O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

CJ goes to Guwahati
SC can move when it wants to
ON the face of it, the transfer of Mr Justice B.K. Roy, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to the Guwahati High Court was not unexpected. The transfer was thought of much earlier but it could not materialise as President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had returned the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium, maintaining that Mr Justice Roy’s prior consent had not been sought.

Power policy
Results depend on implementation
Last week the Union Cabinet cleared the National Power Policy, which aims to provide more power to people, target subsidies at those below the poverty line, ensure competition in the power sector, encourage private investment and focus on rural electrification. All this makes sense, but it is on paper.

Modi retreats
Some holidays reflect nation’s pluralism
GUJARAT Chief Minister Narendra Modi had rightly come under severe criticism for his ill-advised move of cancelling a government holiday on Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary. The move became a sensitive issue and hurt the sentiments of a large section of Indians as Guru Nanak is respected not only by the Sikhs, but also by most Hindus and followers of other religions.

• Thought for the day

Trouble in the neighbourhood
King’s move has deepened Nepal’s crisis
by H. K. Dua
There is trouble in India’s neighbourhood and Dr Manmohan Singh and his government may have to spend time and effort to decide what exactly to do in the evolving solution which is certainly not to its liking.

MIDDLE

Soot-stained memories
by Girish Bhandari
I got a call. “Sir, all you need is a kitchen environment processing facility.” “And what’s that?”, I asked in wonderment. Ultimately it came out that it was kind of a chimney, which sucks the kitchen fumes away.

OPED

Punjab should tap tourism potential
Repair palaces, set up gardens and lakes
by Harjap Singh Aujla
Worldwide tourism revolves primarily around palaces, castles, churches, water fronts and gardens. Talking about the palaces in Punjab, we do have some historic, but not very old palaces.

Chatterati
Khushwant turns 90
by Devi Cherian
Khushwant Singh turned ninety last week. Wishing him on his birthday was Dr Karan Singh at the release of his book “Death at my Doorstep”. This book features his viewpoints on death as well as a collection of obituaries of people Singh has met. Well, not everyone gets to celebrate his birthday with a huge bash and a book release with eminent speakers.

• Film awards function

• A film called Page 3

REFLECTIONS

EDITORIALS

CJ goes to Guwahati
SC can move when it wants to

ON the face of it, the transfer of Mr Justice B.K. Roy, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to the Guwahati High Court was not unexpected. The transfer was thought of much earlier but it could not materialise as President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had returned the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium, maintaining that Mr Justice Roy’s prior consent had not been sought. His earlier transfer to the Patna High Court also did not come through following the Union Government’s stand that it would go against the principle that a judge from his home state could not be posted as its Chief Justice. Four judges are also likely to be posted to other High Courts.

Mr Justice Roy’s transfer to Guwahati has come after a year of unprecedented tension the Punjab and Haryana High Court went through between the Chief Justice and a majority of judges. At one stage, as many as 25 judges chose to go on a day’s casual leave in protest against the Chief Justice’s attitude towards them. The developments in the Punjab and Haryana High Court had clearly been worrying the Supreme Court, but it took time to step in.

The transfer once again brings to the fore the need for strengthening the collegium as an effective institutional mechanism that holds the higher judiciary accountable for the judges’ acts of omission and commission. If this mechanism is good, it must also ensure that there is no inordinate delay in its decision-making. The collegium ought to be given due respect and recognition in the overall decision-making process to help it restore a sense of normalcy and order in the High Courts. The Supreme Court Chief Justice too needs to be empowered to regulate and enforce the code of conduct for the judges. The whole purpose is to ensure that the judiciary’s image does not go down in public esteem. The judiciary is the sentinel of the Constitution and the rights of the people. Therefore, they should not lose faith in this institution, certainly not in the High Courts.

Power policy
Results depend on implementation

Last week the Union Cabinet cleared the National Power Policy, which aims to provide more power to people, target subsidies at those below the poverty line, ensure competition in the power sector, encourage private investment and focus on rural electrification. All this makes sense, but it is on paper. When it comes to implementation at the state level, goals and targets tend to go haywire. The power sector’s biggest challenge is the widening power-supply gap. Demand outgrows supply and there are not enough funds for additional generation.

The new policy says the power tariffs will reflect the cost of generation and supply. For the ordinary citizens, it means power will be more expensive. Subsidised power will be limited to the poor. But the farmers’ lobby will not let the subsidies go. Not many people, specially in cities, mind paying more if regular supply of quality power is assured. Often the tariff is raised, but the supply deteriorates. This has happened in Punjab. The government discontinued the free supply to farmers and recently raised the electricity duty, but the power supply remains erratic. For the past eight years the state has not increased its generation capacity.

Most state electricity boards are mismanaged. Their financial condition is precarious. In Haryana power reforms have not gone beyond the unbundling of the state board and raising the tariffs. The Himachal board, once making profits, is in the red. The Punjab board is also on the brink. The state governments too lack funds to invest in the power sector. Private participation is limited largely because of red tape, corruption and uncertain returns on investment. After the Enron fiasco, foreign companies are avoiding India. To redeem the situation, the Centre has to push the states to implement the Electricity Act and ensure competition in the distribution and generation of power so that consumer have a choice to get power from the most efficient operator. Framing the National Power Policy is not enough, action is needed on its implementation. The results depend on that.

Modi retreats
Some holidays reflect nation’s pluralism

GUJARAT Chief Minister Narendra Modi had rightly come under severe criticism for his ill-advised move of cancelling a government holiday on Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary. The move became a sensitive issue and hurt the sentiments of a large section of Indians as Guru Nanak is respected not only by the Sikhs, but also by most Hindus and followers of other religions. There had been strong resentment among the people and public figures against what Mr Modi had decided in a thoughtless move. People in large numbers had organised rallies in Ahmedabad and elsewhere in the country which must have made Mr Modi think again and take back the questionable order.

The Gujarat government has announced six additional public holidays for the current year to accommodate various sections of the people. India is a plural society, a concept alien to Mr Modi. The reverence for religious leaders is generally pan-denominational; their appeal is wide and not confined just to the followers of their own faith. It is only fitting that along with the holiday on Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary, other religious holidays—for celebrating Good Friday, Id Milad-un-Nabi, Parshuram Jayanti and Parsi New Year—have also been announced by the Gujarat government.

Given the recent history of violence in the state, it would have been reasonable to expect that Mr Modi would have been more careful, but this was not to be. In India, secularism is seen as equal respect for all religions. Thus, it is necessary that national holidays declared by the state should adequately reflect the diversity of faiths in the nation. The balance, arrived at through consensus over the years, should be allowed to remain untouched by the whims of certain individuals. Nothing should be done which may create misunderstanding or hurt the feelings of any community, least of all a religious minority.

Thought for the day

No man’s knowledge here can go beyond his experience. — John Locke

EDITOR'S COLUMN

Trouble in the neighbourhood
King’s move has deepened Nepal’s crisis
by H. K. Dua

There is trouble in India’s neighbourhood and Dr Manmohan Singh and his government may have to spend time and effort to decide what exactly to do in the evolving solution which is certainly not to its liking.

Particularly worrisome is the crisis in Nepal which has deepened after the coup King Gyanendra staged on February 1, dismissing his Prime Minister and the Cabinet and himself assuming charge of running the government.

The King’s move in Nepal, in addition to some of the recent developments in Bangladesh, made India cancel the Prime Minister’s visit to Dhaka to attend the SAARC Summit.

By forcing the indefinite postponement of the SAARC Summit, India apparently has tried to achieve two objectives:

One, it denied King Gyanendra an opportunity to acquire an air of international legitimacy for his taking over direct control of the government in Nepal.

And two, it sent a strong message to the Khaleda Zia government in Dhaka that it was allowing quite a few things to happen in Bangladesh that were against India’s national interest and that the time had come when it should have another look at its unhelpful attitude towards New Delhi.

India’s statement after the royal coup clearly amounted to condemnation of King Gyanendra’s throwing the concept of constitutional monarchy overboard and replacing it with personal rule. It might have hurt the royal pride, but surely he could not have expected New Delhi to endorse what he had chosen to do.

New Delhi’s decision not to participate in the Dhaka Summit has been taken as a snub by the Khaleda Zia government, but New Delhi seems to have been deliberate in reminding it that it could not go on taking Indian concerns lightly — particularly its allowing insurgents from the North-Eastern region to seek shelter in Bangladesh, or its security concerns.

Apparently, the Indian Government’s policy to both King Gyanendra’s new regime in Nepal as well as the Khaleda Zia government in Dhaka has hardened of late.

The new policy towards the King’s regime will depend on how the situation unfolds on the ground; the policy on Bangladesh on whether it is prepared to give up its adversarial posture towards India.

A clear idea of the nature of new relationships with Nepal and Bangladesh will emerge only after the current policy review going on in South Block has led to some conclusions.

Evolving a new policy on Nepal is particularly a complicated exercise as King Gyanendra’s move has upset many a calculation of India and other countries who tried to help him restore order in the strife-torn nation.

India is worried that the King’s crackdown on an elected government, the imposition of censorship and the arrest of democratic opposition leaders, students and local opinion leaders will not only have serious implications for India, but also for Nepal, and even the monarchy itself.

King Gyanendra, who came to power after the palace killing of his brother King Birendra and his family, has never liked the democratic political parties despite the fact that the Maoists have been indulging in killings across the country to challenge the government in power, as well as the monarchy itself.

The King has never really liked the idea of sharing power with democratically-elected governments, believing that the political parties were a hurdle to his desire to wield absolute power in Nepal.

The dismissal of the Sher Bahadur Deuba government last Tuesday has been attacked by political parties as also by the Maoists, who in fact have invited the political parties—although for tactical reasons—to join hands with them to fight against the monarchy.

Ideally, the King could have used the democratic parties as a buffer between the monarchy and the Maoists, who want abolition of the monarchy. He has, however, removed the buffer between the monarchy and the Maoists.

The only element the King can now rely on is the Royal Nepal Army which at present is loyal to him. But the increasing dependence on the army in a country where democracy has often been smothered and where the Maoists have succeeded in creating a civil war situation has inherent dangers. Continued dependence on the army can lead to the weakening of the monarchy itself and whet the appetite of someone in uniform — a prospect which may look theoretical now, but may not remain so in the long run.

Also, when the democratic leadership has been rendered dysfunctional, the King has none but himself to fight the Maoists. The Maoists — whose influence has spread across vast areas of Nepal — can threaten the future of the monarchy itself. Moreover, the snuffing out of democratic elements can also push the students to join the ranks of Maoists.

India has a stake in Nepal’s stability. With India’s border with Nepal open, Maoists can cross over to India, as also a large number of people who may start fleeing the troubled country and move into Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Some Maoists are already reported to have crossed over to Uttaranchal.

India has its own problem with naxalites operating in several states and has been concerned about the links that have already been established between the Maoists in Nepal and the naxalites in India.

The King’s gamble is a setback for Nepal. It can have serious security implications for India as well.

How India will deal with the new situation in the North remains to be seen. Its options are limited and New Delhi’s experience has shown that the King does not appreciate even well-meaning advice from New Delhi.

India has given considerable military hardware to the Royal Nepal Army. Immediately, it may have to decide whether it should give more arms to an army which is being used to suppress the democratic movement in the country and give support to a ruler who is said to be not very fond of India.

Hardly any worthwhile contact has taken place between the Indian government and King Gyanendra since the coup. Nor does New Delhi know what the King is going to do next.

It could be that India may not be able to pull King Gyanendra out of the crisis he has created for his country and himself.

MIDDLE

Soot-stained memories
by Girish Bhandari

I got a call. “Sir, all you need is a kitchen environment processing facility.” “And what’s that?”, I asked in wonderment. Ultimately it came out that it was kind of a chimney, which sucks the kitchen fumes away.

“Chimney”. And that pulled me back in time. We used wood as the sole means of cooking then and cleaning the chimney was a yearly must. Food was cooked and eaten early that day and then the ritual started. A long stout rope was slid down the chimney. A brush was made of wild cherry tree leaves. A string was used to tie the twigs and it was secured to the middle of the rope, which hung from the top of the chimney. The operation Black Out began. A mighty tug from the two fellows on top, and up went the brush dislodging caked up soot and grime. Then two fellows on the kitchen floor dragged it down. A score of these up and down strokes and the soot and grime was off. The brush was then thoroughly washed. Another half a dozen strokes and the chimney was whistle clean.

And boy, what a sight the fellows on the floor were. They were covered head to foot in fine soot, resembling rakshashas in Ramlila. They had to scrub themselves hard to be accepted as human kind. And the soot? It was an excellent source of making permanent blue black ink. The soot was also used by a couple of panditjis who cast horoscopes and were experts in creating old documents. By tradition they stocked hand-made paper labelling purchases by the year. They made special ink by a secret formula. This ink faded as it was exposed to sunlight. If a man wanted his age to be reduced all he had to do was approach the panditji to cast the necessary horoscope. The panditji made it in that year’s paper and exposed it to the sun for a couple of days. A careful, quick and very expert handling over a smoking brazier gave it the right shade of yellow and brown — the hallmark of an old document! The special ink and the reed pen worked so beautifully that not a single document was ever questioned. For they were simply perfect. “Perfect”, I cried aloud as I was reading in my mind’s eye one of those documents. I wondered whether these “kitchen environment processing facilities” were half as perfect. If they were, I would think mankind has progressed tremendously.

OPED

Punjab should tap tourism potential
Repair palaces, set up gardens and lakes
by Harjap Singh Aujla

A view of Patiala’s Sheesh Mahal

Worldwide tourism revolves primarily around palaces, castles, churches, water fronts and gardens. Talking about the palaces in Punjab, we do have some historic, but not very old palaces.

Barring the prime ones, including the Old Motibagh Palace, the Rajendra Palace and Qila Mubarak in Patiala and the French style Jagatjit Palace at Kapurthala, which are comparatively in a better state of preservation, all other palaces are located in congested down-town areas which are rather unattractive for tourism.

It will require millions of rupees to improve the approaches and surroundings of these palaces and then tonnes of more money will be needed to bring these thus far neglected palaces to a level of upkeep suitable to attract foreign tourists.

The artifacts associated with royalty, which would have attracted the attention of curious visitors, have virtually disappeared. But the prime palaces in Patiala and Kapurthala can certainly be opened to foreign tourists.

The “havelis” of Sardars and Sardar Bahadurs, Rais and Rai Bahadurs, Khans, Khan Bahadurs and Nawabs can be considered equivalents of the castes of Europe. Most of such residential buildings have either disappeared or altered far beyond their original configuration. As such most of these buildings have lost their attraction for serious tourism.

Only a few residential buildings of historic significance like the one belonging to the family of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s famous General Sham Singh Attariwala, in his ancestral village Attari on the Grand Trunk Road just short of the border with Pakistan deserves restoration to be thrown open to tourism.

The “serais” primarily at Noormahal, Doraha and to some extent the one at Shambhu also deserve to be restored with original materials of construction and decorated with well laid-out grassy lawns before being thrown open for international tourism.

Punjab’s architectural marvels, its religious structures, including mandirs and gurdwaras, if and when projected properly, can be considered equivalents of the churches of Europe.

We do have three rivers and some rivulets in Punjab. But on account of the damming in sub-mountainous areas, have been reduced for most of the year to dry beds of sands. Barring the few river headworks and dam sites, we are now totally devoid of water features in the state.

In order to augment our scarce sources of water supply, we shall have to create our own water bodies by impounding monsoon waters. These can then be thrown open for tourism.

Lakes need to be developed at the crossings of the GT Road, one between Ludhiana and Phillaur on the Sutlej and the other near Beas and Dhilwan on the Beas. Located on the outer rims of the NRI-rich Doaba region, such lakes will be ideal for NRI-driven tourism. Fishing, bathing, boating, rowing, picnicking and sun-bathing are all common forms of tourism in the West.

Gardens can be created anywhere. But historic gardens are always attractive to tourists. We do have historic gardens such as the Aam Khas Bagh along with ruins of ancient Islamic monuments at Sirhind, the Baradari Garden in Patiala, Shalimar Gardens at Kapurthala and Ram Bagh in Amritsar.

Of all these the only one in a reasonably good state of upkeep is the Baradari Garden. After arrangements of irrigation and minor structural upgrading, plantation of more ornamental trees, shrubs and seasonal flowers can be undertaken. Like Taj Mahal, the Golden Temple is a primary attraction for tourists.

To keep the tourist engaged for a day or two, Agra has several sidekicks like the Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. Amritsar sadly lacks such side attractions. Ram Bagh, if properly cleaned, irrigated and planted with flowering trees like Gulmohars, Amaltas and willows and aesthetic-looking shrubs and seasonal flowering plants, the garden can become another attraction.

Such attractions can keep tourists engaged for a few more hours. Amritsar can then attract a number of high-end hotels.

If properly landscaped, the historic complex of Khalsa College, the campus of Guru Nanak Dev University and the Durgiana Mandir can be the other tourist attractions in Amritsar.

Kapurthala’s historic Shalimar Garden, which at the time of its creation a hundred years ago was conceived as a combination of French and Indian gardens, can be opened to international tourists.

The Shalimar Garden needs repairs to its decaying fountains and requires laying of a sprinkler system for irrigation. Parking facilities, toilet facilities and cafeterias are virtually non-existent at this garden.

The old generation of NRIs can live in their ancestral homes and be happy. The second generation of a NRIs is more demanding and willing to pay for the facilities it wants to enjoy. In order to attract this generation creation of lakes and new gardens is necessary in Punjab.

Cities like Jalandhar, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr deserve to have modern gardens for the recreation of the second-generation NRIs.

After the demise of small-scale industry and marginal farming in Punjab, this state is in a dire need to develop other sources of income for its people. Tourism is one such field. India’s share of the worldwide tourism is very small and Punjab’s is negligible. The government and the people of Punjab must realise the potential of tourism in the state.

Chatterati
Khushwant turns 90
by Devi Cherian

Khushwant Singh turned ninety last week. Wishing him on his birthday was Dr Karan Singh at the release of his book “Death at my Doorstep”. This book features his viewpoints on death as well as a collection of obituaries of people Singh has met. Well, not everyone gets to celebrate his birthday with a huge bash and a book release with eminent speakers.

Amidst a large turnout from all spheres, Singh, of course, got into a mild confrontation with Dr Karan Singh. While Singh is a known rationalist or realist, Karan Singh is a devout Hindu which made the conversation lively. Singh told all that in a discussion with the Dalai Lama once about reincarnation, the Lama had jovially told him that if he believed in reincarnation he’d be out of business.

Stunning the crowd as usual, Khushwant says he very strongly supported any human being to take his or her own life when they have had enough.

Film awards function

South Indian stars bagged top honours this year for the 100-odd award categories ranging from the best feature film to the best film critic in 2003. Mrinal Sen got the big one of the evening — the Dadasaheb Phalke awards. Child actor Ashwin Chitle received the biggest applause.

But it was a hilarious movement when President Kalam and Sonu Nigam compared hairstyles. Dr Kalam recited poetry and spoke about the need for encouragement to “nobility in politics”.

The President wound up the two-hour function with the English translation of a poem which talked about not building walls and planting flowers instead. Meera Jasmin touched the President’s feet when she went to receive her award.

An evening of a lot of awards, “jhappis” and laughter. Undoubtedly, the President had the largest fan club.

A film called Page 3

The buzz around town is only and only page 3! Hey! the movie I mean. It’s amazing how the pseudo aspect of the society we live in has been portrayed aptly and has politely been flashed in front of our eyes and, to top it, we’re paying to see what we go through each day!

Don’t we see the “new” wheeler-dealers wanting to be photographed with politicians? How behenjis become mod? How hulks become available to the “above forties”? How the new gay fraternity has taken over all the happening places?

And that’s not all. The kids today pick up newspapers just to glance at page 3 first thing in the morning (the other news is immaterial). And how senior officials are cheering the Page 3 (you never know who might be of help in future postings).

How very familiar were the scenes of couples who arrive together and leave with someone else. How only diamonds or designers make an impact here. How even at funerals “networking” becomes the main issue!

In any case, all I want to say is that this movie has all it takes for it to be a big hit. Sex, drugs, glamour and masala! Just what we look for- all the “works” in one entertaining Page 3. Actual reality caught on camera!

REFLECTIONS

— Mother Teresa