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Wise decision The battle of Ajnala Mirch masala |
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J and K accession-II
“e-marriage”
World Bank questions Naidu’s reforms Hunter: inventor of ‘gonzo’ journalism Tsunami exposes the caste divide
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Wise decision THE Supreme Court has set at rest the controversy about the counting of votes in Haryana when it overruled the decision of the Election Commission to advance it to February 23. The counting will now take place on February 27 as originally planned. The commission had advanced the date mainly to alleviate Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala’s charge that the EC had faulted in fixing the dates for the polling and the counting. But in doing so, the EC has overlooked the fact that the postal ballots would continue to be polled till 8 a.m. on February 27. The subsequent clarification that the results of those constituencies where the margin of victory was less than the total postal votes would be declared only on February 27 did not satisfy its critics. The decision was somewhat flawed on another count also. Under the rules, it is the postal votes which are counted first. Had the apex court not overruled the EC decision, there could have been situations when the political parties would have tried to purchase postal votes if the margin of victory was small. In any case, there would have been no great achievement if the counting was done four days earlier. The reason cited for the decision was to relieve those in charge of protecting the voting machines a little earlier. The court’s ruling is likely to be interpreted as a shot in the arm for the chief minister who has been at sixes and sevens ever since reports came that his party had not done well in the elections. Instead of reconciling himself to the reality, Mr Chautala has been venting his ire at the Election Commission. Whatever may be the Chief Minister’s grievances against the Election Commission, the Haryana election schedule had many drawbacks. Since the polling in Haryana was for only one day, it would have made sense if it was conducted on the day the last phase of the elections in Bihar and Jharkhand was held. Had that been the case, there would not have been such a huge gap between the days of polling and counting in the state. Perhaps, it was Mr Chautala’s plans to hold civic polls just before the Assembly elections that forced the Election Commission to hold the polling at the earliest. In other words, Mr Chautala tried to be too clever by half with the resultant confusion. |
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The battle of Ajnala The high-pitched Ajnala byelection in Punjab has set a new low in campaigning standards. As The Tribune report on Tuesday pointed out, currency notes were openly distributed in the name of oldage pension. The grant of oldage pension on the eve of the byelection is itself questionable. Home-distilled liquor has been freely served to woo voters. A Tribune team accompanied a caravan led by two Congress MLAs that moved from village to village distributing cash to lure voters. Villagers flaunted the currency notes they got from the ruling party. Instant power connections too have been issued by a helpful state electricity board. Not to be left behind, the Shiromani Akali Dal has used plenty of money to organise langars for its supporters. A complaint has been lodged with the Election Commission that Akali Dal leaders have distributed blankets, shawls and sweaters among voters. All this may surprise only those not familiar with the realities of electioneering in Punjab in general and in the border districts in particular. The elections have become extremely expensive and political parties often end up spending much more than the prescribed limit. The only saving grace is that the campaign has been almost peaceful. What could have been a simple byelection with no direct bearing on the fate of the government has been turned into a major show of strength. The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and senior Congress leaders, including Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, have participated in the campaign. From the Opposition camp, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has led the attack. The frequent verbal exchanges between the former and present Chief Ministers, at times, turned quite harsh. Watching almost quietly this drama have been the Election Commission observers. The open shredding of the code of conduct has not moved them into any corrective action. |
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Mirch masala To those who wanted to know what next - after the Westminster model, English and cricket, in all of which a once subject-nation excels its former colonial masters – the answer is here: the British are now terrified of Indian chillies. Had our forefathers known this, not only would freedom have been wrested much before 1947, but the Brits could have been scared away well before their flag followed their trade. Of course, a Briton who claims to be a ‘true sport’ would say that this attack is a bit below the belt, which is an admission that they simply do not have the gut to stomach our mirchi. Intestinal fortitude apart, who – India or Britain? – would be hurt more because of the carcinogenic colour in the exported chillies. The organised Indian spice market exports about Rs 500-crore worth of chillies whereas the unorganised sector sends abroad three times as much. The Spices Board has set the record straight that none of its exports contain SUDAN-1, the chemical colourant in chillies that causes cancer. The problem first surfaced in mid-2003 and since then, there have been rigorous quality control of exports from organised trade. If consignments worth sterling 15 million were found adulterated with SUDAN-1 and therefore unfit for consumption, this is being attributed to the large unorganised sector. True, the exporters are not blameless, but British customs authorities are also guilty of letting the consignments in to their home market; and, spice importers too are culpable for distributing contaminated stocks, without alerting the authorities or cautioning the consumers. Perhaps, the popularity of Indian cuisine, unimaginable without chillies, may have made the customs, importers, distributors and grocers keep quiet about it. But, as it turns out now, the authorities obviously don’t have the stomach for what the people have been able to digest. But how did the Brits find the side-effects of Indian chillies more than 250 years later? |
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There is nothing we cannot live down, rise above, and overcome. — Ella Wheeler Wilcox |
J and K accession-II
The accession of Jammu and Kashmir imposed an obligation on the dominion of India to defend the State. To drive the invader out was the task which India was asked to face as soon as it finally accepted the Instrument of Accession. The requests and warnings of the Government of India to the Government of Pakistan to deny assistance and bases to the invaders met with no response. India, therefore, decided to lodge a complaint with the Security Council. Throughout the prolonged deliberations of the Council, India’s spokesmen concentrated their attention almost exclusively on the tribal invasion and the legal fact of Kashmir’s accession to India. This was, indeed, the limited issue referred to the United Nations. But the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Sir Mohammed Zafarullah Khan, alleged that the Maharaja had no authority to sign the Instrument of Accession as he had lost the confidence of his people. (S/P/V/534 dated 6.3.1951). This position does not stand any legal scrutiny. During the British Administration in India, the Crown dealt with the Maharaja alone. It recognised him only. Also, when the Government of Pakistan concluded a standstill Agreement with the Maharaja, it did so on the basis that the Maharaja was the sole representative of the State. These associations were perfectly justified for, in a monarchical form of government, it is the Monarch who personifies and represents the State. And the Government of India, in its relations with the Maharaja, acted in accordance with the law and recognised international practice. The Instrument of Accession was required to be signed by the Ruler only and every State which acceded to either of the dominion did so by executing an Instrument of Accession signed by its Ruler and accepted by the Governor General of the Dominion concerned. The Security Council, in accepting India’s complaint did indirectly recognise the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India and indeed the legality of the accession was not the point which India had brought before the Security Council. It is important to note that the question of aggression alone fell within the competence of the Security Council. The Security Council by its resolution dated January 17, 1948, called upon India and Pakistan “to immediately take all measures within their power (including public appeals to their people) calculated to improve the situation and to refrain from making any statements and from doing or causing to be done or permitting any acts which might aggravate the situation….” The people of Jammu & Kashmir finally settled the controversy regarding accession in 1954 through the Constituent Assembly comprising their elected representatives. No one, even the worst critic, has ever doubted the representative nature of the Constituent Assembly. Self-determination is a one-time slot - the people of the State took a final decision and, therefore, the question of any further “self-determination” or ‘plebiscite’ does not arise either legally or morally. The “wishes” of the people of J&K have been duly ascertained through the duly elected Constituent Assembly. The States’ accession to India, therefore, cannot any longer be questioned or doubted. The 1954 resolution of the Constituent Assembly was followed by incorporation of Section 3 in the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir which reads: “The State of Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India.” The use of expression “is and shall be” is significant. It talks both of the past and the future relationship of the State with the Union of India. The section is in affirmation and reiteration of the desire of the people of the State to be an integral part of India. It has been put beyond the powers of the State Legislature to amend by virtue of the mandate of Section 147 of the Constitution. This provision was apparently incorporated in order to “avoid any fissiparous tendencies raising their ugly heads in the future”. Since a part of the territory of the State is under the occupation of an invader, the holding of elections in the entire State is not possible. The Constitution takes into account this situation and provides that till that area “ceases to be so occupied and the people residing in that area elect their representatives,” 24 seats in the Legislative Assembly shall remain vacant and shall not be taken into account for reckoning the total membership of the Assembly. As per the assurance given to the Security Council, the question of accession has been finally set at rest by the people of the State through their elected representatives in 1954 and 1957. If the accession of Kashmir has to be reopened, the same reopening would imply going back 54 years and reopening the whole question of the independence of India and Pakistan. The resolution of the Security Council (91 of 1951) dated March 30, 1951, cannot affect the constitutional provisions contained in the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir because even international treaties which are in conflict with the domestic law of a country must give way to the domestic law under settled legal practice. The Accession of Jammu and Kashmir State to India on October 26, 1947, is legally sound, constitutionally binding and irrevocable. The case of accession of Kashmir stands at a much stronger footing than that of Texas and the criticism regarding the validity of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India is wholly meaningless and unsustainable - the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India is legal, final and binding. The question of holding a “plebiscite” in Jammu and Kashmir is thus legally not permissible. The theory is flawed on legal as well as moral grounds. Even U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has accepted this position. He has clearly said that U.N. resolutions are no longer implementable obviously because it was the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir, including the areas of PoK and areas given by Pakistan to China, which had acceded to India and unless all those areas were restored to India, the pre-conditions for holding plebiscite under U.N. resolutions, is impracticable and un-implementable. The clock cannot be put back - one must look forward only. Thus, in conclusion it can be said without any reservation that the Accession of Jammu and Kashmir State to India on October 26, 1947, is legally sound, constitutionally binding, irrevocable and
final. (Concluded) The writer, a former Chief Justice of India, is the author of the book “The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir —Its Development and Comments” |
“e-marriage” It was the first e-marriage in the family. The usual jubilation and the fanfare typical of an Indian marriage had an undercurrent of anxiety. Nobody had seen the groom so far. Not even the bride. Everything was decided in a few mouse clicks over the net. And as the day of the wedding approached nearer, everyone’s heart went pit-a pat. Gagan, the bridegroom, was arriving from the US the same day. Shuchi, the bride, had met him in a chat-room. He was a software engineer in the Silicon Valley and she was a final year student of engineering in Canada. During their infrequent chats, which normally occurred at the end of a tired day, they found each other more and more interesting and compatible. Days passed into months and a year had passed since their e-meeting. The subject of their chats ranged from the latest Bollywood movies to the rich cultural heritage of India. So on the Independence day they greeted each other for the first time on the voice chat and it was almost a love at first sound. He complimented her on her sweet voice and pure Hindi (which she had commendably preserved in a foreign land) and she was impressed with his fluent and eloquent English. Wow! He even had an American accent. Just like a scene from one of our Bollywood movies, the boy’s grandfather was taken ill all of a sudden. His mother told him to fly down to India immediately and rued that the old man’s last wish of seeing his dear grandson’s “bahu” could not be fulfilled. An idea flashed his mind. He thought of his chat-mate and sent roses to her on the net with an amorous note. The girl kissed the computer screen blushing and reciprocated with a verse: “We met/ Thanks to the net/ I bet/ All is set/ To let/ The cupid/ Into the icon/ Of my heart…” In the next chat, an e-kiss and photographs were exchanged and they both swore they had found their soul-mates. He proposed to her and she said “yes”. The muhurat, the invitation cards, the lehanga for the bride, the sherwani for the groom — everything was selected and ordered on the net. All the bookings were made online. The girl flew down two days before wedding and the boy the same day. As the band played the old number “Pardesion se na akhiyan milana…” And the groom’s friends danced to the beat of the drum, the marriage procession reached the bride’s house. The boy emerged from an open car in a golden sherwani and safa in the backdrop of solemn music of Shehnai. She waited for him at the mogra-bedecked dais in a gorgeous lehanga. Face to face with garlands in their hands, their jetlagged eyes met. The picture froze. They could not take their eyes off each other. Everyone clapped as they exchanged garlands and people whispered, “Marriages are made on the net
also.”
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World Bank questions Naidu’s reforms A report prepared by the bank points out how the reforms-friendly Naidu regime was no different from the previous governments in Andhra Pradesh and negates all claims made by Naidu about dramatically improving the state’s economy and infrastructure. “Higher productivity and growth are not just about more investment, bigger infrastructure projects, tallest buildings, longest roads, finest flyovers and highest viaducts,” the bank said in the highly critical report prepared in 2003. The report, in the possession of IANS, found major failings in Naidu’s Vision 2020 that sought to turn the primarily agrarian state into a knowledge-intensive one with IT and biotechnology envisaged as engines of growth. “He (Naidu) stopped the World Bank from releasing the report before the general election in April-May 2004 because it was highly critical of his tenure,” a bank official told IANS, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was handed a humiliating defeat in the poll after ruling Andhra Pradesh for a decade and the Congress party returned to power in the state. While Naidu was focusing on making the state a cutting edge e-governance destination, the report said its agriculture sector was witnessing a decline in investment but did not give any figures to substantiate its findings. And the yields from agricultural land had dwindled due to widespread informal tenancy arrangements, said the report “Unlocking the Growth Opportunities in Andhra Pradesh”. “Achieving the Vision 2020 growth targets would also involve a change in mindset,” the report said, alluding to Naidu’s fixation with IT and emerging technologies. The report was finally released in August, 2004, three months after Naidu lost the poll after nearly nine years as Chief Minister. “The growth rate of Andhra Pradesh in the post-reform period has not been much different from what it was in the pre-reform period,” the report said. Though the gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth rate increased marginally from an annual 3.9 per cent in the 1980s to 4.1 per cent during the 1990s, the increase was not due to any improvements in the real GSDP growth. “But it was due to a rapid decline in the population growth rate,” the report said. “It was precisely due to the reason that the report went against him in almost every aspect of governance that Naidu tried to defer its release until after the elections,” the World Bank official said. “While it (the state) is a constant fixture on the international investment circuits, at the same time, it is also home to the last Maoist,” the World Bank report said, drawing attention to extremist problems that plague Andhra Pradesh. The other problems included an uprising by farmers, labour unrest, ethnic violence and a political movement for dividing Andhra Pradesh to create a separate Telengana state. While the TDP opposed the division of the state, the World Bank hinted the demand for creation of Telangana was justified. “In terms of irrigation, Telangana lags substantially behind both south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalseema. “Telangana districts also have a significantly lower access to public services like schools and financial institutions, resulting in a lower literacy rate or worse availability of bank credit compared to the rest of the state,” it said. This finding was in sharp contrast to Naidu’s claim of providing better amenities to the people of Telangana, a region that lies in the northwest corner of the state. The report also had a piece of advice for Naidu, which, had he heeded probably, would have turned the tables in his favour. “While the so-called hardwares (infrastructure) are important for growth, it also involves creation of a favourable investment climate that nurtures innovations and entrepreneurship, a competitive and predictable environment and good institutions. “Besides the state needs independent regulators, transparent rules and a responsive and honest government that works for all its citizens. In short, what Andhra Pradesh needs is an effective software to complement the hardwares.”
— Indo-Asian News Service |
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Hunter: inventor of ‘gonzo’ journalism Thompson was, in fact, a total paradox. An icon of the counter-culture for his journalism for Rolling Stone magazine — in particular his drug-fuelled odyssey “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, published in book form in 1972 — he was also a stalwart of the National Rifle Association and both began and ended his career as a sports writer. The last piece he filed was for an online sports magazine about a new form of golf he had devised with the film star Bill Murray. The author of a dozen books, he was best known for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas — Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro starred in a 1998 film version — and the creation of “gonzo” journalism in which the hitherto anonymous reporter moved to the centre-stage of his own story. For that, he has a lot to answer for. Thompson was a heavy drug-user and drinker, but he fed all that into his best-known work, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”, published in Rolling Stone in 1972 with illustration by Steadman. At the centre of the piece was “Dr Thompson”, a drug- and alcohol-crazed wild man. The account of this hallucinatory road trip became a counter-culture classic. Fear and Loathing: on the Campaign Trail ’72 followed in 1973, featuring, among others, Edmund Muskie, Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon. It became notorious for its brutal opinions. Nixon was, for example, “America’s answer to the monstrous Mr Hyde. He speaks for the werewolf in us.” Thompson’s hyperbolic, vitriolic, self-centred writing style influenced — for good or ill — a generation of journalists. He himself said that he was influenced by the solipsistic writings of Jack Kerouac, although Thompson’s drug use put him more on a par with William Burroughs. His heyday was the Seventies when every magazine around wanted to use him. He set up home in Woody Creek, near Aspen, Colorado, in a “writer’s compound”. In 1970 he was almost elected sheriff in Aspen under the Freak Power Party banner but in subsequent decades became increasingly reclusive, surrounded by peacocks and guns. As the years went on, Thompson’s provocative insights into American society and politics sometimes veered into hectoring and invective. However, on occasion, he still kept his bite. In a 1994 Rolling Stone obituary of Richard Nixon he famously described the former President as “a liar, a quitter and a bastard. A cheap crook and a merciless war criminal.” His life increasingly centred around his writer’s compound, surrounded by signs which went from “Keep Out” and “Danger Zone” to “Guns in Constant Use”. In 2000, he accidentally shot and slightly wounded his assistant, Deborah Fuller, while trying to chase a bear off his property. His regime was to stay up all night. He would sleep until 6pm then have a breakfast, according to one visitor, of orange juice, coffee, a half-pint of Chivas Regal, cigarettes, hashish and cocaine. It is not surprising that he was known for his mood swings and unreliability. Even so, he remarried in 2003, to another of his assistants, the 30-year-old Anita. “I just took an immediate liking to her,” he said. “As for the age gap, I never really paid much attention to age or other normal conventions.” Even in recent years, his opinions on US politics still mattered. When John Kerry visited Aspen during his presidential campaign last year, he appointed Thompson his “official” host and gave him pride of place in his motorcade. Kerry made a speech in which he jokingly considered making Thompson his Vice-President. For his part, Thompson said: “Four more years of George Bush will be like four more years of syphilis.” His last two books — Kingdom of Fear (2003) and Hey Rube: blood sport, the Bush doctrine and the downward spiral of dumbness (2004) — were both about politics. But Thompson was ailing. In 2003 he underwent spinal surgery and, later that year, having only just regained the use of his legs, he went to Honolulu, where he had a fall in his hotel room, fracturing his left leg. (His friend the actor Sean Penn sent a private jet to fly him home.) He said that he had felt mortality closing in from the age of 18. “Often. I never figured I would live past 30.” — By
arrangement with The Independent, London |
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Tsunami exposes the caste divide Many justify their Hindu way of living while repeating various cliches like “our living is simple and plain”, “sare jahan se achha Hindustan hamara” “We practise non-violence” and “are unlike people of materialistic society”. We are so hypocritical that we justify poverty, hunger, slavery in the name of culture and tradition. The tsunami in Nagapattinam and other places has shaken us like anything, what about that catastrophe — caste — which is not less than the tsunami for Dalits and, of course, for those also who are real patriots. One is moved by horrible, discriminatory situation when people are not together in death also. This is how India was enslaved. Nagapattinam district is the worst affected in Tamil Nadu and the tsunami-affected Dalits have been thrown out of relief camps. The Meenavar community, a backward caste, has unleashed terror, discrimination and most of the Dalits have not been allowed to share the relief articles like food, shelter, medicine, toilets etc.. Dalits are forced to carry water in plastic bags and they are not allowed to use water from tanks put up by UNICEF. “Relief is now being virtually dumped in some of the camps here. So even the kids carry a few stoves, mats, vessels and other relief material to sell in other villages”, quotes the Indian Express (January 9.05). Tamil Nadu is known for successful social movement under the leadership of Ramaswami Periyar. What does it suggest? Who can boast in favour of social movement? It proves that the social movement was against Brahmins, rather than Brahmanism. In Madurai district there are panchayats where Dalits can’t fight elections and such incidents have not been reported form any where in the country. There are separate tumblers for Dalits and others in tea shops. The protagonists of the Dravadian movement may feel proud of shooting down Brahmins, but not for promoting real social justice. How political workers prostrate themselves before AIADMK leader Jailalithaa, isn’t it the worst form of Brahminsm? Some of backward castes have successfully replaced the so-called upper castes, not only in Tamil Nadu but also in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and other places. An American, Nancy Ricks, running the Dalit Freedom Network emailed me and felt sorry that Dalits are being discriminated against at the time of calamity. Some of the NGOs are disappointed to carry out relief works, thinking that when the cause of humanity is itself at sacrifice, what is there to promote it? Two human right activists — John Dayal and Sunil Sardar, who practise Christian faith — had carried out relief work in Nagapattinam for a week and reported back in Delhi that caste discrimination was rampant. Aid provided by NGOs, the government and international organisations has been grabbed by the dominant castes. What moral right do the affected dominant castes have got to receive the relief when they are not humane. Whatever relief is being provided, it is because of humanity. The earthquake in Gujarat witnessed the same scenario. The Sangh Parivar had supervised such a divide. What is more surprising is that the government even went for separate camps for Dalits and others. It is in the spirit of the Constitution which says that it will not practise any kind of discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, sex and race? Whatever may be, hypocritic people will not mend. To verify this, not much efforts are needed except for honest and critical appraisal of over all social-economic and political scenario in the country. —
The writer is the National Chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations and the Indian Justice Party |
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Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu may have been the poster boy of India’s new economy and reform brigade at one time, but the World Bank knew all along that the image was a facade. 
Hunter S. Thompson in 2003 summed up his life thus: “I was a notorious best-selling author of weird and brutal books and also a widely feared newspaper columnist . . . I was also drunk, crazy and heavily armed at all times.” He died on Sunday as a result of gunshot wounds, apparently self-inflicted.