O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Fresh crisis in Nepal
The King has clearly faulted
THE Nepalese crisis has deepened further with King Gyanendra sacking the government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Tuesday. The King has taken this step with the belief that he would be able to do what his Prime Minister could not.

Nod to refinery
Delay, hesitation were ill advised
FOR years, the Bathinda oil refinery has been treated as some kind of a hot potato by the Punjab Government. At long last, better sense has prevailed and the Cabinet has finally given the green signal to the revised package of concessions sought by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.

• Thought for the day

Editor’s Column

Kislay Kaushik’s cry
Who will pull Bihar out of the mess?
by H.K. Dua
ANY country which takes genuine care of its children would have felt a sense of indignation on what happened in Bihar last week. Placards in hand, in large numbers schoolchildren marched down the streets of Patna and onto Raj Bhawan to demand the return of Kislay Kaushik, the child taken away by kidnappers.

MIDDLE

Voyage through tsunami waters
by Trilochan Singh Trewn
PRIOR to my Pacific voyage from Tamano (Japan) to Santiago. (Chile) my knowledge regarding tsunami harbour waves was limited to books only. But an urge to know more remained.

OPED

Dateline London
Labour party’s prospects in polls
Squabbles among top leaders worry rank and file
by K.N. Malik
WILL the ruling Labour Party have a smooth sailing at the next general elections? Most political pundits think yes. All public opinion polls suggest defeat for the Opposition Tory Party and a definite victory, possibly a landslide one, for the ruling Labour. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s poll ratings are pretty good.

Same-sex marriages against our ethos
by Maj-Gen Himmat Singh Gill (retd)
THE Bill on same-sex marriages slated for introduction in Canada shortly raises some disturbing questions on the necessity, legality and morality of the measure. What effect would such a statute have on this country, especially in northern India, where a large segment of the Sikh population is present? Shouldn’t a civilised society run its course in an orchestrated and orderly manner?

REFLECTIONS

EDITORIALS

Fresh crisis in Nepal
The King has clearly faulted

THE Nepalese crisis has deepened further with King Gyanendra sacking the government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Tuesday. The King has taken this step with the belief that he would be able to do what his Prime Minister could not. But his action shows that he is far removed from the ground reality. He wanted Mr Deuba to hold elections by April, which was not possible because the writ of the government hardly runs beyond the capital —- Kathmandu. The Maoists, who are in control of the majority of the districts, are opposed to any electoral exercise under the prevailing circumstances and hence Mr Deuba’s reluctance to hold the poll. The other partners in the Deuba government were also not in favour of elections before engaging the Maoists in a dialogue process. This was a pragmatic approach, but not to the liking of the King.

The King had fired the Deuba government for similar reasons in 2002 also, and the situation had worsened afterwards. The Maoists had intensified their bloody campaign, which they had started in 1996 to press for an end to the system of monarchy. They may do so again. The rebels have been ruthless in their drive, not sparing even children. The Maoists cannot be tamed without strengthening the democratic forces and involving them in a dialogue process with the extremists. The dismissal of the Deuba ministry shows that the King does not believe in such an approach.

King Gyanendra had been looking towards India also for bailing him out, but without taking the advice of New Delhi seriously. India has been telling the King not to do anything which brings about political instability in that country. India had also been giving help to the Royal Nepal Army in anti-insurgency operations and providing military hardware. But nothing has worked because the King is not prepared to accept the ground realities or well-meaning advice. The result is the continuing crisis in Nepal which the King is finding it difficult to handle.

Nod to refinery
Delay, hesitation were ill advised

FOR years, the Bathinda oil refinery has been treated as some kind of a hot potato by the Punjab Government. At long last, better sense has prevailed and the Cabinet has finally given the green signal to the revised package of concessions sought by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited. The government is now plugging the line that its objections were all by way of hard bargaining and through this firmness it has renegotiated the package in such a way that it will save Rs 13,000 crore. That figure may be large enough to impress the uninitiated but those who are in the know of things scoff at it. In reality, the package that has now been agreed is not significantly different from what was decided earlier. Whatever little concessions that the state has managed to garner are more than offset by the three-year delay in the setting up of the refinery. To cap it all, the government will now also have to undertake the exercise of convincing the public that the refinery is not a drain on the state, as was being made out by the officials till recently.

In reality, the mega-project can be a mega boon for the state. That is why Rajasthan had been lobbying for it forcefully. Besides the gains that it will provide directly, downstream industries that it will spawn will not only generate wealth but will also be a perpetual source of employment. After the agricultural production hit a plateau, unemployment has been the bane of Punjab and the refinery can ease the situation considerably.

The Cabinet has also taken several other decisions of far-reaching import. These include a 5 per cent increase in electricity duty and a 3 per cent hike in stamp duty. Since the public will now have to cough up higher amount, this increase is not going to be a sweet pill but given the state of the finances of Punjab it was quite unavoidable. Rather, there are many other segments where the government needs to gather courage to rationalise taxation. If one expects good facilities, one has to be willing to pay for them as well. All that the government has to ensure is that the hard-earned money of the common man is not squandered. The decision to implement VAT from April 1 is also a step in the right direction.

Route of controversy
Centre must heed Tamil Nadu’s claim

THE Union Government’s decision to disburse the “Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Package for Tsunami-Affected Areas” directly through banks, thereby sidelining the Tamil Nadu Government in the process, violates the federal spirit of the Union. All Central schemes, including relief packages and programmes to mitigate the fall out of natural calamities, are implemented through the state government. If this is, and has been, so, it is because that is the constitutional order. To go against this statutory structural scheme would mean opening up unnecessary and entirely avoidable political controversy and conflict, which would ill-serve and vitiate the paramount objectives of rescue, relief and rehabilitation. Besides, it would be pointless to set a precedent which is unimplementable in practical terms.

To take the practical aspect first, Tamil Nadu is the worst affected of the tsunami-hit states with over 8000 killed and at least 1.5 lakh uprooted out of their homes and livelihood. The State Government has moved expeditiously in the matter of rescue and relief and is now confronted with the colossal task of rehabilitation. No doubt, the efforts were aided by the Union Government and a number of national organisations, including the armed forces. The state administration is the one engaged in these operations and the state authorities alone can point to where and who require assistance. Without the State Government’s cooperation, no headway can be made in disbursing the Rs 2262-crore Central rehabilitation package.

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram has come up with a clever argument to justify bypassing the state government. This is not only unconvincing but has also no basis in Centre-State relations as they obtain, or certainly ought to be. Far from eroding the autonomy or prerogatives of the state, there is, on the contrary, every case for enlarging these. The sooner Prime Minister Manmohan Singh moves to reverse the deviation from the constitutional norm, the better it would be for the rehabilitation of the tsunami-hit, and not only in Tamil Nadu but in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Pondicherry too.

Thought for the day

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.

— Blaise Pascal

Editor’s Column

Kislay Kaushik’s cry
Who will pull Bihar out of the mess?
by H.K. Dua

ANY country which takes genuine care of its children would have felt a sense of indignation on what happened in Bihar last week.

Placards in hand, in large numbers schoolchildren marched down the streets of Patna and onto Raj Bhawan to demand the return of Kislay Kaushik, the child taken away by kidnappers. And Kislay Kaushik is not the only child who has been kidnapped. There are many others.

Ordinarily, the children should have been at school or a playground. It is a pity that they have now to parade in the streets of Patna to ask for what should have ordinarily been theirs: The right to live.

The election noise the State of Bihar is caught in has, however, drowned its children’s cry for safety. The adult Bihar has failed them!

Callous as the leaders of the State are, they are hardly bothered about the fate of Kislay Kaushik and others who could be waiting for help in the kidnappers’ hideouts.

The administration of Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mrs Rabri Devi, their party – as also the leaders of other political parties – should have been ordinarily anxious about the safety of the state’s missing children. They are all more concerned about their own pursuits of power.

Coming as the spate of kidnappings has, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav sees an election-eve conspiracy hatched to end his 15-year reign. It could be so; it may not be.

If there is a conspiracy, it would need to be condemned, but no effort can be spared to recover Kislay Kaushik and others. Whatever the motives of the conspirators – ransom, revenge or politics – the State government cannot forget its duty to free the children from captivity.

On the other hand it is possible the conspiracy charge is being made to absolve his wife’s administration from much of the blame that is bound to be laid at its door. To write off the kidnappings as a conspiracy and not do anything to recover the children can also add insult to the injury.

Kidnappings are not new to Bihar. Nor are extortions, murders and caste killings; nor the naxalite killings. For the last 15 years, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav has been in power and he cannot but accept that heinous crimes and violence have vastly increased during his reign.

To provide protection to the citizen is a fundamental duty of the State and failure to discharge it is bound to be questioned by the people. Unfortunately, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav believes that all is well with Bihar and that he should not be questioned by anyone on how it is being run by him and his wife.

The kidnapping of Kislay Kaushik has got some attention because he was studying in a convent school in the state’s capital. But kidnapping of children for ransom is common in many parts of Bihar, particularly in small towns, so much so that news is found only in some odd corner of the newspapers.

Actually, kidnapping is no longer news in Bihar, the state where successful doctors, engineers and businessmen can be taken away by kidnappers every other day. So routine is the phenomenon that the people have lost the faculty of reacting to it with indignation.

The people have stopped being sensitive to criminalisation of Bihar. Extortions and killings have become common for them. Caste gangs – respectfully called Senas – are roaming around in many parts of Bihar’s strife-torn countryside with impunity, looting property, extorting money, killing and fighting battles with rival Senas. No one stops them from doing so.

The state has also been allowing naxalite groups to do whatever they want to – enrol frustrated youth to their ranks, and kill class enemies, perceived or otherwise, in the process making the State administration look more an object of pity or sneer than a source of help.

Where Senas and naxalites are not having their sway, the mafia are calling the shots. These groups are ruling much of Bihar’s countryside, extorting money and killing whosoever they like, for effect, or for greed.

The mafia strike equally among the landless, or those who have land but are not on their side, local traders or anyone who dares to challenge them. The administration does not raise a little finger.

Bihar has indeed become an example of a failed state, afflicted by most of the ills of Indian society, politics and economy. The tragedy is that no one in India really knows what ought to be done about it.

Occasionally, a seminar is organised here or there to discuss Bihar, described by the learned economists as a “Basket Case”. The inanimate word actually hides much of what the 85 million people are going through. The lack of education, healthcare, shelter, jobs and much else that poverty entails have sapped their energy to stand up.

The suffering of the “Basket-Case” people does not move the politicians and decision-makers in Patna, or in Delhi, however. For Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, as also for the leaders of other political parties, the “Basket-Case” people are merely fodder for votes and power.

In a state where poverty and unemployment should have got attention, it is law and order, kidnappings, extortion and murder that are the subject of election speeches. It doesn’t occur to our worthies that law and order cannot be ensured without proper governance and tackling problems of the people and cleaning up the system of the malevolent elements who have infiltrated into it.

Criminals and the corrupt have joined politics in numbers and come to wield clout in the administration and decision-making in many states, more so in Bihar. They are in league with the politicians and in many areas even with the bureaucrats and businessmen.

The politician-criminal-businessman-bureaucrat nexus is too strong in Bihar and it is unlikely to be broken by the outcome of this month’s Assembly elections in the state. Panel discussions after the election results are also unlikely to throw up a cure for the state’s ills.

Bihar has become a sick State and its people are not in a position to solve its problems. Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav has no solution up his sleeve; he is a part of the problem. Other parties and their leaders in the state have no solution either. Leaders of other parties at the national level are also equally unable to think of ways to pull Bihar out of the mess it is in.

Bihar is lying ill, unchanging and stagnant. Yet it cannot be written off. On its progress will depend the speed with which India is to move forward. Failure to pull up Bihar can cost the nation a lot. How it should be done should be its major concern as also of its leaders.

MIDDLE

Voyage through tsunami waters
by Trilochan Singh Trewn

PRIOR to my Pacific voyage from Tamano (Japan) to Santiago. (Chile) my knowledge regarding tsunami harbour waves was limited to books only. But an urge to know more remained.

My ship was refitting close to the Kobe area where one of tsunami sensor stations was located. It was one of 14 sensors in Japan linked with the Tsunami Information Centre in Honolulu, Hawaii island. Six sensors on the Pacific American coast and one in Chile along with several wave Data buoys, positioned strategically, completed the total warning system. Overall cost, including infrastructure, for an equivalent system in the Indian Ocean will be much more than what is being estimated.

It was a chilly morning when we sailed from the port of Tamano towardes Santiago. It started snowing mildly on the fourth morning. As we turned towards South Pacific a first warning signal was received from the Tsunami centre in Honolulu, about 500 miles away. An earthquake close to Panama with Richter scale 8 was creating severe tsunami waves beamed towards East Pacific specifying precisely their speed of advance and direction.

The warning came through electronic media in America. This warning reached us more than four hours before we touched Equator. Although we had avoided main thrust of the tsunami waves, side-effects were enormous. The ship was now riding huge mountain-like waves.

For a moment the situation appeared hopeless and dangerous. Heavy rolling and pitching had sapped enough of energy in those on board. Unstable movements continued till we crossed Tropic of Capricorn.

When we reached Santiago harbour considerable damage could be seen. Main jetty and shipside cranes were badly damaged but workers escaped in time due to prior warning. The next day harbour authorities arranged a trip to a regional tsunami sensor station nearby. Foreign help financed this excellent facility. Sophisticated equipment in this system had eased the problems relating to frequent tsunami wave attacks on the vast South American coastline. We saw vast vineyards inundated by sea water but no loss to human life. School classrooms were completely damaged but open air classrooms had commenced functioning and laudable coordination in readily making available bottled water, food, medicines, clothing of all sizes, boats and polythene tents could be seen.

I recall that the director of the centre had mentioned that tsunami waves cause heavy disaster not only due to undue delay in sending timely warning to coastal people but also due to an added lack of awareness of this oceanic phenomenon. All other sea storms like hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones etc. bring weather forewarning before their arrival. In case of tsunami, however, no such thing happens. One can see coconut and palm trees on coast without even a leaf moving while havoc is on, below them.

OPED

Dateline London
Labour party’s prospects in polls
Squabbles among top leaders worry rank and file
by K.N. Malik

WILL the ruling Labour Party have a smooth sailing at the next general elections? Most political pundits think yes. All public opinion polls suggest defeat for the Opposition Tory Party and a definite victory, possibly a landslide one, for the ruling Labour. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s poll ratings are pretty good. Iraq or no Iraq, most voters trust Tony Blair, more than any other politician. The Tory party seems to be in a terminal decline. Ratings for Tory leader Michael Howard remain abysmal.

This writer, however, has some reservations about the Labour party’s smooth sailing at the elections due in May for two reasons. First, the Labour party leaders’ overconfidence is likely to affect the rank and file and may prove to be their undoing. Secondly, while the Labour and the Tory parties continue bashing each other, a party which remains unscathed is the Libdem party (LD).

In the past, the LD was considered a party of by-elections and local elections. It has been usually a beneficiary of tactical voting by supporters of the two main parties when they think that chances of winning by their candidates are slim.

Consider a scenario in which hardcore supporters of the Labour Party do not turn out in full force because of overconfidence and those disenchanted with the party’s controversial policies on Iraq, tuition fees, decide to teach the party a lesson. Disenchanted party followers usually register their dissent vote during local or by-elections. What if they decide to treat the general elections in the same cavalier fashion?

Normally party managers try to persuade their flock to dissuade from voting for the LD by telling them that in so doing they would be helping the Tories to get into Parliament through back door. This argument may not cut much ice if Labour supporters believe that their victory is a forgone conclusion and that a protest vote here and there would not materially affect the election outcome.

The Tory party supporters usually vote for the LD in constituencies where the party stands no chance of winning. In any case the Labour party votes will be wasted in most cases favouring the LD and in some cases favouring the Tories.

The minority factor, especially the Muslim minority, is also important. Its number is sizeable. In the past it solidly backed the Labour. After the Iraq war and news reports of atrocities committed on mainly Muslims, may make it difficult for them to vote Labour. They would not vote Tory party and would therefore support the LD which consistently opposed the Iraq war.

The Blair-Brown tiff can add to the Labour party’s woes. Whether or not Blair entered into a verbal pact to renounce the premiership in favour of his Chancellor remains a moot point. What is certain is that one of the most successful Chancellors in British recent history believes that he was made a promise that was not honoured. It is a good enough reason for creating problems for the ruling party.

It may be recalled that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were good friends and together with a few more colleagues including the present Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, were the architects of first Labour victory in 1997. Who would become the Prime Minister was agreed upon between Brown and Blair at a luncheon meeting in a London restaurant.

Apparently, it was agreed that Blair would be the Prime Minister. However, it was agreed that in case of second term for the party, Blair will relinquish in favour of Brown. When Blair failed to hand over the leadership to Brown, media reports suggested that the Chancellor felt aggrieved and complained to Blair about his going back on his promise. The relations between the two became so bad that John Prescott arranged a dinner meeting at which Blair is understood to have agreed to step down soon after the next elections.

Then Blair announced his intention to lead the party during the third term. The announcement was made when the Chancellor was away from the country attending an important meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. It was also announced that a former minister would lead the party’s next election campaign.

Since Brown spearheaded the last two election campaigns, the announcement indicated that Blair had decided to cut his Chancellor to size. Reports also started appearing that after third term victory, Brown would be moved from his present post.

The controversy was renewed recently when a book titled “Brown’s Britain” appeared in the market. According to this book, Brown is believed to have told Blair “there is nothing you could say to me that I could ever believe”.

The issue was raised in the House of Commons by the Leader of the Opposition. He charged that the Blair-Brown tiff was affecting the government policies and governance.

Asked by reporters at the Prime Minister’s monthly press conference, Blair denied that any deal was made with his Chancellor. He said “no one does deals over job like this”. When contacted, Brown said he had full faith in the Prime Minister and that he would work with him and other party colleagues to win a third term for the party.

The Labour party, however, is rattled by the squabbles among its top leaders and worried about the fall out for the party’s prospects in the next elections. The parliamentary party recently met and chastised the leadership to bury the hatchet. The MPs are worried that the threat posed by the LD was not being taken seriously. Many holding marginal seats are urging the party leaders to take these issues more seriously. No one is suggesting that the Labour would be defeated. Its majority might be cut, the LD strength increased considerably and the Tories would benefit, though marginally.

Not on a lighter note, a friend suggested that the British Labour party might learn some lessons from India’s once upbeat Bharatiya Janata Party which was trounced in the last Lok Sabha elections not by the Congress but by the combined forces of the Opposition and its own overconfidence.

Same-sex marriages against our ethos
by Maj-Gen Himmat Singh Gill (retd)

THE Bill on same-sex marriages slated for introduction in Canada shortly raises some disturbing questions on the necessity, legality and morality of the measure. What effect would such a statute have on this country, especially in northern India, where a large segment of the Sikh population is present? Shouldn’t a civilised society run its course in an orchestrated and orderly manner?

The fact that certain Members of Parliament in Canada currently visiting India have for their own reasons supported such an impending law in their country does in no way make it a necessity either in Canada or India.

Some questions, if answered fairly, would provide a clear picture to what could turn into a raging debate in this country. One, are the same-sex marriages natural? Over the centuries, have men married men or have women married one another? Was marriage even a consideration even if two persons of the same gender were living with each other? Even the animals and the bird species of the same sex have drawn a distinct line in this regard.

The whole process of a man marrying a woman is also meant to ultimately keep the world going with child birth. It is difficult to see any merit in a same-sex marriage, if codified into an act. Today, a segment of society of the same gender is in its wisdom staying together without the licence of marriage. A legal sanction could create unnecessary complications in many directions. The law of inheritance to property is one.

No religion today sanctifies or permits a same-sex marriage — Christians, Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs. Is such a law, which the Canadian government is likely to enact, in any way relevant or essential for the Indians, no matter what a section of its diaspora, especially in Canada, seems to believe?

This brings to the fore the question of some Canadian MPs’ discussion in the media while visiting India officially or otherwise. Keeping in view the sensitivity of the subject, Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti has issued an edict banning such unions. He has asked the Canadian Sikh MPs to take up a stand against same-sex marriages.

While the Canadians are welcome to adopt any Bill or measure in their own country, the dictum that silence is golden would serve them better when they visit the country of their origin, especially when they are in the Guru-ki-nagri where the Akal Takth reigns supreme. They should refrain from presenting a political agenda here during their visit.

I am surprised at the silence of our Foreign Office in this regard. It should have advised diplomatically the visiting MPs not to politicise this issue while on the foreign soil. The Canadian Prime Minister has cancelled his proposed visit to the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. And tsunami or no tsunami, such a visit could have resulted in many a diplomatic gaffe and associated embarrassment to the visitors, the SGPC and other religious Sikh bodies. MP Gurbux Singh Malhi from Canada has done well to request the Jathedar of the Golden Temple not to present saropas to any visiting Canadian MP supporting such a measure.

As in Canada, will the Supreme Court of India seek a re-definition of the institution of marriage? What would be the response to this clarification in so far as India’s diverse religious and ethnic spectrum is concerned? Why single out the Sikhs? What would be the effect of same-sex marriages on Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists residing in Canada when such a Bill is enacted?

REFLECTIONS

— The Buddha