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Criminals and polls Flight of fancy |
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Veto power
Communists at crossroads
Copped out
Growth model for Punjab Pakistan’s chips in a shady game Delhi Durbar
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Criminals and polls MR T.S. Krishnamurthy, who completed his term as Chief Election Commissioner on Sunday, had an eventful tenure. Unlike his predecessors like Mr T.N. Seshan, Mr M.S. Gill and Mr J.M. Lyngdoh, his tenure was particularly significant because preventing criminals from contesting elections was on top of his agenda. Armed with the Supreme Court’s directive, he enforced the ruling on affidavits making it mandatory for the candidates to list all the cases in which they are involved. However, he could not make much headway on the issue of banning candidates with criminal antecedents because he did not get the support of the MPs in this endeavour. The same is the case with the package of 22 reform proposals that he had sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year. Mr Krishnamurthy is bound to feel disappointed about the Centre’s lackadaisical attitude towards electoral reforms despite the Prime Minister’s professed commitment. As he himself admits, this is the price the nation has to pay for coalition politics. The Saptharishi issue at the fag end of his tenure was a deliberate attempt to weaken the commission’s autonomy and authority. It is true that the bold stand taken by the Prime Minister and the Law Minister on the issue helped avert an ugly situation. Mr Krishnamurthy and his successor, Mr B.B. Tandon, have said that this incident would help the commission to “emerge stronger”. Both may be right but the incident also enjoins a special responsibility on the Election Commissioners to tread with caution. Not all decisions of the commission headed by Mr Krishnamurthy were free from criticism. Even though decisions regarding the polling dates, countermanding, repoll and the counting of votes are all taken collectively by the three-member body, these must be decided only after a thorough assessment of the ground situation and various other factors. Mr Krishnamurthy may have to enlighten the people why the Haryana elections did not synchronise with the last phase of the polls in Bihar and Jharkhand. This would have facilitated the early counting of votes in Haryana and also saved the commission of the embarrassment when the Supreme Court overruled its decision to advance the counting of votes. |
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Flight of fancy THE resumption of Air-India’s Amritsar-Toronto flight, suspended after the Kanishka tragedy two decades ago, provides an opportunity for a re-look at Rajasansi airport. These days whatever work a government is supposed to do as part of its duty towards the electorate is projected as an “achievement”. For the Punjab Government even the acquisition of land for airport expansion is an achievement. Little wonder then that the flag-off ceremony at Rajasansi was turned into an occasion for celebration, attended, among others, by the Civil Aviation Minister and the Punjab Chief Minister. Whether the elaborate ceremony organised at the taxpayer’s expense was desirable may be debatable but one may well ask: what has changed at the airport all these years other than the number of flights increasing from three a week to 54 now? The airport was granted “international” status long ago, but again other than the name, nothing much has changed. The increase in the number of flights, no doubt, is welcome as it saves NRIs’ time, money and botheration involved in travelling from Delhi to Punjab, but the present level of infrastructure and facilities available at Rajasansi are woefully inadequate to handle the increased rush. Passengers scramble for the limited number of trolleys — a basic need — to carry their luggage. The “international” tag could have waited until the airport is actually upgraded to that level. Right now it is a joke, especially for a foreign traveller. This must be the only “international” airport in the world that operates from sheds. The Punjab Chief Minister could have utilised the occasion to remind the Central minister that it was time to speed up the airport upgradation work at Chandigarh too and start the spade work for the proposed airport between Ludhiana and Jalandhar. Instead, he came out with the profound observation that the flight would boost religious tourism! Another issue: since the powers-that-be have quite forgotten it, there is need to take back from Punjab the honour of still being called a “disturbed area” as this restricts the flow of tourists. |
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Veto power WHAT United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan had said was right: it would be well nigh impossible to get the approval of the US and other permanent members to an expansion of the Security Council along with the grant of veto power. Washington has sent signals loud and clear that it will not support the candidature of India, Germany, Japan and Brazil if they do not give up their demand for veto power. There can be no mistake about what it can do. As it is, Washington is none too happy about the expansion of the Security Council. To obtain veto power simultaneously would be even harder. It is the most exclusive club after all. The four claimants will have to go carefully over their future course of action. While all of them are making loud veto-or-nothing noises, a slight softening in stand, especially in the case of Japan and Germany, is perceivable. The former is the only one whose candidature has been whole-heartedly endorsed by the US. Taking into account the odds stacked against getting veto power outright, the proposal floated by Brazil that they should get the veto power which they could not use for 15 years seems like a viable compromise, but it is unlikely that a wide agreement on even that could be generated because all the four nations are being opposed by their immediate neighbours forcefully. India’s position is particularly unenviable. It is not only being hounded by Pakistan but is also weakly placed in comparison to the other members of G-4. Even the non-permanent membership of the Security Council has eluded it since 1992, whereas Pakistan has served in that capacity for two terms in this period. So has Germany. Japan and Brazil have had as many as three terms. India’s endeavour to get a seat for the 1997-98 term had failed so miserably that it did not even make an attempt ever since. It will have to keep this harsh reality in mind while formulating its response. |
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The best way to suppose what may come, is to remember what is past. — Lord Halifax |
Communists at crossroads THE two major communist parties of India, the CPI and the CPM, had their congresses last month. The party congress is the periodical meeting to assess the work done since the previous congress and to chalk out the tasks ahead. The Communist Party in India split in 1964, mostly because of extraneous reasons, on the divergence of the Soviet and the Chinese party lines. Today, there is hardly any difference in the programmes and policies of the two parties; what prevents them from uniting is the larger-than-life ego problem of their leaders. In fact, the CPI, the weaker party, has expressed its willingness for unity, but the CPM is reluctant to accommodate CPI leaders who happened to be senior and of a higher calibre intellectually. As for the political resolution of the CPM passed in its 18th congress in New Delhi, there was no change in the party’s policies formulated in the 17th congress in March 2002, in Hyderabad. The communists considered the Indian National Congress represented the national bourgeois (capitalist-landlord) and the US stood for imperialism. However, with the BJP coming to the scene as an alternative to the Congress, it became the main enemy. Therefore, in the fight against communalism, the communists were willing to collaborate with the Congress. The enmity with the US, of course, prevailed. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union and the world-wide setback to communism, the CPI and CPM stuck to their dogmatism, though the surviving communist countries such as China and Vietnam became pragmatic in their policies towards the US and West European countries. What is more, Indian communists still looked with adoration towards Cuba where a one-man authoritarian rule prevailed for the past 45 years, and North Korea where one dictator bequeathed his throne to his son in the uninterrupted dynastic rule. The trouble with Indian communism, despite having had highly educated leaders, was that it was spoonfed by international leadership and goes on acting even now as if the world has not moved out of the 1950s’ time-frame. As a result, when communists all over the world repudiated Stalinism, it was pathetic to note Mr Prakash Karat, the newly elected General Secretary of the CPM, addressing the party congress from a podium under a large portrait of Stalin. The scene represented the very crisis of communism in India. This crisis had been well described by the great Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh on his visit to India. When asked why communists succeeded in Vietnam while with identical conditions in India, communists could not make an impact on the political scene, Ho replied: “In India, you have a Gandhi; in Vietnam, I am the Gandhi.” Though having highly western educated leadership, Indian communism could not throw up a leader like Mao or Ho who could make Marxism adapt to Indian conditions. As a result, Indian communist leaders had to get their cue on national politics from the theoretical organs of Comintern or had to rush to Soviet Russia to get Stalin’s advice. Much water has flowed down the Don and the Ganges since, but old habits die hard. Otherwise, there was no reason why Stalin’s portrait should overhang the General Secretary’s head when he was addressing the 18th party congress of the CPM. The new General Secretary, Mr Prakash Karat, is seen as a “hardliner”, as against Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Mr Jyoti Basu who were mellowed and were willing to share power with the Congress to strengthen the secular forces. However, even when Mr Surjeet was the General Secretary and Mr Jyoti Basu the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mr Karat has had his way to keep the CPM out of power, which proved to be the right decision. Sharing power with the Congress coalition would have made the taint of corruption tarnish the image of the party. Mr Karat, in his reply to the amendments to the political resolution in the 18th congress, said: “The international balance of political forces has undergone a sea change. In this context, the Chinese comrades see their task in the international sphere as primarily one of strengthening socialism in their own country, which can contribute to a favourable balance of forces on a world scale against imperialism.” Shorn of communist phrase-mongering of defending the past, Mr Karat seems to have seen the need for pragmatism instead of ideological inflexibility. The Chinese see that their primary task is strengthening their country, which could be a force against unipolarism in the post-Soviet era. Whether they want to thereby strengthen socialism and want to be a force against “imperialism” are debatable. It doesn’t make much difference to the Chinese if the cat’s colour is black or white as long as it serves the purpose of catching mice. The new generation of communist leaders, who have grown seeing internal conflicts and the deterioration of world communism, could not be dogmatic as the old-guards of the party who simply shut their eyes against all odds to preserve their imaginary Soviet paradise. It was time the CPM stopped to stick blindly to the continuity of its authoritarian history and adapted democratic functioning. There is need for the re-evaluation of prominent leaders who were punished for their unconventional thinking. Dead leaders like K. Damodaran and Mohit Sen, who had been expelled, should be honoured and the living ones like K.R. Gowri, M.V. Raghavan, and Siafudin Chowdhary should be wooed back to the party. Above all, the CPM should become a united communist party of the Marxists of all shades. The communist leaders now talk of forming a third front other than those led by the Congress and the BJP. But charity should begin at home, and the immediate need is to unite all communists under one party based on the freedom of expression and ideological
accommodation. |
Copped out THE cop with a frightening handlebar moustache caught my bike by the crossbar and ordered me to get down. I obeyed, with trepidation; it was my first brush with the police. I had been cycling down that hot summer day in 1969 from the Charbagh railway station to my residence, in Lucknow. As I neared the GPO traffic lights, I saw green, and pedalled harder to crossover to the other side, lest the green turned to red. However, a metre or two beyond the stop-line, the signal turned to amber, and then, within no time, to red. I was in a quandary now. Traffic from the sides had started moving. I meandered through it and managed to reach the opposite side. “You have jumped the lights,” the cop hurled the accusation at me. I pulled myself together and mildly protested: “The amber turned to red too quick; the timings need to be reset.” “Don’t argue”, the cop said with authority. “Come down to the kotwali”, he commanded. So, we both walked to the nearby kotwali, with the bicycle in tow, in the hands of the cop. At the police station, I tried to argue again but to no avail. I was handed over the challan papers with the direction to appear in the court on a particular date; the bicycle was forfeited in the police station. Dejected and marooned, I hired a cycle-rickshaw, went to the university in the department of physics where I had been teaching earlier, and contacted and erstwhile colleagues of mine. He came, posthaste, with me to the police station, sought out an officer there (probably the SHO; I didn’t know how to identify the ranks then) and spoke to him: “Mr Lal has been selected for the IPS; he has to join the service in July next.” The officer got up from his chair, came around the table and sat besides me. Then, he addressed me: “Sir, why didn’t you tell us earlier?” He also ordered tea and snacks for us. The challan papers were collected back, and the bicycle was handed over to me. I noticed it had been dusted off. The creaking sound had disappeared; it had been oiled, too. As I was to depart, the officer asked me: “Sir, which state cadre you have been allocated to?” “That is yet to be decided,” I replied with a little disdain. “If you are allocated to Uttar Pradesh,” the officer said, “please do remember this servant of yours.” “And if I am assigned to some other state?” I asked. I had become somewhat emboldened now. “In that case, good luck to you sir,” the officer said with a glint in his
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Growth model for Punjab
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very lively debate on diversification of Punjab agriculture is on. The print media, particularly The Tribune, is playing a pivotal role in it. Development experience across the globe suggests that agriculture alone cannot sustain the tempo of development in the long run. The development story of Punjab also confirms this. As an economy develops the share of agriculture both in national/regional income and employment declines and that of non-agriculture sectors increases. Unfortunately, this aspect of the development saga is not fully validated by the Punjab experience. Historically, upward mobility of the economy was mainly based on agriculture. With the deceleration in the growth of agriculture, a deceleration in the overall growth of the economy has been set in motion. Thus the expected progressive role of the non-agricultural sectors in boosting the economy during an agricultural crisis is almost non-existent in Punjab. The fractured development experience of the state clearly suggests that agriculture is no longer a reliable source of growth in the state and thus the future of the Punjab economy and its people largely depends upon the diversification of the economy and not on the diversification of agriculture alone. Therefore the debate on diversification of agriculture must graduate to diversification of the economy. A close look at the Punjab economy reveals disturbing results. First, Punjab, first in per capita income since the mid-sixties, has now been relegated to the fourth position. Secondly, the rate of growth of the Punjab economy is sliding — it was 1.80 per cent against the national average of 4.37 per cent during 2002-03. Punjab had in the past witnessed a rate of growth in the vicinity of 5 per cent. Thirdly, the state economy is in the trap of structural stagnation. In the recent past the shares of competing sectors like agriculture, industry and services in the state income have almost stagnated. This is a symptom of sickness. Fourthly, the nature of non-agricultural activities, particularly that of industry, is not sustainable particularly during the post-globalisation era. The state has very limited network of industrial units concentrated in a few districts. Most units are small with outdated technology, producing high cost and low quality goods. Fifthly, the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) is inadequate. Punjab received only 1.18 per cent of the FDI from August 1991 to August, 2004 compared to Maharashtra (14.78 per cent), Tamil Nadu (9.12 per cent) and Karnataka (7.60 per cent). These facts necessitate immediate remedial measures in the form of a new model of development. In future only those industries should be encouraged which have locational advantages. Five types of industries fall in this category — those which provide inputs to agriculture, those which use agricultural raw material, “foot-loose” industries using raw material which can be transported economically, knowledge-based or hi-tech industries and industries having a potential market across the border. Further, the existing independent small-scale units be encouraged to have tie-ups with large-scale units for supplying their products for processing and selling. The success of the Japanese model of industrialisation partly depends upon the contractual relationship between small-scale and large-scale units. The ancillary status of small-scale units not only insulates them from a harsh treatment of market forces but also helps them to upgrade their technology on a regular basis with the help of the large units. The new model of development, left to the market forces alone, would meet the fate of the existing model. The proactive role of the government is a pre-condition for the success of the proposed model. However, before pressing the government into the proactive mode, it is necessary to revamp the existing model of governance. First the policy-makers should open a new window for getting policy advice from experts on a regular basis. The existing model of getting policy inputs from the bureaucracy has its own limitations. The traditional bureaucracy based on the Weberian model specialises more in procedure-centric general administration than in the entrepreneurial-oriented economic administration. For providing relevant policy inputs, the need is to constitute an advisory panel on the pattern of the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister. The advisory panel, consisting of experts in development, would not only provide research-based policy inputs, but also help in developing an entrepreneurial perspective both among politicians and bureaucrats. Secondly, a good Policy can deliver expected results if implemented in the true spirit. For this, the field-level bureaucracy needs a thorough re-orientation of its working and mindset. The front-line bureaucracy is made to realise that the sinking ship is not in its own favour. It should be educated to play an active role in reviving industry under its jurisdiction. A part of the proceeds of revenue collection may go as an incentive to the field bureaucracy. This incentive package would not only make the bureaucracy a partner in the development process, it would also discourage it from resorting to corrupt practices. The writer is a Professor in the Department of Public Administration, Panjab University, Chandigarh. |
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Pakistan’s chips in a shady game Let’s recap: The Pakistani special forces squad arrested Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Al Qaeda’s third in command, on March 1, 2003, a few hours before informing the Americans that Pakistan would not back a resolution in favour of the war in Iraq. They arrested Yasser Jazeeri, another key Al Qaeda operative, in March 2003, a few months before Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf visited Camp David, where he was promised foreign aid to the unprecedented tune of $3 billion. In March 2002, they collared Abu Zubeida, Al Qaeda operations chief, and they did this during a big US congressional debate on the question of foreign aid to Pakistan, as well as on delivering the F-16 fighter jets that had been held back by the Pentagon because of Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions. (The delivery of the jets was even more hotly debated because it was at the top of the list of demands made by Daniel Pearl’s kidnappers.) Months later, on September 11, the Pakistanis chose the first anniversary of the destruction of the twin towers in Manhattan to announce the arrest of Ramzi Binalshib — one of the conceivers and coordinators of the 9/11 attacks — in a residential neighbourhood in Karachi where he had been living almost openly. And now it’s Abu Faraj Farj, also known as Abu Faraj Libbi, another high Al Qaeda commander. He was captured under mysterious circumstances, but at a time charged with meaning. It is the moment, according to the Pakistani media, when the Americans have decided to make delivery of the F-16s contingent on American agents getting the right to interrogate Abdul Qadeer Khan, father of the Islamist bomb and godfather of a whole network of nuclear weapons trafficking that involves Iran, North Korea and, perhaps, Al Qaeda’s laboratories near Kandahar, Afghanistan. But Musharraf stubbornly continues to deny the US the right to take over the investigation into what is becoming the most enormous nuclear terrorism affair of this era. Pakistan instead hands over another Al Qaeda operative. So, we can look at the timing in these instances several ways. In each case, we can find a reason for this series of coincidences between the lightning-raid operations of the Pakistani armed forces and the political needs of the US President. It is as if the Pakistani powers that be have had, ever since Al Qaeda’s retreat from Afghanistan and their withdrawal into Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, a precise idea of where the chiefs of Al Qaeda could be found. It is as if Pakistan’s formidable intelligence service, the ISI, had not only localised but kept these public enemies of the US — and theoretically of Pakistan — under observation, handy for periodic culling. It is as if these people were bargaining chips, with the Pakistanis drawing from their reserves of terrorists and cashing them in one by one, depending on the needs of their relationship with the great American “friend.” This article from Los Angeles Times was translated from French by Charlotte Mandell. |
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Allocation of non-work Relations between Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and his Minister of State S.S. Palanimanikkam are not on an even keel. Palanimanikkam is said to be rather unhappy that he has been given only four innocuous subjects to handle. The talk in the corridors of power is that all the junior ministers in the Manmohan Singh government are just twiddling their thumbs as their seniors have not done justice to them in the allocation of work. Apparently to register his strong protest, Palanimanikkam did not attend office for a fortnight though DMK sources explained that he was busy with the byelections in Tamil Nadu.
Game of hide and seek? Last Friday Dr Manmohan Singh released the “Advocacy Briefing Kit” prepared by the Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (IAPPD). While IAPPD Vice-President P.J. Kurien along with other MPs were present on the occasion, its President Lakshman Singh was missing. Lakshman Singh, a younger brother of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, had quit the Congress to join the BJP. Despite being the host of the show, Lakshman Singh, a little birds tells us, was away to his constituency, leaving his guests fending for themselves.
A forlorn Mamata A forlorn Mamata Banerjee prefers to rough it out. Finding the third row on the Opposition benches too cramped, she prefers to sit in the last row and comes in front only when she has to speak. Somewhat down and out, she and former Union minister P.A. Sangma are the only two elected MPs in the Lok Sabha from the Trinamool Congress. Earlier, there was a larger crowd, which is sadly missing. As a result, her effectiveness in targeting her Marxist rivals has taken a beating.
Aam admi left out? The UPA government completes one year in office on May 22. While the UPA is busy preparing the list of achievements, promises kept and how it would fulfil the remaining ones, the NDA is preparing a list of failures. The Left parties, which are providing crucial support from outside, would balance its views by listing achievements due to their pressure and the failures on several promises. In this game everybody seems to forget the “aam admi,” who voted them to power. Perhaps, it is time for the “aam admi” to assert himself and come out in the open with his views. Contributed by Satish Misra, R. Suryamurthy, S. Satyanarayanan and Prashant Sood |
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From the pages of Civil Service Examination THE refusal of Lord Kimberley, the late Secretary of State for India, to reopen the question of raising the maximum age at which candidates compete for entrance to the covenanted Civil Service, has elicited a strong protest from the “Pall Mall Gazette”, which is now a radical organ. It appears that His Lordship, in announcing his final decision on the subject, has not given any reasons in support of it. We would frankly tell Lord Kimberley and those who think with him that they are quite mistaken in the view that our countrymen desire that a shorter and easier route for admission to the covenanted Civil Service should be provided for them. They positively decline all suggestions that some backstairs way into that service, especially suited to them, should be created. We have always fought as strongly against such proposals as against the entire exclusion of Natives from the covenanted Civil Service. We take it for an axiom that the same preparation which Englishmen require to qualify them for higher employment in the public service is equally necessary for our countrymen. |
Be more prompt to go to a friend in adversity than in prosperity. — Chilo The spiritual perfection which opens before man is the crown of long, patient, millennial outflowing of the Spirit in life and nature. This belief in a gradual spiritual progress and evolution is the secret of the almost universal Indian acceptance of the truth of reincarnation. — Sri Aurobindo Spirituality lies in regarding existence merely as a vehicle for contemplation, and contemplation merely as a vehicle for joy. — George Santayana Beauty does not still one’s craving; the more one sees it, the more one desires it. — Guru Nanak Kindness is an essential feature of religion. Religion without kindness is like a rose without fragrance. Yet most people who resort to mere external practice of religion lack this basic emotion. Without kindness in your heart you can never evolve spiritually. — Swami A. Parthasarathy To the alone, life is eternal; to the alone, there is no death. The alone can never cease to be. — J. Krishnamurti He who himself is beguiled, beguiles his comrades too. — Guru Nanak When Vedanta says “Give up love”, it only means “Give up hatred”. Therefore transform this unilateral passion to universal adoration. Develop unison with the world and god. — Swami A. Parthasarathy  |
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