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Musharraf’s loud thinking Taj corridor scam |
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Not a rosy picture
Tussle over CM’s chair
The end of a story?
Death to the defiant From Pakistan
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Musharraf’s loud thinking President Pervez Musharraf is given to springing surprises. And New Delhi cannot be faulted if it is feeling irritated or amused at what he has said at his Iftaar party. The General wants to "identify the regions (in Jammu and Kashmir), demilitarize them and change their status". The new status that he has in his mind is either "independence" or "India-Pakistan joint control" or governance under "a UN mandate". Jammu and Kashmir, in his opinion, has seven regions with two of them being with Pakistan. Factual discrepancies aside, no one knows how a sensitive subject like Kashmir can be discussed in public, particularly when India and Pakistan are engaged in a composite dialogue process with Kashmir as one of the issues to be resolved. In other times New Delhi might have loudly protested over what President Musharraf has done, but apparently it does not want to foul up the atmosphere for dialogue at this stage. His "food for thought" cannot, however, be taken as a serious offer. How could any government in New Delhi ever think of discussing the redrawing of the boundaries which is what the General apparently would like to do if he had his way? Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made it clear during his meeting with General Musharraf in New York last month that redrawing the boundaries was ruled out. General Musharraf has, however,
significantly admitted that Pakistan’s official stand on Kashmir is
"neither sustainable nor practicable". This means that he
has come to realize that the so-called UN resolutions on plebiscite
are dead and cannot provide a solution. The overwhelming participation
in the elections by the people of Jammu and Kashmir, despite the
threat from terrorists, too might have forced him to recognize the
current realities. Hence his stress now is on coming out of the box to
settle the dispute which has caused three wars between India and
Pakistan. It could be that his trial balloon is primarily aimed at
making the audience at home to begin examining various options on
Kashmir. The Iftaar party loud thinking was perhaps an exercise in
acquiring some flexibility for dealing with India and telling to his
people that the old rigid positions were no longer valid. |
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Taj corridor scam Amazingly, the CBI is taking a long time to investigate the Taj corridor case. Though it informed the Supreme Court that it had found "no evidence" against Ms Mayawati, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, in the Rs 175-crore scam, Solicitor-General G.E. Vahanvati’s report to the apex court reveals the extent of her disproportionate assets and unaccounted money. She has allegedly received "donations" worth Rs 305 crore and owned 82 immovable properties. Surprisingly, even sweepers, hawkers and rickshaw-pullers are among the donors to the bank accounts operated by her and her family. The CBI should probe thoroughly and expeditiously whether there is any linkage between her assets and possible kickbacks received by her in the scam. This is important because she is among the 11 main accused in the scam where bribes had been taken from a private company to clear the contract for the project. Equally amazing is the CBI’s reluctance to share with the Uttar Pradesh government the evidence collected by it on the involvement of Mr P.L. Punia, former Principal Secretary to Ms Mayawati. Mr Punia said that it was on her instructions that he had noted her approval on the file. The Mulayam Singh Yadav government has recommended to the Centre the dismissal from service of former State Environment Secretary R.K. Sharma and the stoppage of pension and gratuity benefits to former Chief Secretary D.S. Bagga. But this is not enough. The ends of justice will be met only if all those involved in the scam are tried and punished. The Taj corridor issue has exposed
the role played by top bureaucrats, including former Union Environment
Secretary K.C. Mishra. Far from upholding the principles of integrity
and transparency that officers holding high positions are expected to,
these bureaucrats displayed an excessive eagerness to circumvent the
law and do the wrong things, obviously at the behest of someone very
powerful. It is this nexus that the CBI needs to probe to ferret out
the truth and bring the guilty to book. |
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Not a rosy picture How does the mid-term credit policy unfolded by the RBI on Tuesday affect individuals? It may lead to an increase in interest rates for housing and consumer loans, though competition may drive banks to delay the hikes as also to keep them for the shortest possible duration. The RBI has raised risk weightage on personal loans and credit cards. This means to extend the same amount of a loan a bank will now need more money. At the same time, housing loans up to Rs 15 lakh have been given priority sector status. Small farmers can now get loans from private banks also, while small entrepreneurs’ loan limit has been raised to Rs 1 crore from Rs 50 lakh. The picture of the economy the RBI presents is less than rosy. The central bank has scaled down its previous estimate of GDP growth for the current fiscal to 6-6.5 per cent from the previous 6.5-7 per cent, while the inflation forecast has been raised to 6.5 per cent. This has been attributed to high oil prices in the global market and a less-than-expected growth in agriculture due to a deficient and delayed monsoon. By raising the repo rate (the rate at which banks lend their surplus funds to the RBI), RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy hopes to suck out excess liquidity from the market. Earlier, the RBI had raised the CRR (cash reserve ratio) for the same purpose. Will the RBI achieve its aim:
controlling inflation without hurting growth? If the oil prices
continue to surge or even stay at the present level of $50 plus a
barrel, the government will have no alternative but to raise the
domestic oil prices, thus pushing up inflation and, consequently, the
interest rates. So far the government has successfully managed the
high oil price challenge. Agriculture is another deciding factor. If
after less-than-normal kharif crops, the rabi produce meets
expectations, the growth target can be met. The recent corporate
results have been encouraging. Private investment, though not up to
the desired level, is not altogether disappointing. In sum, the
economy is delicately poised. |
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He is the very pineapple of politeness! — Richard Brinsley Sheridan |
Tussle over CM’s chair AT the time of writing on Wednesday evening, the squalid and painfully prolonged standoff between the Congress and its coalition partner in Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), over power sharing was continuing. Both sides were asserting, however, that the matter would be finally resolved later in the night. But then exactly the same promise has been made on each of the preceding four days. According to informed sources, on two major issues a deal has almost been clinched. The NCP has reluctantly conceded the office of Chief Minister to the Congress that has, somewhat gruffly agreed to let the NCP have two Deputy Chief Ministers, instead of one, as in the past. In such matters, however, the Devil is always in the details, which explains why an announcement of the settlement is being held by an all-out scramble for portfolios. In any case, even assuming that the agreed package is unveiled, the question is: would it matter? Neither the fact of the agreement having been reached nor its content can undo, any time soon, the incalculable damage the two allies have done to themselves by staging a dismal drama over the last 11 days that was only occasionally interspersed by low comedy. The two sides have not just wiped off the shine from the Democratic Front’s impressive and unexpected victory at the polls. They have also fouled up the atmosphere to a degree that a smooth functioning of the new Maharashtra ministry would be extremely difficult, if not well neigh impossible. Moreover, the rival and vanquished combination of the Shiv Sena and the BJP would be foolish if it fails to make the most of the shoddy situation that is promising from its point of view. The speech of the new BJP president, Mr. L. K. Advani, foreshadows a vigorous attack on the Congress allies while the "wounded Tiger" heading the Sena, Mr. Bal Thackeray, is already growling. Neither the NCP nor the Congress can be absolved of the blame for the tawdry tussle. But any objective observer of the scene is bound to concede that the culpability of the Congress is much the greater. Its utterly inflexible position on retaining control of the Chief Minister’s chair despite the changed situation after the assembly election was particularly shoddy. In the end, the Congress may have won its point but it hasn’t enhanced its prestige. The Congress party’s position as the NCP’s senior partner in Maharashtra was based on a mutually agreed formula according to which the Chief Minister’s post was to go to thelarger of the two parties. Thus it was that Mr. Vilasrao Des mukh first and later Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde occupied that chief ministerial gaddi. Even after election results presaging a Congress-NCP victory had started coming in, Mr. Sharad Pawar, the NCP supremo, was telling the wide world that the Chief Minister would be from the Congress because that party, having put up more candidates, was bound to emerge the largest single party. However, as soon as he discovered, to his delight, that in the neck-and-neck race for numerical superiority, the NCP was ahead of the Congress by two seats, he immediately took a U-turn. He suddenly demanded that, based on the formula evolved in Maharashtra in 1999 (and repeated in Karnataka earlier this year), the office of Chief Minister must go to his party, indeed his nominee. He can surely be faulted for having gone back on his earlier rhetoric that the Chief Minister would be from the Congress if it gets fewer seats than the NCP". But, strictly on principle, he was on firm ground. In this day and age, when everyone is mouthing sanctimonious platitudes about "coalition dharma", the right thing for the Congress to have done was gracefully to concede Mr. Pawar’s demand and ask for some countervailing concessions from him. But, alas, that is not how either the Congress or the polity in general works in this country. The once grand old party immediately prevaricated and brazenly changed the rules of the game. At the same time, it indulged in what tax-evaders always do — juggling and fudging the figures. Since the three members of the CPM had won as allies of the Congress specifically, it argued, the "real" Congress tally was 72 and thus one more than that of the NCP! Unfortunately for the Congress, the Marxists put paid to this puerile ploy by announcing that they were no party of the unsavoury struggle. Apparently determined not to let go of the office of Chief Minister under any circumstances, the mini-Machiavellis negotiating on behalf of the Congress changed their stance and came forward with new arguments, most of them specious, self-seeking and indeed downright disingenuous. For example, they said that the two parties had gone to the polls together and therefore the electorate’s mandate was in favour of the outgoing team, headed by Mr. Shinde, whose claim to the Chief Minister’s gaddi was therefore indisputable! By this time the disgraceful haggling had descended to such low depths that, of all people, the CPM general secretary, Mr. Harkishen Singh Surjit, returning home from abroad, did not co ceal his disgust and, in fact, accused the Congress of being "power hungry". As always, the truth hurt but made no difference to the Congress party’s resolve to hold fast to the Chief Minister’s office. The key question is why has one particular chair in the Mumbai Mantralya become so overpoweringly important to the Congress that was in the Opposition in New Delhi in1999 but is back in power at the Centre and is therefore in a very strong position? Sadly, the answer can be summed up in one word: Money. Maharashtra is the wealthiest state of the country and Mumbai is its financial and commercial capital. In an era when election costs are burgeoning all the time and therefore the need for party funds, to say nothing of the personal greed of the fund collectors as well as other holding positions of power, is also constantly on the rise, the loss of office of Chief Minister in Maharashtra could impede and reduce the flow of funds into its coffers. The NCP’s demand for
"lucrative" ministries and departments as a price for
surrendering the office of Chief Minister to the intractable Congress
is equally revealing. No wonder, the tug-of-war has been particularly
acute over the Urban Development potfolio that enables the builders’
mafia and venal politicians literally to mint money. |
The end of a story? HE wrote some two hundred short stories. Nearly all of these were published. A good many of these were compiled into a book and lot many went on air to the delight of the Indian expatriates in England. Yet, the most interesting story escaped his pen — the story of his own struggles. Perhaps, writing one’s own story is a real tedious task. This, in some way, involves elements of embarrassment, hesitation and also personal ego - one always feels that if one is worth a story, the others should write it. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the celebrated Urdu poet, when once asked to pen a picture of himself, finished it in just three lines. He could not think of himself beyond being briefly a Colonel during World War II. It is strange that he found nothing much writing about his own life, though every life if deftly described in all its emotional intensities, situational intricacies and pulsating experiences can win you the Booker’s prize. Coming back to my friend who wrote in the pen name of ‘Premi’, he had his roots in a wealthy family in what is now Pakistan. His parents lost their lives to their wealth and he himself, then a baby, got whisked away to the safety of Kapurthala by his mother’s mother. He always had artistic inclinations and eventually his scripts and stage performances brought him considerable acclaim. The then ruler of Kapurthala and late Gobind Ballabh Pant applauded his talent. More importantly, however, his appearances on the stage won him his wife — a lovely lady from Bengal who was to stand by him through his struggles right till the very end. In 1967, the Premis decided to migrate to England and landed at London with just five pounds in pocket and two kids in tow. The adventurous family, however, had an over-powering urge to come good in the new land and had no desire to end up as labourers in British factories. It is said that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Putting faith in their abilities and sweat of their brows, Mr Premi and his wife soon moved from factories to decent white collar jobs. They then turned their attention to the career of their kids. The years ahead continued to be a saga of struggle that saw both of their sons landing with high academic qualifications and top management jobs. They may not have gone the way of Lord Swaraj Pal, Mittals and Hindujas, yet they hold a position that could be envy of many a British. All of a sudden, Mr Premi died last
year like a soldier with his boots on. Thus ended a manly life, full
of meaning. But did it? First, I wondered whether that was all to a
life. Now, I feel his story lies safely wrapped in the two hundred odd
stories that he has left behind and it shall live on.
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Death to the defiant
Two months later — on September 22, 2004 — the 15-year-old-girl, Neelam, was dead, allegedly killed by her own father and uncles for bringing “dishonour” to the family. Rajesh, the 17-year-old boy she eloped with, is a Bairwa, a Dalit, while Neelam’s family is Gurjar, a dominant caste group. Women’s organisations and human rights activists who have taken up the case of Neelam’s honour killing are demanding protection of the right to choice. Tragedies like these, they say, can be checked or prevented if there is legal and state protection of the right to choice. The activists are demanding that a special cell be set up in the women’s commission for this purpose. Rajesh was in police custody when Neelam was killed. The police had arrested him in a case of abduction lodged by Neelam’s family after the couple eloped. Still a minor, Rajesh has been detained in a juvenile home but even so, he is likely to be tried for rape. Rajesh’s family has been living in terror ever since the elopement. After the abduction case was lodged, the police picked them up for questioning. The Gurjars had gone to the police station and threatened to kill them as soon as the police released them, says Rajesh’s father, Girdhari Bairwa. In effect, the local police has played along with the prevailing power structure in the area. The police did not register an FIR the day Neelam was killed despite the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death. Neelam’s mother and aunt had been packed off the night before she died. Her uncles said she died of snakebite when she went to relieve herself in the fields at night. They cremated her before daybreak even before informing her mother, who was in Bharatpur, just an hour’s drive away. It was only when women activists and human rights activists went to the area to investigate that the police lodged a case of murder on September 25 and named 13 persons as the accused. As pressure mounted, two of them, Neelam’s granduncle and uncle, were arrested on September 29. They confessed to the police that Neelam was strangled to death and her body cremated. However, the Gurjars, who have the patronage of local politicians, have rallied behind Neelam’s family. Although they could not openly support the killing, at a panchayat on October 3, they said this was a conspiracy to defame their community, and that all charges were concocted. They demanded the release of all accused and threatened action. The panchayat was held despite the efforts of the women’s groups in Jaipur to persuade the state government to prevent the meeting so that the developing caste conflict situation could be averted. In 1992, an alleged sexual harassment incident had led to the massacre of 17 Jatavs (Dalits) at Kumher in adjoining Bharatpur district. This is a state where feudal attitudes, manifest in the treatment of both Dalits and women, are at their strongest and worst. The story of Neelam and Rajesh is a typical instance; and according to the local people, it is not the only one. If restrictions on choice apply to men, the situation is far worse for women. According to the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) General Secretary Kavita Srivastava, the right to choice for women in Rajasthan is confined to the “valorous” choice such as “sati” where her identity is subsumed in that of her husband. The Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) adopted by the United Nations in 1979 (and ratified by India in 1993) protects the right of men and women to choose their spouse, says Jasveen Ahluwalia, a women’s rights activist. Eleven years later, its provisions still await enforcement. A churning is taking place in present-day Rajasthan, particularly to do with adolescent girls who are increasingly making choices about relationships (with the opposite sex) outside the existing societal restrictions. “They are beginning to take decisions about what they want to do, not just for things like whether they want education, but about what they want to do with their body,” says Ahluwalia. Of the total of about 10,000 cases of crimes against women in a year in Rajasthan, one-fifth or 2,000 are cases of “abduction”. And over 60 per cent of these are closed later — an indicator of the truth behind “abductions”. That girls are asserting themselves seems to be a trend in Rajasthan. Society needs to come to grips with this reality so as to provide an environment in which young people can be encouraged to make informed choices, and receive support when they do. Until that happens, girls and boys will continue to break the rules and be hounded with disastrous consequences. —
Women’s Feature Service |
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From Pakistan LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said on Tuesday the Bill on honour killings passed by the National Assembly and bulldozed amid the opposition's objections and absence could serve only a limited purpose in checking crime against women. In their initial reaction to the passage of the Bill, HRCP Chairperson Tahir Mohammad Khan and Secretary-General Hina Jilani said until the issue of compoundability or "out of court settlements" under the Qisas and Diyat law were addressed, the ground realities would not change. "Women will continue to be murdered and their killers walk away scot-free." "The changes in the procedure of the blasphemy law included in the new legislation can do nothing to remove the deficiencies in the law or/and the many cases of victimization under it," their statement said. "It is unfortunate too that the contents of the new Bill were not discussed and debated in parliament, or at other public forums. Such a process could have helped generate the social and political consensus that is necessary for any law to succeed. Instead, with the MMA and the PPP both opposing the law, the issue has been made a controversial one and a divide created on a matter of key national importance," the HRCP office-bearers said.
— The Dawn
Agencies blamed for terror wave
LAHORE: Various religious and political leaders have held local and international secret agencies responsible for the recent terror wave in Pakistan. They expressed these views at a meeting convened by the religious affairs committee of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) here on Monday evening. The speakers urged political parties to come forward for uniting the masses being divided by the Army. They said the terror incidents were aimed at diverting public attention from the issues for which the incumbent rulers were going to take decisions against the wishes of the masses.
— The Dawn
Fishermen’s drive
KARACHI: Fishermen of Badin district have decided to launch a massive campaign against the illegal occupation of fishing grounds by the Thar Rangers and arbitrary and intimidatory arrests of fishermen. The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) in collaboration with the Action Aid Pakistan jointly announced the above campaign at a press briefing held in a local hotel on Tuesday. The fishermen's community would also observe black day on November 3, 2004, as a mark of protest and to kick-off the campaign. On this day protest rallies would be taken out to raise their voice against injustice. On this occasion they will highlight the Rangers' atrocities and their demand for the approval of the Sustainable Fisheries Policy in Pakistan. —
The Nation
Religious meetings
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said on Tuesday that there was no ban on holding bona fide religious congregations, as the government's recent measures were aimed at checking the congregations held for specific motives. "There is no ban on Taraveeh prayers or Majalis, as the provincial governments were directed to check the congregations used for specific motives," Mr Sherpao told the National Assembly in response to queries raised by some members on the issue of congregations. The minister said following the recent terrorist incidents in Sialkot, Multan, Karachi and Lahore, the government took some measures and advised the provincial governments to put an immediate ban on the congregations of such organizations as use these meetings for special purposes. —
The News |
It is the shadow of the Paramatman that you see reflected in all the living beings as Jivatman. Don’t you see the great sky reflected in each and every lake or river? — Lord Sri Rama Bhakti-Yoga is a real, genuine search after the Lord, a search beginning, continuing and ending in Love. One single moment of the madness of extreme love to God brings us eternal freedom. — Swami Vivekananda Blessing! Neither fire, nor moisture, nor wind can destroy the blessing of a good deed, and blessings reform the whole world. — The Buddha Utter, O men, the True Name of the Creator so that you are not cast in the world of flux again. — Guru Nanak If the Sun were to revolve round the Earth, instead of the Earth revolving round the Sun, then our days and nights would be equal to several years. — Swami Dayanand Saraswati |
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This is the tragic story of two youngsters in love who ran away to be together; they also ran away from the hostile reaction their relationship was likely to provoke in their village — Shahadpur in Dausa district, Rajasthan.