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Message to Rumsfeld More custodial deaths |
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Treading on bombs Demine ‘Gardens of the Devil’ UNITED Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is right in welcoming the progress in clearing anti-personnel mines in recent years, even as these weapons continue to exact a heavy civilian toll.
Money is not a problem
Rumour ambushed
Children of jehad — or victims? EC expertise
in demand
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Message to Rumsfeld THE visit of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to New Delhi was significant for two reasons. It was the first by a senior US official after President George W. Bush was re-elected for a second term. The visit came in the wake of reports that Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf had struck a defence deal with the US during his recent visit to Washington. It is not yet clear whether Pakistan would be able to take delivery of the F-16 aircraft it had paid for. But any such acquisition by Pakistan is bound to have an impact on the security scenario in the region. It will also adversely affect the peace process now underway between the two countries. On his part, Mr Rumsfeld has told New Delhi that the US is conscious of India's concerns over a possible arms race in the subcontinent. India will, however, have to wait to know how the Bush administration tackles its problem of keeping Pakistan in good humour while strengthening its "strategic partnership" with India. There is no doubt about the influence the US wields on the Pakistan government. The US can do a lot for the cause of peace in South Asia if it uses its influence to impress upon Pakistan to be less rigid and dogmatic when it comes to such issues as introducing a bus service on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route. India has already relented on the conditions for starting the bus service which will help strengthen people-to-people contact. In no case should India's peace initiative that has the potential of removing all the roadblocks in India-Pakistan relations suffer. Needless to point out, the US is in a position to ensure this by using its clout on Pakistan. India's relationship with the US improved considerably during the first term of President Bush. There is now greater understanding of each other as manifested in the virtual normalisation of their bilateral relations which suffered a dent following Pokharan II. India has emerged as a major destination for investors in the US while Americans of Indian origin play a vital role in the political and business fields in the US. All this bodes well for intensifying the Indo-US strategic partnership during the second term of President Bush. The two countries will, however, have to ensure that further improvement in their relations does not run into rough weather, as has often happened in the past. Also, care has to be taken to see that their relations do not become hostage to their respective policy on Pakistan. |
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More custodial deaths THE disclosure of the Punjab State Human Rights Commission that custodial deaths are on the rise and as many as 87 such deaths have taken place in the state this year till November comes as a rude shock. That is a disturbing large peace-time figure, even by Punjab’s standards. It is well known that all such deaths are not reported. Incidents of police highhandedness and harassment of ordinary citizens are common in day-to-day life. Many of the deaths have taken place in jails, where crowding and abuses are common. The plight of prisoners in Punjab jails has often been highlighted in the media but change, if any, is hardly noticeable. Years of militancy have brutalised the Punjab Police and its functioning has not changed much with the change in the circumstances, it seems. The fear of violating the law is not as wide spread as it should be. Many policemen believe that they can get away with anything, even murder. They have those who think they are VIPs protect and the latter, in turn, protect them. The police itself is not treated properly. Due to poor education, low salaries, hard working conditions, insufficient holidays, inadequate family life, lack of scientific training and equipment, they solve cases by resorting to violence. The use of third-degree methods during investigations is largely responsible for most custodial deaths. Also the abuse of human rights gets more media attention than before. The appointment of human rights commissions at the Central and state levels has spread awareness and provided an easy access to victims. The cases of human rights violation are heard more promptly than before. With help from NGOs and the media, the human rights commissions also take up issues as diverse as female infanticide, trafficking in women and children, domestic violence, rehabilitation of destitute women, even the implementation of the mid-day meal scheme in schools. All this augurs well for society. However, the ultimate protection of the human rights can come from the people’s awareness and not because of a commission which will always be overloaded with cases. |
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Treading on bombs UNITED Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is right in welcoming the progress in clearing anti-personnel mines in recent years, even as these weapons continue to exact a heavy civilian toll. Mr Anan's remarks have come at the conclusion of the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World, on Friday. A total of 144 nations have signed the treaty, and around 40, including the US, Russia, India and its neighbours Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and China have not. Of these, many support the aims of the treaty, but have specific reasons for not signing it. The Nairobi Summit, follows the 1997 Ottawa Convention which started the effort to ban the use of landmines and increase efforts at demining. Somewhere or the other in the world someone is maimed or killed by a landmine every 22 minutes. An overwhelming majority of the victims are innocent civilians, not combatants. Landmines are used throughout the world during and in anticipation of combat. Their efficacy in defending a territory is questionable, since all modern armies have means to identify minefields, appropriately called "Gardens of the Devil," and neutralise landmines. However, after the armies move away, it is the civilians who are left to face the hazard because demining operations are never 100 per cent effective. Annually, there are an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 landmine victims worldwide. In India, there have been 779 victims along the Pakistan border since 2002. By not signing the treaty, India has placed itself in an uncomfortable moral position. There is no doubt that the security needs of the nation are of paramount importance, but the cost of mining in terms of lives also has to be taken into account. The convention has brought the spotlight where it is needed. Ways of demining the entire world have to be found at the earliest. |
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Work is the curse of the drinking classes. — Oscar Wilde
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Money is not a problem
ON November 17 in Srinagar the Prime Minister announced an “economic revival plan” of Rs 24,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir. By unwrapping the package as a bold new one, the Prime Minister is guilty of some terminological inexactitude. What is new is just Rs 5,800 crore. The other Rs 18,200 crore had been committed several years ago to the ongoing power projects of the Central government’s National Hydroelectric Power Corporation. If this Rs 5,800 crore is in addition to what J&K is, in any case, slated to get, it would, no doubt, be most welcome by all those who have been living off the government. After all, it translates into a grant of additional Rs 5,712 per capita. As it is, J&K does rather well in terms of Central government grants. Between 2000-3 it got Rs 13,188 crore, which is more than three times what India’s most poor and violent state, Bihar, got— Rs 4,047 crore. When you consider that of the Rs 14,085 crore net resource transfer by the Centre, Rs 13,188 crore was a grant you will get an idea of the magnitude of dole that J&K gets. Another way to view this is to consider that a similar “economic revival plan” for Bihar would amount to Rs 47,458 crore! Quite clearly, Dr Manmohan Singh thought this was not enough, for he put some icing on the cake by announcing in Jammu the following day that he was ordering the lifting of the freeze on the state government’s employment. It’s not that the state does not have enough public employees. In fact, it seems to have far too many. By its own admission, the J&K government employs 3.5 lakh persons, giving it a ratio of 34.5 government employees to every thousand persons. To get a better idea of the enormity of the Prime Minister’s largesse, consider this. The Rajasthan government employs about six lakh persons and that state is about five and a half times as big as J&K in terms of population. The underlying problem of Jammu and Kashmir is not economic. It is political and administrative. The state does quite well in terms of socio-economic development. Its literacy level (64.8 per cent) is almost on a par with the national level (65.4 per cent ). Its sex ratio (923/1000) too is almost on a par with the national average (933/1000). Its birth rate (19.9/1000) is lower than the national average (25.8). Its death rate (5.4/1000) is also lower than the national average (8.5/1000). J&K’s infant mortality rate (45/1000) is also superior to the national average (68/1000). The official per capita income of Jammu and Kashmir is Rs 12,399 and is lower than India’s Rs 16,707. But it is much better than, say, Bihar’s Rs 5108 or Orissa’s Rs 8547. For the 10th Five Year Plan J&K got a per capita allocation of Rs 14,399 whereas Bihar and Orissa got Rs 2,536 and Rs 5,177, respectively, while the national average was only Rs 5,668. It can thus be nobody’s case that J&K did not get enough. This is not all. In 2002-3 J&K raised a mere Rs 936 crore by way of taxes when its total non-tax revenue was Rs 4,745. Bihar collected Rs 2814 crore by way of taxes and had a total non-tax revenue of just Rs 2062 crores. Quite clearly, the nation’s munificence is lavished upon J&K. It seems to miss most people who matter, even those at the helm in Bihar, that the valence of public disorder, when measured in terms of violent deaths, is no less in Bihar than in J&K. If disorder and violence is the basis for the allocation of Central government funds, then Bihar clearly has at least as good a case as J&K. It’s not that all the money has gone down the tubes in J&K. In the last 10 years its poverty level has dropped from 25.17 per cent to a mere 3.48 per cent. The poverty level in India still hovers around 26 per cent. Whatever be the reasons for this, good government is most certainly not one of them! The proof is there for all to see and perceive. There are hardly any public works contributing to the common good and higher productivity to show. Roads are in a terrible condition. The power situation is miserable. There is no public sanitation worth the name and all the sewage seems to flow into the Dal Lake, and then carried into Pakistan by the Jhelum. The J&K government’s books have not been audited for over a decade and no one really knows what was spent where and who got what. Talk to even the most ardent pro-India Kashmiri, and there are some, and he will tell you that the politicians and bureaucrats have stolen most of the money. Lending credence to this is the amazing explosion of new construction in evidence all over the Kashmir valley. It is believed that every second house belongs to a government employee or one connected with it. Relate this to the low poverty level in the state and it would seem that trickle-down economics works! It also underlines John Galbraith’s description of trickle-down economics: that it is akin to feeding race-horses high-quality oats so that the sparrows can eat the dung! The only effective antidote to insurgency is the restoration of good government and order. In J&K you have neither. The forces meant to impose order are themselves often quite disorderly. The Indian Army and the various para-military forces work independently of each other and often at cross-purposes. Worse still they work independent of the popularly elected government. We must wonder if powerlessness makes the state government purposeless as well. Speaking at Srinagar, the Prime Minister said: “The time has come to put forward a new blueprint, a fresh vision for Kashmir and for the Kashmiri people, free from war, want and exploitation.” Instead of a fresh vision and a new blueprint, we have this Prime Minister also doing what all previous Prime Ministers have done — put more good money into the hands of those who cannot deliver the goods. An “unnamed aide” has even planted a line in a leading newspaper that: “The Prime Minister is of the view that while Kashmir’s political problem will take some time to solve, massive investment to develop the state’s infrastructure can deprive militancy of its popular base.” The threat of secessionist violence has become an integral part of our political process. In Punjab, successive Chief Ministers have been extracting higher procurement prices and quotas each year by implying that otherwise things may go out of hand. Ditto for water that Punjab is obliged to supply to neighbouring states. We seem to have no answer to this other than more handouts. But we also know that handouts don’t work. We have seen it not working in the Naga hill region, which has remained one of our poorest regions despite having long had the highest per capita “development” expenditure in India. On the other hand, the abundant availability of state funds is only an easy source of funding for the insurgents and terrorists. We kid ourselves believing that only Pakistan’s ISI funds insurgencies in India. The ISI’s Kashmir budget is but a mere fraction of what goes into sustaining the insurgency in the state. Do the Naxalites, who now dominate large swathes of territory in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, MP, Maharashtra, Orissa and AP, get ISI funds? Like all our other insurgents, they too milk the system for it. When Dr Manmohan Singh first became the Prime Minister, he spoke of the need to make public administration purposeful, honest, efficient and transparent. Instead, he seems to have embarked on the old well-beaten path favoured by his immediate predecessors. Has he lost his way or is it that he knows no other
way?
***** The writer is Chairman, Centre for Policy Alternatives, New Delhi. |
Rumour ambushed
IN 1983-85, I was posted as General Staff Officer Grade One, Operations [GSO-1 (Ops)], at HQ 8 Mountain Division at Zakhama near Kohima. The division was then responsible for counter-insurgency (CI) and other operations (Ops) encompassing Nagaland and Manipur and had very large number of troops of the Army and Assam Rifles, as well as units from the BSF and the CRPF. Keeping track of their Ops was my main job which was a man-sized one. On October 31, 1984, Mrs Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, was shot by her own Sikh guards. On November 13 was her funeral which was telecast live. I was watching TV when I got a call that a vehicle of ours was ambushed by the militants near a village called “Phek”, on Road Chakka Bamma — Shamatore, in Nagaland — in which there were some casualties, including fatalities. Our Sparrow (Signal Officer), Major Gurbakhash Singh, enabled me to get a “running commentary” about the firefight and had complete details of the ambush. We did whatever we could in that isolated and mountainous terrain, including sending a helicopter, but to no avail. Since I was constantly in touch, I had details of the dead and the wounded, including their names. It was a single vehicle in which men of “Band Platoon” of a J&K Rifles Battalion were travelling. Move of a single vehicle was contrary to instructions but that was a separate issue. At about 4 p.m. I got a ring from our PRO, Major Sharma, based at Kohima that there were “News” of a big “clash” between Hindu and Sikh troops and that a very large number of Sikh troops had allegedly been “butchered”. He also said that “responsible people” like the Secretaries to the Government and Ministers were talking about it. In view of the anti-Sikh riots in the wake of Mrs Gandhi’s murder and the genocide that ensued against the Sikhs in Delhi and other places, it was of course good chance for the rumour-mongers to spread such ‘news’. In view of the earlier desertions by the troops of some Sikh units after Operation Bluestar and their subsequent apprehension by other troops in which some firing did take place, this news (of the clash between troops) might have been believed by many. If caught by the media it would have been extremely “juicy” news which would have brought disgrace to the Indian Army, subsequent denials notwithstanding. I told Major Sharma the complete details of the ambush, including the names of the killed and wounded. There were three killed and six wounded. None of them, coincidentally was a Sikh. They were all Hindus and Muslims (J&K Rifles has troops from all the three communities) and the killers were the ‘Under Grounds’ (as the militants in Nagaland and Manipur were called those days) and that the nearest Sikh Battalion was at Shamatore which was over 100 km away. So, there could not have been any “clash” at Phek. I told Major Sharma to rush to those “responsible” persons, give the exact details and ‘kill’ the rumours floating so that none was published, (fortunately there being no private TV channels those days). I further told him to please ensure and confirm that the rumours about the “clash” were in fact “killed”. Sun sets early in the East (almost more than an hour earlier than in Delhi — since we observe only one time zone). In Nagaland, after sunset Bacchus takes over and it is not possible to do any serious business. Major Sharma must have worked very hard and it is a tribute to his skill and “influence” that he did “kill” the rumour. If there had been no continuous “communication” we might have ended up with egg on our collective face. Cheerio “Gimmy” the “God of (Signal) Communications”, for allowing us to “ambush the rumour”! |
Children of jehad — or victims?
AS providence would have it, the Srinagar-based journalist did not have to search for the man who left his wife and daughters in India when he crossed the Line of Control (LoC) in pursuit of “azadi” and reached what India refers to as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The moment we crossed the rebuilt Kohla bridge that links Pakistan with what it calls “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”, we were received by a small group of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) activists led by a middle-aged leader. They had hastily put up banners to welcome us. They offered us luscious rosgollas. The short-statured leader shouted at the top of his voice, “Hum kya chaahte hain” (What do we demand?). To that, the followers answered in a chorus, “Azadi, Azadi” (Independence, Independence). From the slogans, it was apparent that they owed allegiance to Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik. Not to miss an opportunity, the leader began delivering a harangue, which was more rhetorical than philosophical. His unkempt beard, dishevelled look and worn-out chappals bore proof that his condition was far from comfortable. However, when he spoke, he seemed to be possessed. It was not difficult for the Srinagar journalist to recognise him as the husband of the lady who met him when she heard that he was going to PoK. She had a message for him: “Your daughters have grown up. Please come back and share my responsibilities”. Obsessed as he was with “azadi” and fighting the battle for Yasin Malik, where did he have the time to think of such mundane things as looking after a wife and children? Since he was in no mood to end his speech, we decided to return to the bus and continue our journey to Muzaffarabad. As the bus moved, I looked back to find him getting into a jeep and following us. Soon the Kohla bridge, which had shot into history when Jawaharlal Nehru was arrested there for entering Kashmir in 1946, disappeared from view. He is not the only one we came across, who, inspired by wrong notions of “azadi”, crossed the LoC and could not return except braving binoculars and bullets from the Indian side. In fact, one of them who runs a website where articles on Kashmir that appear in the world Press are posted, managed to travel with us from Lahore to PoK and back. But not all of them have persisted with their folly. Mr Riaz Dar is one such. He was barely 16, when encouraged by a heady mix of adventure and idealism, he crossed the LoC and reached the Indian part of Kashmir. He dreamt of fighting the Indian security forces and securing “azadi” by force. Instead, he fell into the hands of the Indian police who slapped several charges on him. He remained in Indian jails for 12 long years at a time when Mohammed Maqbool Bhat from Trehgam in Kupwara, the first Kashmiri to pick up the gun, was also in prison, accused of masterminding the kidnapping and murder of Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre at Birmingham in the UK. Mr Dar is now employed as a supervisor in a hotel in Muzaffarabad. His comrade-in-arms, Mr Abdul Hamid Bhatt from Gujranwale, who was in jail along with him, has a cloth shop at Mirpur to meet his financial needs. Both believe that they lost the best period of their life in Indian jails. Idealism in their case has given way to pragmatism though the idea of an independent Kashmir, which will be neutral to both India and Pakistan, continues to fire their imagination. But, for the present, what matters to them is the turnover in their establishments to keep their own hearths burning. Luckier than them is Mr Mohammed Azhar, who would most likely have fallen to the bullets in India, but for a chance escape. He was all set to leave for India when his mother heard about his plans and persuaded him to return home. Today he is employed as a medical representative and shoulders the responsibilities of a family man. There are job opportunities for the ex-jehadis in the private security organisations that have mushroomed in Pakistan. "Their recruits come mostly from the Jehadi ranks. They are preferred because they are trained", said Mr Imtiaz Alam, Secretary-General of the South Asian Free Media Association. However, countless are the mothers in PoK, who lost their sons to the strife in Kashmir. “Have the authorities made any arrangements for you to meet such mothers?” asked Mr Sherbat Muneer, the Mirpur bureau chief of the Roznama and the Daily Express. “There are so many families who lost their young ones in India. It is very rarely that the young jehadis take their parents into confidence when they cross the LoC to fight for “azadi.” Mr Muneer was keen to know what India did with the bodies of the “Kashmiri militants” killed by the Indian security forces. He was greatly relieved to know that the standard practice was to give the body a proper burial, if possible by requisitioning the services of a Muslim priest. But by the time news reaches PoK about the death or killing of a militant in India, weeks, if not months, would have passed. Though prayer meetings are held for the “martyrs” as they are called there, it is very difficult for the parents to reconcile to the death of their sons. “They hope against hope that there was some confusion and it was not their sons who were killed. They believe that they would return one day,” said the journalist who won the Best Reporting award this year. Of course, they know in their heart of hearts that they will never return. But such hopes give them the reason to live. To be the parents of the children of “azadi” is the worst thing that can happen across the Line of Control. But who bothers about them? Neither the militant leaders nor those who pull the strings from behind the curtains. |
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EC expertise
in demand THE expertise acquired by the Election Commission is in demand globally. The United Nations and the Commission Electoral Independante of Cote de’ Ivoire have signed memorandums of understanding with the Election Commission for cooperation in electoral matters. The Federal Electoral Institute of the United Mexican States and the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation have expressed a desire to have cooperation in electoral matters with the Election Commission. In September, a Pakistani parliamentary delegation had discussions with the Election Commission on electoral reforms. Mr Surinder Kumar Mendiratta, Legal Consultant, Election Commission is serving as an international member on the joint management body of Afghanistan. Mr K.J. Rao, Adviser, Election Commission, has been appointed an electoral offences investigation and enforcement officer under the United Nation’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Mr Lalit Kothari, Chief
Electoral Officer, Rajasthan, headed the Commonwealth Mission to Cameroon. India also supplied 50,000 indelible ink marker pens to Afghanistan. India has supplied indelible ink to Cambodia, Uganda, Mongolia and Nigeria. Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishnamurthy, who visited the US at the invitation of the Federal Election Commission and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to observe the presidential elections last month, says India’s pre-eminent status as the largest democracy was acknowledged by one and all. Sharing his thoughts with The Tribune, Mr Krishnamurthy said that there was appreciation for the Indian electoral system and admiration for electronic voting machines (EVMs). The US Federal Election Commission has expressed a desire for regular contacts to exchange information. In the 2004 general election, EVMs were used for the first time throughout the country. The use of EVMs in the elections has saved around 1.5 lakh trees which would have been cut for production of about 8,000 tonnes of paper for printing the ballot papers. Mr Krishnamurthy said that there was admiration for the Indian electoral system and also anxiety to exchange information to improve the conduct of elections in every other country. He recalled the appreciation for electronic voting machines at the Asian Association of Election Commissions held recently in the Philippines. The Asian Association of Election Commissions will meet in India later this year to see the election system here and benefit from India’s experience in election management. Besides, the Election Commission has signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations for rendering assistance to election organisations of member countries. “It is a good beginning. There is a desire for exchanging information among countries. I am anticipating many opportunities for training officials from countries in Africa, South America and Asia”, he said. Elections are scheduled to be held in Iraq early next year. The CEC said that he has had a fruitful exchange of ideas with Justice (retd) Irshad Hasan Khan, Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan, recently. Besides inviting Mr Krishnamurthy and others to visit Pakistan, Justice Khan looked forward to periodical meetings in future. |
A man who is not much educated or learned in the wisdom of doctrines, but is serene, temperate and has forsaken passion: he is the one who has found the path of truth. He doe not need to search hither and thither. Tie path is within him. —The Buddhism This is the Sword, which Guru Nanak used. This is the divine weapon, which the succeeding Gurus, who were the repetition of his own personality, used over many centuries. —The Sikhism Truth and untruth often co-exist; good and evil often are found together. —Mahatma Gandhi  |
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