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A positive
response Temple
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Undoing
the wrong
Tread
with caution
Pagans
and parks
Move to
ban the turban in France
NWFP
party quits MMA
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A positive response THE Union Government's invitation to the Moulvi Abbas Ansari-led Hurriyat Conference for talks on January 22 has come at the right time. The thaw in the India-Pakistan relations following the Vajpayee-Musharraf Islamabad meeting provides the best setting for a dialogue with the disgruntled elements in Kashmir. Pakistan, which has now expressed its desire for building bridges with India, is not expected to come in the way of the Hurriyat leadership and other separatists as it used to do earlier. The Hurriyat leaders should read the writing on the wall and abandon the path of separatism. It should use the opportunity that has come its way to help establish peace in the terrorism-torn state. The people are yearning for peace and stability which they expressed through the 2002 Assembly elections. In any case, they must keep in mind that the dialogue between them and New Delhi is an internal matter of India. What happens on the Indo-Pak front is a matter between the two sovereign nations, an entirely different thing. The Hurriyat's two initial demands have already been met. It wanted the dialogue to begin at the political level, and this will happen when its leaders meet Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani in New Delhi. This is in accordance with a recent decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security. There will be no preconditions, as the Hurriyat desired. The government may not adopt a rigid approach if the Hurriyat displays a more open-minded and positive attitude. It is good that efforts are on to associate the Hurriyat faction led by hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani and other disgruntled elements with the dialogue process. This will make the exercise more meaningful. New Delhi may address their grievances too, obviously keeping in view the interests of the nation. No group should, however, expect anything that goes against the unity and integrity of the country. |
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Temple card DEPUTY Prime Minister L.K. Advani's statement on Tuesday reiterating his party's commitment to build a temple at Ayodhya cannot be divorced from his party's preparations for the Lok Sabha elections. He is politically astute enough to add that the temple will be built only after a consensus has been reached on the modus operandi. Obviously, he wants to reassure his party cadres that the BJP has not forgotten its commitment to build a magnificent Ram temple at Ayodhya. He expects the cadres to bear with him till the BJP is able to get around the thorny problems in building a temple of their dreams. Few can question him on this position, as nobody is opposed to the construction of the temple per se. In fact, all the objections are about the location of the temple -- whether it should be precisely where the Babri Masjid once stood or not. For the present, there are reports that behind-the-scene talks are being held between the leaders of the two communities to find an amicable solution. Nothing will please the nation more than a peaceful resolution of the Ayodhya problem. This newspaper has always argued for a negotiated settlement, failing which, a judicial verdict. That is precisely why it has supported all well-meaning efforts to bring the two communities to the negotiating table by persons like the Kanchi Shankaracharya. If two sides of a dispute are sincere in their intentions and are ready to give and take, no dispute is indissoluble. The nation has seen how dangerous it is to let emotive issues dominate the agenda of a political party. With elections round the corner and with politicians looking for issues that can stir the passions of the people, the chances of some of them using the Ayodhya card cannot be ruled out. In doing so, they will be vitiating the electoral atmosphere. The interests of the voters dictate that the political parties refrain from all references to the Ayodhya dispute in the run up to the polls, likely to be held in April. A solution may become easier to find if restraint is observed. |
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Undoing the wrong UTTAR Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s decision on Tuesday to scrap the nine new districts and four revenue divisions may be interpreted as a political move meant to undo his predecessor’s decision, but it marks a positive step in the right direction. Ms Mayawati, during her tenure in office, was more interested in squandering away precious resources on populist schemes like her move on new districts rather than improving the poor financial health of the state. Against this background, the step to disband four new divisions — Devipatan, Basti, Mirzapur and Saharanpur — and nine districts — Jyotibaphule Nagar, Shravasti, Mahamayanagar, Sant Kabirnagar, Kaushambi, Auraiya, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Chandauli and Ambedkar Nagar — deserves to be commended. What is more, as much as Rs 5,100 crore of the taxpayers’ money which would have been spent on creating the infrastructure required for the new districts will now be saved. The Chief Minister’s decision to grant Rs 10 crore each for the development of the scrapped districts is also sensible because this money can be judiciously used for development and removing regional imbalances. Unfortunately, there is a mistaken notion that small districts guarantee better coordination and effective administration. It may be right theoretically because large districts in big states like Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are difficult to manage. But experience suggests that more districts lead to over-bureaucratisation and other operational problems. More important, they are a drain on the exchequer as more money will go for footing the wage bill. The problem gets more acute in smaller states like Haryana (19 districts), Punjab (17) and Himachal Pradesh (12) as these are burdened with a huge wage bill. Over the years, the district administration in the country has undergone a sea change and the present trend is, certainly, not in favour of carving out more and more districts, but strengthening the existing ones with due decentralisation of authority and planning. The tendency on the part of experienced personnel to shift from the district headquarters to the state secretariat for better career prospects has weakened the most important link in administration. This attitude should change if the districts, being the focal points of administration, were to emerge stronger. |
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It is easier to make war than to make peace. — Georges Clemenceau |
Tread with caution NOTHING characterises the importance of careful preparation for summit meetings more than the differences in our approach to the Agra and Islamabad summits. The Agra Summit was marked by wishful thinking, devoid of pragmatic assessments, combined with inept handling of negotiations and disastrous media management by the then External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh. The Islamabad Summit saw some skilful negotiations that followed careful groundwork by National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra. External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Foreign Secretary Shahshank combined this with imaginative media management. They ensured that undue expectations were not prematurely aroused. Their attention remained focused on the positive outcome they hoped the SAARC Summit would yield on issues ranging from the establishment of a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) to enhanced cooperation on terrorism and the finalisation of a charter for cooperation on social issues. Mr Sinha’s arrival in South Block has mercifully resulted in pragmatic emphasis being placed on economic diplomacy. The additional protocol on terrorism that was signed in Islamabad is basically a reaffirmation of the provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, that came into force after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. It has symbolic importance. It could serve as a basis for us to move towards seeking the repatriation of the likes of Dawood Ibrahim from Pakistan and ULFA leader Paresh Barua from Bangladesh. It would, however, be meaningless if Islamabad and Dhaka chose to label such worthies as “freedom fighters” or pretended that they were not traceable on their soil. The Social Charter would be meaningful only if member-states implemented its provisions and allocated substantial funds for cooperative action. The most significant agreement signed at the SAARC Summit was one that will herald the establishment of a free trade area in South Asia by 2016. Implementation of this agreement could well be stalled for different reasons by Pakistan and Bangladesh, apart from the protectionist-minded bureaucracy that one finds in the corridors of Udyog Bhavan. It is imperative that New Delhi should persuade its SAARC partners to move along the same track that it is moving in finalising a Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN. We could then look forward to the vision of a vast space from Pakistan to the Philippines embarking on a common quest for prosperity flowing from Asian economic integration. Much will depend on how quickly Pakistan replaces its present restrictive “positive list” of items permitted for import from India, by a small but steadily dwindling “negative list”. It should be made clear to Pakistan that it can either choose to join this endeavour or watch it develop from the sidelines, through other multilateral forums like BIMSTEC. New Delhi would be well advised to prepare the ground for the forthcoming BIMSTEC Summit in Thailand that will bring together the leaders of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka in SAARC with Thailand and Myanmar in ASEAN in a forum that will foster stability and cooperation across the Bay of Bengal. Not surprisingly, our Pakistan-obsessed media sought to make the SAARC Summit yet another Indo-Pakistan soap opera. The Joint Press Statement that emerged after the Vajpayee-Musharraf meeting that followed some strenuous backroom diplomacy by Mr Brajesh Mishra reflects the need for both India and Pakistan to seek a process of enhanced engagement. Mr. Vajpayee has realised that the “feel good” factor that now prevails in India will be consolidated if he can show success in dealing with the challenges of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, as he heads for a general election. General Musharraf has found that his jihadis are both an embarrassment and a liability. Despite trying his best, he has not succeeded in preventing his erstwhile favourite jihadis like those in the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen from making common cause with and supporting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, as they battle the Americans in Afghanistan and along the Pak-Afghan border. To add to his discomfiture, revelations of Pakistan’s nuclear transfers to Iran, Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and North Korea are now receiving widespread international attention and concern. The Americans have obviously read out the riot act to Pakistan. Perhaps the most positive measure that General Musharraf has announced is his readiness to reopen the Indian and Pakistani consulates in Karachi and Mumbai. He has obviously responded to the pressures from the MQM. New Delhi would be well advised to respond positively to this offer and even assist in providing suitable accommodation in Mumbai, while seeking Pakistani assistance to speedily restore Indian buildings that have been vandalised and virtually destroyed in Karachi. Any India-Pakistan normalisation has necessarily to be premised on enhanced people-to-people contacts and greater trade and economic cooperation. Finally, one has to inject a note of realism about how accident-prone Indo-Pakistan relations can be. New Delhi will have to carefully assess whether General Musharraf’s assurance that “he will not permit any territory under Pakistan’s control to be used to support terrorism in any manner” was the result of compulsions flowing from international pressure, or the conviction that that the support of the ISI for all sorts of terrorist activities in India and elsewhere has led Pakistan on the road to disaster. While General Musharraf has stated that Kashmir has to be resolved by looking beyond “stated positions” and “meeting halfway somewhere”, he has also kept open the option of reverting to jihadi terrorism. In an interview to the BBC, he indicated that the present developments were premised on “moving forward” in a dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue. It would be naïve to believe that there can be any quick or dramatic solution to a problem that deeply touches the national psyche of both countries. The Islamabad Summit presents new opportunities and challenges for Indian diplomacy. We would do well to remember that Pakistan is going through a volatile period of political transition. Old habits die hard. The jihadi mindset that has characterised the Pakistan military establishment’s thinking ever since the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 will not disappear overnight. While one hopes that things would change for the better in Pakistan, it is best to reinforce such hopes with military preparedness that gives India a decisive qualitative edge and with diplomatic realism. Our media would do well to remember that policies towards India are not made by the panwallahs of Lahore, or by civil society institutions in Pakistan, or even by Pakistan’s “elected” politicians. They are crafted at the Army’s GHQ in Rawalpindi, where General Musharraf resides. The writer is a former High Commissioner of India to Pakistan |
Pagans and parks IF you wish to understand the human bond with nature, you won’t find a better laboratory than the sprawling parks in Panchkula. This bond is more visible in the morning, before the sunrise to be exact. You can see the cavalcade of walkers converging on the Town Park for a couple of rounds on the walkways and then merrily settling down on the benches, waiting for the sun to appear in the east. All of them look towards the top of the Morni Hill which seems to hide the cave out which emerges the furnisher of light and heat and energy. As soon as they notice the chariot of the fire glorifying the hill, the pagans of the town either go in a trance or just hold hands and offer obeisance. I find some of them quietly chanting the requisite shlokas to welcome the mighty sphere. When the chariot is fully up in the sky they bow and depart — to congregate the next morning. My wife and I have been observing some of these sun-worshippers for over two years that we have been here after our relocation. In those 40 years that we spent in the academia, in the company of sceptics and cynics, we seldom came across such a solemn ceremony in the morning. That the sight could be so uplifting we never visualised in those anxiety-ridden years. Not that the campus has no pagans but they prefer to perform their rituals in the privacy of their homes than be out there in the parks saluting the life-saver. The pagans with whom we are living after retirement come in diverse outfits. While most of them are smartly dressed in T-shirts and shorts, some sport kurtas and pyjamas and walking sticks. Personally I like the ones with sticks for they look more self-assured and majestic. Even otherwise the town teems with animals who have yet to find a suitable shelter. Pets are not allowed in the parks but the stray blackies and brownies love to play some games on the turf. Invariably on the benches on which rest some of the walkers, at their feet sit some homeless canines wagging their tails. I once asked a senior pagan with a stick how much time he spends in the morning walk. “Well, nearly two hours I invest in the workout,” he remarked. He added that after walking for 10 minutes he invariably met someone with whom he would like to discuss some matters. So they always moved towards an empty bench for a relaxed conversation. While sitting there for an hour they would wait together for the sunrise. And then would follow some analysis of different ailments and their remedies. While he was telling me about hypertension he pointed to some fellow walking bare footed on the dew-laced grass. What pills can’t do, this walk does, he said. Many a time I am tempted to take off my Nikes and socks and run on the wet grass but the comment of a friend, a medical genius, stops me in my tracks. Whenever we meet I ask him some basic questions like whether one should drink water with a meal or not. And he says that one should drink water when thirsty, meal or no meal. And on this walk on wet grass he had only one thing to say: if you like to suffer from some skin infection, walk by all means. Only freaks, he said, wore shoes without socks and walked on dew-soaked grass with bare feet.
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Move to ban the turban in France
Your excellency, President Chirac
AS one of the 25 million Sikhs
worldwide, and as a soldier-writer who from time to time centrestages issues concerning his community in
India, I would wish you to kindly reconsider the proposed legislation banning the turban in government schools and offices in your country. The law banning the turban in schools and offices worn by 7,000-odd strong French Sikh citizens is not only minority-unfriendly,
but also totally unfair, unwarranted and violative of the fundamental and religious rights of the fledgling community of the Sikhs. The French, your Excellency, who have taught the world the true meaning of liberty, equality and
fraternity, cannot now pass the legislation that commends just the opposite, in respect of one of the races of mankind which has in its short history played a chequered role not only in
India, but also came to your aid with its soldiery in the First World War on your home soil. Permit me to explain a little Mr President, my own Cavalry regiment, of which I am one of the Patrons and a former Colonel Commandant, Hodson’s Horse or 4 Horse as it is now officially called, has for its services rendered within your country earned for itself the Battle Honours of Cambrai, Somme, Flers-Courcelette and France and Flanders. Sikh soldiers from my regiment in their splendid turbans and riding sturdy steeds broke through the enemy lines to win the day’s bloody honour, and I would commend to your Excellency a visit one day to the battlefield of Cambrai so that you would see for yourself how the gallant soldiers from my regiment died fighting on your soil for liberty and independence of the human race. These soldiers then, and much later in the Second Great War, fought with their turbans
on, and then your country accepted them with open arms, and even honoured many. The United States
today, and even as far back as 1917, has had turbaned Sikhs in its Army,
as was the case in respect of Bhagat Singh Thind. The British have turbaned policemen and soldiers on their rolls from time to time. If today Mr President you pass this legislation in your
schools, what would happen to your Sikh students? Would they be not forced to cut off their long hair, and stop wearing a turban? And later when they grow up, would not your legislation have “killed” the turban? This surely as per your own Constitution Mr President, is a discrimination of a kind, and such a law would not only make your Sikhs second-class citizens, but also in the long run affect turbaned visitors like me to your
country, either on a short visit or even while commuting through your
land. With this legislation, in a couple of decades, if not earlier, one would not be able to see a turban in the whole of France. Mr President, the Sikhs do not wear a turban, as another would don a
hat. For us, the turban is not a headgear either to be put on or taken off at
will, but a part of us that completes our whole being and body. As opposed to a headscarf that men and women wear in many Muslim
countries, the Jewish skullcap or the large Christian Cross, we Sikhs have been given no latitude in our religion to be turbanless. And Mr
President, you surely have had turbaned Sikh diplomats resident in Paris, and so while you accepted them, there would be little reason in denying an equal privilege (or shall we call it a right) to your own Sikh youth, who when they grow up could well be aspirants for your foreign service. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, a former ruler of the Sikhs, had a number of senior French officers in his classless Army, but did not force them to wear turbans, which he could well have done. There is no justification now with your law-makers to go after the turban in public or private places in France, on similar reciprocal lines. For the Sikhs the turban provides a distinct identity, as this turban is not tied either in the Iranian or the Pakistani Mullah style. Our turban with our beards, (the Muslims shave off their beard but still may wear a turban), provides us an identity, which post 9/11 has become a virtual necessity for us so that we are not confused with the Muslim community. I am also very certain that a turbaned Sikh is not any threat to the “national cohesion” in your country, as is being propagated by many in France who are bent on pushing this law through. One has heard feeble voices in our country on this issue, and the Chairman of our National Commission for Minorities and Mr S.S. Mann, MP, are I believe seized of this problem. But nothing seems to have come out of their
pleas. With the French Sikhs planning a demonstration in Paris shortly,
and even reportedly taking up the case of the turban to the European Court of Human Rights, is it possible, Mr President, for you to very kindly have another look at this discriminatory and totally avoidable legislation before the Sikhs the world over lose their faith in the French who are famed for their independence and true sense of justice. A law passed today in your country could also one day make its appearance all over Europe, creating untold hardships for the Sikhs. Please give us justice. Yours sincerely, Maj-Gen Himmat Singh Gill (retd), Chandigarh, India |
NWFP party quits MMA
PESHAWAR: The NWFP chapter of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) has parted ways with the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and also announced to resign from the Nifaz-e-Shariah Council and all other committees in the Frontier province. The party’s provincial president Awais Ahmed Qadri has said that the ruling MMA in the Frontier province has been constantly ignoring his party in all important matters, particularly in the Senate byelections on the vacant seat of the late Shah Ahmed Noorani. He says the MMA had been dominated by the JUI (F) and the Jamaat-e-Islami, and there was no place for smaller parties in the six-party religious alliance, which was established for a sacred cause. The central government, especially the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid), played a dirty game during the Senate byelection but the central leadership of the MMA took no notice of this, Mr Qadri said, adding that the MMA leaders also did not raise this issue with The central government while holding talks on the LFO.
— The Nation
Tribesmen against
Taliban
ISLAMABAD: Tribal elders have declared their support to the ongoing operation against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda remnants. Hundreds of elders of the Ahmed Zai Wazir tribe, in a traditional
Jirga (assembly), also announced to take action against those who would shelter the Taliban and Al-Qaeda suspects. The jirga was also attended by a Member of the National Assembly, Maulana Abdul Malik, who belongs to the MMA. All the elders of the Ahmed Zai tribe vowed not to shelter any member of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the area. The
Jirga decided to take strict action against any foreigner found in the area. The elders have also met the local officials to declare their support to the military operation.
— The Nation
Raid at Punjab
madarsas
LAHORE: Widening their scope of investigation into attacks on President Pervez Musharraf, law enforcement and intelligence agencies raided several religious seminaries in Punjab and picked up about three dozen suspects. The raids were carried out on the seminaries at Lahore, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Bahawalnagar. Policemen were deployed at the seminaries in Lahore after the raids, but officials denied the raids and arrests. Sources said the raids were conducted on information gleaned from some suspects already in custody. "We strongly condemn the raids," Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Information Secretary Riaz Durrani told The Dawn. Describing the action as unjustified, he said scores of innocent people had been picked up.
— The Dawn
Irregularities in
privatisation
LAHORE: The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) has alleged irregularities in the privatisation of Habib Bank Ltd. Deputy information Secretary Munir Ahmad Khan has said the second biggest bank of the country has been privatised without even giving reserve price before the bidding process. Smelling a rat in the swift acceptance of the Agha Khan Foundation's over Rs 22 billion bid, he said the Privatisation Board and the Cabinet committee approved the deal within minutes the same day, notwithstanding a Canadian company's offer of Rs 35 billion for the bank.
— The Dawn
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I place my head at the feet of all human beings and I am all sacrifice to all the names ascribed to You. — Guru Nanak Mere knowledge of God is not going to be of any use to us. Unless we make it a part of our life, it is not going to help us in any way. We cannot be successful in our lives. — Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh In the fullness of spiritual realisation, a person finds that the God who resides in his heart resides in the hearts of all — the oppressed, the persecuted, the lowly, and the untouchable. This realisation makes one tremble. — Sarada Devi There is nothing on earth worth being known but God and our own souls. — Bailey It is one of my favourite thoughts that God manifests himself to mankind in all wise, good, humble, generous, great and magnanimous men. — Lavater |
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