The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

PERSPECTIVE

On Record
NDA must end boycott: TDP
by R. Suryamurthy

K. Yerran Naidu

THE Telugu Desam Party’s decision to end the boycott of Parliament provided a window of opportunity to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take on the NDA. The sudden development led to speculation that the TDP, which had played a crucial role in the survival of the NDA regime, was parting ways. In an interview to The Sunday Tribune, K. Yerran Naidu, leader of Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party, reasoned out their decision and also urged the NDA to end the boycott.

Excerpts:

Q: On Thursday, the TDP changed its stance and attended the proceedings in the House. Is the party with the NDA over?

A: The TDP is not part of the NDA. It has been extending issue-based support to the alliance even when the NDA was ruling the country. On the Godhra issue, we came out strongly against the NDA and also sought the resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. We have been supporting the NDA on the basis of the common minimum programme. We started extending support to the BJP-led NDA after it dropped the contentious issues like Ram Temple, Common Civil Code and Article 370. This is the second issue where we have disagreed with the NDA.

Q: Why did the party change its stance on the boycott issue?

A: We decided to attend the House despite the UPA government’s hostile and vindictive attitude. We feel this message has gone down to the people. We have started attending the House to raise some important issues concerning the people.

Q: Can you explain how the government’s attitude is hostile and vindictive?

A: After the Sabarmati Express train accident, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, in his statement, dealt with those issues which did not directly pertain to the train accident. The attack on him and the involvement of certain organisations is the domain of the Home Minister, who should have given a full statement on the incident.

The government, instead of resolving the issue, is watching the political tussle between the BJP and the RJD MPs. When the Opposition members want to raise some issue, the Treasury benches are not allowing us. In protest against this, we extended our support to the boycott of Parliament for three days. But we participated in the Finance Bill.

Further, we feel that the government is not speaking in one voice. Even as the Prime Minister appealed to the Opposition to join the proceedings, Congress leaders like Ms Ambika Soni make contradictory and provocative statements outside Parliament. We feel that there should be a method to coordinate with the Opposition. The treatment meted out to the Opposition is not good. The Centre should treat the Opposition well. The government should take the Opposition along with it.

Q: Isn’t the tainted minister issue the core reason for the boycott? Wasn’t a TDP minister involved in a murder case, whom the then Chief Minister and TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu defended and retained in his Cabinet?

A: It is not a new issue. We have been fighting corruption since our party’s inception. The TDP case is different. He was not a minister when the cases were registered. A lower court has now convicted him. The case of Siva Reddy was a result of political clashes. In the graft cases, these persons have abused their official position for gaining advantage.

Q: What is your party’s advice to the BJP-led NDA on the boycott issue?

A: In a parliamentary democracy, the Opposition should raise its voice against acts of omission and commission by the government. Boycott is one such method. There should be a logical conclusion to every issue. It won’t serve any purpose if the boycott continues endlessly. While we criticise the government’s policies inside the House and take up people’s issues, the Opposition’s struggle to expose the attitude of the government should continue outside Parliament.

Q: What is your party’s stand on the Phukan Commission report and the alleged misuse of official position by Justice Phukan?

A: We have got only one version now. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has given the statement. Let the government table the report. Let us get the entire version. Only then, we can draw any conclusion.

Q: It seems unlikely that the Phukan commission report would be tabled in this session as indicated by the Home Minister. Is it not a blatant violation of the Speaker’s directive?

A: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had asked the government to table the report in this session which is due to end on May 13. The government had promised to do so.

The Speaker’s directions should be honoured. Why delay the tabling of the report? No report, including the Nanavati Commission report, should be withheld. Now, the Right to Information Bill is also coming.

Q: Is the party satisfied with Somnath Chatterjee as the Speaker? Recently, the BJP had indicated that they would bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker whom they alleged was acting in a partisan manner.

A: I have not heard of any move by the BJP to bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker. There is no need for such a move as of now. We feel that the Speaker should try to satisfy all the parties and try to assuage their feelings, including the smaller parties.

Ins and outs of court martial
by Meet Malhotra

MY interest in court martial trials goes back a few years when a colleague informed me that the conviction rate in such trials was nearly 100 per cent. Those having experience in court martial say, it is over 95 per cent, suggesting that the armed forces are best at investigation and prosecution.

The court martial is a trial by peers of an officer or soldier accused of an offence. The accused may be tried for offences from mutiny and desertion to acts violating good order and discipline. He/she may be tried for “civil offences” too. It can inflict the maximum punishment of a death sentence.

The court martial consists of a presiding officer and other officers. Under the Army and Air Force Acts, the Trial Judge (TJ) is also a member of the court martial. Along with other members, he also determines whether or not one is guilty. Under the Navy Act, the TJ is not a member of the court.

The accused is allowed to appoint an advocate to defend himself or may chose to be defended by a brother officer. The prosecution is presented by an officer who usually has no training in legal proceedings and thus guided by the TJ. The court assembles with great fanfare, goes through the motions of a trial and finds the accused guilty with unerring and un-serving frequency.

As the Commander-in-Chief of the unit usually convenes a court martial, its members junior to him are almost honour bound to return a verdict of ‘guilty’. The compulsions of the court operate to seal the fate of the accused even before the trial begins.

Moreover, a uniformed officer with no training in policing or evidence gathering conducts the ‘investigation’ into the alleged offences. Military police too are trained only to arrest and detain and are not exposed to sophisticated crime detection or investigation techniques. With the armed forces taking on trials of all kinds of offences, evidence gathering is vital. This function is also handled by an untrained officer under the ubiquitous command influence.

The investigating officer, the members of the court martial, the TJ advocate, all willingly amenable to command influence, are the police, the jury and the judge respectively. Still, officially, none in the armed forces is prepared to admit that the system is unfair to the accused.

Let us examine how trials are conducted. A lot of ceremonial spit and polish marks the court martial. The media and the general public are not allowed to watch it. In the infamous Sambha spy case in the late 1970s, all the accused were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life. The conviction and sentence were left untouched by the High Court where the sentences were challenged. All the accused served out their sentences. After almost two decades, a Division Bench of the High Court found that the proceedings against the officers were without any material and “camouflage.” The Army has filed special leave petition against it.

Over the years, the situation has only got worse. As one who is currently handling a case, this writer fervently hopes that court martials are not conducted in this manner. On receipt of information about various acts of corruption, an investigating officer was appointed. He detained many persons and persuaded them to confess to offences they were charged with. The intrepid IO searched the premises of ‘A’, an accused. It was duly video-graphed and panchnama drawn. But nothing incriminating was found. Some “evidence” was subsequently seized and a memo prepared. This was not video-graphed.

‘A’ was brought to trial, conducted by a Trial Judge Advocate. His commission was extended during the trial. The presiding officer continuously used his cell phone during the sitting. Later, prosecution witness ‘B’ deposed that he had given a bribe to the accused. The defense counsel asked the witness where he got the cash. The TJ disallowed the question. When the defense counsel sought the video-graphing (about the search of A’s residence, it was denied on the ground that the prosecution was not relying on that material.

Further, the witness said that he had given cash to the accused in a white envelope, accompanied by another person, ‘C’, who said that it was a green envelope. Dismayed at this contradiction, the court rose for a short break. On reassembling, the President asked ‘C’ asked to elaborate. He said, “Sir, the notes were green, but the envelope was white”! As usual, the president was busy SMSing, being already satisfied about the guilt of the accused.

The findings of a court martial on various charges are not supported with any reasoning. A laconic ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ verdict is pronounced against every charge. What does one do about court martial trials like the one mentioned? The findings and sentences are mindlessly confirmed by superior authorities. I know of no case where the conviction itself was set aside in an appeal, though, in a few cases, punishment has been reduced.

This forces a hapless accused/convict to approach the judiciary. The courts are normally circumspect about interfering in court martial cases. Military discipline, special Acts, appellate authority, all these inhibit the court from interfering. As findings of fact cannot be reopened in writ petitions, an accused can only attack the procedure adopted in trial. Here again, the courts tend to believe that the matter is technical. So an accused has little or no reprieve.

When I asked a Judge Advocate General officer how the Army managed a near 100 per cent conviction in court martials, missing my point and sarcasm, he proudly puffed out his chest and said, “Killer instinct, Sir. We are trained to win…always!” No one could have summed it up better.

It’s already a world heritage
by Maj-Gen Himmat Singh Gill (retd)

THE Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar is already a world heritage and priceless treasure. It needs no certificate from any agency, much less the UNESCO. Amazingly, the most religious shrine of the Sikhs in India and the world over finds itself today in the centre of a mindless controversy.

Bibi Jagir Kaur, Parkash Singh Badal, and members of the expert committee on the dossier from the UN body funnily feel that the granting of a heritage status will bestow the advantage of a ‘No war zone’ upon the recipient area, or the many odd factions within the Akali Dal or the SGPC. But the issue in question is whether the Harmandir Sahib needs to be quantified as such.

We should look at the historical perspective of classifying a place as a heritage centre. The 2500-year-old “Wailing Wall” of the Jews, the Vatican of the 1.2 billion Christians the world over, the Vishwanath Temple of the Hindus at Benaras or the Mecca-Medina of the Muslims, are all priceless treasures for their communities but are not heritage centres named by UNESCO. These places are not mere buildings, walls or structures. They personify that particular faith or religion in itself, requiring no body of men and women to sanctify their purpose or existence.

For the Christians, the whole city of Jerusalem is a veritable heritage. For the Sikhs, the beginning and the end of their very existence and purpose in life is the holiest of the holy Harmandir Sahib. The Sikhs and the SGPC have enough well wishers and a world encompassing ‘Sangat’ to take care of the financial and expertise aspects.

Yes, there are many hangers on in such enterprise and not a few social workers and their kind who deem it necessary to preserve for posterity what they have termed as a treasure. Historical reference points like Hampi, Mohenjo Daro are alright under a UNESCO umbrella but the face of a living religion needs no pillars for support. Those who proposed the Harmandir Sahib for such a grouping initially have erred.

Another weighty reason why the SGPC has now withdrawn this proposal is that all kinds of agencies would have started dabbling into the Sikhs’ religious affairs — the Punjab government, the GOI, the donors, NGOs, and outside agencies like the UN bodies.

The Harmandir Sahib is not meant for tourism even though the Queen of England and Jack Straw are welcome to pay obeisance as common pilgrims. A World Heritage Centre means countless inspections and certificates to be earned from busybodies around the world and, I am sure, most Sikhs do not wish to permit that.

What should not be overlooked is the crucial Sikh ethos aspect. Obviously, this measure was initially rushed through without much thinking on the part of many. Let the Sikhs not repeat such costly mistakes. Otherwise, we will only have ourselves to blame.

OPED

Profile
Music is like food for Gangubai
by Harihar Swarup

Sense of aesthetics appears to have faded in most leaders today. It would, therefore, not be a surprise if Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh had scant knowledge about the legendary Gangubai Hangal. Otherwise, how does one explain his unseemly behaviour at a function recently at Hubli to honour 92-year-old prodigy? Known as one of the foremost exponents of Hindustani classical music, she dominated the classical musical scenes like a Colossus, spanning over eight decades.

The Chief Minister arrived at the function three hours late and left within minutes of presenting a memento and a citation to Gangubai without waiting to hear her reply. Other politicians on the stage too left along with the Chief Minister, leaving her alone on the dais. Dharam Singh later realised the faux pas he had committed following a spate of protests and virtually apologised saying that he had no intention of humiliating the vocalist.

Gangubai lives in Hubli. She continues to sing. Her stock reply to the oft repeated question if she still sings at this age has been, “You eat food, don’t you? Music is my food”. Only two months back her ancestral house was converted into a museum of Indian classical music. Pandit Jasraj, another legend in Indian classical music, who inaugurated the museum, turned emotional on the occasion. “The high priestess of music has commanded me to be here and I have to obey as a loyal servant of music”, he said in a choked voice.

Unlike other artists, who forget their sorrows when they sing, the trials and tribulations she had faced flash back in Gangubai’s mind like a film. She remembers her childhood days when her mother Ambabai would prepare pickles and Brahmins in her neighbourhood would accept it. Her family status was that of hereditary courtesans. The naughty children of the locality would bang tin-posts when she sat down for her daily “riaz”.

Born in 1913 to a family of musicians from Hangal, a small village in North Karnataka, Gangubai’s family shifted to Hubli where she has been living since 1928. In keeping with the tradition of hereditary courtesans, “settling down” with one person, her mother settled down with a Brahmin. And, following the tradition, Gangubai too settled down with a Brahmin, Gururao Kaulgi. She was barely 16 then. Kaulgi died when she was 20. Even though he was an LL.B, he was a briefless lawyer; no clients came to him. He tried his luck with petty business but could not make headway and lost money. Gangubai had all the time to sell her jewellery and utensils to pay the debt. According to her, all this reflects before her eyes like a film when she picks up her tanpurs and begins her “riyaz”.

Gangubai’s days of misery were nearly over when she was called for her first recording by the HMV in Bombay. The HMV bore the cost of journey and stay. So talented was she that her third recording fetched her Rs 400, a fabulous amount those days. Initially, her name was announced on records as Gandhari Hubali. Her family members were annoyed. Later, it was corrected to “Gangubai Hangal”. It is often asked why she preferred Hindustani music and not Carnatic tunes like her mother. Her answer is that her mother wanted that way as she was very fond of Hindustani music.

Light music has never been the forte of Gangubai. Her voice is more suited to singing only pure classical. On her part, she prefers to sing at concerts rather than do recording in studios. Her feelings mould her music. “If you kill that, my music ends”, she says.

January 25, 1971 was a proud day in Gangubai’s life. She received a telegram from the then Prime Minisater Indira Gandhi, congratulating her on being nominated for the Padma Bhushan award. She ran with the telegram to her uncle’s house and they sat talking through the night. “I remember all that I had suffered through life, the mental tortures, the pain, everything that one tries to forget. What a joyous moment it was. And yet, I was thinking of old pains and sorrows”. Some pains, however, never go away.

Reflections
The world will watch you…
by Kiran Bedi

I was asked by a school to meet with the class six and above. I looked forward to seeing what was going to be new in this school? And how do I feel there? Whenever I visit academic institutions I do get to sense the vibrations of their mindsets. Are they intense? Are they questioning? Are they curious?

Are they anxious about their future? Are they keen? Are they willing learners? Are they inspired? Are they disciplined? Are they organised? Are they studious? Are they hungry for knowledge? Are they value-oriented or products? Are they casual? Are they serious? Are they studious?

The way they sit and look at me gives them all away. Also the way they perform and respond to their own performances gives them all away. Also what makes them laugh tells me of their needs and preferences.

I do believe that every interaction with the youth leaves an imprint on them, either of value or waste. One of gain or a loss! They are ‘in and at’ an age of consumption.

Let me share with you one such recent visit to a very good quality run school. It started with a dance performance. I enjoyed watching it. The fun of such performances is not to watch the frontliners but the last liners. (I mean rows). The front rows obviously are the best. But watch the comparison and the difference with the back/last ones. They at times are mere fillers and are expected to hide behind and take the cue from those ahead or on the sides.

Interestingly, if we focus our attention on them we see the fun on how they struggle. Unless, of course, the school believes in TQP i.e. total quality preparation! The performances are also an indicator of quality standards the school is committed to. The degree of the teacher’s and student’s commitment is also on display. Hence many things are in the mirror. The performance I saw was indicating all these issues.

Now came my turn to perform and deliver. I first made all the children especially those who were sitting in a sloppy way; sit up to be attentive listeners. Once they all sat better, their eyes and ears were now with me. Now I needed the mind or the attention. For that words alone were not enough. I made them recall the dance performance and started to involve them by asking them a few questions.

Q: Was there a difference in the dance performance of the first row and the last ones?

A: They said, ‘yes there was’!

Q: Was the teacher same?

A: They said, ‘yes’.

Q: Was the same amount of time given to all students in the event?

A: They said, ‘yes’.

Q: Why was there a difference between the front row and the last ones?

A: They said, ‘attention and interest by the individuals made the difference’.

Q: Did they all know that this is for every one’s viewing?

A: They said, ‘yes’?

Q: Then why were they not as good?

A: They said, ‘they thought they could get away, copy or hide’? That is when I told them, children remember the world will watch you all your life just as you watched this play and you watched your friends. You may think you are not being watched but you are — By your teachers, parents, relatives, friends, and anywhere.

Most of all you are to watch yourself before anyone else watches you. If you train to watch yourself you will know that what the world is watching of you is what you have consistently trained yourself to do. Hence you may be placed in the back row, yet your performance will require being as good as those of the first.

But never ever forget that all your life the world will watch you in all you do, small or big….

I made them repeat the words behind with me…The world will be watching us…

Kashmir Diary
Time to address infrastructure bottlenecks
by David Devadas

IN the days when no road straddled the Great Himalyan Range between the Valley and Ladakh, relay runners used to carry mail across the 17,000-foot range and the icy ridges around Kargil. Each runner covered a distance of eight miles and the relay continued uninterrupted 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So efficient was the service that the postmaster was demoted when one day, the Little Resident received his mail four hours late.

Little Resident, of course, was the term used in common parlance for the British officer in charge of the Empire’s affairs in Ladakh and the mail was a composite service across the empire.

This extraordinary vignette was pointed out to me during a recent evening of reminiscences by Manmohan Wazir, who retired a couple of decades ago from the Jammu and Kashmir police force with the rank of Director-General.

It is actually a good time to focus on such examples of efficient services in Kashmir for, now that peace is on the road, infrastructure could make the crucial difference in determining whether an economic boom gives peace sufficient ballast to last.

As things stand, the scenario is bleak. Mail is the best example. Letters routinely take at least a week to get from Delhi to Srinagar and vice versa, although there are several daily flights. Not only that, they are often delivered here with the covers partially torn, as the intelligence snoops seem to entirely lack finesse. To complicate matters, most courier services have until recently been chary to operate from the Valley. When they do, they ask recipients to pick up packets from their offices rather than undertake the risks they perceive in venturing out to deliver.

The postal service, of course, is only one of the very many infrastructure bottlenecks here. Much has already been said and written about the power crisis. Indeed, many Srinagar residents (not to speak of the much worse-off rural Kashmiris) watched open-mouthed last week as their televisions showed violence in Maharashtra over the fact that people had to do without power for nine hours a day. No electricity for just nine hours is an everyday reality here. In fact, Kashmiris have learnt to do without power for two or three days at a stretch, that too, in bleak midwinter.

Pakistan’s recent objections to two power projects being constructed in the state have exacerbated the power crisis, for the topographical challenge of carrying power from the plains is literally Himalayan.

The prospect of peace is not the only reason to press the panic buttons over infrastructure. Now that the Muzaffarabad road is open, it ought to allow trade and transit through Pakistan sooner or later. If indeed former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream of open borders across South Asia is fulfilled one day, the route from Srinagar to Jalandhar via Muzaffarabad and Lahore would not only be far smoother than the one via Batote and Udhampur, it would be several hours shorter — and it would remain safely open throughout the year.

Meanwhile, the train from Udhampur to Baramulla will make the plains far more easily and comfortably accessible overland than they have ever been from the valley. On top of all this, Srinagar is soon to get an international airport. That would not only allow direct trade in goods and labour with places like West Asia but also allow high-spending foreign tourists to arrive directly in the Valley.

Already, domestic tourists are flocking to Kashmir in such record numbers that not a single room or tent is available until August. Once all these transport options are in place, trade and investment also ought to boom. Since Kashmiris are among the brightest people anywhere and education is widespread, there is no reason why trade in goods and services should not mushroom in the coming years.

To facilitate this, the challenge is for the people and the government to seriously address infrastructure bottlenecks. At stake is not just the money that could be made from an economic boom. It is the key to whether peace will take root or prove once again to be ephemeral.

Diversities — Delhi Letter
Students’ paintings speak more than words
by Humra Quraishi

THE International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has decided to observe World Red Cross Day (which falls on May 8) with a difference — through paintings made by the students of the College of Art. May 6 saw the opening of a unique exhibition.

Each exhibit rotated around the theme, ‘Women, violence and International Humanitarian Law’. As ICRC’s Vincent Nicod puts across: “The paintings of the students of New Delhi’s College of Art, who were asked this February to express their feelings about the theme of women and IHL, speak more than words. Besides their indisputable artistic quality they convey a strong message — a signal from youth which raises the alarm. Having denounced the effects of violence on women through powerful images, sober constructions and sharp colours, they call for a response from the world of their elders for those who have signed and ratified various treaties of humanitarian law such as the Geneva Convention.

Don’t know about leaders’ response but those who had come to the Visual Arts Gallery (Habitat Centre) did look affected and concerned. For each one of the paintings portrayed pain and more pain. Dr Dominique Dreyer, Ambassador of Switzerland, who was not present for the opening of this exhibition but his country and embassy are key sponsors to it, said: “Technologies have advanced. We have created wonder drugs reducing the mortality rate. And yet we are to discover or establish lasting peace and respect in our own land and in our own homes.

“At different points in the vast history of the human civilisation, the feminine has been revered as sacred in different cultures, especially the Asian cultures. Yet again, the daily lives stand witness to violation of basic laws and atrocities against women in society at large, be it at home, on the streets, in the colleges, or at work places”.

Summer no hurdle

Even at the cost of being called repetitive, I am once again stating that in spite of the heat and dust there is no lessening on the happening front. Last week saw the release of Namita Gokhale’s latest novel, ‘Shakuntala: The Play of Memory’ (Penguin), which has also been simultaneously published in Hindi.

Though I have read Namita’s four previous novels, ‘Paro: Dreams of Passion’, ‘Gods, Graves and Grandmother’, ‘A Himalayan Love Story’, and ‘The Book of Shadows’, I am yet to read this latest one. The story seems rather fascinating, revolving around the restlessness and destined turns of the woman she portrays. Namita herself portrays the picture perfect of a novelist — that restlessness in her eyes holds out even whilst she is talking, walking or just about doing anything.

From novels to story rendering

There is a fixed word in the Urdu language for story rendering. It is ‘Dastangoi’, perhaps originating from the word ‘dastaan’ (story). Last weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to see IIC main auditorium packed as the session on Dastangoi was on. With many in the audience, foreigners and others were unaware that such a tradition ever existed. Guess who was the main speaker to talk on this tradition, among others. It was writer William Dalrymple.

And no guessing that such meets definitely link us to the traditional. In fact, I must share this input with you which I gathered during this programme. The 46-volume ‘Dastan-e-Amir- Hamza’ is one of the longest prose narratives in the world. Its publication followed the centuries old practice of oral recitation of the story.

Mullick’s melodies

Writer scholar, Pran Neville hasn’t really forgotten the late Pankaj Mullick’s contribution to the world of music and melodies of that golden era. On May 10, Neville will focus attention on Mullick’s melodies, through a concert to be held at the IIC.