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Keepers of the law? Welcome, on board Vote for stability |
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Drugs, liquor, opium everywhere
Murphy’s law
‘Honour’ killings continue unabated
DELHI
DURBAR
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Keepers of the law? WHAT
a fall! The Maharashtra Police was once highly rated and respected in the country. Today, its reputation is in mud, what with two IPS officers and eight other policemen behind bars in connection with the stamp paper scam. The just-retired Mumbai Police Commissioner R.S. Sharma became the topmost police official to have been arrested by the Special Investigation team (SIT) on Monday. Last month it was the former state intelligence commissioner Sridhar Vagal, arrested for accepting a kickback of Rs 60 lakh from racket kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi. The public is bewildered and indignant. If the officials to whom it goes for saving it from thugs and criminals are found to be working for them, what respect can it have for the system? The only silver lining is that at long last law is catching up with the high and mighty. It is not as if the involvement of the who’s who has come as any kind of a surprise. It was always talked about in whispers. It is just that the people who should have been the first to act were the last ones to lend their ear to it. They would not listen because their own colleagues were there to derail every investigation. Mr Sharma was held one day after his retirement from the high position he held in the police administration. One shudders to think of the extent of the damage he might have wrought during his long, and ironically, said to be illustrious career. Now that the process has started, it has to be taken to its logical conclusion. Like cancer, corruption is eating into the iron frame. If even a small trace remains, there is every chance that the disease will regenerate itself fully. The surgery has to start at the top. What the lowly constable does is dangerous enough, what with even the lower constabulary having made crores. But when there is sleaze in the upper echelons the whole structure becomes wobbly. There is a need for a cleanup, free from politics, impartial and convincing. |
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Welcome, on board WITH
India and Pakistan agreeing to resume bilateral civil aviation links from January 1 next year, yet another step has been taken towards normalisation of relations between the two countries. The aviation links were snapped following the December 13, 2001, terrorist attack on India’s Parliament complex, leading to great inconvenience to travellers from both sides and the national air carriers of India and Pakistan losing crores of rupees as revenue. Both sides have demonstrated the spirit to accommodate each other’s viewpoints, without creating hurdles on the way to establishing good neighbourly relations. If Gen Pervez Musharraf chose to forget the conditions he was insisting on earlier while announcing on Sunday the lifting of the ban on Indian flights over Pakistani airspace, India welcomed the move immediately without going into the nitty-gritty of it. That is why Monday’s joint declaration by the two countries’ aviation officials came only after four hours of deliberations though the meeting was to continue for two days. Both countries will benefit considerably from the resumption of overflights. If Pakistan needs Indian airspace for its flights to East Asian destinations in a shorter time and at a lower cost of operation, India requires Pakistani airspace to maintain contacts with Afghanistan, the Central Asian countries and Europe at a reduced cost. The next logical step should be the resumption of the Amritsar-Lahore Samjhauta Express with India proposing to hold talks for the purpose on December 18 and 19. The two sides may also be able to start Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Khokhrapar-Munnabao bus services and a Mumbai-Karachi ferry service as suggested by India. These confidence-building measures following the ceasefire along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Siachen glaciers should help create the right atmosphere for a meaningful dialogue between the two countries. |
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Vote for stability MIZORAM can look forward to enjoying political stability for five years with the Mizo National Front (MNF) getting a clear majority in the 40-member Assembly. The results show that the people are, by and large, satisfied with the performance of the MNF government. It is no mean achievement in the Northeast for a regional party to complete a full term and get a mandate for another one. One person who can really claim credit for the MNF's success is Chief Minister Zoramthanga. A former separatist guerilla leader, he was the second in command of the MNF when it surrendered in 1986 after waging a 20-year war against the Indian government. One factor that boosted his image is the role he has been playing as a peacemaker in the insurgency-hit region. He has been successfully mediating the peace talks with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaac-Muivah) outside India. He has also been facilitating similar negotiations with other separatist groups in the region. The Central government has considerable faith in his negotiating skills. His promise of "good governance, stability and peace" went well with the voters who appreciate his efforts to initiate economic reforms in the state and reduce the level of corruption. The MNF had contested the elections on its own and had not sought any help from any quarter save the moral support received from Mr P.N. Sangma's Nationalist Congress Party. The Congress has done better than expected. Of course, this is because the party had hit the rock bottom in the previous elections when it won only six seats. In retrospect, it could have done still better if factionalism had not eroded its strength. The party's anti-corruption campaign lost much of its teeth as it was led by Mr Lal Thanhawla, who is being investigated by federal agencies for alleged misappropriation of government funds during his tenure as chief minister. Splinter groups that had high expectations of dictating terms have been cut down to size. All this bodes well for the tiny state, which is the most peaceful in the region. Thought for the day There are strings ... in the human heart that had better not be vibrated. —Charles Dickens
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Drugs, liquor, opium everywhere ADDRESSING the annual convention of the Punjab IPS Officers Association at the CII in Chandigarh recently, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh challenged the police brass to name a single village where drug and addiction problem had not attained frightening proportions. Nobody picked up the gauntlet, knowing full well that the whole state was in the grip of intoxicants, which was destroying a whole generation. On his suggestion two special teams were set up to tackle the problem in the Malwa belt in the first phase, but no significant progress has been made. The state is in worse shape than China of 1830s. China had only opium to cope with. Punjab has been done in not only by opium and poppy husk, but also excessive consumption of liquor, both licensed and illicit, narcotics like charas, hashish, heroin and smack, and even painkillers such as morphine, pethidine and dextropropoxyphene (proxyvon) besides cough syrups and Vicks Vaporub. The vibrant state is stoned today. According to a preliminary study by the Health Department, more than 40 per cent of the youth in15- 25 age group are addicts. In Doaba and Majha regions 65 per cent of homes have at least one addict. No wonder, crime rate, particularly thefts and hooliganism, is on the rise. About 48 per cent of farmers and labourers are drug addicts. Multiple drug abuse is common. Another survey by the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC), a Chandigarh-based research organisation, says the percentage of households affected by drug abuse is 61 in Majha, 64 in Malwa and 68 in Doaba. Licensed liquor is the proverbial tip of the iceberg, the increase in whose consumption gives one a fairly good idea of what the land of the five rivers is up against. Just look at the quantum jump in the number of liquor vends. It would be difficult to find a village which does not have a "theka" or two. In 1992, the auction of vends used to fetch about Rs 485 crore. The amount today is more than Rs 1350 crore, a three-fold jump. Liquor worth Rs 125 crore is sold in Ludhiana city alone. Mind you, licensed liquor comprises a very small fraction of the total consumption. Most villages take pride in their capacity to distil liquor at home (remember Gurdas Mann's “Apna Punjab hove … Ghar di sharab hove”). Villages like Majari near Nangal on the Punjab-Himachal border are notorious for the trade and yet continue to do thriving business. The same holds true of the Mand belt and the villages along the river Ghaggar. Persons belonging to certain communities are infamous for making and selling illicit liquor. The problem of alcoholism pales into insignificance in comparison to opium addiction. The sale and possession of opium and poppy husk is banned in Punjab under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), 1985, but cultivation of opium is legal in the neighbouring Rajasthan. Punjab gets the stuff in abundance from there, with even women acting as carriers. The number of addicts may run into lakhs. Young men with ashen faces, sunken cheeks and vacant look greet you in village after village. Political patronage makes sure that the police action is never as forceful as it ought to be. Intoxicants are freely distributed to win over voters during elections. The peddlers continue to thrive under the safety cover provided by the leaders once they win. Because of the huge profit, the peddlers are ever ready to risk their lives while bringing the lethal commodity to the state from Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh or Jammu and Kashmir. Most of the supply is distributed on horsebacks against which police jeeps are not very effective. In 2001, 5.66 quintals of opium and 1114.76 quintals of poppy husk was seized. This year, the figures have already crossed 13.45 quintals of opium and 1004.02 quintals of poppy husk. This gives a fairly good idea of the total quantity of these killer intoxicants in circulation. Worse, while 21.222 kg of heroin and smack was seized in 2001, this year the recovery is as high as 28.157 quintals. Opium is used freely by truck drivers so that they can drive on for hours on end without falling asleep. The threat that these beady-eyed drivers pose can well be imagined. The story is repeated in farmhouses where opium or poppy husk is regularly given to farm labourers to extract extra work from them. Because of peer pressure its social acceptance is growing. Many begin taking it because of curiosity or as a macho challenge and find themselves addicted in no time. Why, drugs even find their way into jail barracks! The use of drugs like mandrax is equally rampant. Even cough syrups and balms are consumed mostly by school children which makes the situation all the more shocking. Boys are getting hooked at very young age. Injectable drugs are also giving rise to diseases like HIV and Hepatitis-C. The Drug Controller, Punjab, conducted 105 raids from January 1 to October 31 this year to detect psychotropic substances. Huge quantities of dextropropoxyphene capsules, oxytocin vials, morphine injections and cough syrups were seized. (Oxytocin vials are meant for dairy animals but are freely used for making cheap liquor). As many as 154 licenses were suspended, 13 licenses cancelled and 135 cases filed in courts for selling such substances. But the racket flourishes regardless. There are enough black sheep in the police force to ensure a free run for the merchants of death. The police identified nearly 1000 chronic drug addicts in Tarn Taran alone, of whom 327 happened to be police personnel. It has been noticed that many of the drug addicts also act as drug peddlers. Punjab has been rocked by many suicides by farmers in the recent past. A comprehensive IDC reveals that alcohol and drug abuse was an important cause of suicide reported by 18 per cent of the respondents. As many as 68 per cent of the victims in the study were regular alcohol users and 26 per cent illicit drug users. Most suicides took place due to multiple causes. In 26.8 per cent cases, there was domestic discord plus alcohol and drug abuse and indebtedness. In 18.8 per cent there was domestic discord and alcohol and drug abuse. Ironically, alcohol and drug abuse is also the root cause of domestic discord and indebtedness. There are many reasons for this shocking state of affairs. Prosperity and unemployment have made Punjab youth aimless. Farming no longer attracts them. The influx of migrant labour has made them lethargic. Lack of healthy recreational outlets in another major factor. They get exposed to lavish and lewd lifestyle through TV and cinema and think that they too have to emulate it, but without doing honest work. Drugs come in handy, either to relieve the boredom or to get rich quick. The situation is not just serious but critical. The tragedy of Maqboolpura in Amritsar, called the “locality of widows” because of more than 150 deaths due to drug addiction, can strike many other places. An all-out concerted operation is necessary to tackle the menace. It cannot be confined to Punjab alone. As long as opium is growing freely in the neighbouring states there will be men and women willing to risk their all to smuggle, sell and use it. |
Murphy’s law TEN years ago my two daughters who were just 15 and nine years old then, brought a puppy who grew into a big German Shepherd — extremely faithful and loving. He was affectionately named “Murphy”. Deeply attached to all the members of my family, but particularly to my elder daughter, he would not eat anything till he was fed by her. Time flew and then Murphy developed a kidney problem, which required constant medication. My eldest daughter took on the role of mothering him. About a week back, my daughter and I had to leave for Pune, to attend separate training courses. She agreed to go, on the promise that she would be constantly informed about Murphy. By the evening as we reached Pune airport her mother informed her that his kidneys had started failing. Distraught, she pleaded with me to buy her an air ticket back home so that she could be at his bedside while he breathed his last. I thought that perhaps it was more mature to go on with the job at hand and leave the rest to God and, therefore, I tried to dissuade her from going back and gave all possible reasons. My younger daughter, back home, reprimanded me for being so heartless. The most loved person should be with the being who had developed such a bond of concern for all the members of the family, she pleaded. I thought for a while and then reluctantly gave in. Next morning she was on the flight. The doctors in the meanwhile kept Murphy clinically alive. Though reaching Chandigarh late in the evening, she drove straight to the hospital, where Murphy was almost in a coma but on her sight, sprang to life in spite of his now weak legs and started cuddling and licking her. She clung to him as though she would not allow him to go. They had shared every joy and sorrow during the last 10 years and now she was desperately trying to assimilate all the sorrow and pain of her kindest and closest friend. The intense love, compassion and affection and the silent but complete communication which the two shared moved every one to tears. By now it was clear that Murphy was going through intense agony and suffering. But my daughter hoped for a miracle to happen. Doctors were consulted at Ludhiana and Hisar, who advised that keeping him clinically alive would only aggravate his suffering. With Murphy writhing in agony, my daughters took the final decision. He was not to be allowed to suffer any longer in the hospital. They brought him back to our home. Murphy did not regain consciousness and died peacefully at home with my wife and the two daughters at his side. They selected a suitable place lined with trees and dug a grave for his decent burial. Sitting in Pune, I realised that my daughters had become my teacher, reminding me of the true meaning of human emotions of love, affection, sensitivity and gratitude. My daughter’s desire to meet the loving speechless “being” and express her gratitude for the love he had given to all of us left me deeply moved. I saw yet another side of my bubbling, vivacious, chirpy and ebullient daughters — calm, serious, compassionate, understanding and caring human beings. Clearly the two had matured as compassionate human beings and I felt a little humbled in re-learning humane responses. On reaching home, I went straight to the spot where our loved one lay buried in deep sleep. The darkness was deepening while I and my daughters stood silently at his grave clasping each other’s hands in silent prayers expressing gratitude for the good times showered upon us by this speechless being. I thanked my daughters for making me rediscover the human values by their unabashed reaffirmation of emotions and wondered if this is what the Bard meant when he said that the child is father of the man. |
‘Honour’ killings continue unabated
THE
recent incident of a youth being hacked to death by his wife’s relations in Jahan Khelan village in Hoshiarpur district has once again brought to light the growing intolerance to women exercising their right to choice of a life partner, and the sharp caste and class divide in one of the most advanced regions of the country. The relatives of the Rajput girl, Geeta, allegedly hacked her husband, Jasbir Singh, to death in the market because they were unhappy with the inter-caste marriage. The couple had been involved for almost seven years before they tied the knot against the wishes of Geeta’s family. Though Geeta’s parents had reportedly accepted the alliance, her brothers were dead against it and thought that she and her husband had lowered the family’s honour in their community. Not only has the tribal concept of honour crimes and honour killings resurfaced in this region, the family of the woman, with active support of the caste or community to which they belong, leaves no stone unturned to salvage its honour in case the “couple” manage to get married. The right of life of a woman is conditional on her obeying the social norms. It is estimated that of the total murders reported on an average in Haryana and Punjab each year, about 10 per cent are honour killings. Senior police officials in Haryana say that many of the untraced murder cases could possibly relate to honour killings. Even in a modern society like Punjab, the caste consciousness is deeply embedded in the psyche of the people. Any liaison outside the caste is looked down upon and people are known to take extreme steps in case of some deviation by a member, howsoever pampered she may be in the family. The lives of women in Punjab and Haryana still revolve around tradition. Male relatives “own” them, and punish any deviation with violence. With women being treated as commodities, whenever “ ownership rights” are at stake, a woman automatically becomes the guilty party and the man who “ owned “ her as the victim suffering a loss of honour. So automatically, the entire community sympathises with the aggrieved person. The recent case of Ambala girl Avedna Sharma, who married against her parents’ wishes to a Meo Muslim, Zakir Hussain, led the girl’s community to regroup against the “illegitimate marriage”. Unable to cope up with their daughter’s inter-religious marriage, that too, to a married man, Avedna was remarried to a Hindu boy. However, within two days of her marriage while on her way to Vaishnodevi with her husband, Avedna managed to escape and reunited with Zakir. Since then, a number of cases have been registered by the girl’s family against Zakir. The couple is involved in a legal battle with Avedna’s family , who the couple alleges are being supported by powerful political leaders. Though this is not a case of honour killing, it brings to light the intolerance of a particular community or caste against a woman’s right to make a choice of a life partner from outside their community. Elsewhere in Haryana, cases where khap panchayats sitting together and issuing edicts, often of slaying the errant boy or girl, or both, have also been reported. Minakshi and Balwinder, a couple from Ramgarh village in Jind, had married against their families’ wishes. However, because the couple hailed from the same village, the village panchayat had asked them to get separated. The couple managed to elope and got married in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, before the girl’s father registered a case of abduction against Balwinder. The couple was brought back to Jind, and while Balwinder was put behind bars, Minakshi was sent to Nari Niketan, Karnal. The couple were released by a Jind court earlier this month, after they told the court that they wanted to stay together. Though the media exposure, rise in women literacy and increasing mobility have seen the beginning of women’s rights awareness, but the concepts of women as property and honour are deeply entrenched in the social, economic and political fabric of our society. The murder of a Canadian citizen and the attempt on the life of her Indian husband by contract killers reportedly hired by her mother and maternal uncle, sore over her marriage to a boy of a lower socio- economic status near Ludhiana in June, 2000, had raised a lot of hue and cry. While the girl had died on the spot, her husband was seriously injured. The errant couple, Jaswinder Kaur and her husband, Sukhwinder Singh, had met and fallen in love when the former had come to visit her relatives in Kaonke Khus village, near Jagraon, in 1998. The couple had a torrid affair across the seven seas for two years till the girl finally managed to reach India on her own and without the consent of her family to tie the nuptial knot with Sukhwinder Singh. A similar case in Mohalli last year saw a man allegedly stab his daughter to death, when she secretly married against his wishes. The FCI official was opposed to the alliance as the boy was from a different caste and socio-economic status. Dr Pam Rajpoot, Director, Centre for Women Studies, Panjab University, explains that society is embroiled in “identity politics”. “With each community trying to safeguard its own identity, the basic rights of a woman are not being granted. Epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata reveal that women could choose their life partners during a swayamvar, but now the rights of women are being totally violated. In spite of all the talk of women liberation, women cannot even choose their life partners, for fear of incurring the wrath of both their families and communities.” |
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DELHI
DURBAR AS the 4th Indo-European Union Summit was approaching, the Ministry of External Affairs received reports that some members of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, at the behest of Islamabad, were thinking of meeting European Ambassadors for focussing on the Kashmir issue. Concerned over the development, senior officials evolved a counter strategy and planned a photo exhibition on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits in the Capital during the two-week long EU cultural festival. The Indian Council of Cultural Relations organised the exhibition of a French journalist Gwynne Dyer, which portrays vividly the sufferings of Pandits in the state. The ICCR, which has been conducting cultural diplomacy for over five decades, knows the art fully well and that is precisely why all the foreign journalists were invited for the launch of the exhibition and provided with detailed figures of the killing and sufferings. The move clicked as the European leaders came well informed thus countering the Hurriyat move. The ICCR had already prepared the ground by organising an EU festival which is making an impact in six major cities, including Chandigarh.
Sachin takes up women’s cause Ace-batsman Sachin Tendulkar is arguably one of India’s biggest brand names. Having endorsed all possible brands, ranging from colas to cars, the master blaster now finds himself on an altogether new wicket. Taking a cue perhaps from Australian captain Steve Waugh, Sachin has turned to championing social causes and endorsed a message abhorring violence against women. Posters, stickers and even hoardings of Sachin speaking out on gender violence are being splashed all over as 50-odd women’s groups in 11 states are observing the International fortnight protesting violence on women and girls from November 25 to December 10. “Yes, I speak out against violence on women and girls. Do you?” proclaims the famous cricketer in his message. Women activists, who have chalked out an exhaustive fortnight-long programme to highlight the problem of violence on women, are understandably excited at having roped in Sachin in their long-standing battle. They hope Sachin’s involvement will help sensitise men about this serious issue. For Sachin and other sportsmen, it should serve as a reminder that there is life beyond the boundary line.
Unease in Congress The Congress party finds itself caught between the proverbial devil and the deep sea. Having lionised the no-nonsense Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh for the way he dealt with the Gujarat government during last year’s assembly poll, it does not know where to look now that the same CEC has turned his ire on its leaders. No less than Congress president Sonia Gandhi and two of its high-profile Chief Ministers — Ajit Jogi and Amarinder Singh — have been pulled up by the EC for using the state machinery after the announcement of elections.. As for Madhya Pradesh, the CEC remarked scathingly that the situation there was even worse than Gujarat. Although gritting their teeth in private, Congress leaders have smiled their way through all these embarrassing moments. Consequently, their constant refrain has been that the Congress has full respect for all constitutional authorities and will abide by its decisions. Off the record, they admit that the Congress cannot afford to be seen quarelling with the Election Commission. Contributed by Satish Misra and Anita Katyal |
Holy men are born on earth to show the people the way to God. They teach differently. There are many paths leading to the same goal. Therefore, the teachings of all the saints are true. — Sarada Devi On this basis — being right and doing right — the whole world can unite. — Swami Vivekananda He alone is wise who purges his heart and soul of evil. — Guru Nanak You must pass through your material layers and discover the Atman. Atman is your real Self. But the pity is that you live in your material personalities. — Swami Parthasarathy As little as humanity will ever be without religion, as little will it be without Christ. — Strauss |
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