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Who was afraid of Yadav? Conservatives win in Iran |
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Plumb assignment
Sermons on nonproliferation
Hum Sab Hindi Hain!
Film stars on the BJP poll wagon Pak handicrafts expo in
Delhi From Pakistan
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Who was afraid of Yadav? IF the flotsam and jetsam of politics gravitate towards the ruling party, which is keen to come back to power, it is no surprise. Having campaigned vigorously against those who organised the pogrom against Muslims in Gujarat, Arif Mohammed Khan has suddenly found virtue in the Sangh Parivar. Former MP Lakshman Singh has found the fig leaf of an excuse to join the BJP when his brother and former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh is down in the dumps. As elections approach, there will be more such worthies knocking on the BJP doors in their search for greener pastures. For a party which wants to expand its electoral base and likes to have a comfortable majority in Parliament, it has chosen to ignore norms while admitting new members. Even so, admitting D.P. Yadav was the pits. The only good thing about the whole episode is that the BJP did not stick to its decision to have him on board. He was shown the door on the fourth day of his admission to the party. If anything, it is a measure of public opinion eventually prevailing over the ruling party. While this is a welcome development, it is a matter of concern that the party which once upon a time claimed to be different from others had no compunction in admitting him when he faces a number of criminal cases, though he may not have been convicted so far. But more than that, D.P. Yadav, like his namesake Pappu Yadav in Bihar, represents a phenomenon in politics which law-abiding people — if not political parties — find repugnant. It is called criminalistion of politics. Far from recognising this reality and not touching D.P. Yadav even with a bargepole, responsible leaders of the BJP were trying to find non-existent virtues in him to justify his induction. Thus, one of them suddenly found that he had read Jawaharlal Nehru’s Discovery of India and had visited the US. Another compared him to dirt that becomes amrit when it reaches the sea of the BJP and is churned by its leaders. Yet another found that he had become pure once he took bath in the Ganga that is the BJP! They would have continued on and on to glorify Mr Yadav if the media had not made it a big issue, making it uncomfortable for the BJP leaders, who had kept silent for four long days. Were they afraid of Mr Yadav? Didn’t the BJP leaders know about his curriculum vitae? |
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Conservatives win in Iran PARLIAMENTARY elections in Iran never generated as much world-wide interest as they did when the country went to the polls on Friday. The reason was the bitter fight between the forces of reform and moderation and those of conservatism and the status quo. The world outside, particularly the West, was obviously on the side of the reformists, but this helped the conservatives, organised under the banner of the Coalition of Builders of Islamic Iran, to sweep the elections, securing a comfortable majority in the 290-member Majlis. Yet they are not satisfied because the reformists, led by President Khatami, have scored a moral victory in the form of the lowest voter turnout — less than the 1980 lowest figure of 53 per cent — in the 25-year-history of post-revolution Iran. The significance of the poor voter participation also lies in the fact that Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, besides other senior members of the clergy, had been asking people to cast their votes in large numbers to defeat the “enemies of Iran” — the Americans, the Zionists and the others seen in their company. They fired the first salvo against the reformists when the Guardians’ Council debarred over 2000 of their opponents, including many sitting members of parliament, from contesting the elections. They also took advantage of the strong anti-US and anti-Israel feelings among the people. But the conservatives have been careful not to ignore Iran’s economic problems — the front on which the reformists failed miserably. They have promised to revamp the ailing economy, without which they know they cannot keep their following intact. They have also rejected the use of “violence or force” to enforce Islamic regulations which are likely to come. What the new government will ultimately do remains to be seen, but the change in the conservatives’ attitude makes one hope that they will respect the sentiments of their own people and the international community. Whatever their beliefs and convictions, they must know that Iran cannot live in isolation in today’s world. |
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Plumb assignment YESTERDAY the British media reported Dr Karl Gensberg's strange decision to put his Ph.D in molecular biology in the trash bin in favour of a career as a plumber. At about the same time our HRD Ministry unfolded a proposal for producing trained masons, plumbers, electricians, etc, for improving the earning potential of the blue collar segment in the country. Lack of "certifiable" training was identified as a reason why "low skill" workers were paid less in India. Ask Dr Gensberg and he will say that Dr Murli Manohar Joshi is "plumb" right. What the molecular biologist-turned-plumber does not know is that the man who inspired him to switch jobs, when he came to fix a leak, is himself not earning as much as he could. The scholar changed jobs because he was making only £ 23,000 a year while the plumber managed a more attractive annual income of £ 43,000. There is a massive demand for plumbers in the UK. An experienced plumber has the potential to earn up to £100,000 a year. When Dr Gensberg is through with mastering the art of fixing leaks he should study the mind-boggling dimension of the revolution that has taken place in the low-end career market in India. The street-smart segment was quick to realise that it doesn't pay to be a scholar or a pen-pusher. It reinvented and repackaged a range of jobs that were done by those born in the families of "darzi", "nai", "bawarchi" and "bhaand". They are now called fashion designers, beauticians, chefs and entertainers. The "nawan" and her art of massage, pedicure, manicure and beauty treatment are dead. Enterprising housewives charge hefty sums for offering the same range of services. The first Indian non-nawan today heads a multi-crore international empire of body care products and beauty parlours. There can be more money-spinning ideas for the men of intellect these days, only if they choose to take the plunge. |
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Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone? — James Thurber |
Sermons on nonproliferation SHORTLY before leaving for Islamabad on my assignment as High Commissioner to Pakistan, I called on Dr Avul Paker Jainulabideen Abdul Kalam, then Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister. I had expected that Dr Kalam would be glowing with pride about the Pokhran nuclear tests and our missile programme. What transpired instead was a discussion in which Dr Kalam made it clear that what he wanted was peace and amity with Pakistan. He indicated that while nuclear weapons and missiles were essential for India’s security, the fundamental aim of diplomacy was to see that mutual confidence was enhanced and missiles and nuclear weapons never used. It was precisely such thinking that lay behind the decision in the Lahore Summit that India and Pakistan would devote considerable attention to nuclear and conventional CBMs and agree on advance notification of all missile tests. What surprised me most on reaching Pakistan was the total absence of knowledge there about the destructive potential of nuclear weapons and a juvenile belief that the threat of use of nuclear weapons should be freely used to attain political objectives by constantly harping on the theme that Kashmir was a “nuclear flashpoint”. I was fascinated to read a recent analysis by Abdullah el Madani, an Arab scholar resident in Bahrain, describing how Dr Kalam had risen to fame in India, while Pakistan’s “Father of the Islamic Bomb”, Abdul Qadeer Khan, had brought his country to the verge of disaster by his involvement in providing nuclear weapons technology and design to countries like Libya and Iran. Madani says that Dr Kalam had a humble background and “sold newspapers for buying books”. He mentions that apart from a visit to the US in 1963, Dr Kalam gained his knowledge entirely from India’s educational and scientific institutions. He was a product of “India’s well-established secular, democratic system, in which opportunities to climb to the top are ensured to every citizen”. It is in this context that Dr Kalam “dedicated his knowledge and efforts for his country and people, rather than being prejudiced towards the Muslim minority in India or towards other Muslim countries”. Madani pays tribute to Dr A.Q. Khan’s burning desire to succeed in a country that lacked educational institutions of excellence, necessitating his proceeding to Germany for his higher education. It was his specialisation in metallurgy that led him to gaining easy access to the URENCO enrichment facilities in the Netherlands — a plant set up by the UK, France and Netherlands to end American monopoly on uranium enrichment. It was Khan’s burning hatred for India that led him to join Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in a quest to develop the “Islamic Bomb” in Pakistan, by stealing designs and manufacturing data from the URENCO plant, in what was undoubtedly the most audacious exercise in theft and smuggling of components for nuclear enrichment. Madani characterises Khan as an opportunist and egotist, obsessed with personal publicity. He concludes that Khan’s behaviour and actions are attributable to the “system and ideology” of his country. He adds: “Under Zia Pakistan witnessed an unprecedented drive towards Islamisation and Islamic solidarity. Khan’s proliferation activities thrived in an atmosphere wherein fundamentalism and corruption found their way into the military establishment, the apparatus controlling Pakistan’s nuclear programmes, leading to the prominence of Generals linked to extremist groups.” While Israel and India have been circumspect about their nuclear weapons, and India has a clearly enunciated and transparent nuclear doctrine, Pakistan made the cardinal mistake of using nuclear weapons as an instrument of political blackmail, by repeatedly harping on the theme that unless India and the world community met its demands on the Kashmir issue, Kashmir would remain a “nuclear flashpoint”. This combined with its proliferation activities and the contacts that its nuclear scientists had with Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaida have frightened the international community into believing that not only is Pakistan prone to irresponsible use of nuclear weapons but is also bent on passing nuclear knowhow to “rogue states” and terrorist organisations. Pakistan is thus set to face growing international pressure to make its nuclear activities more transparent. Ironically, no one in India has been unduly impressed by Pakistan’s nuclear bluster. There is recognition here that the Pakistan Army is not suicidal and will resort to nuclear weapons only if the very existence of Pakistan is threatened. This, in fact, has been made clear by the head of Pakistan’s Strategic Forces Command, Lt-General Khalid Kidwai. As India and Pakistan prepare to hold talks on nuclear-related issues, New Delhi should insist that before we talk of “nuclear restraint”, Pakistan should enunciate publicly what its nuclear doctrine is. We should also insist that Pakistan eschews irresponsible threats about Kashmir being a “nuclear flashpoint”. Pakistan’s transgressions on nuclear proliferation are now largely out in the open. It sold nuclear technology and materials for uranium enrichment to Iran. It peddled the designs and materials for manufacturing nuclear weapons to Libya. It got engaged in a transfer of missiles for uranium enrichment capabilities with North Korea. There are also credible reasons to infer the existence of a “nukes for oil” deal between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Middlemen from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany and a host of other countries were involved in these deals. But perhaps the mother of all proliferators has been China that supplied Pakistan with nuclear weapons designs, ring magnets to sustain its enrichment programme and a wide range of missiles violating every provision of the so-called Missile Technology Control Regime. How does the so-called international community deal with these transgressions? The Netherlands bases its security on a NATO nuclear umbrella provided the US, France and the UK. Living under this nuclear umbrella it then proceeds to pontificate and sermonise to others, including India, about the virtues of nuclear abstinence and the nonproliferation treaty. It allows Khan to purloin the designs of its nuclear enrichment facilities and then acquits him of charges of theft. The Americans pontificate to India about nuclear export controls, using this as a pretext to prevent hi-tech transfers. They then remain silent about the laxity of Dutch, German, British and Swiss export controls. American nonproliferation warriors like Under Secretary of State John Bolton and his predecessors in the Clinton Administration roar like a lion while charging Libya, Iran and North Korea with violating nonproliferation norms, become silent when the name of General Pervez Musharraf comes up and finally squeak like a mouse when they deal with China. Does not the phrase “double standards” aptly describe such
behaviour? |
Hum Sab Hindi Hain! ALL good things of life carry a price tag. Invariably, these are bad for health. Sometimes, even illegal or immoral. Regardless of all this, good food continues to be my weakness. I am a compulsive eater. And I have the evidence to prove it. The bulge around my belly is the only curve in my body. Most of all, I like a hearty breakfast. A four-egg omelette with green chillies and spices. A crisp toast or stuffed paratha. And a large glass of fresh juice to water down everything. All these combine to make a perfect menu for my morning. Totally satisfying. And luckily, God has always given me more than a fair share. But nothing lasts forever. Change is the rule of nature. And God is a good accountant. After all, it is not essential that everyone must have three meals a day. A large majority of our people do not get even two square meals. In fact, more people die of overeating than of starvation. There was no reason for me to be an exception. God has His ways. I was transferred. From North to South. I was happy. After all, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, India is one. We live under one flag. Sing one national song. Have one national language. So, a transfer should provide a good opportunity to learn and share. I was really looking forward to it. Soon reality stared me in the face. Communication with the help at home was almost impossible. And to add, my wife and daughter had suddenly felt homesick. They decided to leave me alone. Before I could comprehend the situation fully, they were actually gone. I was left at the mercy of dear Devi. He is a good boy. Happy. Helpful. Smiling. But he would not understand my Hindi. I could not follow his English. Yet, we managed. At heart, we were quite happy with each other. However, he was present only during his duty hours. The day of the departure was uneventful. The absence had almost gone unnoticed. I had come back from work. Got my cup of tea. Also the dinner. Even my sleep. But the next morning was a different story. I had got up as usual. Worked at the table. At about 9.15 AM I got up to get ready and leave for work. While shaving, it dawned on me that I was alone. Devi’s duty was in the evening shift. I had to give instructions for my breakfast. So, despite the shaving foam on my face, I came out. Shouted “Koi hai?” Even rang the bell. Soon a young man appeared. I did my best to tell him to get some BREAD — double roti. And in a moment, he was gone. Almost sure of a good breakfast, I went in for my bath. A few minutes later, I stepped out. He was standing at the door. But he had brought no bread. Instead, a packet of blades. Apparently, he had not missed the foam on my face. He handed it over to me. And the expression on his face clearly indicated that he expected a pat for the quickness with which he had returned. So, I had to even hide my disappointment. Hum sub Hindi hain! Is it
not?
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Film stars on the BJP poll wagon
THIS is the triumph of reel hype over real experience — of a party that led the country’s first successful coalition government for a full term and more succumbing to the celluloid charms of celebrities instead of relying on its own performance to win an election. So we have a parade of has-beens, wannabes and would-bes from cinema and television being wooed and won over by the BJP to campaign and contest. Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Suresh Oberoi, Juhi Chawla, Jeetendra, are but a few of the legion climbing on to the poll wagon. “What’s wrong with film stars joining the fray?” runs the argument. After all you had NTR and before that MGR; and, elsewhere, Ronald Reagan and now Arnold Schwarzenegger. They have a right to jump into politics as much as a doctor or a lawyer. What’s happening up North now has long been the case in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Other parties too have had their share of actors, is the justification. The comparisons are as facile as they are odious. Doubtless, film and entertainment personalities have been in politics over the decades. They were political and their vision and values of a desirable social order made political activism a moral imperative. The Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) was the finest example of ‘entertainers’ joining the vanguard of political struggle. It was the social consciousness of legends like Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, Utpal Dutt, Balraj Sahni, Kaifi Azmi, Majroo Sultanpuri that made them take to politics along with other “progressive” streams of writers and artists. Most of them being “progressives”, they supported the Communists or identified with the “socialist” tendency within the Congress party. Of course, there were fellow-travellers and opportunists too who, in later decades, went on to make political profit by toadying to the Congress, especially during the Emergency. The nexus between film and politics as it prevails in Tamil Nadu today is rooted in power politics. It is one undesirable outcome of a historic social movement, the objectives of which were usurped for electoral gains by sectarian and parochial politics. The scene in Tamil Nadu, where MGR anointed Jayalalithaa as his political heir, has little to do with the self-respect movement initiated by the Justice Party and sustained by Dravidian reformers like E V Ramasami Naicker. The DMK, an offshoot of the Dravida Kazhagam led by EVR, broke away with the avowed objective of entering parliamentary politics. It set out with egalitarian goals, including elimination of social and caste inequalities. In working towards its objectives, not only art in all its forms but every sphere of activity — cinema, theatre, script, lyrics, schools, colleges, universities, newspapers — were infused with the DMK ideology. Ideologues, writers, journalists, playwrights, orators and cadres were all trained for agitprop at its most effective. The lure of power and the venality that came with electoral politics eventually made the DMK jettison its proclaimed ideals and the social experiment ended in the emergence of a Frankenstein. The objectives of the movement have been long forgotten. What remains is one of its vehicles — cinema, which is no more an agent of social change but the establishment’s handmaiden. What should be remembered is that the cinema-politics link had its origins in a larger social movement. Despite the travesty of Tamil politics, the DMK and AIADMK are products of a politico-cultural process that cannot be replicated. The case of N.T. Rama Rao, who rose to stardom and popularity by playing mythological roles in films, is in a class by itself. Andhra Pradesh, home of revolutions and uprisings, had remained a Congress stronghold but neglected nevertheless. Even during the 1977 Janata Party wave, the state, which witnessed some of the worst atrocities and a large number of “encounter” killings, returned only one non-Congress candidate, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy who later became President. The 1978 split in the Congress did not weaken the party’s grip, making the high command more arrogant. Chief ministers were changed at the drop of a hat and one of them was humiliated in public by the PM’s son, Rajiv Gandhi. That wounded the state’s pride and 60-year-old NTR seized the moment to test his political fortunes. But he had to work and work very hard to defeat the Congress. Once in office, he was no less authoritarian or repressive than Indira Gandhi or MGR. But he had created a formidable political force that took shape as a party, thanks to Chandrababu Naidu who proved an able enough manager on the ground while his father-in-law was the vote-getting star in the firmament. The film stars piling on to the political stage for the coming elections can hardly lay claim to any such larger motivations. On the contrary, habituated to attention-grabbing, they simply do not want to be away from the scene of action, even if it is not their kind of scene or action. Had they been actuated by the urge for participation, then neither they nor the BJP leadership would be making such a song and dance about their coming on board. But the fact that they are being embraced as a glamorous brigade of celebrity brands does little credit to the party or these new political performers. This is politics as commerce and the make-believe nature of such participation dumbs down the level of campaigning and campaign issues. Instead of dealing with the real issues that are crying to be debated and voted upon, the voter is being served images he sees on big and small screens. An artiste who rendered a performance glorifying the Emergency subsequently cosied up to some stalwarts of the Janata Party soon after 1977. Unable to swallow the endless criticism of her “opportunistic” political dalliances, on one occasion, she burst out: “What have I done wrong? Artistes have always danced to the tune of the rulers. Why blame me alone. Who else can look after us and our financial problems?” Few were moved by her tears. She, at least, had the virtue of
candour. |
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Pak handicrafts expo in Delhi A splash of colour marking India’s traditional festival of Holi will be a highlight of the mega Pakistan expo to be held in Delhi next month. Around 75 exhibitors are expected to participate in the first “Made in Pakistan” expo to be held from March 3 to11 at the Talkatora stadium and garden. Organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and its Pakistani counterpart, the show will “have around 75 entrepreneurs — both men and women — showcasing a range of wares in 115 stalls”. Though the organisers plan to have more cultural events to coincide with the expo, uncertainty lingers about how many Pakistani delegates would finally get visas. A cultural evening with ghazal maestros Ghulam Ali and Jagjit Singh at the Siri Fort auditorium and a trade conference on March 2, ahead of the expo, have been finalised so far. Handicrafts like onyx giftware, carpets, dresses of phulkari and chikankari embroidery, a range of textiles, jewellery and handcrafted shoes and light engineering goods like fans and coolers will be on display at the expo. To boost bilateral trade between India and Pakistan, all steps are being taken in both countries to speed up security checks and other formalities for early issue of visas to exhibitors and delegates, he said. The expo will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and FICCI plans to charge a nominal entry free from visitors. The success and roaring sales at the international trade fair held in New Delhi in November has encouraged many among the Pakistan delegates to participate on a bigger scale in the exhibition.
— IANS
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From Pakistan THE Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said that it cannot guarantee visas to non-Pakistani cricket fans who managed to buy tickets for the coming cricket series against India. This is in sharp contrast to Tuesday’s news report in which the country’s Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat had promised to arrange visas for all Indian cricket fans who purchased tickets. According to a report in The News, on Tuesday, the day when the PCB began online ticket sales for the series, the Board made it clear on its website for non-Pakistanis that the purchase of tickets online did not mean that a visa would be made available. However, the PCB said that ticket holders intending to travel to Pakistan must consult with the nearest Pakistan Embassy/consulate/travel agent regarding visa requirements. It also made it clear that the personal data submitted during the purchase of tickets would be shared by the PCB, and could also be passed on to the law enforcement authorities for security checks. Further the Board website said that an individual could reserve up to 10 tickets per match through a credit card. The reserved tickets could be collected from a designated booth at the respective ground between three days before or on the day of the match, the website said adding that the buyers have been advised to present order confirmations and a copy of ID card while collecting tickets from the booths. The websites on which tickets are available are: http://pcbtickets.cricket.org, http://pcb.cricket.org, www.cricinfo.com.
Karachi crying
for cricket The Indian cricket board’s decision of not playing Test matches in Karachi and Peshawar during the coming series against Pakistan has saddened the cricket lovers in these two cities. The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) had taken the decision of not playing any Test matches in these cities while keeping in mind the violence unleashed by Muslim fanatics in the recent past, and also the fact that some of the international teams had refused to play at these venues. Announcing the decision a couple of weeks ago, BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya had reportedly said that Karachi had a history of ethnic violence and bomb blasts, while Peshawar was close to Pakistan’s volatile border with Afghanistan. Karachi, a city of over 12 million people, continues to remain under the red mark as far as the world, particularly the West, is concerned. For example, it is still the most dangerous city in the country for the US, following the suspected suicide bombing at the US consulate general and the kidnap and slaying of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi, the report concludes.
— ANI
Scientists to move SC Lawyers representing the six detained nuclear scientists and officials on Tuesday said they would appeal to the Supreme Court after the applications for their release were rejected. A two-judge Bench of the Lahore High Court on Monday dismissed the petitions after the government said the detentions were necessary to stop the leaking of nuclear secrets. The petitions were filed by close relatives of the six, who were all associated with the Khan Research Laboratory. The government told the high court that the six detainees were directly or indirectly responsible for leaking nuclear secrets.
— Dawn
Military action
opposed Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidery on Tuesday warned the government of stiff resistance if it did not change its policies. He expressed these views at a Press conference here. He regretted that a police squad led by SP Special Branch Shahid last night raided a madarsa in Rasool Park and arrested a religious scholar. The police also raided his house and humiliated women and family members.
— The Nation
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The way to rise out of our ego-centred consciousness to the divine plane is through the focussing of all our energies, intellectual, emotional and volitional on God. Then our whole being is transformed and lifted up into the unity and universality of spirit. — Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in The Bhagavad Gita To spiritual insight, Nature’s forces are not purely natural: they have supernatural being and guidance. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya By hearing the word Men learn of the upper and nether regions, of islands and continents. — Guru Nanak The highest religion has been defined by a negative word: Ahimsa — Mahatma Gandhi There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. — George Santayana |
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