O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Well on track
India, China build more trust
The talks between the new Prime Ministers of India and China on the sidelines of the Asian Summit in Laos on Tuesday are significant and bound to bring the two countries closer. 

Power relief in Punjab
Regulator comes to the consumer’s rescue
The Punjab State Electricity Board, which is known to give frequent shocks to consumers, has been forced to provide relief, for a change. The power tariff, once raised, is seldom reduced even if there is an increase in the board’s income.

• Thought for the day

ARTICLE

The threat from N-weapons
India has to face the situation
by G. Parthasarathy
In its historic ruling on July 8, 1996, the World Court held that countries possessing nuclear weapons had not just a “need” but an “obligation” to commence negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament. The court held that the use of nuclear weapons would be generally contrary to the principles of international law, though there was some doubt about the use of such weapons when the “very survival of a State” was threatened.

MIDDLE

Dazzling Divali of Mughals
by Roshni Johar
Divali without fireworks? Unthinkable. But this is precisely how it was before the advent of Mughals to India. Celebrating Divali with fireworks is of recent origin, dating back to Mughal times.

OPED

News analysis
Asean accepts India as a power
by T.R. Ramachandran
Contacts established with Chinese, Japanese PMs The multi-layered exposition by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the third India-Asean summit in Vientiane in land-locked Laos fired the imagination of the 10-member grouping as well as China, Japan and South Korea.

From Pakistan
Role of ISI questioned
ISLAMABAD: The opposition on Tuesday questioned the “unlimited powers and political role” of the Inter-Services Intelligence while ministers and members of the ruling coalition tried to defend the working of the military’s intelligence agency.

• NWFP leads in female judges

• No end to public sector losses

• PPP for Army in barracks

REFLECTIONS

EDITORIALS

Well on track
India, China build more trust

The talks between the new Prime Ministers of India and China on the sidelines of the Asian Summit in Laos on Tuesday are significant and bound to bring the two countries closer. The relations between the two countries have been on the mend since Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to China 16 years ago. They moved forward when Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Beijing in June 2003. The two countries are likely to come closer as a result of the talks between Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Wen Jaibao. Even if the two Prime Ministers did not come out with dramatic announcements, it is clear from what they said after the meeting that New Delhi and Beijing have begun trusting each other in great measure and believing in mutual keenness to build a relationship befitting for Asia’s two emerging giants placed next to each other.

The element of trust prevailing in the meeting was evident from the fact that the Chinese Prime Minister did not rub in the Tibet question as was the experience in previous encounters. India had always maintained that Tibet was an Autonomous Region of China, implying that it was a part of China. During his visit, Mr Vajpayee made it known India’s categorical position that Tibet is a part of China and also that India would not allow Tibetans in India to indulge in political activity. China in return amended its maps showing Sikkim as a part of India. In Laos India is believed to have pointed out that it was time Beijing formally made the announcement about it. Mr Wen’s response was somewhat positive and it is possible Mr Wen may make such an announcement during his visit to India in March 2005.

While details are yet to filter down, it is plain the border dispute remains fairly on the back-burner. While India is happy at the progress the relations have made in the recent years, it certainty would like the border question get out of the way at the earliest. The High Representatives of the two countries have met four times, but it appears they would need greater political support from the high-ups to resolve the differences. Mr J. N. Dixit and China’s Dai Bingguo may have to meet again quite a few times before the two countries come to an agreement.

The Chinese Prime Minister reiterated the stand that the boundary question should be resolved on the “basis of mutual understanding and mutual accommodation and political will”. Dr Manmohan Singh replied that any “mutual accommodation must take into account the ground realities”. Since territories and “give-and-take” are involved in the question, much will depend on what kind of message Mr Wen brings with him when he visits India in March. “The handshake between you and me will catch the attention of the world,” he said sounding promising, but without spelling out. Mr Dixit and Mr Dai may have to work much harder in the coming months, but the plus point in the situation is that the relations between the two countries are firmly on track and better than before.

Power relief in Punjab
Regulator comes to the consumer’s rescue

The Punjab State Electricity Board, which is known to give frequent shocks to consumers, has been forced to provide relief, for a change. The power tariff, once raised, is seldom reduced even if there is an increase in the board’s income. For the first time since its appointment, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission has asserted itself, much like its counterpart in Himachal Pradesh. It has forced the PSEB to cut the electricity tariff for various categories of consumers excluding the heavily subsidised agriculture sector. The biggest beneficiary is the rural consumer, for whom regular power supply is a rarity.

The very purpose of setting up an independent regulator was to discipline the electricity board and take away from it the power to fix tariff. This is a victory for the reforms, which have been abandoned mid-way by the present government, but which will have to be implemented fully with the passing of the Electricity Act by the Centre. Pressure was mounted on the regulator, Mr S.S. Mann, against effecting a tariff cut. Even the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary pleaded the board’s case to retain the surplus revenue. The regulator not only stood his ground, but also exposed the board’s attempts to inflate its figures. Mr Mann’s ruling has surely pleased the power consumer as well as enhanced the reputation of the institution he heads.

One hopes the rise in the Punjab State Electricity Board revenue, commendable as it is, is not entirely due to the tariff hikes in the past. The board needs to shed flab, cut its costs and minimise transmission and distribution losses. The board has to get tough with the defaulters, who include private and public institutional consumers. Overstaffing is its another weakness. The Punjab board has 16.2 employees for 1,000 consumers. This figure is the highest in the country and ranks the PSEB among the most inefficient. Instead of doing their work, the employees busy themselves with protests against the proposed unbundling process. Being a service provider, the board has to be run professionally. Without affordable and regular electricity, the state is bound to lag in development. Tackling surplus employees would require political will on the part of Captain Amarinder Singh’s government. It ought to minister it at the earliest

Thought for the day

Most people sell their souls, and live with a good conscience on the proceeds.

— Logan Pearsall Smith

ARTICLE

The threat from N-weapons
India has to face the situation
by G. Parthasarathy

In its historic ruling on July 8, 1996, the World Court held that countries possessing nuclear weapons had not just a “need” but an “obligation” to commence negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament. The court held that the use of nuclear weapons would be generally contrary to the principles of international law, though there was some doubt about the use of such weapons when the “very survival of a State” was threatened.

The high powered Canberra Commission also held that the proposition that nuclear weapons could be held in perpetuity and never used defies credibility. The commission stated that the only complete defence against nuclear weapons was their elimination and the assurance that they would not be produced thereafter. The Howard government in Australia that labels itself as the “Deputy Sheriff” of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region found that these recommendations were embarrassing its boss, the “Sheriff”, that was allergic to all talk of nuclear disarmament and quietly buried the recommendations in its archives!

The so-called five “recognised” nuclear weapon- States are estimated to have possessed 20150 nuclear warheads in 2002, with the US and Russia alone possessing 19200 of them. The other so-called “recognised” weapon-powers possess a few hundred warheads each. Israel, India and Pakistan, referred to as “nuclear weapon-capable States that have not acceded to the NPT”, are believed to possess some 400 warheads between them. South Africa possessed around half a dozen nuclear weapons under the apartheid regime but was compelled to dismantle them and join the NPT before white minority rule ended.

The Strategic Doctrines of the United States and its NATO allies envisage the use of nuclear weapons to deal with any “overwhelming threat” and even in regional conflicts. The NATO Strategic Concept, adopted at the Washington Summit in 1999, envisages the use of nuclear weapons to deal with any adversary irrespective of whether or not it possesses nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons can be used against States that are believed to possess chemical or biological weapons even if they are signatories to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. Nuclear weapons are not merely weapons of deterrence but the ones that can intimidate and even be used against non-nuclear adversaries in conflicts by NATO.

France and the UK follow the NATO Nuclear Doctrine and do not subscribe to the concept of “no first use” of nuclear weapons. For both countries nuclear weapons are as much a status symbol as weapons of deterrence and intimidation. While the former Soviet Union advocated a doctrine of “no-first use” of nuclear weapons, Russia has made no such commitment. While China was a strong opponent of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT) and described the treaty as an instrument of “hegemony” throughout the Cold War, it acceded to the treaty in 1992 after it evidently realised that India was covertly developing its own nuclear arsenal.

China has proposed no- first use treaties with all “recognised” nuclear weapon-States. China signed such an agreement with Russia during the Yeltsin-Jiang Ze Min Summit in 1994. China and the US also signed an agreement not to target each other with nuclear weapons as a response to what President Clinton described as the “challenges” posed by the nuclear tests of India and Pakistan. China thus seeks to build alliances and partners to “contain” and curb India’s nuclear and missile autonomy. China has made it clear that its no-first use pledge applies only to countries that have signed the NPT. It does not apply to India.

Israel maintains a position of ambiguity on its nuclear doctrine. It has, however, let it be known that it will use such weapons if its very existence is threatened. Interestingly, such a doctrine could be justified as being in conformity with the provisions of the World Court ruling of 1996. While Pakistan has not enunciated a nuclear doctrine, the chief of its Strategic Forces Command, Lt-Gen Khalid Kidwai, has indicated that Pakistan would use such weapons if India conquers a large part of its territory or destroys a large part of its land and air forces. India is the only country in the world possessing nuclear weapons that has announced a universal “no first use” doctrine, making it clear that it would use such weapons only if its territory or its forces are attacked with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Unlike many European countries such as the UK, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, whose lax export controls and security arrangements made it easy for Pakistan to develop nuclear weapon capabilities, India has effectively curbed the export of nuclear knowhow and materials.

India’s most serious security threat arises from the fact that it is located between two of the worst nuclear proliferators in the world — China and Pakistan. China has supplied Pakistan with designs, fissile materials, components and reprocessing facilities to enable that country to make nuclear weapons. Pakistan in turn has passed on nuclear weapons and uranium enrichment designs and components to Libya, Iran and North Korea.

There is reason to believe that there is a blossoming nuclear relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, given the fact that Prince Sultan and Saudi scientists have been given access to Pakistan nuclear facilities and Dr A.Q. Khan has visited Saudi Arabia as a guest of Prince Sultan.

The United States and its allies like Japan have deliberately chosen to turn a blind eye or rationalise and condone nuclear proliferation by China and Pakistan. It would be naïve for India to ignore this reality. Sadly, successive governments in India have done precious little to expose the Beijing-Pyongyang-Islamabad axis of nuclear and missile proliferation in dealings with the international community.

The Bush Administration is now going to be tied up with dealing with problems of nuclear proliferation posed by North Korea and Iran. At the same time, there are reports of countries like Brazil and South Korea clandestinely developing nuclear capabilities even though they are signatories to the NPT. We have also seen the emergence of a so-called “New Agenda Coalition” comprising Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, Ireland, Sweden, Mexico and Slovenia just after India’s nuclear tests in 1998. This “coalition” has called for nuclear disarmament, but at the same time demanded that India, Pakistan and Israel should roll back their nuclear programmes and join the NPT as non-nuclear weapon- States.

Quite obviously, India, Pakistan and Israel are not going to oblige this coalition. But India could at least make it clear that it stands ready to join any meaningful time-bound process of universal nuclear disarmament. Does New Delhi at all have any strategy to ensure that its concerns and interests are better understood when the non-proliferation treaty is reviewed next year? 

MIDDLE

Dazzling Divali of Mughals
by Roshni Johar

Divali without fireworks? Unthinkable. But this is precisely how it was before the advent of Mughals to India. Celebrating Divali with fireworks is of recent origin, dating back to Mughal times.

Historians opine that Babar, founder of Mughal dynasty, was the first person to use gun powder on Indian soil. In fact, his victory over Ibrahim Lodhi in the battle of Panipat in 1526, is attributed to use of artillery/gunpowder technology. Undeniably, celebrating Divali with fireworks could not have been possible before this time.

The Festival of Lights came to include fireworks only when Akbar started the tradition of celebrating Divali. He named it Jashn-e-Chiraghan, celebrating it with as much fervour as Eid-ul-Fitr. This grand Mughal also celebrated non-Muslim festivals like Holi, Basant, Dasehra, etc with equal enthusiasm.

This was not due to his Hindu wife Jodhabai. It was Akbar’s secular outlook together with his intense desire to be very much a part and parcel of his Hindu subjects, that made him cut across religious barriers.

In his Ain-i-Akbari, renowned historian and chronicler Abul Fazal has vividly described how Akbar celebrated Divali. He mentions that not only Agra but also the entire empire was bedazzled, a Shab-e-Baraat indeed. Lamps were decorated in form of deities like Lakshmi and Rama apart from various gods and goddesses. So great was the fireworks display at Agra, that its dazzle could be seen from atop Delhi’s Qutub Minar!

Abul Fazl reveals that Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan asked his beloved Mumtaz Mahal to climb the spiral steps of Delhi’s Qutub Minar in Mehrauli to view the display of Shahjahani Aatishbaazi i.e. royal fireworks. And Bahadur Shah Zafar followed the precedent in sending his Begum Zeenat Mahal atop the grand Minar to witness the same.

Tuzk-e-Jahangiri has it that Jahangir indulged in Divali, his favourite festival, in addition to Eid, with extravagant royal splendour. His empress Noor Jahan accompanied the emperor to visit Raja Man Singh’s palace to see fireworks display in his gulistaan there. Noor Jahan also got thousands of poor Hindu girls married with her patronage and financial help in this festive season, beginning with Navratras.

Dawat-e-Chiraghan, the grand Divali feast was perhaps most lavish of all Mughal gourmet spreads. More than a month in advance, renowned halwais were summoned from Lucknow, Bhopal, Agra, Mathura and Delhi to prepare bhandars of mishthaan that included traditional qutubkhania, gujia, kheer, mewa, batashy, (in form of sugar-toys too), rabri, etc requiring maunds of clarified butter (desi ghee) and purest of ingredients. After the dawat, it was time for the much-awaited grand finale — the Shahi Shahjahanabadi fireworks. Both Hindus and Muslims jostled with each other lighting phuljharis, chakkars, anars, mehtabis, etc and other sparklers of aatishbaazi that flashed upon the darkness of night.

Bahadur Shah Zafar organised a special Lakshmi Pujan, illuminating it with a variety of earthen lamps in Lal Quila (Red Fort) in Delhi. His generals supervised fireworks displays. Zafar also unfailingly filled kitchens of his subjects with new copper utensils on Dhanatrayodashi, prior to Divali, when ritually new utensils are bought as regarded auspicious.

Wah, Jashn-e-Chiraghan!

OPED

News analysis
Asean accepts India as a power
by T.R. Ramachandran

Contacts established with Chinese, Japanese PMs The multi-layered exposition by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the third India-Asean summit in Vientiane in land-locked Laos fired the imagination of the 10-member grouping as well as China, Japan and South Korea.

The focussed attention coupled with India’s eagerness to kickstart the neglected economic engine for the prosperity and well-being of the exploited Asian people compelled the Asean leaders to sit up and take note.

In his inimitable shy and matter-of-fact manner, Dr Singh remarked that the respect shown to India was overwhelming and very emotional. The acclaimed economist in Dr Singh and the economic reforms and liberalisation started by him in the nineties is a testament of lndia’s achievements even though in his own words the changes have taken more than half a century in coming.

Japan, Singapore and all the Asean permanent members, including hosts Laos, insist that India’s role has to be a dominant one and not on the fringes considering the tepid approach of this grouping towards New Delhi in the initial years. Asean has no doubt that India also needs to be in the vanguard of its integration.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi noted that Asean is particularly enthused about India after Dr Singh became Prime Minister. Similarly, the Heads of Government of Singapore and Phillipines were high effusive that Dr Singh becoming Prime Minister of India had “given us new reason for optimism about India.”

Another high point of his sojourn to landlinked and communist Laos with the lowest density of less than 50 people per square kilometre was his maiden high level contacts with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao as well as Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

During the Singh-Wen interface, the two leaders discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations including the steps required to be taken by Beijing in recognising that Sikkim is an integral part of India. There being no paranoia in Sino-Indian relations, Mr Wen assured that a decision has already been taken in this regard and that China will take all the necessary steps gradually.

In an oblique reference to China laying claim to 70,000 Sq Km of area in Arunachal Pradesh in the country’s northeast, Dr Singh called for a practical approach in keeping with the ground realities in dealing with the vexed boundary dispute. A political framework for the boundary issue will be worked out before Mr Wen’s official visit to India in March next year.

The Prime Minister in his modest and measured way was quick to tell mediapersons that blocks like Saarc, Asean and subregional groupings like Bimstec are all pillars to build on and that further discussions are required for the proposed AEC.

His vision of wider integration in an inter-dependent world won instant support from Mr Junichiro and several other leaders. The Japanese Prime Minister desired that there should be discussions on Dr Singh’s idea of an AEC. The Prime Minister told his Japanese counterpart that despite adequate development assistance provided by Japan, it does not have a high profile presence in India compared to South Korea. Mr Junichiro concurred with Dr Singh and the two leaders immediately agreed to set up an experts group to study Indo-Japanese ties in depth and come forward with specific recommendations.

After initial skepticism, Asean has been compelled to accept India as a power. And in that Dr Singh’s reasoned argument and exposition on giving a huge push to economic development in the Asean region and beyond stirred the leaders. It left an indelible mark on the leaders of Asean who have taken home the concrete suggestions unleashed by Dr Singh.

They had no doubt that ameliorating the lot of the poor and ending the disparities heaped on South will start moving after an inordinately delayed and inexcusable hiatus. Dr Singh’s humility and sincerity in offering India’s expertise and know-how in a wide array of spheres brought about a perceptible change in the atmospherics of Asean. The Prime Minister’s emphasis on tackling the menace of international terrorism in a concerted manner by all rather than through bilaterally has also found a strong echo in the Asean grouping.

With India having become a full dialogue partner, Pakistan is trying to woo Laos to support its membership to the Asean Regional Forum, admission to Bangkok Agreement and Full Dialogue Partner status in Asean. Vientiane has made it clear to New Delhi that Lao Peoples Democratic Republic’s approach to Pakistan’s overtures and requests would be influenced by Laos excellent ties with India which it values.

From Pakistan
Role of ISI questioned

ISLAMABAD: The opposition on Tuesday questioned the “unlimited powers and political role” of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) while ministers and members of the ruling coalition tried to defend the working of the military’s intelligence agency.

Speaking on a motion moved by the opposition to discuss the recruitment policy of the ISI, People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar said the ISI had become a “state within state” and the time had come to review its charter and to evolve a mechanism to monitor its activities.

He said the fact that the ISI had become a state within the state was evident from a case before the Supreme Court about the distribution of funds among politicians for political re-engineering by the ISI in 1990. “A former Director-General (DG) of the ISI has stated on oath that he had distributed the funds among politicians,” he added. — The Dawn

NWFP leads in female judges

PESHAWAR: Despite its reputation as a conservative province, the NWFP has proportionately the highest number of female judges in Pakistan.

Presently there are 40 female judges in the province. Ms Irshad Qaiser, a district and sessions judge in Charsadda, is the senior-most. Then there are four additional district and sessions judges, two senior civil judges, and 33 civil judges.

Hazara always had, and still has, a large number of serving female judicial officers. There are female judges in Abbottabad, Mansehra and Haripur districts. In fact, female judges totalling six outnumber the three male judges in Haripur.

There are female judges even in remote and very conservative districts such as Tank, which serves as the gateway to the troubled South Waziristan tribal agency, Hangu and Swat. In comparison, developed and urbanized districts such as Peshawar, Kohat, Mardan and Nowshera welcomed female judges much earlier. — The News

No end to public sector losses

ISLAMABAD: The power sector losses continue unabated, with growing burden of non-payment by electricity consumers in the Fata Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

According to the official statistics, Wapda incurred 25.4 per cent line losses during first quarter of the current fiscal year. A major factor of these losses is the huge stock of bills receivable by Wapda — Rs 79.8 billion. The public sector and Fata contributed about Rs 48.3 billion. The payment of such bills appears highly improbable in the present circumstances, as there has been a massive security operation in these areas. — The News

PPP for Army in barracks

LAHORE: While demanding repeal of the 17th amendment to the Constitution and the Army’s return to its barracks, the PPP leadership on Tuesday demanded dissolution of the assemblies by the end of December 2004 followed by a general election in the first quarter of 2005, to pull the country out of the present quagmire.

The PPP leaders demanded this while addressing a convention held here to commemorate the party’s 38th Foundation Day. The party leaders also resolved not to let the turncoats return to the PPP (an implicit reference to the patriots) as well as to frustrate the activities of a gang of intriguers within the party. —The Nation

REFLECTIONS

—The Buddhism