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Partners in progress Bye-bye POTA |
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Drive against terrorism
How to become good neighbours
Service of sterling quality
Paswan breaks off with Laloo Chatterati
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Partners in progress INDO-US relations entered a new phase on Saturday when Washington lifted the curbs on the export of equipment for nuclear facilities in India. This will help in building the right atmosphere for the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush in New York this week. With this, most of the sanctions imposed on India following Pokharan II have been lifted. It marks a turning point in the “strategic partnership” the two countries have forged. In January, then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Mr Bush had chosen a step-by-step approach to removing all the vestiges of the sanctions. Saturday’s decision shows the US trusts India’s non-proliferation credentials, though it is not a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty (NPT). The US would not have found any difficulty in taking India’s assurance that any equipment or technology transferred to it would never fall into the hands of “rogue states” at its face value. Nuclear technology is not something new to India as it demonstrated its nuclear prowess at Pokharan in the mid-seventies. Today, three decades after the cataclysmic event, nobody can accuse India of having entered into any clandestine deals on nuclear know-how. India’s civilian nuclear and space programmes stand to benefit from the decision. High-technology trade will also get a boost as the lifting of the curbs will facilitate technology transfer from European and other countries. Since the imposition of the sanctions in 1998, India has been facing problems in importing “dual use technology” which has application in both civilian and military use. Over the years, in its bid for self-sufficiency, India has developed alternative technology — not to mention its achievements on the Information Technology front — which the US can benefit from. Those who feared that the “strategic partnership” might encounter problems because of the change of government in New Delhi have been proved wrong. There is greater realisation that India and the US can enter into a mutually beneficial partnership without sacrificing their individual positions on a host of issues — domestic, regional and international. This is what is expected of mature democracies like India and the US. |
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Bye-bye POTA THE repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) was a foregone conclusion when the United Progressive Alliance came to power at the Centre. The Congress and the Left parties had opposed its enactment forcing the then Vajpayee government to call a joint session of Parliament for this specific purpose. Few other laws have in recent times evoked as much criticism as this one. Its peculiar provisions like putting the onus of proving innocence on the accused, compulsory denial of bail and admission of confessions before a police officer as evidence were anti-democratic and militated against all the core values of the justice system the country follows. The BJP considers the enactment of POTA as a major achievement in the fight against terrorism. However, there is no conclusive evidence that the law has helped the government in its fight against militancy. Instead, there is clear evidence that it became a tool in the hands of the government for settling scores with its opponents. The arrest of MDMK leader Vaiko highlighted the misuse of the law by those in power. Instances of invoking the Act against minors and women were not few. This forced even its greatest votary — the BJP— to bring about amendments in the law to make it less draconian. The idea at present is to strengthen the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, so that it can deal with all those accused of terrorist acts. This will ensure that the terrorists hauled up under POTA do not go scot-free. There is no doubt the government has shown sensitivity to public opinion in the case of POTA. But this would make no sense to the people in the Northeast, particularly Manipur, who have been relentlessly protesting against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, which is more draconian and has fewer safeguards than POTA. They are bound to see the repeal of POTA and the retention of the Armed Forces Act as discriminatory and contradictory in nature. This will further alienate them from the so-called mainstream. To prevent such a denouement, the Centre should have a re-look at the Act as it did in the case of POTA. Let there be no discrimination between one draconian Act and another. |
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Drive against terrorism Despite the distrust between India and Bangladesh, Dhaka seems to be now agreeing to cooperate with New Delhi in the fight against cross-border terrorism and insurgency in the Northeast. This is apparent after the Home Secretary-level two-day talks on security issues that concluded in Dhaka on Friday. Not only that, Dhaka has also agreed to examine the Indian proposal for an extradition treaty aimed at preventing terrorist masterminds and insurgents from using Bangladesh territory for creating trouble in India. India had been complaining to Bangladesh for a long time that ISI-sponsored terrorist outfits and insurgents active in the Northeast had been allowed to set up their bases in that country which was not in the interest of good neighbourly relations. Recently India gave to Bangladesh a long list of such organisations, but there was no positive response from Dhaka. Instead of giving a thought to India’s demand for dismantling the terrorists’ infrastructure, the Bangladesh Foreign Minister made a statement saying that indulging in a “blame game” would take the two countries nowhere. It seems Dhaka has had second thoughts and changed its stance. It is better late than never. But merely reaching an accord is not enough. The significance lies in its implementation, which may come about only after Bangladesh acknowledges the truth that it has become a sanctuary for anti-India forces. In any case, the agreement reached between the Home Secretaries of the two countries is a good beginning towards tackling the menace of terrorism and insurgency. The extradition treaty, if it becomes a reality, may make it easier to nab insurgent leaders like United Liberation Front of Asom chief Paresh Baruah. The fairly porous border with Bangladesh has been helping terrorists and insurgents in escaping the arms of law. India should now hope that the situation will change for the better. This will be in the interest of not only India but Bangladesh too, as terrorists are nobody’s friends. |
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In every parting there is an image of death. — George Eliot |
How to become good neighbours The Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan met on September 5 and 6 after many years. Their agenda virtually dated back to 1997 when eight subjects were identified by the two countries’ Foreign Secretaries for negotiations. There was little progress between 1997 and January 6 this year. After January, when fresh negotiations began, the dialogue has gone on as planned. The Foreign Minister-level talks did not make any breakthrough. However, the two countries agreed on 14 confidence-building measures and sending back the rest of the items on the agenda to the committees that had first debated them. There is advice to be patient. This is fair enough. But some questions arise. Granted that it is a long, arduous journey, one is entitled to ask whether there is any agreement on the destination. Is there a common goal? The stated purpose is normal, good neighbourly relations. But this can encompass a wide range of possibilities. Take Germany and Poland. They had almost normal relations until last year, but now they have a much closer relationship as European Union members. An inspiring goal is needed for faster progress. The Foreign Ministers’ Delhi encounter has disappointed many in Pakistan because of the slow pace of the dialogue. A common vision of where the two countries want to go is necessary: the nature of domestic policy change and the desired dispensation in the external sphere should be spelled out. This is crucial as merely “normal” relations carry no urgency for a change in one’s priorities and purposes. The question is: Where does Mr Natwar Singh want to take Pakistan, or what does he require from it? The same is true for Mr Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri. What would he want India to do or be, besides agreeing to act in Kashmir the way his government wants? There is complete silence on these questions. The accepted goal of most Indians is to see their country emerging on the international stage as a great power. India’s military capabilities, including its nuclear weapons — the currency of power and influence — are calculated to achieve national grandeur. The goal should now be more specific after the decision to lock India to a strategic relationship with the US. There is no certainty regarding Pakistan’s goal. Every ruler — mostly military dictators over long stretches of time — used Islamic rhetoric but acted as America’s henchman, making the country a US satellite. It still is. The national cause used to be the “liberation of Kashmir from Indian occupation”. Today another military strongman is impatient for a negotiated solution of Kashmir – one that India can live with. He has given India the choice from a notional menu of possible solutions. He has given up Pakistan’s old stance of a UN-supervised plebiscite. He is anxious for a solution acceptable to India, but it should come about quickly. Pakistan realistically lives in the present, taking one tactical move vis-à-vis India after another. But it has no independent vision for the country and the people — not even an Islamic vision. Factually, Pakistan has always tried to cut India down to size and acquire protection and aid from Uncle Sam. But India kicked at Pakistan’s crutches by making New Delhi a “strategic” ally of Washington. The US has now apparently ordained peace in South Asia. That may be an explanation for President Musharraf’s eagerness for any kind of settlement on Kashmir. Anyway, India and Pakistan have to live together. Most Pakistani moves in Kashmir, including the armed insurgency called jihad, have failed. Pakistan has nothing much to fall back upon; Islamic rhetoric was useful to dictators, and the western world did not mind it. But after 9/11 General Musharraf had to make a U-turn on the Taliban and militant Islam. He is forced to propagate “enlightened and moderate” Islam. But he has also given a slogan: “Pakistan first”. This can be stretched into a philosophy of making humane economic development the first priority and purpose. General Musharraf appears to be going down this lane. For, it will involve demilitarisation of Pakistani society and economy. Anyway, Pakistan is in difficulties. India has rendered the relationship with the US non-exclusive, and India’s value to the US is much greater. Its Kashmir policy having ended in a blind alley, Pakistan has to find a role as a second-class power sans cold crutches. Playing an independent world role is beyond it; not even Britain or France can sustain it. The change in Sino-Indian relations has deprived Pakistan of the exclusiveness of its relationship with China. Hence a profound confusion over a role. The Pakistanis have so far displayed two contradictory traits. Basically they feel insecure vis-à-vis India. And yet, they are proud to be the inheritors of the Indo-Persian civilisation – that is shared with India. All these 57 years of being a US satellite and a failed democracy have profoundly shaken the Pakistani intelligentsia. The rise of militant Islam as also terrorism are the symptoms of falling back on whatever they can lay their hands on. They need a new role or paradigm for domestic and external policies. A people-to-people reconciliation with India, in accordance with the Franco-German model, involving close political and economic cooperation, should revive their spirits. A wide-ranging India-Pakistan relationship, preferably within the SAARC framework, can be a potent factor. It will be going back to one’s civilisational roots. It can release their energies for all-round economic and cultural enrichment. In short, what India will have done is to help Pakistan – and one dares to say the same about Bangladesh – acquire a new paradigm, poise and purpose. This may sound utopian. Perhaps, it is. One wishes to make it even more utopian by recommending a European Union-like India-Pakistan partnership. Nuclear weapons are a major hurdle. They are a big destabilising factor; for they create a profound mistrust among the rivals. While the purpose of Indian nukes remains theoretically vague, Pakistan’s are aimed at only India. So long as these nukes are there, it is impossible for India and Pakistan to trust each other. This problem has to be tackled head on and made a part of the reconciliation and partnership programme. When this is done, the door to a relaxed and self-confident friendship and cooperation will open. It will also last. |
Service of sterling quality Service provided by many establishments is so dismal that one wants to have a heap of brickbats at hand to fling at them. That is the reason why when there are some exceptional cases meriting bouquets they stand out particularly prominently. Here is an account of a couple of them. I had an occasion to move from a nearby town to a London suburb ‘A’ and before leaving I requested my bank to shift my account to ‘A’. A few weeks later I wanted to draw some money (£ 50) and visited the bank at ‘A’ to get a chequebook and the money. The man behind the counter had a quick look at his register and said: “I am afraid no account of yours has come to us”. Then he added, “Wait a moment, Sir, let me check up. Perhaps your account has by mistake been sent to our branch at ‘B’ a couple of miles from here”. So he picked up the telephone and talked to ‘B’. “Yes”, he then said to me, “that is what has actually happened”. “And here are the £ 50 your require: we shall take care of the formalities on our own”. Thus there was no fuss, no delay and not a scrap of writing; and my money was in my packet. In the second case also it was a bank which came up trumps. My wife and I were in London and had to go across to the Continent at short notice. So we went to our bank and said we were flying out the next morning and needed some travellers cheques in a hurry. We got the cheques in a matter of minutes and then spent the entire day shopping and seeing some friends. We returned home only at about 6 in the evening. About half an hour later a stranger — a lady — rang the bell of the house. She explained she was from the bank and had tried to contact us earlier but found we were not at home and so she had come now. The reason, she said, was that when the travellers cheques were given to us there had been a serious omission and the cheques were not rubber-stamped as they should have been. And without those stamps we would have had difficulty in encashing them. As the bank knew we were flying out the next day they had asked her to bring the rubber stamp to us personally and to authenticate the cheques for us. That we were highly impressed with the concern shown by the bank would be an under statement. We were no entitled to any special treatment at the hands of the bank and were just ordinary account-holders with them, and in fact did not even know any of the staff there by name. In spite of that the bank had gone so much out of its way to help us. I suppose these banks did not need to learn anything more about the art of keeping their clients well-satisfied.
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Paswan breaks off with Laloo
THE political alignment in Bihar seems to be poised for a change once again. After having hedged on it for a while, Ram Vilas Paswan has now made his intentions clear: he will not be with Laloo Prasad Yadav for the February, 2005, elections for the Bihar State Assembly. And it is now for the Congress to choose between his Lok Janshakti Party and Laloo Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal. True, the grand alliance between Mr Yadav and Mr Paswan in which the Congress too was accommodated in the April-May 2004 general elections was based on short-term goals. It was the desire for selfpreservation rather than the lofty idea of secularism that got the two leaders to bury the hatchet. And then, such facts that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) managed to garner a majority in the Lok Sabha and there was enough room for both Mr Yadav and Mr Paswan in the Union Cabinet helped them and their apologists in the media to project it as though the unity was based on a common programme. This façade could have been maintained for a longer period. But then, with only six more months left before the State Assembly elections are held in Bihar, there was no time left for such ideological niceties. Mr Paswan, with all his political acumen, could not have lost track of the sharp polarisation of social groups for and against Laloo insofar as Bihar is concerned. And unless he was willing to remain Laloo’s fellow traveller and play the second fiddle, the imperative for him is to position himself as an alternative to Laloo. To be fair, Mr Paswan has not even attempted to conceal his desire to emerge as a leader in his own rights. This was why he broke away from Laloo Yadav in 1997. And it was no mean achievement for him to have held on to his constituency — Hajipur — in the 1998 general elections. He won the seat despite Laloo’s concerted efforts then to defeat him. Similarly, Mr Paswan was not prepared to let Sharad Yadav lead him. And that was why he floated his own Lok Janshakti Party in 2002. His clout was evident when Laloo Yadav gave him as many as eight out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in April-May 2004. The party won four out of that. There was no way he could have remained in Laloo’s company particularly when that would have meant lending his political clout to sustain and perpetuate the RJD in power even after February, 2005. The comforts of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers cannot be his end-game! By talking aloud that his party would contest the Assembly polls as a separate entity, Mr Paswan has clearly indicated the possibility of a third front in Bihar. He has also conveyed, in so many words, that the Congress was welcome to join him as long as it agreed to call off the deal with Laloo Yadav. Mr Paswan has also sent similar signals to the Janata Dal (United), particularly its ranks, to join this project after dissociating with the BJP. In other words Paswan is now wanting to position himself from where he could stake claims to the throne in Patna after February, 2005. While six months are too long a time and it is possible that the political contours change drastically, a realignment of this nature and a role for a third front in Bihar cannot be ruled out now. And Paswan’s gamble, in this context, depends on (1) The Congress deciding to take the bait and agreeing to part company with Laloo Yadav; this will save Manmohan Singh from putting up with Mr Yadav and by extension with Mohammed Taslimuddin. The Prime Minister, as things stand, will not mind this. And (2) the Janata Dal (United), with or without Sharad Yadav conceding to rally behind Mr Paswan. This will depend on Nitish Kumar’s political priority. In the event of these, a third front will be a reality in Bihar and also a potent force. It is a fact that Laloo’s clout, based as it was on the perception among the OBCs, has waned in the past few years and this was evident in successive elections since 1998. And if the RJD’s worst ever performance in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls (when Laloo Yadav lost Madhepura and the party had just 7 MPs) did not translate into its rout in the February, 2000, Assembly polls, it was because the Congress managed to poach into the anti-Laloo vote-bank across the State. The Congress party had polled 11.06 per cent of the votes in the February 2000 Assembly elections. A couple of percentage points higher than its voteshare in the 1999 polls, the Congress was seen as reinventing itself in Bihar then. More so among the upper castes which was seen as wanting to return to their old party after having been with the BJP since 1995. In its present state of despair, the BJP is indeed in its weakest stage in Bihar. The BJP’s strongholds, in any case, are in Jharkhand now. Northern and Central Bihar were not the party’s strongholds even otherwise. The potential for such a third front will also depend on the extent to which the polity in Bihar is conducive for a social churning on the lines of Uttar Pradesh. In other words, whether at least a section of the upper castes will concede the political leadership in the State to a Dalit? The polity in Bihar, like in Uttar Pradesh, has been home to a socio-political alliance between the upper castes and the Dalits. The Congress party’s strength had been its ability to manage this alliance. And Jagjiwan Ram’s presence in the party helped this in a big way. These are, however, stories from a distant past. In recent times, a chunk of the Dalits have rallied behind the CPI(ML)-Liberation, particularly in Central Bihar. Mr Paswan’s project to position himself in the Bihar context rather than remain where he is now will depend on all these and also the extent to which he will be able to poach into the mass base of the CPI(ML). The radical left in Bihar has indeed achieved a large measure of success in piercing the veil of caste identity and bringing the class question to the fore. And this was behind the BSP failing to establish in Bihar. It remains to be seen asto whether Mr Paswan will make a difference particularly when the potential for a third front to emerge is real in Bihar. |
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Chatterati Her steely gumption The Steel Secretary proved her mettle at the inauguration seminar on minerals, metals, metallurgy and materials. This exhibition was to be inaugurated by Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. At the last minute he excused himself and sent his speech to be read out by his Secretary Binoo Sen. Of course Ms Sen promptly got up not to read out the minister’s speech but to say that the audience may be disappointed as she was not there to read out the minister’s speech but to share her own thoughts with all present. The audiences applauded this lady who seemed so fit for her post of Secretary for the Ministry of Steel. Now this is steely gumption, no doubt, but I do wonder what the minister thinks of this snub. Real people on
the ramp
Our leggy, anorexic looking models may be out of work soon. Getting real people on the ramp now seems to be the new mantra in the Capital. Well, having celebrities walk the ramp is fun, as it looks more real. Especially, when our ladies are so well kept and groomed and they look fuller which is definitely in vogue now-a-days. They lend a certain grace and spunk to the event. A cognac-guzzling crowd witnessed these ladies on the ramp, who were not at all self-conscious or unconfident of their catwalks. Theatre person Lushin Dubey, TV producer Anita Kaul Basu, wife of quiz master Siddharth Basu were all there with their practiced jhatka-matkas. Former Miss India Nikita Anand and the most sought after dietician now a days, Shikha Sharma who has a clientele following from the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to all our behenji’s and bhai jis from Ludhiana, Batala. Salman Rushdie’s new wife Padmalakshmi was present here who would have gone unnoticed if such a ‘hoo-haa’ was not made about her presence. The evening was appropriately called “Precious People”. Now, when you have so many celebrities it’s quite obvious everything gets delayed. Strange, but our ladies played Antakshari in the meanwhile exercising their rusted vocal cords to kill time. These gutsy ladies did all this for charity.
A family show
I love this new family business called “Politics”. In the coming byelections in U.P, the distribution of the tickets has become a family saga of sorts of brothers, sisters, in-laws, loyalists’ wives and girlfriends of party leaders given preferences over party cadres. The tendency, which now cuts across party lines, has expectedly led to considerable resentment among party workers. Surprisingly the Samajwadi party and the BJP been voicing opposition to such dynastic practices! In Uttar Pradesh, MP Kalyan Singh’s son is already a sitting MLA. Now his wife Premlata will also fight for the MLA seat his father
used to stand for. Isn’t that great? Also, there is former Minister Baleshwar Singh who has lost out to Rajnath Singh’s protege Sunita Duggal while Kesari Nath Tripathi has preferred his trusted lieutenants. The Samajwadis have fielded Nandita Shukhla, who’s a widow of one of their MLAs. In Maharashtra too former Chief Ministers Sharad Pawar and Shinde want tickets for their sons or sons-in-laws and outlaws. Govinda wants a ticket for his nephew and MPCC president Prabha Rao for her daughter and Gurudas Kamat for his nephew. A full-fledged family tamasha no doubt. How things change! At one point of time they firmly believed in the socialist philosophy and strongly criticised dynastic tendencies in politics. |
Boast not of youth or friends or wealth; Swifter than eyes can wink, by Time Each one of these is stolen away. Abjure the illusion of the world And join yourself to timeless Truth. — Sri Adi Sankaracharya Come, dear sisters! Come my bosom friends! Come and clasp me in your embrace; and let us sing together the glories of our Omnipotent Lord. — Guru Nanak Sing with Bhakti the hallowed ‘name’ of the Lord, and the mountain of your sins will vanish, just as a mountain of cotton will burn to ashes and disappear if but a spark of fire falls on it. — Sri Ramakrishna Meditation is the final gateway to reality. All spiritual practices take you up to this gateway. The different courses purify your mind of your wordly thoughts and desires. They prepare you, qualify you for concentration and meditation. — Swami A. Parthasarathy |
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