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PM makes an offer Cult of
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From
Patel to Patil We are not complaining, perhaps PG Wodehouse was a great satirist. He was a prophet too. For evidence go back to his four delightful titles in which Psmith is the central character. Normally, a Smith is a Smith is a Smith with any “S”, big or small. But the humourist evidently saw what ordinary mortals could not and thoughtfully did not “Leave it to Psmith” to do the needful to his name.
This picture and
that
Let’s play dog
and the bone
The West is no less
corrupt From
Pakistan
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PM makes an offer When it comes to promising economic reforms, few do it as convincingly and sincerely as Dr Manmohan Singh. Addressing CEOs in The Hague on Tuesday, he not only explained in detail and specific terms what he would do, but also promised action in the very next Budget. Regardless of the possible Leftist opposition, he plans to give tax concessions to multinational companies, lower the tariffs to the ASEAN levels, set up an independent oil regulator to ensure a level-playing field for the foreign oil companies and introduce legislation to implement all commitments made at the World Trade Organisation. These are very bold initiatives and he will have to use all diplomatic skills at his command to see them through. The Prime Minister knows what irritates foreign investors the most about India: inadequate infrastructure, bureaucratic hurdles, corruption and an over protective tax regime. If the country is to attract foreign investments of $150 billion in the next five years, these irritants will have to be minimised, if not eliminated altogether. The restrictive labour laws also come in the way of multinational companies setting up shop here. But given the Leftist sensitivity on the policy of hire and fire, the Prime Minister did not touch this issue. India need not make these concessions unilaterally. The European Union too has raised non-tariff trade barriers to discourage exports from India. The EU’s stringent standards do not let in Indian food products. A proposed EU law will hit chemical exports from India. The curbs on the free movement of manpower has affected Indian IT companies, which have not been able to tap the EU market as effectively as the US. Outsourcing, if encouraged, can benefit both Indian and European companies. Trade between the EU and India can flourish only if a policy of give and take is adopted. |
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Cult of injustice Seventeen
years ago, in September 1987, in Rajasthan's Deorala, a young widow, Roop Kanwar, went up in flames on her husband's pyre. The incident outraged the conscience of the civilised. Despite resistance by those with a medieval mindset - who glorified the barbaric, ritualised murder as a noble cult - the force of enlightened public opinion compelled the authorities to launch prosecution. After widespread protests and agitations, a case was registered against those involved in the crime. Of the 32 accused, which included Roop Kanwar's in-laws, three were minors. The trial itself began three years later and dragged on for seven years. The Sessions Court acquitted all the 32 in October 1996. This was not surprising, given a situation where whole communities, actively aided and abetted by 'tradition-minded' politicians, officials and powerful sections of the law, worked to thwart justice. The grip of these reactionary forces was such that Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, then Chief Minister of Rajasthan, was derided for not defending sati. However, Mr Shekhawat took advantage of the agitations by right-thinking sections of the public, and, in 1997, his government went in appeal against the verdict. The case dragged on till earlier this year when a special court acquitted all the 11 accused of glorification of sati. The ground for acquittal was that the prosecution failed to establish Roop Kanwar's killing as a violation of the law to prevent sati, enacted after Roop Kanwar perished in the pyre. Now comes the even more devastating news that a special court in Jaipur has acquitted 10 others charged with glorifying sati. Those acquitted include politicians of various hues. After all, if there was no crime committed in the first instance, how can anyone be accused of or convicted for it? Or, so it would appear from the way the police and prosecution have handled the case. Deorala was a test of our humanity and values. India has failed. |
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From Patel to Patil PG Wodehouse was a great satirist. He was a prophet too. For evidence go back to his four delightful titles in which Psmith is the central character. Normally, a Smith is a Smith is a Smith with any “S”, big or small. But the humourist evidently saw what ordinary mortals could not and thoughtfully did not “Leave it to Psmith” to do the needful to his name. There would have been nothing in common between an ordinary Smith and a Patel. But Psmith can claim the kinship of “P” with any Patel who has made England his home. In the Yorkshire town of Leeds the chances of running into a Patel by accident or design would command a rating of 10. It is indeed a lot of Patel to handle, particularly if they turn up for a team game. Recently a game of football for charity between two all-Patel teams produced Wodehousian confusion and mirth. Of course, the all-Patel crowd of over 300 added to the Patel chaos. A Patel scorekeeper usually has a tough time when a Patel bowls to a Patel and another Patel who does not answer to the name of Parthiv collects the ball. Members of the Gujarati community have yet not drawn inspiration from Wodehouse’s Psmith and given someone the hair-tearing name of Patel Patel. No Patel ever cribs when another Patel does well in life. Sardar Patel is still the community’s most famous son. Parthiv missed the chance through his consistently poor wicket keeping. The projection of someone as the second Iron Man of India caused murmurs of resentment among the Patels of Gujarat. They do not hide their displeasure if people fail to notice the difference between Patil and Patel, particularly when the Patil is Shivraj, currently doing the same job that Sardar Patel did as India’s first Home Minister. There are kinds and kinds of cheese, but to compare chalk with cheese will produce a scowl, not a smile, on a Patel’s face. |
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Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. |
This picture and that THOSE who remember the mid-1960s would surely recall the period when there was much talk about the “new Mrs Gandhi”. The reference then was to Indira Gandhi, of course. She had by then lived down the epithet “goongi gudiya” (dumb doll) though she had yet to be hailed as goddess Durga. Nonetheless the change in her image across the country was as striking as it was sudden. And it was rooted in her valiant and victorious fight with the “Syndicate” of powerful party bosses who were under the illusion that they would continue to rule while she would only reign. Something similar, though not identical, seems to have happened to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the current holder of Indira’s legacy as both Congress president and chairperson of the ruling coalition at the Centre. This was underscored vividly at the recent international conference organised by a Delhi-based newspaper. She made a thoughtful and substantive speech that impressed her audience that included such stalwarts as the former United States Secretary of State, Dr Henry Kissinger, former British Prime Minister, Mr John Major, Sri Lanka’s President, Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga, and so on. However, it was during the impromptu question-answer session that Mrs Sonia Gandhi showed her mettle in one witty exchange after another until she brought the House down while answering the oft-repeated query whether she was the “power behind the throne” (an obvious reference to the prime ministerial chair). Laughing the question out, she pointed out that the “throne” was offered to her but she didn’t want it, and added: “This talk of my being the power behind the throne is not new. It goes back to the time when Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister. I am supposed to have sacked several ministers then”. Indeed, the New Delhi event has ended the era when her critics could say, with some justification, that instead of being a leader, she was a “reader of speeches written by others”. Most of those who watched the proceedings on television have commented that she “appears to have blossomed into a confident, articulate and skilful leader”. Her candour also helped. She said that her real task was to revitalise her party and frankly admitted that she was “worried” about the state of her party in UP, the key state where the Congress fared poorly in the recent byelections. Within 24 hours she changed the leadership of the UP State Congress Committee and entrusted the post of the UPCC chief for the second time to Mr. Salman Khurshid. This by itself is not enough by any means. Much greater effort, including that by Mrs Sonia Gandhi herself, would be needed before the moribund Congress can be brought back to life. Moreover, the manner in which the Congress handled the issue of power sharing with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra did it no credit. In the age of coalitions, allies have to be treated with greater consideration than was the case during the 11-day standoff over the struggle for the Chief Minister’s chair in Mumbai. With all that, however, the Congress today is in much better shape than at any time during the eight years since it lost power in New Delhi. The return to power — not on its own but as the leading party in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and in need of the Left Front’s support “from outside” — has doubtless been a shot in its arm. So has been its good showing in the assembly elections in Maharashtra. Despite several deficiencies and drawbacks — including the constant needling by the Left Front that can sometimes be a pain in the neck and occasional lack of cohesion within the Cabinet — the Manmohan Singh government has settled down and is coming to grips with its priority tasks. The Prime Minister’s authority is established and his prestige is high. This inevitably boosts the Congress party’s morale though its problems are far from over. However, nothing advertises the relative but distinct improvement in the Congress fortunes more effectively than the terrible plight of the BJP that is in a state of war entirely against itself. Time was until only a few months ago when the BJP used to boast of being a “party with a difference”. Today it is a party that is being virtually torn apart by its internal differences. Merely to catalogue the saffron party’s woes is to stress what a stinking mess it is in. Mr Venkaiah Naidu was a singularly incompetent president of the BJP. But the takeover by Mr L. K. Advani, sometimes called a “miracle man”, has failed to stem the rot. On the contrary, the jibe is that the old order changed to yield place to an “even older one”. Discipline within the party ranks has gone pieces, primarily because the younger generation of party leaders, consumed by their conflicting ambitions, are engaged in a life-and-death struggle against one another. The mercurial sanyasin from Bhopal, Ms Uma Bharati, has taken the lid off all the murky goings-on. After first refusing the post of BJP General Secretary, she accepted it later only after Mr Advani gave her a major say in the affairs of Madhya Pradesh that caused a virtual revolt in the state. It is no secret that Ms Bharati wants the Madhya Pradesh chief ministership restored to her “because people had voted for me, not for the party”. What she says about Mr Advani and even about Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee to groups of party workers is unprintable. What emboldens Ms Bharati is the blatant support the RSS, the head of the Sangh Parivar (family), has extended to her. This is one of the various ways in which the RSS bosses are telling Mr Advani that the BJP should revert to Hindutva as its basic policy, or else. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is threatening to form a rival all-Hindu party. The fact that the VHP leaders, Mr Ashok Singhal and Mr Praveen Togadia, should have boycotted an RSS-sponsored meeting at Hardwar speaks for itself. They said they did not want to be seen in the company of Mr Advani and Mr Naidu! No wonder what looks like the BJP’s lemming-like rush towards Hindutva has alarmed its allies in whatever remains of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Almost all the allies have demanded that the BJP should “stick to the 1999 NDA agenda or else”. A meeting of the NDA is due on November 15. The BJP leadership is truly between the devil and the deep-blue
sea. |
Let’s play dog and the bone The
quiet lay heavy on the street that dusty somnolent afternoon. The houses hunkered down under the heat, the doors shutting in their secrets. The windows, of course, were always a problem, as were the keyholes — the street was always peering in. Life was difficult to contain these days...to constrain, to protect, to safeguard... Moti flopped down under the shade of the peepul tree, sleepily gnawing at his favourite bone, one eye open for any marauders. After all, bones were prized possessions over which many a street war was fought. He himself had come across this particular bone by accident. It probably must’ve just been lying around, getting wasted. And because he happened to be around, some kind soul plonked it down before him and it became his. Ah! memories. But it doesn’t pay to dwell on the past for it has a habit of sneaking into the present. So, how about another nibble at the bone?” The bone? What? Where? “Hey, you! Where do you think you are going with my bone?” “Yours? This is mine. I dropped it here years ago and now I want it back. Can’t you see my teeth marks?” “Can’t you see mine? They are more recent, so I own it now!” “Not without a fight you don’t. The winner will get the bone.” But what’s a fight without spectators ? The call goes out — dogfight! Within minutes the pack descends. Fur flies, blood spills. The mob hollers for more, salivating at the mouth. The bone flies through the air, lands in the dust, gets trammelled underfoot, is thrown aside, thrown up, gets caught in one set of jaws, is yanked out by another....The crowd whips itself into a frenzy. Each one wants a part of the action, a bit of the blood, a bit of the bone. They want the guts. Ah! Where did the bone go? There it is! Get it! The pack comes together as a herd. Herd mentality is a beautiful thing — so enamoured of its prey, so synchronised and singleminded in its focus, so unified against dissent.... The battle rages on. It is for the eyeballs now. None in the audience has ever felt so entertained. It beat talk of rape and robbery any day. This was reality at its best. Raping a body was passe’. This was rape of the soul. This was about the theft of a possession. Ego at its elemental best. Who robbed whom? Who was the first owner of the bone? Who had it for a longer time? Is possession nine-tenths of the law? What is the law? The debate rages — fast and furious. Another battle starts being fought on the sidelines. The pack take over the arena. The players play to the gallery. The bone awaits its fate. It is decided. The first owner gets the bone. So, off he trots with his trophy. No time to waste. He has to get the other one’s marks off his bone. The pack trots off too — happy to have been part of the action, happy to have got a piece of the bone. Moti slinks back to the peepul tree — cheated, confused. “Yeh koi gudde-gudiyon ka khel hai kya? First you give, then you take away.” As for the bone?....What about it? Bones don’t feel. |
The West is no less corrupt Former colonies of European powers in Africa and Asia are shown to be the most corrupt and the Western powers the least corrupt. Thus, countries like Haiti, Bangladesh and Nigeria are shown to be politically most corrupt with India and Pakistan not far behind. Western nations such as Finland, the UK, Switzerland, Germany and the USA are classified as least corrupt. Whilst corruption is the outcome of particular histories and institutional structures, the implicit message of the TI index to developing countries is to emulate their Western counterparts and imitate their economic, political and social institutions. Little attempt is made to examine the role of Western institutions in facilitating corruption, sleaze or anti-social behaviour. Political corruption destroys societies through abuse, theft, appropriation of resources, concentration of power and lack of investment in health, education and general degradation of daily life. Individuals like former Nigerian President General Sani Abacha and the former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos looted their countries and deserve to be condemned. General Abacha’s loot of $55 billion was laundered through a labyrinth of companies and bank accounts in New York, Switzerland, London and other European cities. General Abacha had a standing order to transfer $15m a day of stolen funds to his Swiss bank account. A 1999 report by The Economist estimated that African leaders had $20bn in Swiss bank accounts alone, twice the amount that sub-Saharan Africa spends on servicing debts. The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network estimates that up to $1.5 trillion (bigger than the gross domestic product of India) is laundered annually around the world and more of it goes through New York and London than anywhere else. Yet these Western facilities attract little attention in the compilation of the TI index. Liberal democracies, so often held up as a model of hope and accountability to developing countries, are in terminal crisis. Governments are increasingly available for hire to the highest bidder. Candidates for the 2004 US Presidential elections are estimated to have spent $300 million, much of it from corporate contributions. These contributions are in effect “investments” which will be rewarded with political appointments and business friendly policies. A large number of Iraqi contracts have been secured by companies that supported George W Bush in the 2000 US elections. The oil, steel, mining and energy companies persuaded President Bush to reject the Kyoto agreement on reducing greenhouse gasses, all in pursuit of higher profits. The IMF and the World Bank lecture developing countries on the importance of balancing their budgets, but not a word is said to the US whose budget deficit now stands at a record $412.55 billion. This enables US citizens and corporations to live off the resources that they don’t really have, effectively depriving others from improving their living standards. The biggest beneficiaries are the defence, information technology and aerospace industries. The 400 rich US individuals controlling personal wealth of over $1 trillion are not known for campaigning against such excesses. Recent evidence shows that UK defence equipment supplier BAE bribed Saudi officials to sell its wares. The UK defence industry had also faced earlier allegations of bribery in exporting arms to South Africa. Despite being a signatory to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Anti-Bribery Convention, the UK government has failed to mount an independent inquiry. The TI index takes no account of major financial scandals such as Enron, WorldCom, Xerox, Adelphia, Tyco, Parmalat, Ahold, Maxwell and Barings, all originating in the West. These scandals have resulted in the loss of savings, jobs, investments, homes and pensions for innocent stakeholders. The executives of these companies had close connections with politicians. For example, Enron donated substantial sums to the 2000 Presidential campaign and felt confident enough to manipulate energy prices. With the aid of its advisers it concocted transactions whose sole purpose was to avoid taxes not only in the US, but also in places such as India and Hungary. The TI index takes no account of organised tax avoidance, frequently through tax havens protected and nurtured by the US, the UK and other Western hegemons. Places like Bermuda, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Island, Guernsey, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Isle of Man, Switzerland and Monaco are home to some of the world’s biggest multinationals because they enable companies to avoid taxes and compete on an uneven playing field. In effect, by avoiding taxes and not bearing the cost of the social infrastructure they are getting a hidden public subsidy. As a result, ordinary people either pay higher direct and indirect taxes, or forego the possibility of improvement in the local infrastructure. A kind of reverse socialism operates where ordinary people are financing giant multinationals. Due to organised tax avoidance, the US Treasury is estimated to be losing over $300 billion of tax revenues each year. The UK is estimated to be losing around £85 billion each year. A 2000 report published by Oxfam estimated that developing countries were losing at least $50 billion each year due to tax avoidance by foreign owned companies, large enough to provide much needed investment in education, healthcare, clean water, irrigation, sanitation and public transport. How many lives have been blighted by this? Countries which can invade Afghanistan and Iraq to impose regime change have done little to shut tax havens. Any report that draws attention to institutionalised corruption is to be welcomed. If the TI index of global corruption is to be meaningful, it needs to be comprehensive and ask uncomfortable questions about corruption that is built into liberal democracies. It needs to critique a system where huge social, economic and political power is exercised by unaccountable corporations. Simply pointing the finger at developing countries fails to focus upon the global infrastructure provided by Western banks, accountants, lawyers and tax havens. To root out corruption, we need to advance reforms that break the links between big business and politics. That pressure for change will only come from the grassroots and its ability to mobilise the media, local polity, opinion formers and the education system. The writer is a Professor of Accounting, University of Essex, UK. |
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From Pakistan HYDERABAD: Stray dogs and rats have made the life of citizens miserable these days besides creating serious health problems in Hyderabad. It is astonishing to note that every day more than 60 cases of dog-bite are being reported in Civil Hospital, Hyderabad, besides Taluka hospitals of Latifabad, Qasimabad and the Kotri area. Doctors in Civil Hospital on Tuesday showed the slips of more than 40 patients, who arrived there since morning till afternoon. These patients mostly included women and children. The doctors said more than 60 cases were being reported on a daily basis in the hospital, and they were being treated by the anti-rabbi vaccine (ARV). Civil Hospital received more patients of dog-bite as compared to other hospitals of Latifabad, Qasimabad and the Kotri area.
— The News Eid shopping
at its peak
LAHORE: With a few days left for the holy month of Ramazan to end and Eid-ul-Fitr being around the corner, markets, bazaars, business centres and shopping plazas are seen full of people thronging shops to purchase different articles to celebrate Eid with traditional zeal. Despite soaring prices of the commodities of daily use and occasional use of expensive clothes, jewellery and shoes shopping has reached its climax in the provincial metropolis. The shops, which have already been allowed by the district administration to work without the usual breaks, are working till late in the night. The shopkeepers have decorated their shops tastefully. — The News Senior citizens’ centres
ISLAMABAD: The government is considering to establish five senior citizens' centres --- one each at federal and provincial headquarters --- to provide them special facilities. Besides, a project management unit would be set-up at the Ministry of Social Welfare to deal with issues relating to the well-being of the senior citizens, official sources said here Monday. Some concessions to provide special facilities to senior citizens have been approved and forwarded to the concerned agencies, organisations and departments for implementation.
— The Nation Militant influx continues
ISLAMABAD: The influx of foreign militants into Wana is continuing from neighbouring countries, making it difficult for Pakistani security forces to combat terrorism, says Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao. The minister said that intelligence reports suggested that about 100 wanted terrorists were still present in Wana. "In addition to these terrorists, more are still coming in from neighbouring countries," the minister added. He talked about the involvement of a foreign hand in providing financial assistance to terrorists and foreign militants seeking refuge in Pakistan-Afghanistan border areas. — The Dawn NDF’s 3-point formula
PESHAWAR: The National Democratic Front has stressed the need for restoration of the 1973 Constitution, independence of judiciary and halt to the meddling of armed forces and its secret agencies with the political system in the larger interest of the country. Speaking at a joint press conference here at the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, the NDF convener Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan, Syed Nusrat Ali Shah, Justice (retd) Mian Burhanuddin, Justice (retd) Ali Hussain Qazilbash and others held the armed forces and the judiciary responsible for the present ills of the country.
— The Dawn |
Those that have devotion towards Me will get knowledge and renunciation and they will attain to liberation from the round of births and deaths. —
Lord Sri Rama Discard the evil-mind and earn merit. — Guru Nanak Cleanse your heart of malice and harbour no hatred, not even against your enemies. — Lord Mahavir Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience. — J.F. Clarke Life has no blessing like a prudent friend. — Euripides |
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