The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

PERSPECTIVE

Grim realities can raise barriers again
by Aditi Roy Ghatak

FOR all the hullabaloo over the obliteration of geographical boundaries courtesy information technology, a simple question survives. What happened to the mindsets that governed the fingers that drew these boundaries in carefully executed cartographical designs? Have they changed and, if they have not, could technology have conquered the geographical obstacles for all practical purposes?

If not, is there reason to investigate the nature of the surviving barriers that make nations, nations; that stratifies people within nation; and that demands attention in terms of stringently specific responses to specific problems that may or may not have any linkages with the world without barriers?

This is not to deny the reign of the ‘globalised’ stratosphere that technology has networked for 21st century man. It has enabled commercial systems to function at a levitational level that need not encumber itself with the inconvenient questions on the ground — not even those that the resourceful DLH courier handles in smart advertising. Nevertheless, this is a network that bypasses a possible couple of billions of people worldwide. One fourth of them may be residents of India. Clearly, theirs is not India of the globalised world; theirs is not even the world of Indians.

These are god’s ‘nine-fingered’ children, dispossessed and without a clue that they are so, literally living at the grassroots of the un-networked terra firma. In a typically Indian case, the villager at Kiul, Bihar, for instance, who survives on no more than roots that he can dig out of the soil on a lucky day; his jagged ribs telling the world that his days are numbered. Yet he survives. Is globalisation for him? Possibly at some stage as one will be told, what with Millennium Development Goals and all; but how about a dose of Indianisation for him for starters?

Five decades and more of post-independence planning and development and India’s nine-fingered segments may well be on the verge of losing two more with no one any wiser; certainly not the stratospheric Indian. The truth here is that without first coming into the reckoning as Indians — with access to the basics of civilised living that universal adult suffrage, unfortunately, does not bring to their tables — these people stand no chance of ever becoming global residents. Indeed, they do not even have the right to be residents, not having roofs over their heads.

What one encounters in this era of creative destruction is a clear rise in disparities, even in societies that were far better prepared to deal with the incipient global trends. Over the last two decades of the 20th century, the bottom 20 per cent earners in the US saw real income of households grow by no more than 6.4 per cent, of the top 20 per cent by 70 per cent, of the top one per cent by 184 per cent and of the top 0.1 per cent grew at some obscene pace.

The disparity between the top executive company and the average worker is a worse abomination. Washington’s Economic Policy Institute places it at 1,000 times the earnings of the average worker, in a fractious denouement over a three-decade span. Thirty years ago the average CEO emolument was $1.3 million that was 39 times the pay of the average worker. Today it is $37.5 million. At the turn of the millennium, America’s top one per cent of households earned 20 per cent of all income and held 33.4 per cent of all net worth.

That the elite will govern is a given for all time; the masses will be governed. Clearly, the take home package is indicative of what governs the elitist mindsets that is committed to perpetuating the reign of creative destruction for universal redemption from poverty.

Globalisation — currently being sold as an ancient system in a more evolved form in the 21st century — has always thrived on the formula of creative destruction: how else would one describe the cutting-the-thumbs of the weavers of Bengal so that the looms of Lancashire would thrive?

Whatever the theories of endogenous corporate growth, from a strictly development perspective, an Indian perspective, creative destruction, as it hits the employees of such companies as Xerox Corporation or a Polaroid with the new dimensions in emergent technology is not possibly the same in its effects on the groundnut farmer in Andhra Pradesh whose produce loses markets with the advent of imported oil substitute from the US.

With far stronger social security nets in position, globalisation and its handmaidens: casualisation and contractualisation that are being touted as the best way for things to be in corporate order of underpaid workers with insecure tenures, advanced economies may be able to deal the trauma of job loss. In India, the threat of impending job losses has meant enforced voluntary retirements without the mental, social or economic wherewithal to deal with this affect of the creative destruction.

In very real terms, where does all this talk about global poverty reduction take India’s 270 million poor in a country in which the business elite believe that the common minimum programme is a stumbling block?

These are grim realities that raise the barriers once again in the technology-induced borderless world where local and regional compulsions force the drawing of mental boundaries. In the final analysis, it is the mind that matters and if the globalised world does not have the will to take the realities of the terra firma on board, the grassroots will ensure that the boundaries are erected steep and strong.

Global corporations have for so long manipulated policy directions from battles to bottles (Iraq to Coca-Cola in India, for instance) that the distinction between the domain of corporate enterprises and national managements becomes blurred. However, if business governance equates itself with political management it must realise that political governance has its own constituency that is vastly more elaborate than the constituency of corporate shareholders and stakeholders. The former can be ignored at the peril of the entire corporate structure: globalisation, creative destruction et al.

On Record
Minorities must be happy in a civilised nation: Sachar
by S.S. Negi

Justice Rajinder Sachar

Former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice Rajinder Sachar, has been in the forefront of the fight against human rights violations and espousing the cause of underprivileged sections. He has been appointed Chairman of the Prime Minister’s high power committee for preparing a report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims. In an exclusive interview to The Sunday Tribune, Justice Sachar speaks about the nature of the task assigned to the seven-member committee.

Excerpts:

Q: Why was the need felt to examine the social, economic and educational status of the Muslims after 58 years of Independence?

A: The question can better be answered by the government. However, as per the terms of reference of the committee, Muslims are the largest minority community in the country. The satisfaction of minorities in any country is the test of a civilised nation. We have been assigned the task of collecting material and statistics and submit it in a consolidated form to the government. It will take appropriate action on our report.

Q: What do you think are the reasons for Indian Muslims remaining socially and educationally backward?

A: The committee will not go into the reasons. Our job is to make a factual presentation of the Muslims’ status. The government alone can assess the reasons and take a decision. Besides me, the panel has six other experts from different fields, including Saiyid Hamid (educationist), T.K. Oommen (sociologist), M.A. Basith (planner), Rakesh Basant (economist), Akhtar Majeed (academic) and Abu Saleh Shariff (economist) as its members.

Q: Muslims in India are generally engaged in various activities of self-employment like glass and brass hardware industry, handicrafts, artisan and other similar jobs. Has it contributed to their bad condition?

A: I can say it can be co-related to globalisation of the economy. Excessive emphasis on globalisation necessarily affects small-scale ventures though the people engaged were Hindus, Muslims or from any other community. If you open the economy too much, the small artisans are likely to suffer.

Q: Why did the community fail to throw any towering leader after Independence?

A: The question of leadership does not apply to the Muslims alone. How many towering or popular leaders have emerged among other communities who can match the stature of the pre-Independence era. If we count Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, their positions were different because they belong to the family of Jawaharlal Nehru. This applies to all the communities as our post-independence leaders have failed to measure to the standard set by those who fought for Independence.

Q: It is generally believed that Muslims have large families. Is this the main reason for their economic backwardness?

A: We will go into it. But such a belief is not supported by statistics as the latest census report showed that there was not much difference in the growth rate of Muslims than the Hindus or any other community. Only a marginal difference of about two per cent existed. In Kerala, the Muslim population growth rate is as that of non-Muslims in all over the country. This has come in a WHO report. It shows that the population growth is linked to education as Kerala is a high literacy state. This change can be brought by political motivation.

Q: What do you feel about a Muslim’s right to have four wives?

A: There is a wrong notion about it. Practically, this is no more a common practice but could only be an exception. There are more such instances among the Hindus having more than one wife even if it is prohibited under the law. In the Quran, it has been clarified under which circumstances permission to a Muslim was given to have four wives as during those days lot of wars were fought and several young women used to become widows. To ensure social security and better living for them, this remedy was devised. But it has been clearly laid down that a Muslim cannot marry more than one wife if he can’t treat them equally.

Q: What methods the committee will adopt for data collection?

A: We will seek the assistance of NGOs working on such subjects, the National Sample Survey, economic research data and solicit suggestions from the general public. We will visit different states, specially where the Muslims are in large numbers. Our first visit will be to Andhra Pradesh between June 3 and 7. During the visits, we will meet NGOs working among Muslims, government officials and have extensive discussions with community members and leaders.

Q: When would you submit the report to the Prime Minister?

A: The notification appointing the committee was issued by the government on March 9 but it could hold its first sitting only in May first week. We will complete the job in one year’s time, the tenure fixed for the panel and submit the report to the Prime Minister.

Homilies on environment won’t help
by R.N. Malik

Today is World Environment Day. Conferences are held every year to voice concern about environment. But everyone forgets about it the next day. Surely, this will not promote the cause of environment protection.

Amazingly, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has failed in its duty. It has not published a comprehensive document on environment. The environment departments in the states seem to exist on paper. No state has environment information/education and research centre. The National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) at Nagpur has not made any significant contribution in environmental research.

Environmental deterioration is primarily caused by five factors — insanitation, discharge of municipal and industrial waste water, smoke from industries, exhaust gases from vehicles, and the use of pesticides and weedicides for protection of crops against diseases. Protection of environment from these factors is difficult but not impossible.

First, saving environment from insanitation is the easiest. Fifty per cent environment protection lies in sanitation which warrants an effective sewerage system and collection of solid waste from streets. The cost of providing sewerage system is Rs 700 per person. Today, 60 per cent towns have no sewerage system while the remaining have only partial facility. The total cost of providing sewerage system and solid waste disposal in 3,000 small and big towns will cost Rs 21,000 crore. The system can be provided in three years provided there is uninterrupted flow of funds from the government. An investment of Rs 7,000 crore per year by the Centre and the states is not difficult.

Secondly, to treat municipal and industrial waste water, common effluent treatment plants with high rate trickling filters are needed. While the waste water can be recycled for agriculture use, this will greatly enrich the soil with nitrogen and other micro-nutrients.

Thirdly, the height of the chimneys of the industries (particularly of thermal power plants and cement plants) and brick kilns should be very high so that smoke from the chimney’s top end does not flow back to the threshold level of the inhabitants. The smoke should pass through a column of water before billowing into the air. Electrostatic precipitators can remove the suspended particulate matter effectively. During rainfall, the gases emitted in the air form weak acids which further provide nutrients to the crops.

Fourthly, the problem of exhaust fumes from vehicles will go if all the cars, three-wheelers and local buses are run on compressed natural gas (CNG). Rapid mass transport system based on electric traction, like Delhi Metro, is also welcome.

And finally, biotechnological tools are needed to break the syndrome of cash crops’vulnerability to diseases and the use of pesticides. Bt Cotton is a shining example of this technique.

The writer is former Engineer-in-Chief (Public Health), Haryana

OPED

Profile
Veg diet gives Greg a pep
by Harihar Swarup

IT may seem strange but Australian cricket legend Greg Chappell begins his two-year-long term as India’s national coach with a public plea against killing animals and eating meat. “The secret of good health is to become a vegetarian”, he asserts. Running 56, he has teamed up with a voluntary group called “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal” (PETA) to appear in advertising campaign that promotes vegetarianism. For Greg vegetarianism means a diet free of meat, eggs and diary products. The advertisement shows a fighting fit Chappell holding a bat below the tagline with a screaming caption — “Don’t settle for less than a century; go vegetarian”. Also simultaneously with the beginning of Greg’s stint as coach of the Indian team, two Indian editions of his bestseller, ‘Cricket — The making of Champions’, will be launched, followed by a CD for global distribution.

“Does Chappell intend to convert the Indian players into vegetarians” is the oft-repeated question being asked in cricket circle. Some joke, some laugh at the coach’s fad for vegetarianism. He recommends vegetables as diet for everyone from athletes to businessmen and credits his vegetarianism for improving his own health. Will his first lesson to the Indian players be a strict vegetarian diet? Once a meat eater why he turned into a strict vegetarian? Giving up meat and dairy products in favour of healthier foods, including soya and vegetables, made him feel “stronger and healthier”.

The world’s most nutrition-conscious doctors now advocate vegetarian diet, he says. Dairy products have been linked to a high rate of lactose-intolerance; a problem that afflicted Chappell himself . “I gave up red meat at the same time as I gave up dairy foods, but while the benefits of avoiding red meat took awhile to become evident, the effect of giving up dairy foods was immediate”, he says. Chappell himself specialises in vegetable soups, baked vegetables and pasta. He is fond of curries, Indian or Thai.

Greg Chappell is a household name in Australia. He hails from a distinguished cricket family and his grandfather Victor Richardson and brothers Ian and Trevor also played Test cricket for Australia. Chappell has been most talented of them all. He marked his debut appearance by scoring 108 in a Test against England. He was one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year in 1972 and inducted into Australia’s Cricket Hall of Fame. He led his country in 48 of his 87 Tests, winning 21. Most of Chappell’s coaching experience has been at domestic level with South Australia, but he worked as a consultant at Pakistan’s National Academy and, subsequently, functioned as a coach of the West Indies team.

Chappell has created his own coaching web site: chappellway.com. It opens with a personal introduction: “Hi my name is Greg Chappell and I’d like to welcome you to the Chappell way. Every since I was a boy I have been fascinated with the game of cricket and committed to understanding its complexities. This journey has taken me to create this site and my dream of assisting you in becoming a better player or coach. I encourage you also to take this journey as cricket has many great rewards. I take great pride in my cricket record and what this great game has allowed me to achieve. Keeping an open mind to new learning and practice are principles that should never be forgotten”. “Comprehensive investigation into cricket techniques — training, nutrition and player and coach development” is the site’s most educative chapter.

Reflections
New ideas and idioms for success
by Kiran Bedi

THIS week I attended an intensive three-day retreat of a very successful multinational corporate house in the field of Information Technology. It was held outside India. The communion consisted of over 200 senior and middle level executives, representatives of many business partners and select customers, world wide. The retreat was to provide a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and discover new idioms that define their success and growth. It was also aimed at enabling participants to meet on common ground, network and explore new synergies.

At the heart of the forum was a unique, singular thought, one that is in sync with today’s business paradigm. They called it ‘Excelerate’. It is not just ‘Excel and Accelerate’ but a merger of both. Their proceedings reflected a total focus on growth and speed, powered by the virtues of excellence and efficiency. This is a commitment which this group was collectively making even when its business was growing at a significant pace.

It was in the grandest of style. It overflowed with enthusiasm and plans ahead. A company which was growing and accelerating at a very fast speed was vowing to continue to excel. It hoped that when it meets next year even ‘Accelerate’ may have become a cliché and they may have to find yet more challenges to challenge themselves. I got the opportunity to observe their celebrations as I was a speaker at the retreat. It was energy and anticipation all along.

Since I landed the evening before I had the privilege of attending the hype and their main event of togetherness…their awards night. They recognised all possible qualities in different individuals that made the company soar. Such as initiative, hard work, persistence, promotion, client service, commitment, dedication, team spirit, selfless support, youngest star etc. They also recognised region wise results, to promote healthy competition. It was exhilarating to be a part of this presentation for it was done with great enthusiasm, fanfare and finesse. They even had a theme song wherein all stood up to sing together. It was truly thrilling and uniting.

I once again imagined such an event for us all in government departments where seniors and juniors could be together. On this occasion the department as a whole recognises outstanding work and the reasons thereof. They reward honesty, diligence, service, punctuality, team work, courage, leadership, initiative, sensitivity, perseverance, skills, attitude and innovation. They too could have a theme song which unites all in the spirit of public service and patriotism. They too vow to better the service to the people for the year ahead. They too set goals of excellence. The day this becomes a reality it will go a long way in changing the prevailing punitive culture to one of inspiration and recognition, where exemplary work is richly rewarded and appreciated.

This awards night I attended was truly positive and full of team awards. For the corporate world such recognitions today have become almost a necessity. In the world of cut-throat competition it is a case of survival of the fittest. Hence I wonder if there is another option which is healthier and wholesome. Comparatively, the government is a monolith in certain services and can continue to be in employment despite poor performance never mind the financial health (sic). But one thing which I observed was missing even in this enthusiastic corporate celebration. It was the presence of spouses or family. Also recognition of family support in achieving whatever was being achieved. Such celebrations without the presence of family are like denying longevity to the joy experienced.

For when these men and few women go home they will be tired to explain to their families what happened for they would be instantly back to ‘Excelerate’. We need to recognise that no Exceleration is sustainable without family support. And no joy is joy enough if not shared with/at home!

Let’s incorporate this in our work culture and nurture it to the maximum. This may be one of the best management concepts India may offer to the corporate world. I shared this observation with the communion in my presentation as it emerged through questions and answers. And guess what? They instantly realised themselves that they did miss out on the family participation and announced that they will share the next retreat with spouses or a member of the family. This is as well a lesson for those of us in government whenever (if) such positive events are held: That they ensure the presence and participation of the family for sustainable and joyful ‘Exceleration’. May this tribe increase…

Kashmir Diary
How a Srinagar school shaped Kashmir’s societal change
by David Devadas

MY friend Khurshed Ali has been a teacher at Tyndal-Biscoe school for more than a decade now. He is a charming, soft-spoken young man, perfectly at ease conversing in English with foreign tourists near his home just off the road to the Dal lake. He prefers to wear jeans on casual evenings. His father on the other hand is generally dressed in a phiran. A typically Kashmiri lace skullcap sits on his head, over a salt-and-pepper beard. He is a gentle old man, ever ready with a smiling welcome in the bare-boards tailoring shop at which he sits, stitching phirans and other traditional outfits under a naked light bulb.

The contrast between father and son can be attributed in part to Tyndal-Biscoe. The mission school has been an integral part of Srinagar life for more than a century and has played a significant part in the societal and intellectual evolution of Kashmir throughout the twentieth century. Perhaps its westernising influence is the reason why militants targeted the school last month. Several students and teachers were injured by the grenade, which exploded near the school gate adjacent to the Lal Chowk city centre. The blast occurred just as school was giving over for the day.

The fact is that young students at such prestigious schools are not, broadly speaking, enamoured by Islamic fundamentalist ideas or with militancy any longer. That is a sea change from the Eighties. Teachers at the Burn Hall school and Melhanson girls school, Tyndal-Biscoe’s sister school, speak of their bafflement at the trends among students then. Even what some children chose to paint during their art class at times left their teachers amazed. Of course, as with so many other micro-level signs of impending trouble, those pieces of paper were not noticed by those who should have been monitoring the ground situation.

Ishfaq Majid, the chief commander of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front that spearheaded militancy in the early phase, was a product of Tyndal-Biscoe. In the mid-80s, he would routinely swagger across Lal Chowk after school, still dressed in the white shirt, gray trousers and bright green striped tie of the school uniform, towards a tea stall across the Amira Kadal bridge on the other side of Lal Chowk. There, several of the boys who were destined to become leading militants around 1989-90 would gather to listen to Azam Inquilabi, who had dabbled in insurrection since the Sixties and had crossed the Line of Control more than once in search of arms and other assistance.

It is students such as Ishfaq that provided the intellectual core of leadership for the independence struggle that burst violently into the open in 1988. They were fired in the course of their sophisticated education with glorified ideas about the Islamic revolution in Iran and the jihad in Afghanistan that the Western media was lionising through images such as Rambo. Their liberal education had also led to disgust over the corruption, nepotism and paranoid manipulation by the Centre that was so much a part of Kashmir’s experience in the Eighties.

In 1950 too, the Tyndal-Biscoe school played a crucial role in Kashmir’s political history, but at a different level altogether. The then principal, an Australian named Dr Edmunds, was apparently a conduit between Sheikh Abdullah and the Australian judge, Owen Dixon, who had been appointed as the United Nations Representative to try and resolve the dispute over the state between India and Pakistan. Many of those who were politically active at the time believe that Abdullah influenced the Dixon Plan.

Abdullah’s one-time mentor and advisor Ghulam Ahmed Ashai, whom he had appointed Registrar of the University, was close to Edmunds, who of course had a ready equation with his fellow-Australian. The Dixon Plan might have paved the way for independence from both India and Pakistan, which Abdullah was clearly looking for. Of course, both India and Pakistan rejected that plan.

Although the Edmunds episode has made it to several books on Kashmir, the real value of the school was the role it played in the previous decades to mould a generation of young Kashmiris. Under Pathan, Sikh and then Dogra rule, Kashmir had for the most part become an extremely impoverished, backward area through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The idealism of the school’s founders and their successors gave generations of young Kashmiris around the turn of the twentieth century a fresh window to the scientific and humanist developments in the outside world.

Judging from the vibrancy with which the city has sprung back from last month’s attack, the school will surely continue to play such a role.

Diversities — Delhi Letter
A special evening for French Open Final
by Humra Quraishi

YES, it’s the extreme of summer here and yet evenings lie packed. In fact, like last year, this year too, on this Sunday, French Ambassador to India Dominique Girard is hosting a special evening for the French Open final. Invitees and guests could view it in the French embassy premises, on a specially large screen, with food and drinks bandobasts lined up in the background.

The evening would be co-hosted by the Lacoste group.

There’s more news from the French here, from the Alliance Francaise, to be precise. It’s an exciting invitation and I’m quoting from it, so that I don’t add further inputs to the excitement, “As a run up to the Music Day, the Alliance Francaise de Delhi invites you in its premises all week from 13-17 June, to sing, play and do music. Be you an amateur or a professional, a nightingale or a bathroom crooner, you can let out your voice and we’ll welcome you with open arms...who knows there’s a budding talented singer lying buried somewhere. Let’s discover it all.”

Focus on World Refugee Day

To mark World Refugee Day on June 20, the UN refugee agency and the Habitat Film Club will screen the Oscar nominated film ‘Hotel Rwanda’ at India Habitat Centre. An automatic focus on the refugees and the challenges they face. In India alone, the refugees under the UNHRC mandate are approximately 12,000. These include Afghans, Myanmarese and in smaller numbers — Somalis, Sudanese, Iraqis and Iranians. Interestingly, 85 per cent of the Afghan refugees here are either Hindus or Sikhs.

Then, there are those refugee groups who are considered refugees by GOI and are supported by them. These are the Tibetans and the Sri Lankans who are supported by GOI. The Tibetans who first came here in 1959 are today numbering 100,000 and are not just living in New Delhi and Dharamshala but I was pleasantly surprised to see Tibetan refugee colonies in the heart of Srinagar.

Random House opens in Delhi

In keeping with the growing number of books, international publishing house, Random House, has opened its offices here, with Vivek Ahuja being appointed its managing director for India.

Amongst Random House’s notable international authors are many Indian writers, including Madhur Jaffrey, Ketan Patel, Salman Rushdie and Vikas Swarup.

The forthcoming titles from this publishing house include Salman Rushdie’s ‘Shalimar the Clown’, Mark Tully’s provisionally entitled ‘The Certainty of Uncertainty’, and ‘Tourism’, an outstanding first novel by the UK-based writer Nirpal Singh Dhaliwal.