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Porous prisons Escapees expose chinks in Tihar Jail security THE manner in which 13 undertrial prisoners escaped from Tihar Jail on Wednesday is not only shameful, it also exposes chinks in the security of the country’s most fortified prison. It is true that the police nabbed three escapees, one while scaling the jail wall and two others in the chase the police gave them.
No headway in peace
process
A heart in
Shimla’s heart
No escape from
corruption! Collateral damage
vs barbaric terrorism Defence
notes
From the pages of
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Jail for conviction JUDITH MILLER has been jailed by a US District Judge for not revealing her source to the government, and that too for a story she did not file, just enquired about.
The New York Times reporter has preferred to face the wrath of the court than reveal her source. A reporter of the
Time magazine, Matt Cooper, found himself facing a similar predicament for his online story that brought discomfiture to the Bush administration. He avoided being in jail when his source told him to go ahead and reveal his identity. Cooper then agreed to testify. It is not a mere coincidence that the news of the jailing of the journalist has been commented upon worldwide, and the universal opinion has been that of concern. Journalists, the world over, envy their American counterparts for the freedom they enjoy under the American constitution, but recently, the attitude has changed. As many as 18 journalists have had to spend time in jail as the price of their conviction that they have to protect their source, no matter what. There is no doubt that when journalists break stories that expose government misdeeds, the officials look for scapegoats. They often find their sympathisers in the judiciary. No one is above the law and journalists are no exception. Miller’s earlier stories on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction were based on bad sources and now stand discredited. Even this source is not likely to stand journalistic scrutiny, but the question here is about principle -- journalists must be able to protect their sources lest they be reduced to being just stenographers of current affairs. Journalism is all about the public’s right to know and to have access to information. The information that journalists give as news comes from various sources and, thus, they are essential tools of journalism. The freedom of the press depends upon the ability of the reporters to protect their sources. It becomes disquieting when attacks originate from the land that prides itself on its First Amendment. |
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Porous prisons THE manner in which 13 undertrial prisoners escaped from Tihar Jail on Wednesday is not only shameful, it also exposes chinks in the security of the country’s most fortified prison. It is true that the police nabbed three escapees, one while scaling the jail wall and two others in the chase the police gave them. But the larger question remains — how did so many prisoners manage to escape? Obviously, this would not have been possible without the connivance of some prison staff. The armed sentry at the rear door of the courtroom (where the prisoners were waiting for the pick-up van to return to the jail after the extension of their remand) was absent. The latch of the door was loose. And there was a ladder nearby to help them scale the wall. It is a pity that the authorities have not learnt any lesson to tighten security after Sher Singh Rana, the alleged murderer of dacoit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi, staged a sensational escape from the jail last year. On the contrary, the officials have started passing the buck and they speak of jurisdictional responsibilities. While the Tamil Nadu Police and the CRPF personnel are in charge of the Tihar Jail security, the Delhi Armed Police (DAP) takes over when prisoners are in transit to court. The DAP cannot be absolved of blame because the escapees were in their custody. The escapees are reportedly involved in cases of dacoity, robbery, rape and murder. The Delhi Government would do well to shift one of its office buildings away from the jail, implement the long-standing proposal for raising the height of the wall close to the courtroom, and remove the trees near the wall. In view of the increasing number of jailbreaks in the country, the authorities should introduce video-conferencing facility for regular hearings. This would do away with the need to take the undertrial prisoners to the courts. |
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How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment to improve the world. — Anne Frank |
No headway in peace process
Being
extra hard on Pakistan no longer appears to pay in Indian politics. Rather the contrary is true. Unless those Indian analysts prove right who have held that L.K. Advani will henceforth be a lame duck President of the BJP, it would seem that befriending Pakistan is now a preferred and proclaimed policy of both major national parties: ruling Congress as well as the BJP; no major party, national or regional, is likely to promote overtly anti-Pakistan politics. As his visit and that of Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar have demonstrated, people of Pakistan are now all too anxious for a lasting peace with India. They ardently support the peace process. They, in fact, want an institutionalised friendship with their larger neighbour, India. At this point, opposing, or at least other, forces need to be considered. The ruling establishments of the two countries, especially their security apparatuses — together with their hangers-on in business, academia and journalism — despite mouthing soothing rhetoric of the peace process being irreversible, still do not trust each other. Which is why they have not been able to resolve any of the eight disputes that are the subject matter of the composite dialogue. Siachen glacier was thought to be the easiest to agree on. Only the other day the Indian Prime Minister hinted at its likely resolution. Indeed, an agreement and a draft on a treaty on it, initialled by both sides, exist. That was over 15 years ago. Mr Manmohan Singh has still to tiptoe toward signing it. Fact is Indian generals do not trust their Pakistani counterparts: “once India vacates those high and unnecessarily vulnerable to the depredations of General Ice outposts, those Pakis will move in; they cannot be trusted”. Not that Pakistani security apparatus trusts Indians or wants to bury the hatchet altogether. This mistrust, and inimical action for that reason, virtually prevents any substantive agreement. There was the bubbling ebullience of Mani Shankar Aiyar. He said he achieved a breakthrough in 72 hours on the longstanding proposal for a gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan. His Pakistani hosts agreed wholeheartedly to his pet baby and told him they are keen on all the pipeline proposals, especially the UNOCAL project of pipelines from Turkmenistan to Pakistan’s Gwadar port through Afganistan; Pakistan, in theory, also approves the idea of a gas or oil pipeline from Qatar to India or Pakistan or both. Aiyar also showed interest in the latter two. These latter two pipeline ideas are altogether too iffy. Qatar project’s economics seems to be implausible: when these hydrocarbons reach India or Pakistan, they will cost twice the today’s prices. The Turkmenistan project has to run two gauntlets: first, the reserves in Turkmenistan have not been scientifically investigated; and secondly the pipelines will have to traverse the whole of Afghanistan. Most observers think that the state of law and order there is likely to remain uncertain virtually indefinitely. Moreover, although Pakistan has argued in favour of Iranian pipeline with the US Secretary of State to soften American opposition to the Teheran-promoted pipeline only a few days after Islamabad agreed to Aiyar’s proposal. Ms Rice was not convinced. America’s leverage on Pakistan being what it is, one can easily expect that the chances of America getting what it wants are more than even. The US may eventually succeed in preventing Iran from being economically strengthened even if the energy needs of India and Pakistan may remain unsatisfied because the two other pipelines may remain pipedreams. The question recurs: what are the true prospects in the Indo-Pakistan negotiations? A large number of confidence building measures have been agreed upon and implemented and more are likely to. But what then? Pakistani establishment, through the PM and other Ministers, goes on making the old counterpoint: no MFN status, free trade or allowing Indian investments in oil or media or even the permission to Indian news channels so long as Kashmir and other disputes are not out of the way. When will these be resolved? Who can say? The basic mistrust, despite all the US-recommended CBMs, has not gone away and it is the big preventer of any agreement at all, let alone the eventual friendship and free trade and free cultural exchanges. One’s two penny worth of assessment of additional and unrecognised difficulties is: so long as Indian nukes stand notionally ready to be fired, no Pakistani general can lower his guard. Similarly so long as Pakistani nukes are notionally at the ready, no Indian securitywallah can permit India to relax and explore possibilities of stable peace. That will be like chasing one’s own tail. There is a vicious chain of status quo worsening: Pakistan will not relax its state of readiness so long as India doesn’t. India will not until China and Pakistan do the same. China will remain on guard until the US and others do not let their military posture become more peaceable. Powerpolitics relentlessly beckons them all to keep the nuclear WMDs or to acquire them if you do not have. This is a true vicious circle that pre-empts not only nuclear disarmaments, but also stable peace either globally or in regions where WMDs exist. Long-term possibilities do not point a rosy picture. People, however, yearn for stable peace so that there will be a chance for economic improvement in their lives. The governments mirror this desire in words but, when it comes to acting on it, they find their hands and feet tied by their security establishments, presided over by local versions of industrial-military complex. In other words, one sees small chance of genuine peace-making. Pakistani hardliners are right in one detail: all the CBMs put together do not equal to the resolution of one minor dispute. What one says applies primarily to India and Pakistan. But all the South Asian countries - indeed for most of Asia - get involved. The problem is how can the Indians and Pakistanis break out of the shackles inherent in powerpolitics. Aren’t there 10 or 15 wise men, unattached to governments and political parties, who can sit for a fortnight and engage in brainstorming sessions in order to prepare a pathway to peace and progress in South Asia? |
A heart in Shimla’s heart
I
first walked into its charming environs 18 monsoons ago. The mist of clouds filled the spacious terrace, blocking out from view the majestic Jakhoo hill on one side and the colourful dales, valleys and the distant rolling hills on the other. Then the magic unfolded. Slowly, the mist began to lift, unveiling Shimla’s scenic splendour bit by bit — like a canvas under the moving brush of an artist. A few raindrops in tow were an icing on the cake. Ashiana’s guests include politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, tourists. Their fluctuating fortunes, concerns and moods have a rainbow range. Film shootings, press conferences, functions related to art, literature and culture fill its schedules. The government run Ashiana’s location, its interior, and open spaces outside have an ambience that quietly creeps in and moves you to a different plane. But alas, this cone-shaped, slate roofed restaurant that stands out like a heart in Shimla’s heart (the Mall-Ridge area) is ready to pass into private hands and lose its innocence. Some who matter have failed to see it as an institution, a nerve centre of Shimla’s emotions and ideas. Coffee-houses, clubs, and other cultural addas are an integral part of a city’s distinctiveness, its soul. That’s where a society’s heartbeat surfaces, like the pulse surfaces at the wrist. Heritage does not mean merely the brick, stone and structure of old buildings. You don’t paint morgues if it means letting the living ones die. Who can forget the warm smiles, greetings and bonhomie between both friends and rivals who thrash out issues over cups of tea? And, the voices of Dasiya Ram, Raj Kumar, Jeet Ram and other waiters over the phone: “Are you all right sir, you have been absent for a few days?”. Anxious calls have been coming in, from journalists from Chandigarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan, Mumbai, Kolkata: “Sir, can’t the government do something to save Ashiana, its character … Can’t losses be avoided otherwise? Perhaps a revolving restaurant in its complex …” As students of journalism, batch after batch, our boys and girls had honed their practical news gathering and writing skills from their seniors visiting Ashiana in the evenings. The indulgent Ashiana staff would put up with the “nuisance”, join the tables specially for them, and refuse tips from “our bachchas”. But commerce has finally bitten into culture’s neck. Like a leopard into lamb’s. Ashiana will probably smile only at the rustle of big currency notes. It will frown at small clients like us. A whole lot of us.
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No escape from corruption! The following are excerpts from the report “India Corruption Study 2005” by Transparency International and the Centre for Media
Studies.
“India Corruption Study — 2005” brings out that the problem of corruption in public services affecting day-to-day needs of citizens is far more serious than it is being realised and calls for all out initiatives on the part of the government as well as civil society.Putting together corruption in all public services involving individual common citizens will work out significantly high. Until now, this has never been reliably estimated specific to public service. Three-fourth of the citizens think that the level of corruption in public services has increased in the last one year (2004-2005). Hardly 10 per cent think that such corruption is on the decline. There are no significant differences between the States in the perceptions about the extent of corruption or in their experience with such corruption. The study brings out that one-third to half of the compulsions leading to such petty corruption involving the common man could be addressed and also removed with simple initiatives, including introduction of technologies. One-third of the citizens think that “both the officials concerned and the users” of these 11 services know how much to be paid as “extra” to get a job done or attended to. Corruption is not merely in the media or in the minds of people as it is sometimes made out. But it is in the system all across the public services, the study highlights. And the users and providers of those public services know what needs to be done to address the problem. The 11 public services covered in this study are police (crime/traffic), judiciary, land administration, municipal services, government hospitals, electricity (consumers), PDS (ration card/supplies), income tax (individual assesse), water supply, schools (upto 12th) and rural financial institutions (farmers). According to the survey, relatively the police stands out high on the corruption index. Judiciary (lower courts) and land administration are rated next only to the police. The corruption in government hospitals is mostly to do with the unavailability of medicines, getting admissions, consultations with doctors and availing diagnostic services. Despite reforms, electricity service figures high on the corruption index. PDS figures lower in the corruption index score because the problem of the common man dealing with services is more to do with leakages in the system rather than direct monetary corruption. Kerala stands out as the least corrupt state in India. Bihar, on the other, is the most corrupt state. Jammu & Kashmir is next only to Bihar. In fact, perhaps not surprisingly, on all parametres and in the context of all the 11 services, Bihar stands out far-ahead as the most corrupt state. Himachal Pradesh perhaps is less corrupt — even compared to states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Assam, on the other hand, are also on the top in the list of corrupt states. An overwhelming majority of the citizens are vocal about the absence of transparency and accountability in the delivery of these services. They are full of anguish at the state of affairs. It is evident from the annual CMS surveys on corruption that the use of technology at the front-end of those offices is likely to bring down corruption with an increase in transparency. One-sixth of the public thinks that citizens and users of government services themselves are responsible for corruption. They believe that there is no active and sustained civil society movement. The efforts are more sporadic, localised and short-lived and have never acquired a character of a larger movement. One-third of the citizens think that corruption is “an obvious fact” where both the giver and the taker are familiar with modalities. It cannot be addressed only by reforms and by adopting technologies, although they are the first order of initiatives to be taken, unless certain deterrent punitive action is also taken. The Citizens’ Charter, promising certain performance standard on the basis of “where to go, how to proceed”, is a recent initiative in most of these services. Not all concerned in the public services know about the Citizens’ Charter or the promises made therein. The study brings out the urgency of activating the Citizens’ Charter and making it directly relevant and implementation being reported back to the public. The users of various public services across the country in this study have named seven key factors that stand out as responsible for wide spread corruption in the system. These are (1) lack of transparency and accountability, (2) lack of an effective corruption reporting mechanisms, (3) lack of honesty in officials, (4) acceptance of bribe as a way of life, custom and culture, (5) ineffective judiciary, (6) poor economic policies and (7) inadequate training and orientation of government officials. The focus of this survey is on petty corruption experienced by common man in availing public services. Petty corruption is something which citizens end up paying to get one or other job attended to at the public utilities/services which they are entitled to without spending any “extra money”. Suggestions have been made to reduce corruption in public services. Replacing public monopolies with private monopolies is not likely to lead to significantly lower corruption level. Our analysis of the electricity service shows that private utilities are only marginally better than government-run utilities. However, there is need to facilitate greater competition in services, where ever possible. Funds allocated to various departments should be linked to outcomes. For example, in schools various indicators like enrolment rates, absence of children, dropout rates and results in board exams can be used. Similarly, indicators can easily be worked for other departments. The departments should work to improve performance on these indicators by holding the institutions accountable. (To be concluded) |
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Collateral damage vs barbaric terrorism It is easy for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to call the London bombings “barbaric” - of course, they were - but what were the civilian deaths of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq in 2003, the children torn apart by cluster bombs, the countless innocent Iraqis gunned down at American military check points? When they die, it is ‘collateral damage’ when ‘we’ die it is ‘barbaric terrorism’. And it’s no use Mr Blair telling us that “they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear.’’ ‘They’ are not trying to destroy ‘what we hold dear’. They are trying to get public opinion to force Blair to withdraw from Iraq, out of his alliance with the United States, and out of his adherence to Bush’s policies in the Middle East. The G8 summit was obviously chosen, well in advance, as Attack Day. The Spanish paid the price for their support for Bush - and Spain’s subsequent retreat from Iraq proved that the Madrid bombings achieved their objectives - while the Australians were made to suffer in Bali. To time these bombs with the G8 summit, when the world was concentrating on Britain, was not a stroke of genius. You don’t need a PhD to choose another Bush-Blair handshake to close down a capital city with explosives and massacre more than 30 of its citizens. The G8 summit was announced so far in advance that he gave the bombers all the time they needed to prepare. A co-ordinated system of attacks of the kind we saw yesterday takes weeks to plan - we can forget the idiotic fantasy that these were timed to coincide with the Olympic decision. Osama bin Laden and his supporters don’t set up an operation like this on the off chance that France will lose its bid to host the Games. Al-Qaeda does not play football. Co-ordination and sophisticated planning - and the usual utter indifference towards the lives of the innocent - are characteristic of Al-Qaeda. Trains, planes, buses, cars, metros. Transportation appears to be the science of Al-Qaeda’s dark arts. No one can search three million London commuters every day. No one can stop every tourist. Some thought the Eurostar might have been an Al-Qaeda target - be sure they have studied it - but why go for prestige when your common-or-garden bus and tube train are there for the taking. And then come the Muslims of Britain, who have long been awaiting this nightmare. Now every one of our Muslims becomes the “usual suspect’’, the man or woman with brown eyes, the man with the beard, the woman in the scarf, the boy with the worry beads, the girl who says she’s been racially abused. I remember, crossing the Atlantic on September 11, 2001 - my plane turned round off Ireland when the US closed its airspace - how the aircraft purser and I toured the cabins to see if we could identify any suspicious passengers. I found about a dozen, of course, totally innocent men who had brown eyes or long beards or who looked at me with ‘hostility’. And sure enough, in just a few seconds, Osama bin Laden turned nice, liberal, friendly Robert into an anti-Arab racist. To go on pretending that Britain’s enemies want to destroy ‘what we hold dear’ encourages racism; what we are confronting here is a specific, direct, centralised attack on London as a result of a ‘war on terror’ which Lord Blair of Kut al-Amara has locked us into. Just before the US presidential elections, Bin Laden asked: “Why do we not attack Sweden?” Lucky Sweden. No Osama bin Laden there. And no Tony Blair.
— The Independent
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Defence notes by Girja Shankar Kaura With India and the United States of America getting closer in the field of defence cooperation, Defence Minister
Pranab Mukherjee, just back from a four-day visit to Washington, refused to be drawn into the controversy over comments made by former top US leaders. At the briefing after his return, when asked specifically about the remarks against former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the declassified documents and why he didn’t react, the Defence Minister said, “what is there to react? If somebody says something insane, should we react?” He went on to add, “the Government of India had reacted in 1971 itself and had reacted quite effectively,” in an apparent reference to the role of the Indian Armed Forces in the liberation of Bangladesh despite the presence of the US Seventh Fleet in the Bay of Bengal.
Indian ships at Portsmouth Indian Naval Ship Mumbai and Sail Training Ship Tarangini recently participated in the International Fleet Review and International Festival of the Sea at Portsmouth, UK showcasing their might. While INS Tarangini is a ‘three masted barque’ sail training ship of the Indian Navy and forms part of the first training squadron based at Kochi, INS Mumbai is the third of the Delhi class of guided missile destroyers and derives its name from the nine previous warships christened ‘Bombay’. This is not first time that Tarangini has been on display abroad. It recently returned after having undertaken the circumnavigation of the globe becoming the first ship from the Indian Navy to do so. INS Mumbai is scheduled to visit Safaga (Egypt), Toulon (France) and Taranto (Italy) during her passage. The ship will also participate in naval exercises with various navies in the region for enhanced professional interaction and inter-operability.
BRO to make Afghan road Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which is the pride of India, working silently and tirelessly to provide motorable roads in the tricky mountain regions of the country, have in the past also been lending their expertise abroad. It has now been entrusted with the task of constructing a strategic 219 km stretch of road in Afghanistan which would give India the land-route through Iranian ports to the Central Asian Republics. The road-from Velaran to Zarani with a link to the Garland Highway in Afghanistan-will be constructed within the next three years at an estimated cost of Rs 380 crore. It will make operational a much needed trade route through Iran not only for Afghanistan but also for the former Soviet
republics of Central Asia. In the past the BRO has lent its expertise to Bhutan and Myanmar. |
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From the pages of Flood and disease havoc
A fatality seems to be hanging over our unfortunate Province. For the last three or four years the mortality has been frightfully high. Years of distress and epidemics have followed each other close. Last year the mortality from fever and cholera was awful. This year the province has
been remarkably healthy up to this time. The harvests have been plentiful and the fall in the export trade was tending to reduce prices. But all cheerful prospects have been destroyed by a single cause—floods. Almost the whole Province is flooded. From almost every district and every village comes the same terrible news. Towns and villages have been washed away, numbers have perished in the waste of waters. Everywhere the scene is one of devastation and desolation. Rich and poor have alike suffered but the poor have suffered most, for they have lost all. Their huts, their grain and their crops have been washed away, and they have not the wherewithal to appease their hunger nor anywhere to lay their heads. Most distressing accounts of the extent and nature of the mischief done are coming in from all sides. Local officers are doing their best to contend with the floods but they are more or less powerless. There is still worse to come. Distress and disease are sure to follow and the death-rate will probably be as high as it was last year.
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An adversary may not possess the arms and armies that a king does. But if hatred lurks in his heart coupled with a bitter desire for revenge it can make him perform unbelievable feats of strength. — The Mahabharata What they are like, is one lit a fire, and when it illumined everything around God took their light and left them in darkness, unseeing. — Book of quotations on Islam Think twice before performing each action. So to analyse your thought before acting. Every thought and every act determines the course of your life. Never forget this lesson. — The Buddha A successful King is one who knows the histories of all his subjects. Thus only he can assess their strengths and weaknesses. Thus only he can determine who is likely to be loyal to him and who may betray him. — The Mahabharata  |
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