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Terrorism defined Simmering discontent |
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Children of Bhopal
Sonia has no charisma
The empty bottles of ....
Road safety for a better world
DEFENCE NOTES
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Terrorism defined IN the folklore of the Naxalites, Arwal in Bihar is the equivalent of Jalianwalla Bagh in Punjab. This tiny hamlet in Jehanabad district in central Bihar shot into the limelight when the police killed over a dozen landless labourers in the mid-eighties. The area was enclosed like Jalianwalla Bagh, which prevented many of the victims from running to safety. Since then, there have been several incidents of violence in and around Arwal, where Naxalites and caste senas flex their muscles. In one such incident in November 1988, a group of Naxalites looted the Arwal police station. When they were challenged by a raiding party, two Naxalites and the officer who headed the police team were killed in the crossfire. Eighteen of them were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment under various provisions of TADA, the precursor of POTA, the Arms Act and the Penal Code. The Supreme Court has now upheld the punishment. What is noteworthy about the judgement is not only the large number of people who have been convicted in one go but the attempt the court has made to define terrorism. Such a definition was central to the case as the accused had argued that they were not terrorists but agricultural labourers. They wanted to take advantage of the lack of definition of terrorism in the defunct Act. While disallowing the plea, the court said, "If the core of war crimes - deliberate attacks on civilians, taking people hostage and killing of prisoners - is extended to peacetime, we could simply define acts of terrorism veritably as peacetime equivalents of war crimes". Defining terrorism is, in any case, a difficult exercise as one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Nonetheless, with the growing global awareness about the menace of terrorism, there have been attempts to view terrorism in a new perspective that does not allow any leniency to those who take the law into their own hands. The apex court's definition is elastic enough to include every organised criminal activity. It will allow the lower courts to take a harsh view of terrorist crime. While this is welcome, the fight against terrorism will be effective only if no distinctions are made between terrorists of different hues like the red, green and saffron. |
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Simmering discontent NEPAL is bleeding itself so severely that soon it may become a "failed state". That will be a heavy price to pay for the eight-year-old Maoist conflict and political uncertainty. For too long the Himalayan kingdom has been functioning in a political vacuum which was eminently suitable for the growth of Maoists who found the situation ripe for a violent uprising. What the rebels claim to be fighting for is a "republican state through a constituent assembly", but their actual aim seems to be to grab power. The inept handling of the situation by the political parties and King Gyanendra has brought the country to such a pass. Capital Kathmandu is under a state of siege with political parties bringing normal life to a standstill while agitating for the restoration of democracy which was snuffed out by the King when he dismissed the caretaker Sher Bahadur Deuba government in October 2002. The King is thus fighting on two fronts and finds himself in a no-win situation. He can take on the Maoist rebels only if he has the support of the political parties, but he has burnt his bridges with them. Ironically, the more forcefully he runs the campaign against the rebels, the less money he has for the poor people of the country, and this brings about more discontent. The Maoists have started targeting India as well, perhaps in protest against the security assistance that it extends to Nepalese authorities. But then, India is always in the line of fire whenever something goes wrong in the neighbouring country. By torching Indian vehicles and shooting a truck crew, the rebels have only made life more miserable for the poor people in the far-flung areas because now it will be even more difficult for them to receive essential supplies. Cessation of hostilities and early elections are essential if the country has to be brought back from the brink. The Maoists also need to ponder that their struggle can only bring chaos to Nepal and power may elude them. |
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Children of Bhopal THE judgement by the Southern District Court of New York allowing Bhopal gas tragedy victims to seek monetary claims against Union Carbide and its CEO Warren Anderson for pollution-related diseases in the aftermath of the 1984 disaster has not come a day too soon. The ruling assumes special significance because even though the survivors of the disaster have been claiming adequate compensation for environmental pollution time and again, the authorities concerned have been turning a deaf ear. The US court has now ruled that the victims are entitled to be heard for disbursement of adequate relief and mitigating their hardship. It has also asked the Indian Government to approach it for medical claims from Union Carbide and the main accused, Warren Anderson. The Bhopal gas tragedy was one of the worst of its kind in the world. Such is the extent of the disaster that even after 19 years of the incident, most survivors suffer from chronic headache, gastric problems, breathing difficulty, skin disorder and growth retardation among children. Worse, there are reports of groundwater contamination and children (born after the tragedy) suffer from gas-induced diseases. Significantly, the US court has upheld the contention of the survivors that they have the right to seek “medical monitoring” from Union Carbide for injuries and symptoms related to environmental pollution following the tragedy. Unfortunately, in the absence of specific provisions in international law, the main accused, Warren Anderson, could not be brought to India and tried for culpable homicide. He fled soon after the incident and is still at large. Things would have been different had there been specific provisions in international law to deal with such cases. While efforts should be intensified to bring the guilty to book, the Centre should extend all possible help to the survivors in their legal battle for adequate compensation. The Centre and the state should also explore the possibility of removing and disposing of, at a suitable place, the 8,000 metric tonnes of toxic waste from the factory site as this is said to be causing considerable environmental damage. Thought for the day Falsehood has a perennial spring.
— Edmund Burke |
Sonia has no charisma NOW that Mrs Sonia Gandhi who had been silently grooming her progeny for electoral politics has come out into the open, the path of success to Parliament for Rahul and Priyanka seems to have suddenly become smooth. That’s, at least, the impression created by the media, and loudly touted by “the Queen Bee’s” humming satellites and other “courtiers” — a tribe that includes the Congress party’s political pundits, spin-doctors and ideologues, among many a pretender. This issue — dynastic or patrimonial politics, mystique and charisma — then assumes a menacing character in the face of the coming Lok Sabha elections. It is, therefore, important that since this mischief is now afoot, the baleful consequences of such a development are enlarged into a brief discourse. On the face of it, to talk of dynastic politics in republican democracies is anachronistic. As I hope to show, the main issue is really the hopeless colonisation of corporate consciousness. In the process, political mystique and political charisma are brought into play to confuse the imagination. Though the question of dynastic succession had started receiving some critical attention during Jawaharlal Nehru’s Prime Ministership, it really didn’t become a disturbing issue then. His radical and socialistic world-view militated against such an eventuality. However, how could he have seen the secret processes of Indira’s mind where she had been silently nourishing the dream of power? It was in the fastnesses of her heart that the dynastic ambition grew — and survived in a ghoulish form. I leave aside for the present her Machiavellian politics, for it was during her Prime Ministership that later proved the undoing of Mrs Sonia Gandhi who had kept her “Sphinx” smile to secure the cherished ends. It was a pernicious dream which was sedulously promoted by her cheer-boys and door-mats. The question of dynasty, inevitably leads to the question of Sonia’s foreign origin. It does not touch Rahul or Priyanka at this point, but her own case is different. However, much her “courtiers” may try to jump the issue, it continues to heap upon the public imagination with increasing force. Millions of eyebrows would continue to be raised until the question is squarely faced. Why did she pressurise Congress leaders to keep the Bofors wolf away from her door? For, in the end, her Italian origin and the profitable connection with the tainted Quattrochhi could not but affect her politics. Her family in Italy, supposedly, was deeply involved in the Bofors pay-off. In fact, the crisis faced by the Congress party over the controversy of Sonia’s dynastic succession had been simmering for quite some time, and it had to be suppressed in a forceful and dramatic way. It was this issue which compelled both Mr Sharad Pawar, then a candidate for Prime Ministership, and Mr P.A. Sangma, the Congress Lok Sabha Speaker earlier, to openly raise a banner of revolt and set up a new party. As later events were to show, the wily Maratha chieftain in trouble over coalition politics and changing loyalties had little qualms of mind to drop the issue of Sonia’s foreign origin. Pragmatic as ever, he parted company with Mr Sangma who had to choose his own path. He remained adamant, and decided to show his power in the eastern states, in particular. Another question: The high office of Prime Ministership requires a person of long, parliamentary experience and understanding. As chief executive of an ancient and vast land, with an evocative as well as troubled past, he or she has to show a knowledge of foreign affairs with all their complexities, and a broad vision that can take an overarching view of a difficult, complex world where the global map is continually changing in obedience to new compulsions. But Sonia, a Gandhi bahu, has little to show by way of her credentials. Being a “royal widow” is an accident, an irony of history. A great and proud nation can hardly expect such a person to steer the ship of our nation through troubled waters. She simply has no gravitas, no charm of personality to carry the nation with her. And if dynastic claim was the name of the game, how come Ms Maneka Gandhi and her son become political pariahs in Congress eyes: Indira Gandhi’s personal animosity and wrath, it appears, had not yet been dissipated. No wonder, Maneka was driven out of the charmed family conclave to join the NDA government. Undoubtedly, as things stand today, the Vajpayee magic has worked wonders for the coalition government. During his tenure as Prime Minister, the NDA government has scored several significant successes in a spectacular manner. In such fields as the rate of economic growth, in industrial output, in roads and communication, in agricultural stocks and prices, in diplomatic policies, in software, computer engineering, in swelling foreign currency reserves, in acquiring new sophisticated military hardware, in disinvestment, etc, the present government has left the Congress party wondering, and crestfallen. It has tried to pooh-pooh these achievements, but its economic pundits led by Dr Manmohan Singh have not been able to cut much ice. The Congress is, obviously, confused, and the India Shining show is beginning to hurt the party leaders and cadres. The Sonia Roadshow is a poor copy, a flop despite some showing in the states still in its control. Thus, the Sonia factor seems nullified now. She had sedulously cultivated, over the years, an aura of mystery, taciturnity, in accessibility to project a political persona in the Jungian sense. But, “the butcher problems of politics”, to quote Saul Bellow, couldn’t be overcome with this kind of lordly “distancing”. In the end, it alienated quite a few sections of the party, her weapon turning into an engine of her own discomfort. We began this piece to discuss the question of charisma in relation to the politics of patrimony. For, the entire argument of the Sonia camp boils down to the supposition that only a charismatic personality could carry the crown of patrimonial power. And such a gift is vouchsafed only to the elect few. Whatever, then, the case for Sonia’s apotheosis, it has to be seen how a theological concept has been bastardised to suit her drum-beaters. It’s not perhaps too well known that the concept of charisma which the German sociologist and thinker had elaborated implied a person blessed with “divine grace”. The expression has, Ipso facto, a huge moral and spiritual resonance. In India, perhaps the only person who comes closest to the Weberian meaning is Mahatma Gandhi. He was a political sage, and his vision subsumed both religious and secular strains. Nehru did, in his own way, have a unique charisma, and as a darling of the nation, he had earned a place of warm affection in the hearts of his countrymen. But to think of Sonia as a charismatic charmer is to strike a grotesque note. Her so-called charisma is a manufactured thing, an illusion fostered by her
partymen. |
The empty bottles of .... THE tip of the tongue tinged and twirled. The swipe of a drop of Black & White on the rocks in a tumbler, produced a sensation, teasing and tantalising, so different from the one by Black Knight to which the taste buds were wont. The former was Scotch and the latter, an IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor). The bottle of B & W had been bought for me from the Army canteen in May, 1971, by a Captain friend of the 10th Dogra, then stationed at Gurdaspur, where I was posted as an ASP. Its price was Rs 200, a princely sum those days. And it was my first brush with Scotch. Since then, whereas IMFL has been the constant companion like a dutiful wife, Scotch was hard to come by, available chiefly at parties hosted by NRI friends or neorich business class. A couple of bottles of Scotch brought by me on return from foreign sojourns were, however, consumed in quick time in the company of my friends. Some of them drank not only more than to their heart’s content, they, while departing, carted away the empty bottles too! What’s it that makes Scotch so very likeable and lovable? And, is it universally considered the best drink all over the world? It is said that in addition to the skill of the Scottish distillers and blenders, three natural elements have a profound effect on the unique flavour of Scotch — water, peat and climate. Water is probably the most important single factor, and a source of good, soft water has often decided the location of a distillery. Also, many distilleries and blending plants pipe their water supplies from distant mountain locks to ensure a consistent, pure, uncontaminated quality. Peat, which is used in the kiln in which the malt is dried, imparts a peat smoke flavour. The Scottish climate is particularly important at the maturing stage as the casks of oak in which the whisky is stored during the maturing period ‘breathe’ the Scottish soft air, mellowing the spirit. Irelanders do not so much like the Scotch whisky and prefer to drink their own brands. They claim superior knowledge in the art of distillation and blending, as it is the Irelanders who brought the knowledge to Scotland when they arrived there in the 5th century. In Irish legend, it is said that St. Patrick taught them the art. Desi brands of various countries have their own patrons and they must drink their desi to get the best “kick” in the world. One who goes to Goa would far more enjoy the Feni than Johnnie Walker. While in Scotland in 1986, we, 10 trainee-officers from India, visited a distillery and the blending plant. After having partaken of several pegs of the liquor at the complementary counter, and having felt quite heady, we met the manager and praised to him the high qualities of the Scotch whisky. He thanked us and asked us with a wink in his eyes: “Tell me, gentlemen, how is it that you folks in India drink more Scotch than we produce here in Scotland?” I didn’t speak out, but the answer flashed across my mind: “The empty bottles of the genuine Scotch whisky.” |
Road safety for a better world
Improving road safety involves identifying the risk factors that contribute to crashes and injuries, then identifying the interventions that reduce the risks associated with those factors. High-income countries were the first to motorise and now have the highest levels of motorisation. That is, they have the most motor vehicles and the most kilometers of road per capita and their populations travel the greatest distances per capita every year. These countries have much lower rates of death from road traffic injuries than do low-income and middle-income countries. Finland is a typical case. Over the past 30 years, its volume of road traffic has increased by 200 per cent, but its annual number of road traffic deaths has decreased by 50 per cent. It expects to continue improving its road safety record and achieve ever-lower numbers in the years ahead. Other countries such as Australia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and the US are in similar situation. Though motorisation at large scale came later to most low-income and middle-income countries, many of them have also been implementing road safety measures that address their own particular traffic problems. Malaysia has reduced its number of crashes and injuries by building highways specifically designed and reserved for motorcycles and mopeds and by requiring that they use daytime running lights. Ghana has prevented many road traffic injuries by introducing rumble strips, speed bumps and other traffic calming measures on roads where pedestrians are common. Bogota, Colombia, has reduced bus crash rates by providing dedicated bus lanes and convenient crossing for pedestrians at bus stops. If road safety has failed to be addressed comprehensively in the past, it is likely for two reasons. First, people take a fatalistic attitude. Since many of the risks associated with road crashes are entirely within our control, most crashes and injuries are preventable and, therefore, not entirely accidental. Secondly, people are not fully aware that road crashes do so much harm. Nor do they realise that many crashes can be prevented. The costs of road safety can be covered by savings on preventing crashes and injuries. The slogan for World Health Day 2004 is a reminder that we humans are good problem solvers if we put our minds to it. We can raise awareness and push for action. World Health Day 2004 is an opportunity for all of us to engage in both of these, at whatever level most concerns us. Following are some of the factors that are known to reduce the risks of crashes and injuries at these levels: Reduce exposure
to road traffic
Reduce crashes
Reduce the harm
after accident
How to reduce
post-crash harm
Courtesy: World Health Organisation |
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DEFENCE NOTES
HAVING opened its gates to the pharmaceutical companies at a recent meeting, country’s top secret defence organisation, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is now also wanting to market some of its other products and for that it has also gone “on air”. With its level of technology reaching great heights which has helped its produce even some food products, the DRDO has now also decided that the only thing it can achieve some success in marketing the products is through advertising. And it was no surprise to see one of its quality products “Leh Berry” juice being advertised on some of the TV channels. The advertisement about the juice, which is, of course, of top quality in taste also, is incidentally very well made. It no where mentions the name of the premier defence research organisation of the country except in the end where a one-liner reads, a product of the DRDO. It came as a pleasant surprise to many that the DRDO besides making the missiles, which gives a taste of the country’s striking strength, was also into making juices, which tickle the taste buds of the people. More important, the advertisement reflects the winds of change sweeping through the defence organisation.
Ointment for eczema After the neem contraceptive for women, the DRDO has also come out with an herbal ointment for eczema. Called as the Eczeointment, the ointment contains ingredients of 10 medicinal and aromatic plants mainly of the Himalayan region. It is prepared from ethanol isolates of eight plants, fixed oil of one plant, rhizome powder of one plant and volatile fraction of one plant in petroleum jelly. It is a polycomponent product with no dermal toxicity and side effects, explained a DRDO official. The toxicology of the product has been evaluated at ITRC, Lucknow and DRDE, Gwalior, and the product has been found to be safe. Clinical efficacy has been evaluated in collaboration with the District Hospital and
Ayurvedic Hospital, Pithoragarh. All the 50 patients put through the test with the disease in different phases and extents, having different clinical features, including cases with scaly psoriasis and lichenzed skin, recovered completely in five to 70 days with no side effects such as relapse of the disease was noticed. Any takers?
HAL’s all-time
record The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a Defence public sector undertaking, has achieved an all-time high turnover of Rs. 3,690 crore and a profit of Rs 445 crore during 2003-04. While the value of production achieved was Rs 3,655 crore, export performance improved by 107 per cent over the previous financial year to reach Rs 215 crore. The major highlights of HAL performance was the sale of two Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) — Dhruv, which helped it enter the global market, and one Dornier Do-228 aircraft to friendly countries. Some of the major products supplied by HAL during the year to the Indian armed forces were 13 ALH, eight twin-seater Jaguars and 28 upgraded MiG-21 Bis aircraft.
Doctors return from Iran After having served the earthquake-hit people of the Bam district in Iran, the Indian armed forces team of 64 personnel have returned to the country. Having treated as many as 50,000 patients over the last three months that the team has been there, the personnel returned after having established not only their personal goodwill but also after flying high the Indian Tricolour. The team was expected to stay there for just about 15 days but ended up staying there for more than three months — the longest by any of the medical teams which were rushed to the district after a devastating quake hit the country late last year. |
The senses have been conditioned by attraction to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant: a man should not be ruled by them; they are obstacles in his path. — Sri Krishna (in Bhagavad Gita) The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. — Psalms There is but one God. His name is Eternal Truth. — Guru Nanak The union of the soul with the supreme is complete only when it is a union with Him in His universal immanence as well as in His featureless transcendence. — Sri Aurobindo |
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TODAY is World Health Day. The slogan for this year is “Road Safety is No Accident”. Improving road safety requires deliberate efforts by government and its partners.