a statutory body or commission to shed some light on the subject. How much of the material was finally returned (and to whom), and where is the rest of the material today. It should not be too difficult to find out the balance that is still unaccounted for. Reports say, Ranjit Singh Nanda, a former CBI official has confirmed that he was there at the time and did handle some of this
material, and so he would be able to shed further light on this matter, provided a fresh effort is made to do so. It is pointless the MOD or others trying to wish away, or support the official position of a former Government, when something very unnecessary like the gutting of the SRL has taken place. The common talk even today in any Punjab village is that the then authorities were looking for a letter purported to have been written by Indira
Gandhi, and which was believed to have been kept in the SRL. There is reason enough to let the people know not just the truth but the whole truth. Those who have visited the SRL before its destruction would know the kind of hard knocking this building could
take, just from the construction and stability point of view. The kind of Small Arms opposition that was coming from the opposite side is also by now well documented. A commission of inquiry to ascertain how the fire to the building took place, is definitely in order. There are other questions that need an answer. Even as a PIL moved by one Satnam Singh and to which the SGPC has now become a party, rests in the High Court, SGPC Secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta has questioned the consistency of the government statement saying: “The government first claimed that the library was first gutted in the fire and later said that they had returned books and manuscripts that were taken from the library”. This reinforces the point I have earlier made about getting to the bottom of the burning, gutting, destruction or whatever of this large
edifice and the stage at which all this material was taken out of the SRL. Mr Nanda of the CBI has said that 190 gunny bags were taken away to a Youth Hostel and then transported away in Army trucks, and that he was a witness to all these happenings. The Defence Minister could answer these questions. One, have they returned all the books and manuscripts in their custody? If yes, to whom and when did they return all the material? Do they have the receipt for the same (which should be made public after the court proceedings are over)? Two, was an Army Court of Inquiry (or any other probe) held after the Operation Bluestar to ascertain the cause of the gutting of the library building. And three, were the books and manuscripts removed by the CBI and/or the Army and where was the need to do so if the library building was safe and still intact? We are also entitled to know whether the SGPC or the authority concerned has done any tally of its holdings with the records? All these findings would be enlightening to every Indian and not only Sikhs. With little faith left after the Babri Masjid demolition, it is
imperative that the Sikhs know what has happened to their very roots and young, yet quickly growing, history. Mr Tarlochan Singh, the Chairman of the National Minorities Commission, and who, has of late I am happy to note, been active on the question of the rights of the minorities, may wish to look in the direction of the SRL also.
The writer is a retired Major-General |
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France compensates Resistance orphans FRENCH Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is to compensate the children of members of the Resistance movement murdered by the Germans during World War II. Up to 8,000 “victims of Nazi barbarity” are eligible for payments of close on pounds sterling 20,000. The amount to be paid — in a single sum or, if they prefer, a lifelong monthly pension — is the same as that offered to Jewish orphans three years ago. The question of compensation has been revived only since Jacques Chirac was elected president in 1995. During the presidency of Francois Mitterand, who worked as a minor official for the Vichy regime, discussion of France’s wartime record was not encouraged. The war itself is not forgotten. Still vivid in France’s national memory is the tragedy that struck Oradour-sur-Glane, a village near Limoges, when 642 men, women and children were massacred on June 10, 1944 by the retreating SS Das Reich Division of the German army. On that dreadful day they also burnt 123 houses and more than 200 barns. A new town has arisen since then, yet the ruins of the old town still stand as a permanent memorial to the slaughtered civilians. Life has moved on. Yet historians and older generations are determined that the grimmest tragedies, the grandest moments and the greatest heroes should be properly remembered. In France, where mention of the Vichy collaborationist regime even now causes embarrassment and contentious debate, the word Resistance is framed in a holy light: it was a national movement yet, probably more than any region in France, the Vercors, in south east France, remembers tragic events and honours its heroes. The Vercors, west of Grenoble and the high Alps, is a spectacular area of limestone mountains, stark river gorges and green valleys dotted by ancient stone villages. In 1943 and 1944 the massif of the Vercors was the heartland of a fiercely militant Resistance movement. There was a montagnard plan, a mountain people’s Trojan horse, approved by Jean Moulin — the governor who became a renowned Resistance leader — and by General de Gaulle in London. The plan foresaw a force that would block a northward German movement when the Allies, as expected, landed in Provence. Instead, the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 — a pivotal moment in history for surviving Allied soldiers and residents of northern France — provoked a dynamic response in the Vercors. In July, some 4,000 ‘maquisards’, Resistance fighters, blocked entry routes into the mountains, proclaimed the Republic and raised the
tricolore, the French flag. The principal effect of this brave gesture, unfortunately, was to infuriate the German General based in Grenoble, Karl Pflaum. He ordered an assault on the Vercors by land and by air using 15,000 troops and gliders that could land on flat-topped plateaux. Tragic encounters between the Resistance and German troops are described and memorialised in numerous locations. At Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte, where a futile battle took place, lies a national cemetery of Vercors heroes. Among the graves is that of Jean Prevost, a famous writer who was also a leading member of the Resistance. Nearly 60 years after the end of World War II, Germany is France’s closest ally in Europe. Teenagers today, and most of their parents, bear no grudge against Germans. The evils perpetrated by Nazis are in the past. With compensation at last being paid to the surviving children of the Resistance fighters — all of them 60 years old or more — the another chapter has ended.
— The Guardian |
From beyond the frontiers of form, a new force can be evoked, a power of consciousness which has not yet manifested and which, by its emergence, will be able to change the course of things and bring to birth a new world. — The Mother Men get only what they are destined for. — Guru Nanak The craving of the fool is never satiated. — Guru Nanak O Son of Being! Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in wise reach thee. Know this, O servant. — Baha’u’llah Whatever be the religion, it is enough if man becomes good. — Sree Narayana Guru The Mother not only governs all from above but she descends into this lesser triple universe. Impersonally, all things here, even the movements of the ignorance, are self in veiled power. — Sri Aurobindo |
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