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Beyond courtesy Spirit of Mars The CAS muddle |
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Congress in Catch-22 situation
We love you, Dev Anand!
A Mullah-Military Alliance in Pakistan
Delhi Durbar
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Beyond courtesy THE much-awaited meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan finally came about at the Presidential Palace in Islamabad on Monday. That they would interact for a short while on the sidelines of the 12th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation session was known after Mr Vajpayee’s 15-minute courtesy call on his Pakistani counterpart, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. As a result, the peace initiative that began with Mr Vajapyee's offer of a hand of friendship at Srinagar got a fresh impetus. This was truly a demonstration of the determination from both sides that, to use Mr Vajpayee's words, "dialogue must always continue and we should understand each other's difficulties and jointly find ways to resolve them". If Mr Vajpayee honoured the desire to use the SAARC occasion to improve the atmosphere for having friendly relations between the two South Asian nuclear powers, one can notice a significant change on the other side too. It is, perhaps, for the first time that Pakistan has avoided mentioning Kashmir at any multilateral forum. During the inaugural address at the SAARC summit, Mr Jamali did not go beyond saying that “it is the stark reality of political differences and disputes that has held back prospects of real economic cooperation” in our part of the world. This is a healthy development, and the realisation of each other's sensitivities must be reflected in future too. Mr Vajpayee's one-hour meeting with General Musharraf, which ended on a "positive note" with the two leaders discussing issues of mutual interest, has brightened up the hope for the resumption of a dialogue for establishing peace and amity in the subcontinent. Going by the bitter experience of India during the Indo-Pak Agra summit, a step-by-step approach appears preferable. This should follow a summit-level dialogue to ensure that the efforts do not end in a fiasco. The interaction between the top leaders of the two countries after the various confidence-building measures taken by them should be treated as the ideal setting for taking the peace process to its logical conclusion. One can only hope that terrorists will not be allowed to spoil the show. |
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Spirit of Mars IT is uncanny that a space success can lift the spirit of the entire mankind. After all, who does not want to know for sure whether we are living in isolation on this blue planet or we have company elsewhere. The textbook landing of NASA's Spirit rover on Mars can help unravel that mystery. Even if there is no life out there today, the very possibility that the earth's neighbour was at any time in the past a warmer, wetter place capable of sustaining life can give an astounding fillip to space exploration. That is why staid NASA scientists were ecstatic when their brainchild started beaming pictures from the red planet. It was the culmination of a seven-month journey which entailed one of the most sophisticated manoeuverings ever undertaken by an unmanned spacecraft. Its final plunge when its speed came down from 12,000 miles per hour to zero was described as "six minutes of hell" and it is a marvel of engineering that the golfcart-sized rover survived the fall. Not only that, it landed very close to the intended touchdown spot and started beaming stunning pictures soon thereafter. The achievement is considered the rough equivalent of "teeing off from Los Angeles and making a birdie in New York". The feeling of elation is all the more because just one in three past attempts to land on Mars has succeeded. NASA's last attempt in 1999 ended in failure. What had led to a lot of apprehension was the fact that the British Beagle 2 lander had not been heard from since it was to have set down on Mars on Christmas after the European satellite, the Mars Express, ferrying it safely entered orbit. The $820-million mission's success has been preceded by the equally remarkable performance of the Stardust mission on Friday. That craft intercepted a comet and gathered particles in a first that could offer clues about how Earth began. This "double-header" is of utmost importance not only to the US space programme but the entire humanity. |
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The CAS muddle REPORTS to the effect that the Centre is planning to roll back the Conditional Access System (CAS) lend credence to the theory that the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been imposing the system on the consumers. It amounted to the Centre forcing the people to pay more for viewing less. Though Union Minister of State Ravi Shankar Prasad has asked Delhi-ites (where CAS has come into force from January 1) not to buy set-top boxes (STBs), pending a final decision, cable operators are forcing them to purchase the gadget costing up to Rs 4,000. Worse, despite innumerable complaints, the government has done little to resolve the problems which range from incompatibility between STBs and television sets to poor picture quality and no zooming or cinemascope facilities. What is the purpose of a new system if it does not give people the freedom to watch their favourite channels with good picture quality? The Delhi government is reported to have suggested a dual system wherein consumers can choose between the existing set-up where they pay for all that the cable operator decides to show or opt for CAS and pay for what they choose to view. A better option is to appoint a regulatory authority for CAS, as directed by the Delhi High Court. This is also in conformity with the Supreme Court’s directive to the Centre, eight years back, to set up an independent broadcasting regulatory authority to look into the monopolisation of airwaves by affluent multi-system operators and Doordarshan. In view of the controversy, the Centre should stay the operation of CAS until the Lok Sabha elections are over. Let the new government at the Centre take a final decision based on a holistic view of the issue. Thought for the day
War makes rattling good history; but peace is poor reading. — Thomas Hardy |
Congress in Catch-22 situation NEVER before in its long history has the once venerable Congress party faced the crisis it is undergoing today. Because it is, in national terms, in danger of becoming the perennial second party. There are many reasons for the Congress predicament, but they boil down to a question of leadership. The dismal results of the recent assembly elections, but for Delhi, brought to the fore the chinks in Ms Sonia Gandhi’s armour and evoked more than a whiff of being yesterday’s party. Two issues are involved: Ms Gandhi’s provenance and her seeming inability to have a firm grip on her party. Large sections of the middle class are not reconciled to the prospect of a Prime Minister of foreign origin. Second, in her attempt to replicate Indira Gandhi’s era, she has surrounded herself with old advisers without possessing her famous mother-in-law’s political skills. In her effort to woo allies, Ms Gandhi sought to leave her candidature for the office of Prime Minister open ever so slightly in Mumbai. The immediate chorus of party faithful, including the spokesman, declaring the leader the rightful heir to office reflects the Catch 22 situation the Congress finds itself in. Opening the leadership issue is to invite bloodletting in the party. Having learnt the hard way that the only route for the party to return to power is through a coalition of allies, Ms Gandhi is vigorously seeking partners. There are contradictory pulls of such parties as the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party and even the Congress partner in the Maharashtra government, Mr Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, is setting a high price for continuing cooperation. There are other problems insofar as regional opponents are concerned and despite Ms Gandhi’s stated desire for a single coalition fighting the Bharatiya Janata Party, the CPM’s concept of two coalitions seeking to accommodate each other where possible in the common task of ousting the BJP is more likely. Efforts at coalition building have gathered speed after the publicly expressed desire of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani for early elections to exploit the feel-good factor. But the Congress party finds itself hobbled by its unique history and long spell in power since independence. Unlike cadre-based parties, the Congress flourished on the twin pillars of a charismatic leader and the grassroots support of an army of workers nourished in the Independence movement. The charismatic leader merged with the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and although Rajiv Gandhi’s reign was too brief to pass a historical judgement, it served the country well in many respects. The irony is that Indira Gandhi, the most successful practitioner of realpolitik, should have been the main instrument of the party’s erosion. The relationship between the mother and her younger son Sanjay had been the subject of much debate. But the incontrovertible fact is that in her effort to promote him to become her successor, she effectively starved the party’s grassroots support for wheeler-dealers who could deliver quick results. Besides, the old winning formula of contesting elections no longer held good because of the growing empowerment and manipulation of those at the lower rungs of the caste and prosperity ladder. Mr Narasimha Rao’s stint as Prime Minister was, on balance, a surprisingly productive period. But in post-1947 Congress history, he was an aberration. Supporting two unlikely candidates in the Prime Minister’s chair to keep the BJP out of power was a frustrating experience for the Congress. To cap it, Ms Sonia Gandhi’s almost comical assertion of possessing a majority to form a new government gave the BJP a heaven-sent opportunity and Mr Vajpayee has not looked back since then. By completing five years in power, the BJP has refined the art of coalition building. Although the leading party in the coalition has lost some supporting parties, the more significant fact is its ability to hold the varied groups together. Partly, this is due to Mr Vajpayee’s abilities as a consensus-builder; partly to the all-too-common human temptation of enjoying the fruits of sharing power. Ms Sonia Gandhi thus finds herself working under a double disadvantage. She can do little about her provenance and she has been unable to impose her authority on an increasingly fractious party. In the assembly elections, the state Congress leaders seemed to be running their campaigns pretty much as they pleased. After these elections, sensing the weakness of the central leadership, dissidence in the states — be it Punjab, Kerala or Maharashtra — has grown exponentially. There are no easy answers for the Congress. The party is a prisoner of its own past success. There is some realisation in the party ranks that old formulas will not work in a changed political environment, but one who dares to bell the cat will come to grief. Often, it would seem, the Congress is running on its past momentum. Secularism, as a vote-winning slogan, has serious limitations. Parties, including the Congress, have shown great flexibility in interpreting the creed and those shouting the loudest about their secular credentials are often willing to sup with the devil. Can the Congress then pull itself out of its predicament? The signs are not propitious, but miracles do happen. There is still goodwill for the Congress for its past achievements, but elections, as the Congress itself has proved every so often, is an intricate process determined by an elaborate process to create the right environment and getting people out to vote for one’s party. It was Jawaharlal Nehru who had emphasised the value of science and modern technology to build what he described as the modern temples of India. His successors have forgotten India’s first Prime Minister and it is ironically the BJP that is mastering the art of using information technology to frame an election-winning strategy by setting up supervisors at various levels and saturating the media with advertisements. Going by the recent assembly elections, Congress methods seemed amateurish. Perhaps, the Congress needs to sit out somewhat longer before it can hope to return to power. |
We love you, Dev Anand! DEV Anand never looked more pleasant to me than when receiving the Dada Sahib Phalke Award at the hands of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Being an ardent fan of the Tragedy King, I have only been an admirer of Dev Anand despite some of the “flop-sides” of the man and his mannerisms. But it occurs to me that it was largely because of this deportment that many cinema lovers liked his screen presence — a fact that he cashed in on even in his flop films. While the frontal gap in his denture, a la Mrs Slip Slop or, nearer home, Asha Parekh, enhanced the magnetic effect in romantic scenes, as some people believe, his protruding lower lip while executing emotions made him look intolerable. His rolling of the perfectly rounded eyeballs added confusion to his performance. Yet, he was liked. His gait, employing a three-foot swing to the left and right, made him look the biggest drunkard on earth. Coupled with this zigzagging, the drooping shoulders made him a creature deserving sympathy. Still he was adored. His dialogue delivery always ran in the fast forward mode. The notation and pitch falling and rising every now and then as if someone was writhing in pain made the audiences lend an extra ear attempting to decipher what he was saying. Even then he was admired. Added to all this, his way of dressing and decking gave inferiority complex to those who boast of having a sartorial sense. His scarves, his headgear, his jackets, his chosen design or pattern in a particular cloth, black buttons with scoffed collars, black seams of his stitched apparel; everything had a Dev Anand mark on it. And he was rightly “impersonated”. Old timers recall, although he denied it in a recent TV interview, that he was advised against wearing a red tie with a black suit since the combination could prove fatal to certain swooning onlookers of the opposite sex. His raised puff of hair, resembling perching of a sparrow, made people pirates of Dev Anand’s style of balon ki chiriya bithana! Obviously he was copied. His finds, including Zeenat Aman, Tina Munim et al confirmed his exploration of freshness, ensured permanence of charm and an anticipated success of the “discoveries”. Above all his being the one whose one single glance on a “thing of beauty made joy for ever” made many a man envy him. Nevertheless, they adored him. That Dev Anand refuses to age gives me a naughty flash of imagination. No wonder he had said, “They decorated me with the Dada Phalke Award whereas I deserved Chacha Phalke one because the latter has more youthful connotations.” We love you Dev Anand.
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A Mullah-Military Alliance in Pakistan
How the General and the MMA conduct themselves now needs to be watched closely, as they have been in diametrically opposite camps ever since the US-led international military action against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Two important questions arise after what is derisively called the Mullah-Military Alliance. Will the General continue his anti-terrorist drive, particularly against the Taliban? Is there any undeclared understanding between the General and the MMA, which was once on the crest of a wave of popularity by expressing its sympathies for the Taliban and the militant jihadis, describing President Musharraf as a protégé of the US? Whether the MMA will join the federal government is not clear, though this has been in the air for some time. In any case, the General has emerged stronger after his deal with the MMA. It led to a smooth passage of the 17th Constitution Amendment Bill by Pakistan’s parliament (National Assembly) on December 29, 2003. Subsequently, the provincial assemblies also adopted the Bill. As a result, the presidential referendum held by General Musharraf became a constitutionally valid exercise, and his installation as President for a five-year term unchallengeable in any court of law. This was done by adopting the route demanded by the MMA — the expression of confidence in the President by parliament and the provincial legislatures. The General got this certificate easily with the MMA’s 67 National Assembly members and 22 Senate members casting their vote in his favour. He has successfully blunted the Opposition criticism that he had entered the President's Office through the backdoor. The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy has threatened to launch an agitation against the imposition of "khaki democracy" on Pakistan, but it cannot change the course of politics because of serious differences among the Opposition ranks after the MMA jumped on to the bandwagon of General Musharraf. The Opposition, which got weakened after the death of ARD supremo Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, has suffered a serious blow again. And the gainer is obviously the ruling General. He has gained a lot more as a result of the deal. All the decrees issued by him after assuming the reins of power in October 1999, including the controversial Legal Framework Order (LFO), have become constitutionally valid. He has allowed some amendments in the LFO but on the lines he had been advocating. For instance, he has agreed to relinquish the post of Chief of Army Staff in December 2004. He accepted the demand to restore sovereignty to parliament but only to a limited extent. The President continues to have the power to sack the Prime Minister and dissolve the National Assembly and the Senate, but the dissolution will have to be referred to the Supreme Court to seek its opinion within 15 days. With such overriding powers as he enjoys, it will not be difficult for President Musharraf to seek a favourable judicial opinion when the need arises. Though he has agreed to shed his Army uniform, he has the power to appoint a protégé as COAS. This is how he can keep the non-cooperating Generals under control. One should not be surprised if he uses the threat to his life as a pretext to defer his decision to resign as COAS. In any case, the armed forces will continue to dominate the Pakistan establishment through the National Security Council, which will be set up by an Act of parliament. The Musharraf-MMA deal has proved that military rulers and religious leaders of Pakistan are natural allies. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s party, the PPPP, was also in the race for a bargain with the General. It could not succeed because the price demanded was too high — facilitating the return of Ms Bhutto to Pakistan and dropping the cases against her jailed husband, Mr Asif Ali Zardari. Perhaps, the US mentors of the General wanted the deal to be struck with the MMA. It may not only strengthen the General’s position as the “biggest leader” of today’s Pakistan but also help in weakening the anti-American sentiment there. A stronger General Musharraf can be expected to take bold decisions when it comes to dealing with India after the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation session in Islamabad is over. But it all depends on how far the religious right allows him to go. In any case, his first priority may be to immobilise the forces behind the three unsuccessful attempts on his life. With the Qazis and the Maulanas (the reference here is to the two stalwarts of the MMA, Qazi Husain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman) on his side, he will now be in a better position to take on his jihadi enemies. So, one should expect a fresh purge in the Army to sideline the remaining pro-jihadi officers. He has a full one year’s time to deal with them firmly before finally leaving his residence at Rawalpindi’s General Headquarters. |
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Delhi Durbar AFTER bringing the historic Red Fort under the unified control of the Archaeological Survey of India recently, Union Culture and Tourism Minister Jagmohan has a plan to get the Shahjahan-built fort declared as a heritage monument by UNESCO and make it as attractive to foreign tourists as Taj Mahal. Under the plan, remains of the palaces of Mughal queens, princes and princesses demolished by the East India Company army in 1857 after defeating last Mughal King Bahadurshah Zafar, would be restored by removing the earth, including razing to the ground the barracks built at their plan site. The Ministry had been undertaking the restoration work at a cost of Rs 10 crore, which includes beautification of the fort’s
surroundings. The Supreme Court has approved the Centre’s proposal for setting up a 14-member expert panel to supervise the work. Courteous
politicians Politicians are known to change colours, especially when elections are round the corner. So, Ministers in the Vajpayee Government are no “holy cows’. With the strong likelihood of early Lok Sabha polls, hitherto inaccessible ministers have suddenly become accessible and courteous in returning calls. In fact, some of the Ministers have even started meeting mediapersons in small groups, agreeing to long-pending requests for interviews. No prize for guessing right the reason behind their change of attitude! Uma and
scribes Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh was known to pamper mediapersons. His successor, Uma Bharti, also does not seem to be lagging behind when it comes to wooing the journalist community. Barely a month after taking over as Chief Minister, she is understood to have ordered the State Information Department officials to upgrade facilities available for the press in the media centre in Bhopal, akin to the Media Centre in Press Information Bureau (PIB) in Delhi. The promptness of the authorities could well be gauged from the fact that the other day the Joint Director and the Assistant Director of Madhya Pradesh Public Relations Department in Delhi along with a senior Bhopal-based journalist had inspected the facilities available with the PIB to enable them to prepare a report for the upgradation of the Bhopal Media Centre. Delhi-Himachal
bonding The new bonding between the governments of Himachal Pradesh and Delhi was evident at ‘Himachal Milan’ function held in Delhi recently. Both Sheila Dikshit and Virbhadra Singh were generous in praising each other’s states with the former promising to visit the hill state to solve the marketing problems of the fruit growers. Sheila Dikshit has a soft spot for Himachal Pradesh and Virbhadra Singh has studied in Delhi. Himachal Transport Minister G.S. Bali, who was the main organiser of the function, used the ocassion to extract a few promises for the welfare of Himachalis from the Delhi Chief Minister. Bali was among those who made efforts to mobilise the support of Delhi-based Himachalis for the Congress during the assembly elections and the Chief Minister was not stingy in paying back. Contributed by S.S. Negi, S. Satyanarayanan and Prashant Sood |
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A clarification
The name of the director of “Baghbaan” in Mr Amar Chandel’s article “Little attempt to break the mould” (Dec 31) should have appeared as Ravi Chopra. |
I salute the messenger of Sree Rama. I salute him again and again. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya The state of one’s mind becomes the same as are one’s desires. — Guru Nanak We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas, nor the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonising the Vedas, the Bible and the Koran... (and science). — Swami Vivekananda |
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GEN Pervez Musharraf has once again exposed the politicians of his country as being rank opportunists, always ready to barter their principles for political gains. He has done this by entering into a well-calculated deal with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), which claims to have been pursuing principled politics. Till the other day MMA leaders have been most vocal in criticising the General for his pro-US policies and for “not bothering about Pakistan’s own interests”. They described him as a “security risk” and threatened to throw him out of Aiwan-e-Sadr (Presidential Palace) through dharnas.