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In fodder heap Amma days again |
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Unrest in Uzbekistan Authoritarianism feeds religious extremism LAST week’s shooting of hundreds of unarmed protesters in Andijan town in Uzbekistan’s Ferghana region clearly showed the style of functioning of President Islam Karimov, the most ruthless dictator of Central Asia.
A year of Dr Manmohan Singh–I
Waking up to reality
Nuclear power play Editor in front of the story
From
Pakistan
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In fodder heap MR Lalu Prasad Yadav’s continuation in the Union Cabinet has become all the more untenable following the framing of charges against him in yet another fodder scam case. The instability of his position can be gauged from the fact that even his communist friends – at least some of them — are having second thoughts about standing by him. As far as Mr Yadav himself is concerned, he is not the one to have any second thoughts. He continues to dismiss all allegations with his trademark nonchalance. Perhaps that bravado is born out of the fact that he has gone through such trials before. Even several jail stints did not make any difference. It is for the Prime Minister to decide whether he is willing to withstand the stink of the scandal. Whatever may be happening in courts, Mr Yadav’s style of functioning has not changed. His latest salvo, to ban cold drinks from trains and railway stations, is of the same class as his earlier diktat to ban cups and saucers and usher in the earthen kulhars. The common man will be more concerned about the fallout of this quixotic order than the integrity or the reputation of the Rail Mantri. Ironically, Mr Yadav cannot take recourse to the Mayawati manoeuvre to wriggle out of the tight corner. She audaciously held out the threat of not supping with the government if the latter did not make the CBI stop hounding her. In Mr Yadav’s case, it is not the CBI but the courts which are taking an initiative to nail him. He cannot even take the plea that any action against him is an affront to the entire Yadav community, as he did in the case of the Election Commissioners. But knowing Mr Yadav, one thing is certain: if he does not find an escape route soon enough, he will dig one with his bare hands. |
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Amma days again THIS lady needs watching, especially by the Opposition. And where she is concerned, the Opposition comprises all the parties. Just a year ago, Ms J. Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK was trounced in the Lok Sabha elections. The DMK-led front in Tamil Nadu read this outcome to mean that it had only to bide time till the Assembly elections due in 2006 to see her exit as the Chief Minister. The AIADMK’s main ally, the BJP, dumped what it saw as an electoral liability. And when the Tamil Nadu Government arrested the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, everyone was convinced that she was courting certain political rout and ignominy. Far from slipping any further, the Jayalalithaa juggernaut may be actually heaving itself up for another electoral roll that could leave the AIADMK’s opponents flattened if they do not wake up to the message of the two byelection results. Byelections, especially to the Assembly, are normally treated as by-the-way games between the big elections. But the byelections in Gummidipoondi and Kancheepuram had more than routine import, and further, were invested with even more significance by the contenders. These were, perhaps, the most bitterly fought byelections ever in Tamil Nadu, with the contestants projecting them as a do-or-die battle. The DMK-led seven-party Democratic Progressive Alliance entered the fray assuming that its arithmetic had the AIADMK against a wall. The results not only battered the alliance arithmetic but also made nonsense of the claim that the Sankaracharya’s arrest would trip Ms Jayalalithaa in Kancheepuram. In fact, the Hindu Mahasabha candidate who campaigned solely on this issue, got a mere 409 votes; and, all others, barring the DMK, lost their deposit. The victory in Gummidipoondi was no less impressive. In the event, far from sealing Ms Jayalalithaa’s fate as the Opposition had expected, the elections have revived her as a formidable force. The DMK-led alliance will have to work beyond what looked like winnable arithmetic until these byelections, and much else too, if it wants a fighting chance at forming the next government in Tamil Nadu. |
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Unrest in Uzbekistan LAST week’s shooting of hundreds of unarmed protesters in Andijan town in Uzbekistan’s Ferghana region clearly showed the style of functioning of President Islam Karimov, the most ruthless dictator of Central Asia. He is known for dealing with his political opponents with an iron fist. The protest against his rule has spread to some other towns also, resulting in a chaotic situation in that country. Mr Karimov’s explanation is that the protesters belonged to an extremist organisation and were plotting instability in Uzbekistan. Whatever the truth, the large-scale killing of civilians by state forces in this manner cannot be justified. This may further intensify the unrest in this poor country. Today’s Uzbekistan —- with widespread illiteracy, unemployment and corruption —- is the most fertile ground for the growth of Islamic extremism. The Ferghana valley, where the people have virtually revolted against the Karimov regime, is the most impoverished area of the country. It is also a major support base of Akramia, the outfit that organised the protest in Andijan. It is an organisation of small businessmen formed for helping the needy. But Mr Karimov saw in the popularity of Akramia a threat to his government. He acted in his usual style to meet the threat, putting behind bars the key members of Akramia. This led to massive demonstrations against the government and the killing of protesters. Mr Karimov is not bothered about the unrest. He has justified the action of his troops, though it has been condemned by human rights groups and others. Being the closest US ally in Central Asia, the Uzbek leader is confident of weathering the storm. He seems unperturbed even by the harsh American criticism, which has come too late. He, perhaps, thinks that it is for the consumption of the world community. He may be right. The US has been speaking against electoral and other irregularities in neighbouring Georgia and Ukraine, but not against the authoritarian functioning of the Karimov regime. This policy of ignoring the highhandedness of the rulers in the good books of the US has been helping religious extremism and terrorism. |
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The empires of the future are the empires of the mind. — Winston Churchill
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A year of Dr Manmohan Singh–I
CONDUCTING foreign policy in a rational manner while heading a coalition government dependent on Stalinist-oriented communist parties on the one hand and regional parties that eulogise Velupillai Prabhakaran and the assassins of Rajiv Gandhi on the other is never an easy task. Despite these constraints, Dr. Manmohan Singh has displayed diplomatic skill and political dexterity in pursuing India’s interests in world affairs. He realises that India can become a power that is taken seriously only when its democratic system is reinforced by economic sinews that make it a significant player in global trade and investment. His early forays into economic diplomacy resulted in imparting increasing dynamism to India’s economic integration with its eastern neighbours. The establishment of BIMSTEC, bringing together the littoral states of the Bay of Bengal, and the signing of a free trade agreement with Thailand bear the stamp of a leadership with a clear economic vision focused on the establishment of an Asian Economic Community at a time when Asia is regaining the crucial importance in international commerce that it enjoyed in the early 19th century. The skilful manner in which economic diplomacy has been handled is also reflected in the ASEAN move to welcome India to the East Asian Summit. Unforeseen events sometimes dramatically change global perceptions. This is precisely what happened when the Tsunami struck the shores of Tamil Nadu. Rather than seeking foreign assistance, India decided to stand on its own feet and immediately provided significant assistance to neighbours like Sri Lanka. The world consequently took notice of our economic potential, our self -reliance and our maritime power. This occurred at a time when the Bush Administration was reviewing its policies towards India. For over 30 years the Americans have endeavoured to emasculate our entire nuclear programme. What is now emerging, in the words of American analyst Ashley Tellis, is a new India-US dialogue on the “ways of integrating India into the global nuclear regime so as to address New Delhi’s desire for renewed access to safeguarded nuclear fuel and advanced reactors”. Dr. Manmohan Singh has discussed this issue with our traditional friends in Russia also. Global recognition that India’s nuclear energy needs should be addressed and that India should be given a distinct position on issues of nuclear proliferation would be a major foreign policy success. Issues of high technology transfers and defence supplies from the US have been handled in a similarly mature manner. Recognition of India’s growing importance by the US has led to enhanced interest in India by China, Japan and other countries. The visit of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China provided an opportunity to India to expand cooperation, address differences and discuss regional and global issues. There has been progress in moving towards resolving the border issue with China, with both sides agreeing to find a “package settlement” to the boundary question. But it would be absurd to describe our relations with China as a “strategic” partnership. Just before he visited India, Mr Wen Jiabao inked a “Friendship Treaty” with Pakistan whose secret provisions guarantee Pakistan’s territorial integrity. His visit to Pakistan saw decisions by China to supply Pakistan’s Navy with four F 22 class frigates and the inauguration of a factory for China and Pakistan to co-produce 150 JF 17 fighter aircraft for the Pakistan Air Force. China’s assistance to Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programmes continues. These issues were not discussed with Mr Wen Jiabao. The government has misled Indian public opinion by downplaying the significance of the China-Pakistan defence, nuclear and missile relationships. The delay in testing the Agni 3 missile also raises disturbing questions about whether our “credible, minimum, nuclear deterrent” has any credibility at all! The government’s spin doctors are also guilty of misleading people about Chinese support for our candidature for Permanent Membership of the Security Council. Dr. Manmohan Singh deserves high praise for the manner in which he has proceeded with the dialogue with Pakistan. He is the first Prime Minister of India to categorically state to the international community and Pakistan that India will not accept any further division of any part of its territory on religious lines, or any changes in Further, unlike sections of our media that have lost all sense of proportion in suggesting measures that could compromise national security, the Prime Minister and Mr Natwar Singh have been cautious and guarded in asserting that we will judge General Musharraf by what he does and not merely by what he says. While the handling of Pakistan has been professional, the same cannot be said of the manner in which the government has handled the manifest hostility of the Khaleda Zia government in Bangladesh—a government that has attracted international condemnation for permitting attacks and assassinations of Awami League leaders and for giving a free hand to Islamic extremists. Separatist leaders from our northeastern states now live in Bangladesh, with the Khaleda Zia government funneling weapons, equipment and financial support to insurgent groups. Rather than responding firmly to these provocations and the brutal killing of a BSF Assistant Commandant, the Manmohan Singh government chose to permit Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar to go ahead with an ill advised proposal for transporting gas from Myanmar to India through Bangladesh territory. This move only led to unacceptable demands by Bangladesh for unilateral concessions from India on issues of trade and transit. Obviously, under pressure from parties like the PMK and the MDMK the government has shied away from signing a defence cooperation agreement with a friendly country like Sri Lanka. It has thus allowed considerations of coalition politics to prevail over our national security interests. Similar inconsistencies have characterised our approach to Nepal. Barely two days after seven major political parties in Nepal constituting 90 per cent of the membership of the dissolved Parliament got together to demand the reconvening of Parliament and restoration of democratic freedoms, New Delhi announced that it would resume supplies of arms “in the pipeline” to the isolated and embattled monarchy in Nepal. There was no military justification for the timing of this move, as the Maoists posed no imminent threat to Kathmandu. Nepal’s political parties rightly described our action as “ill timed” and the Maoists are now making overtures to mainstream political parties. It would be naďve to expect any gratitude from King Gyanendra for our action. We have avoidably placed ourselves against the aspirations of all those who were looking for concrete action from the Palace to restore democratic freedoms and representative government. The first year of the Manmohan Singh government has thus seen astute diplomatic moves in our quest for greater regional and global recognition. But the poor handling of relations with some of India’s South Asian neighbours will naturally raise questions about the country’s ability to protect our vital interests at our very
doorstep. |
Waking up to reality ACCORDING to some newspaper reports, young people in Chandigarh are easy about sex before marriage but most do not have knowledge or access to contraception or safe sex. This situation seems to reflect the denial by adults about the sexuality of young people and adolescents. At an Asia-Pacific workshop on education, population and sustainable development, organised in March for parliamentarians in the region, I heard a parliamentarian from Pakistan say: “Our children have strong cultural values, they don’t indulge in these acts. We have no such problems”. The same lady had brought her 22-year-old daughter along and when I chatted with her, she told me gleefully about the rave parties they have, away from their parents, where drinks and drugs flow freely. At the same workshop, a Member of Parliament from Gujarat said: “We grew up without knowing anything until we were married. We had no problems then. Why should we give sex education to teenagers at an age when they don’t know anything? It only means that they will start to experiment.” What she doesn’t seem to understand is that she grew up in a world with only Doordarshan, no Internet, no conception of HIV/AIDS and at a time when girls were expected to be seen and not heard. There have often been parental objections to newspaper supplements with photographs of Hollywood celebrities and Bollywood item numbers in near natural states. Parents ban these supplements from their homes, thinking they are preserving the “innocence” of their children and protecting them from immorality. But these same parents sit with their children and watch music videos and films rampant with sexual imagery. They read top stories and editorials in newspapers about casting couches, voyeurism and the sexual misdemeanours of public figures. A 1997 survey of 350 girls in Delhi schools, by the SAKSHI Violence Intervention Centre, revealed that 63 per cent of the girls interviewed had experienced sexual abuse at the hands of a male family member, whether a father, grandfather or family friend. This tip of the iceberg reveals the threats prevalent for both girls and boys. Isn’t it a strange that we bury our head in the sand and still lament that the government does not do much about sex-related crimes and AIDS
spread? |
Nuclear power play IT is widely accepted that India’s perfect record on nuclear proliferation is better than that of many nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) signatories. When passed, the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) 2005 Bill presented in Parliament on May 10 will achieve several goals. At one level it fulfils obligations arising out of India joining the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material in 2002 and the passing of the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 in 2004 aimed at preventing proliferation, especially to non-state actors. At another level, it will become an important diplomatic tool, in not only asserting India’s de facto status as a nuclear weapons power, but in sending out a message that that status is being held with responsibility and an appreciation of India’s strategic needs and not as part of a confrontational quest for a notional great power status. In addition, the WMD Bill can be an important tool towards ensuring that India’s ambitious plan to generate 20,000 MWe (Mega Watt Electrical) of electricity via the nuclear route by 2020 is not thwarted by international restrictions, starving a growing economy of vital energy. India’s installed nuclear capacity for power generation, at the current 2770 MWe, is around 2.6 per cent of the total capacity. Its share of generated power is in fact higher, at 3.7 per cent, indicative of the higher plant load factor at which our nuclear plants operate. France obtains as much as 77 per cent of its electricity from nuclear plants, while the figure for the US is 20 per cent. Given a scenario of rising import costs and shrinking reserves of fossil fuels on the one hand, and the demands of a large population and a growing economy on the other, India is looking at generating 25 per cent of its electricity needs from the atom by 2050. India’s 12 indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) do not require import of fuel, as they use natural uranium mined from our own reserves of about 78,000 tonnes. Those reserves will last at least 30-40 years. Two reactors at Tarapur are Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) dependent on enriched Uranium, which has to be imported. India has not opted for indigenous uranium enrichment plants as it is not cost effective. The fuel for the two Tarapur BWRs has been supplied at various stages by the US, France, China, and Russia. The BWRs are under facility specific International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. India for obvious reasons does not agree to full scope, country-wide safeguards. The installed capacity of these 14 reactors is 2770 MWe. These figures do not take into account “research reactors” like Cirus and Dhruva, which are mainly for generating plutonium for nuclear weapons. Eight more are under construction, of which six are again PHWRs — a new one at Tarapur went critical recently. But the biggest, the two 1000 MWe VVER Russian reactors at Kudankulam are of the Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) type and do require enriched Uranium. When these eight are operational, by around 2008, they will add a capacity of 3960 MWe, taking the total to 6730 MWe. The aim is to first reach 10,000 MWe by the end of XI plan in 2012. India’s three stage plan for nuclear power generation also involves the use of India’s abundant thorium reserves of over five lakh tonnes. In order to put these to use for generating power, spent fuel from reactors need to be reprocessed to obtain plutonium, a highly contentious issue internationally as plutonium is weapons material. The plutonium is used in fast breeder reactors to breed a uranium isotope (U-233) from thorium, which can then be used in an Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR). Construction for a 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder has been launched at Kalpakkam, and a 300 MWe AHWR Technology Demonstrator is under development. The Rs 13,171 crore Kudankulam project has its genesis in agreement signed with the former Soviet Union in 1988. After its suspension in 1991, re-negotiations began in 1993 with Russia, and the deal was finalised only in 1998. Russia had in the meantime, in 1992, undertaken an international obligation on export of nuclear material and equipment. It is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), and under NSG guidelines, such material (listed in Part I of the NSG guidelines) can only be supplied to countries who have agreed to full-scope IAEA safeguards. Items in Part II of the NSG guidelines, which are of dual-use nature, require only facility specific safeguards, covering the facility where the items are being used. Russia, on the basis of its long-standing relationship with India and the economic value of the deal to them, cited the fact that the Kudankulam agreement was first signed in 1988, and ignored the NSG guidelines. It agreed to supply the two reactors, fuel, spare parts and technical support. What is more, in 2001, it again overlooked the guidelines (NSG is a voluntary arrangement) to supply fuel for the Tarapur BWRs. For India to reach the goal of generating 20,000 MWe by 2020, or even the halfway mark by 2012, it will need more such reactors. India’s proposal with Russia is for creating six reactors at Kudankulam, and continued fuel supply for Tarapur. Russia has several times mooted a more flexible NSG regime, including an ‘associate membership’ for countries like India. France has also talked about toning down NSG Part I requirements to mean only facility specific safeguards, especially if the recipient country has proper export and safety controls. Russia’s nuclear power plant deals including those with China are valued at more than $ five billion, and mean several lakh jobs. Yearly export of fuel accounts for $ 400 million. With the US now holding out the bait of civil nuclear cooperation with India, Russia is keen on warding off Western competition in the region. For all that, Russia may find it difficult to thwart international pressure on new reactors for Kudankulam. That is where judicious diplomacy comes in, of which the WMD Act will be a component of a larger framework. India has earlier been slow in putting the atom to good use for generating electricity. We can no longer afford that. |
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Editor in front of the story SINCE Friday, when Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker got what he describes as a heated phone call from Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita, blaming Newsweek for the deadly riots in Afghanistan and elsewhere that have claimed at least 16 lives, he has taken an unusually prominent role for an executive who generally leaves the punditry to his top reporters and columnists. Whitaker much prefers to operate behind the scenes, and the only time he gets much media exposure is when Newsweek is under fire. Not since Newsweek had to admit that it was duped into running phony Hitler diaries in 1983 has the magazine been at the center of a storm of this intensity. Rarely have so few words sparked such deadly consequences. By Saturday night, Whitaker had concluded that the fateful half-sentence in a May 1 “Periscope” item — saying military investigators had confirmed that a U.S. interrogator at the Guantanamo Bay prison flushed a copy of the Quran down a toilet—was wrong. Star reporter Michael Isikoff had checked again with his unnamed source, who backed off the account. On Sunday, Newsweek released Whitaker’s apologetic editor’s note and a follow-up piece, but he was a bit vague in interviews about whether he was fully retracting the story. That left an opening for Bush administration officials to further denounce Newsweek, prompting Whitaker to rush out a formal statement of retraction. Whitaker, 47, is a Newsweek lifer in every sense of the word. Not only did he largely grow up at the magazine’s Manhattan headquarters, but two decades ago he married another editor, Alexis Gelber, who is now director of special projects and does not report to him. Whitaker has also stirred controversy with what he has refused to publish. He famously held Isikoff’s 1998 piece on a prosecutor’s investigation of Bill Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky, passing up the bombshell that ultimately led to a presidential impeachment. “I think I’m actually quite ambitious in terms of the big picture,” Whitaker says. “In terms of deliberations, in terms of thinking about the consequences of what we do, I am cautious.” He is comfortable with Isikoff’s reliance on one unnamed source for the ``Periscope’’ item, however, because that source had been reliable in the past and the Pentagon was offered a chance to knock down the story. Newsweek has won four National Magazine Awards during Whitaker’s tenure, ranging from coverage of 9/11 to the Iraq war to the 2004 election, and staffers describe the man as a fount of ideas. Newsweek, owned by The Washington Post Co., has remained the No. 2 newsweekly, with sales of 3.1million compared with Time’s 4million. Whitaker joined Newsweek as an intern in 1977 with impeccable credentials. Harvard graduate. Oxford student. Next came the globe-trotting: Stringer in San Francisco, Boston, Washington, London and Paris. Then he began his climb up the corporate ladder, from business editor to assistant managing editor to managing editor to the top job.
—La Times-Washington Post
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From
Pakistan LAHORE: A group of 58
religious scholars belonging to all schools of thought issued here on
Tuesday an edict (fatwa) against suicide attacks. However, they said
that the fatwa was applicable only in Pakistan. The edict was issued
by Ruet Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rahman at a press
conference where only some TV channels had been invited. Mufti Mohammad Khan Qadri, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MNA, Maulana Abdul Malik and other prominent clerics were present on the occasion. The edict says that Islam forbids suicide attacks on Muslims and those committing such acts at places of worship and public congregations cease to be Muslims. The
fatwa, Mufti Muneeb said, would apply only in Pakistan, while people
waging freedom movements against alien occupation like in Palestine
and Kashmir were exempted of its scope. The decree said that killing
innocent people was haram (forbidden) in Islam and carried the death
penalty, Qisas and compensation. Killing a fellow Muslim without
Islamic and legal reasons was even a bigger crime, it added. —
The Dawn Growth
highest since 1947
LAHORE: Prime Minister Shaukat
Aziz on Tuesday said that improvement in the economy was not an easy
task as the government had to work harder to come up to the
expectations of the masses. Addressing the first Achievement Award of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said GDP growth had shown significant improvement and surged to 8.35 per cent against the target of 6.6 percent while per capita income was all set to cross $ 700 per head during 2004-05. Governor Khalid Maqbool, Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar, President FPCCI and business elite of the province were also present on the occasion. Shaukat
Aziz said the country had achieved this level of growth for the first
time since independence. He said the agriculture sector registered 7.5
per cent growth due to bumper cotton and wheat crops. He said 21.2
million tone wheat was produced this year while cotton production
stood at 14.6 million bales. At least a billion dollars extra would be
pumped into our rural economy, following the bumper crop production. —
The Nation Balochistan
new economic frontier
QUETTA: Balochistan Governor
Owais Ahmed Ghani has said Balochistan would prove to be the new
economic frontier of Pakistan as the efforts of the government to
develop the province have started bringing about positive results. Talking to under-training officers of the National Police Academy, Islamabad, who called on him here on Tuesday, he said that no proper attention was paid to the development of the province in the past, and this led to the feeling of deprivation among the people. “President
Musharraf, however, realised the fact and paid special attention to
the development of the province during the last five years and
launched a number of uplift schemes, including the mega projects,”
he added. — The News |
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From the pages of Political parties in England
The situation of the political parties in England remains unchanged… The Conservatives have all but determined to face the new Parliament on the 12th January when, after the Address to the Throne has been moved and carried, their programme shall be laid before Parliament. This will ascertain whether or not they possess the confidence of the House. It is very humiliating to carry on a Government with a minority. We are glad to see that the fact has been impressed upon the Conservative leaders by a portion of the London Press. Even with the aid of the Parnellites, Lord Salisbury cannot bar the probability of losing the seals of the office any day, on any measure however trifling. The reason that we gave in support of our view was that by coalescing with the Parnellites, Lord Salisbury will lose not only the 18 “red-hot orange” Tories who have been returned from Ireland but a lot of other traditional adherents of his party. |
When the king aspires to monarchy he must hold his people within a ring of benevolence. He must be like the blue sky encompassing all in its kind dome. He must rule them virtuously, unimpassionately and humbly. — The Mahabharata Most of us are so busy doing what we think we have to do, that we do not think about what we really want to do. — Robert Percival It is a wonderful thing that God Himself loves me tenderly. That is why we should have courage, joy, and the conviction that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. — Mother Teresa And when we pray to Him for gifts, He gives, as He is the giver. — Guru Nanak When the Guest is being searched for, it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest that does the trick. — Kabir  |
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