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A face-saver at best Assam verdict |
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Volkswagen chase AP Govt taken for ride sans car CUSTOMARILY, it is the government that takes people for a ride. Now we have a case of the Andhra Pradesh government being led up the road and relieved of its money – only Rs 11 crore – thanks to its chasing a Volkswagen deal without scrutiny or diligence.
Future of peace process
Blooms from marshland
Responding to a crisis Shakespearean humour in a time of terror From Pakistan
From the pages of
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A face-saver at best SO, Mr L.K.Advani may continue to be in the saddle after all. But it will be a mistake to think that he has won the day. Nor is there any guarantee that his tenure will be long enough to leave an impact. On the contrary, there will be no surprise if the extension of service does not go much beyond the forthcoming elections. Whatever Mrs Sushma Swaraj may claim, there is nothing in the utterances of Sangh Parivar leaders which indicates a pardon for Mr Advani. Let it not be forgotten that the crisis precipitated by his Jinnah remarks had its genesis in older events which had made Mr K.S. Sudershan call for his ouster even before he visited Karachi. It is interesting to watch that the only leader who is standing by Mr Advani is former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who too is not on best of terms with the Sangh Parivar these days. He too has occasionally tried to break free of the gravitational pull of the saffron brigade but without much success. The dilemma before the BJP is serious. On the one hand, it seeks autonomy. On the other, it cannot cut the umbilical cord with the RSS because that would mean depriving itself of the huge cadre base that the latter provides. The BJP may be much wiser today to the need for following a more tolerant policy towards non-Hindus but it cannot live down the fact that it rode to power on the basis of strident Hindutva. Any course correction by it at this stage is seen as back-stabbing. Reluctantly or otherwise, Mr Advani might have thought to bring about a change but he has been laid low by the tough signals from Nagpur. Not many BJP men are likely to be defiant in the face of the no-nonsense attitude of the parent organisation. Had the party been in power, there might have been some possibility of a declaration of independence. But now that it is in the doldrums following repeated electoral reverses, most may consider it pragmatic to stick to the tried and tested path. The irony is that the forthcoming elections too do not portend well. Rather, the unending fracas may tell negatively on the BJP’s performance. |
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Assam verdict THE anti-foreigners agitation in Assam is several decades old, and a predecessor of later, violent, insurgent movements. The Supreme Court’s striking down of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act 1983, as ultra vires of the Constitution, is a watershed in the relationship between the Centre and a North-Eastern state, and in the future politics of Assam and the region as a whole. The Act’s total ineffectiveness in identifying and deporting illegal migrants from Bangladesh was always well-known, but politicisation of the issue had prevented better judgement from prevailing – until now. Every Assamese organisation, including mainstream ones like the Asom Gana Parishad and the All Assam Students Union (AASU), as well as militant groups like the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) have opposed the act, which applied only in Assam. The Foreigners Act is applicable in the rest of the country. The BJP too joined the battle at a later stage, on the side of the Assamese. The Congress, falling prey to the temptation of vote bank politics, has refused to repeal it. The IL(DT) Act had convoluted procedures and placed the onus of proof on the prosecution. More and more illegal migrants have thus not only entered the state, but managed to find a place in the electoral rolls. The historic Assam Accord of 1985, which followed years of anti-foreigners agitation, provides for legalisation of only those migrants who came to Assam before March, 1971. The Supreme Court has done well not to leave a vacuum, by directing Assam to set up fresh tribunals under The Foreigners Act of 1946. A central minister has suggested that fresh legislation could be enacted. The UPA would be wise to tread cautiously here, and not alienate Assam with another provocative and discriminatory law. Of course, all parties should ensure that Muslim minority citizens in Assam are not unduly targeted. Minority organisations there have already voiced concern. But India cannot afford a woolly headed policy on an issue as explosive as a large influx of people from a bordering country into a sensitive state like Assam. And Bangladesh is not exactly free of prejudiced attitudes towards India. Evolving and articulating a comprehensive North-East policy is now more urgent than ever. |
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Volkswagen chase CUSTOMARILY, it is the government that takes people for a ride. Now we have a case of the Andhra Pradesh government being led up the road and relieved of its money – only Rs 11 crore – thanks to its chasing a Volkswagen deal without scrutiny or diligence. The way the government has been defrauded would be laughable but for the fact of its being an instructive expose of how our authorities conduct business. Verily has it been said, that business is no business of government in India. In its enthusiasm to set up a Volkswagen factory in Vizag, the AP government entered into negotiations with representatives of the principal from Germany. Early this year, the government was asked to part with two million euros to help set up the plant. Without a second thought the money was made over to VW – except that the firm is Vashishta Wahan in Delhi and not Volkswagen in Germany. By the time the government woke up to the fact that it had been swindled, Volkswagen had sacked the negotiator and the those who floated Vashishta Wahan are either not to be found or have dissociated themselves from the venture. Incredible India, one might well gasp at the naivety of the Andhra Pradesh government. The fondness for all things foreign, evidently, is not confined to the gullible masses, who in their quest for the goodies in the West, are duped by operators thriving on illegal immigration rackets. The credulous commoner is also easy prey for those who sell spurious goods with foreign labels. In such a situation, the government is expected to protect Indian interests. But now it appears that the government itself is so dazzled by the lure of the foreign – in the name of investment – that there is little investigation about a project or the credentials of its promoters before parting with public money. It is not surprising then that the public feels its confidence in government is misplaced. |
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A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never |
Future of peace process EMERGING from a meeting with Mr Natwar Singh in the Kazakhstan capital of Astana on July 5, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz proclaimed that Pakistan was committed to the peace process with India which was now “irreversible”. These comments came almost simultaneously with the attack on the Ayodhya complex by well armed terrorists quite obviously linked to the Lashkar-e-Toiba. Interestingly, on the very same day, Amir of the Lashkar-e-Toiba Hafiz Mohammed Saeed told a gathering in Lahore that Indian Muslims had come to realise that “there is no future without jihad”. For good measure, Saeed advised his audience “never make friends with Jews and Christians”. It was Saeed who proudly proclaimed that it was at his behest that the Red Fort was attacked and the green flag of Islam unfurled there on December 22, 2000. Earlier, on October 9, 1997, Saeed had warned: “We feel that Kashmir should be liberated at the earliest. Thereafter Indian Muslims should be aroused to revolt against the Indian Union so that India gets disintegrated”. The attack on the Ayodhya complex reminded me of a conversation that I had with a former chief of the ISI at his residence some years ago. Responding to my assertion that Muslims in India would never agree to any further division of the country on communal lines, my host told me in chaste Urdu: “You come from South India and do not understand the sentiments of the Muslims of Hindustan (north of the Vindhyas). We will make Kashmir an issue of faith and religion in the hearts of the Muslims of Hindustan”. Another worthy ISI chief was asked at a seminar in Islamabad what the primary objective of the ISI was. He replied: “Our aim is to weaken India from within. And we can do it”. Ever since Mohammed Ali Jinnah, with his love for ham sandwiches and Scotch Whiskey, bemoaned that all that he had got from Partition was a “moth-eaten, truncated Pakistan”, seeking “parity” by weakening India has been a continuing objective of Pakistan’s security establishment. Jinnah believed that India would be balkanised and split into several semi-independent fiefdoms, that could be dominated by a Muslim-majority Pakistan. His efforts to encourage rulers of princely states like Travancore, Jodhpur, Junagadh and Bhopal not to opt for union with India, his espousal of Dravidian separatism and his moves to persuade Sikh leader Master Tara Singh not to cast his lot with India, were reflective of this mindset. Independent India’s leaders like Sardar Patel, however, thwarted Jinnah’s ambitions. General Musharraf’s obsession with “parity” with India was reflected in his statement on April 11, 1999, when he proclaimed that “low intensity conflict with India” would continue even if the Kashmir issue was resolved, as India was a “hegemonic” power. It is this mindset that propels Pakistan’s military establishment to infiltrate and set up cells of the Lashkar-e-Toiba in urban centres from Delhi to Hyderabad. It also results in Pakistan providing haven to terrorists ranging from Dawood Ibrahim to leaders of the Babbar Khalsa and infiltrating terrorists and separatists through Nepal and Bangladesh. The attacks by terrorists of the Babbar Khalsa on movie complexes in Delhi and the gunning down of Lashkar activists in Ahmedabad, Delhi and Ayodhya are signs that we will inevitably face unexpected terrorist strikes like the December 13, 2001, attack on our Parliament. Has New Delhi given any thought about how it will respond to such developments? What is the rationale for General Musharraf’s charm offensive? The gullible in our country proclaim that he has had a “change of heart”? Dr Ayesha Agha Siddiqa, a well-informed Pakistani academic recently observed that the peace process has led to greater people-to-people interaction and initiatives to address differences. There has, however, been no movement on crucial areas like trade, the Siachen and the Sir Creek dispute — a dispute that can be resolved fairly easily. She says that the perception among decision makers in Pakistan is that the peace process is a “tactical retreat” that was inevitable after the events of 9/11. Dr Siddiqa notes that the only persons who matter in Pakistan in this peace process are those in the army establishment. She states that in the eyes of the armed forces “New Delhi still remains the top enemy that will have to be fought or vanquished”. Siddiqa acknowledges that while the Pakistan army is professional, its connection with jihadi terrorist organisations cannot be severed. She adds: “Reports indicate that the connection (with jihadi groups) has not been severed. So while Musharraf could say a lot of positive things, he would find it difficult to put his money where his mouth is”. In these circumstances, there is no point in New Delhi drawing satisfaction, as our Home Minister is given to doing, merely by stating that the number of incidents of terrorist violence has fallen. The pattern of terrorist violence has changed because of the current compulsions of General Musharraf. Terrorist strikes are now more carefully calibrated and targeted in Jammu and Kashmir. Further, after its visit to Pakistan and meeting with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin the so-called “moderate” Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Farooq will coordinate its political moves with terrorist violence unleashed by Hizb militants. The peace process with Pakistan has relaxed tensions and led the international community to remind Pakistan to abide by its pledges. But our diplomatic efforts to highlight the dangers of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism have been inadequate, primarily because we seem so anxious to claim progress in the peace process that we have often glossed over the dangers of continuing links between the ISI and groups like the Lashkar and the Babbar Khalsa. New Delhi has also not actively exposed the inseparable links between groups like the Lashkar and other international jihadi terrorist organisations. Further, we have, in recent years, undermined and degraded our covert capabilities to respond to terrorist strikes from countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh. This has led to these countries believing that we will neither respond covertly nor with precision strikes to terrorist outrages. When the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front assassinated our Assistant High Commissioner in Birmingham Ravindra Mhatre in 1983, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi responded immediately by ordering the execution of the death sentence against JKLF leader Maqbool Butt. Pakistani moves to occupy the Siachen were preemptively thwarted by her shortly thereafter. There is no substitute for strong and decisive leadership in dealing with terrorists and those who support
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Blooms from marshland
IT was thrilling news that Wednesday’s The Tribune brought for me. A London-datelined story said Rina, a girl from a colony of leprosy patients in the no man’s land on the Indo-Nepal border, graduated with flying colours from Sunderland University in the UK. My eyes welled up with happiness as I read it. I vividly recalled my visit to her village about four years ago. Identified in government records as Sunderpur, the village had undergone a transformation since my first visit, a decade earlier. Sunderpur was now well connected with Raxaul, a border town in Bihar, 2 km away, by a pucca, motorable road. There were about 1,000 people staying in the complex. The tiny Little Flower hospital had expanded with bigger wards for patients. Everybody in the township had comfortable houses to live in. The residents had set exacting standards of hygiene and cleanliness for the township. A small school, with classes up to X, was in full swing. The children dressed well and looked healthier. They said in a chorus, “Good afternoon”, without any prompting from their teacher. It was difficult to believe that it was a village of leprosy patients. Rina, who was at that time studying in Patna Women’s College, was there. And so was Patsy Puttnam, a British lady who took her under her wings and got her admitted to Sunderland University. On a hint, Rina and her friends sang a couple of songs to welcome me. They were young, bright and cheerful. I asked them what they wanted to become in life. Rina said she wanted to become a doctor, while another said she wanted to be a teacher and, yet another, engineer. Sunderpur was not like this, 25 years ago. It was a village of “lepers”. They did not have any access to electricity, potable water, healthcare and transport. They had to wade through marshy land to fetch water from the meandering Sarswa. Their children lived a life, slightly better than that of pigs. As for livelihood, they depended on begging in Raxaul. The nearest place for treatment was Mother Teresa’s leprosy hospital in faraway Calcutta. Brother Christdas was with the Mother at that time. He had chosen a religious vocation because he was inspired by Father Damien. When he heard about Sunderpur, he knew it was his calling. He first visited Sunderpur in 1981and it became his karmabhoomi. It was difficult to convince the people in the area that leprosy was not easily communicable and only 5 per cent of the people could, in any case, contract this disease. Initially, no restaurant in Raxaul would buy milk from Sunderpur. Today, despite so many cows and buffaloes, the township is unable to meet the growing demand for milk. In 1982, the Brother started a school under a tree because no local schools would admit the children: the first two weeks were spent on cleaning the children; giving them baths, cutting their hair and nails; removing lice from their hair and getting rid of their scabies. Some of them were so good in studies that they later got admission to such prestigious schools as K.R. School, Bettiah. There, these very children rubbed shoulders with the children of aristocrats and bureaucrats. Manzoor Alam was one of them. He was in Class IX when I visited Sunderpur first. I saw him cleaning the wounds of his stepparents like a well-trained nurse. “He could even treat them”, I was told. When I read about Rina’s splendid achievement, I wanted to know what had happened to Manzoor. I called the Brother, whom everybody in Raxaul calls “Baba”. He told me that he studied for a while at Eton College in London, where many British Royal children study, and now practices law in the Madras High Court. The verse, “some seeds fell into good ground and brought forth fruit …” echoed in my mind as I heard another success story. |
Responding to a crisis IN an unusual coincidence, two important democratic states, India and the United Kingdom, came under separate terrorist attacks within a span of forty-eight hours. On Tuesday, July 5, India witnessed an armed assault in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, on a site considered sacred to a large majority of the Hindu community. Exactly two days later, on July 7, several selected points on the rail and bus public transport system in London were bombed in a precisely coordinated strike. In the first incidence, the attempt to destroy the religious site in Ayodhya was foiled, thanks to alert security guards. All the armed raiders were killed on the spot, and, thankfully, there was no loss of innocent lives in the shoot-out. The bombings in London, on the other hand, claimed at least 50 precious human lives (the toll could well rise further as the debris and wreckage is being searched), and the entire transport system of London was disrupted. In the immediate aftermath of the twin strikes of the last week, one cannot miss the startling contrast in response in the two countries to an abnormal situation. Effective crisis management in any state is essentially a function of good governance. In evaluating the success in either country in facing the present emergency, therefore, it is imperative to observe the local political environment, which constitutes the well-springs of governance as we understand it. Here in India we are used to much excitement in the run-up to the elections. We also suffer several weeks of suspense in regard to the outcome, after the votes have been cast. In the UK, on the contrary, the common public complaint was that the recent elections there were a boring business. “Soulless voting” a leading daily lamented. Another complained that the campaign was so listless that “the voters have been cheated once again.” All in all, despite a spirited fight by the three main parties, passion during the election was subdued. Perhaps it appeared so in comparison with the dramatic, even melodramatic, turns to which we have become accustomed in our country. And once the heat and dust of electoral conflict settled, the state was back to its primary task, the delivery of public service. In India, we complain that the media is excessively preoccupied with politics and activities linked to elections. The year around, our attention is kept riveted upon some electoral event or other, the general elections to the Lok Sabha, or elections to state assemblies, or to local elections in towns and villages. Along with the leaders, the public too is obsessed with the working of the political system. Major policy initiatives on economic liberalization, investment strategies and the like are of course seen by the protagonists in political parties as directly impacting various vote banks, and are regarded as ‘hot’ public issues. It is accepted by all parties that governments can risk taking sound economic decisions only during the first two or three years of their tenure, the remaining years being appropriate only for adoption of populist measures that are likely to yield votes in the forthcoming elections. Governance, indeed, has acquired the overtone of compromise on the basics. The media has brought to us a ringside view in London of the tragic events of 7/7, as the day is already called. Commentators worldwide have been struck by the firm resolve and cool efficiency of the emergency services, as also a remarkable degree of close coordination between all of them. A panel of officials representing the police, the medical and transport services, and also local government addresses press briefings. Every speaker is precise, giving basic factual information, quietly refusing to speculate on the origin or identity of the bombers. Even the senior-most functionaries are self-effacing. One police officer disclosed, in all humility, that he was present on that particular day before the media as other operational officers were busy in emergency duties. In Parliament, the Prime Minister makes a brief, inspiring speech, giving the latest factual position, appealing for calm, and resolves to fight the threat. The Leader of the Opposition assures the government that his party solidly backs the government in the hour of trial. The impression conveyed is that in the face of calamity, the nation stands united, and that the services will perform with dedication. The situation in India is a study in contrast. Of the remarkable courage and skill displayed by the security staff there is no doubt. In a remarkable operation they were successful in quickly neutralising the terrorists. One would have expected all political parties and leaders of public opinion to lavish praise upon the security agencies, as also upon the state and central governments for saving the country from a potentially explosive situation. Undoubtedly commendation was due for a brilliant operation. What exactly is the response that we actually observe on the ground? The first reaction of the opposition BJP is to proclaim that an atrocity has been committed (the irony is lost on the leaders, perhaps. Would they rather have had the attack succeed, or would the loss of innocent lives been preferred?) BJP calls for a nation-wide bandh. The avowed reason: Hindutva is in danger. Each BJP leader seeks to outdo every other in inflammatory speeches as defender of the faith. If the objective of BJP is to provoke the ruling coalition, this is rapidly achieved. The Congress party goes on a frontal attack on the BJP for communalizing the issue. At the same time Congress obliquely chastises the ruling Samajvadi Party in the state of Uttar Pradesh for allowing the incident to occur. Not to be left behind, the Chief Minister of UP announces awards for bravery, but only to the members of the security force of the state, and not to the jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (a Federal organization) who were responsible for decimating the attackers. If the intention of the leaders was to demoralize the different security agencies and drive a wedge between them, this too is commendably assured by the Mr Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of the geographically distant state of Gujarat. Mr. Modi announces a separate award for bravery to the CRPF jawans, who, incidentally, hailed mainly from Gujarat state. The world is witness to this theatre of the absurd. The domination of petty politics over good governance can effectively transform a fine victory in a battle with terrorists into an explosive tinder-box of inflamed emotion. |
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Shakespearean humour in a time of terror THE Royal Shakespeare Company, which has just announced that its 2006-7 season in Stratford will include performances not just of every play, but of the narrative poems and the Sonnets, is confident that Shakespeare’s appeal and, indeed, relevance, are not diminishing and may even be growing. I think they’re right; and a horrible, incidental proof of this came last week, in the aftermath of the London bombs. A survivor, Liza Pulman, has written an account of waiting in the dark and smoke, not knowing whether they were all waiting for death or for rescuers. At one point a man, covered in soot, remarked that “I’m a carpenter; suppose it doesn’t matter if I’m a bit dirty.” As they were being led out, another man took the opportunity to say, “At last — a seat.” These jokes, forgivably weak as they are, did make you think “God, how English.” But what one ought to be thinking, probably, was “How Shakespearean.” They reminded you of those moments in Shakespeare when a joke intrudes on a tragic episode. The dying Mercutio says of his fatal wound that “‘tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door, but ‘tis enough.” The porter in Macbeth turns up at the most harrowing moment with a series of awful dirty jokes. Cleopatra’s noble suicide is delayed by one of the most infuriating of Shakespeare’s clowns. You can go on, almost endlessly. But it is Shakespeare we are constantly reminded of by real life. Wherever you looked, in the aftermath of the London bombs, you saw a moment which Shakespeare had seen in advance. The wall splattered with blood; the terrible irony of the destroyed bus, still bearing a fragment of an advert for a silly film reading “Outright terror: bold and brilliant.” Above all, the dignified figure of Marie Fatayi-Williams and her public threnody for her dead son; a scene out of Coriolanus. In a way, it sounds offensive to compare such terrible scenes from real life to plays written, in the end, to entertain. Mrs Fatayi-Williams can’t, like an actress, clean off her make-up, change into her everyday clothes, and go home peaceably. None of it was staged for our entertainment, and we mustn’t look at it, in any way, as a spectacle. Anyone, however, who does go to see even half a dozen plays will conclude that we’ve been lucky, as a nation, to be taught how to feel and behave by so generous a playwright. We’ve always known, thanks to Shakespeare, that when the worst happens, there will be some people laughing in the next room; that life doesn’t always behave in the best of taste. Most of all, I guess, we’ve understood that there is usually something to be said for the other point of view. When two utterly incompatible worlds collide in Shakespeare, we may come to a conclusion, but rarely without a moment’s doubt; we understand why Falstaff bursts in on King Hal’s coronation, and why he is dismissed so brutally; why Beatrice says “Kill Claudio”; why Iago so loathes Othello; even poor Malvolio’s delusions. There is, as everyone has always said, a limitless sympathy there which does not preclude judgement. Shakespeare both expresses and creates a national trait; the respect for other ways of feeling and thinking, of a delight in the variety to be found in the world. As a national trait, that is harder to defend than an obstinate insistence on a set of defined characteristics. But it is also a great deal stronger. — The Independent |
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From Pakistan ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Coalition for Education on Tuesday launched a report entitled “Must Do Better” to shed light on various factors of the educational standards in the Asia Pacific Region. The report, ‘Must Do Better’, is published by the Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education, a network of 200 organisations and individuals involved in formal and non-formal adult education, and the Global Campaign for Education, a coalition of development organisations and unions in over 100 countries. The report used the format of a ‘School Report Card’ to rank the leaders of these developing countries as ‘class leaders’ or ‘poor performers’. The ‘Teacher’s Remarks’ section for Pervez Musharraf reads: “Pervez spends less per pupil than most of his South Asian neighbours and charges user fees in full. Such low spending can only deliver pitiable results: two out of three Pakistani adults are illiterate, with the same proportion of secondary school age children out of school; four out of 10 children are missing primary school; and girls and women constitute majority of those who are denied access to and equal chance for complete basic education.” — The Nation Poll ban on General’s photo ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Tuesday barred candidates participating in the forthcoming local government elections from displaying President Pervez Musharraf’s photographs or posters to gain political mileage in their campaign. Taking notice of reports that some candidates were using photographs and banners containing images of the President, an official spokesman said that since the office of the President was in no way associated with the election campaign of any candidate, the practice of using the President’s image should be discontinued forthwith. This condition is likely to become part of the Code of Conduct for the contesting candidates in the local government elections, 2005. Meanwhile, a reliable source told Dawn that the meeting discussed at length about suggestions to block Cabinet ministers, intending to participate in the local government elections, from taking advantage of their official position in their electioneering. — Dawn Parallel judiciary
ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli on Tuesday said the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) was trying to create complications in the present judicial system through the Hasba Bill. “Hasba Bill will create a parallel judicial system and lead to a complete mismanagement in the province,” she said in her statement issued here on Tuesday. “It would create confusion and uncertainty among the masses”. Anisa said the MMA has introduced the Hasba Bill with an aim to establish the MMA’s dominance over the people of the province particularly their voters. — The News
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From the pages of COLLISION FOR THE UPSHOT
The intense Conservatism of China, and the ultra-Radicalism of Japan have come into collision with a war for the upshot. Looked at from a distance the two belligerent powers are extremely unequal: Japan is hardly a good mouthful for China. But we have learnt not to trust appearances too much. England is not much bigger than Japan, but we know what England’s fighting capabilities are, specially on the sea. And Japan, go-ahead as she is, is reported to have a stronger and better equipped navy than China drawn up in her shell of reserve and pride. But could not this war have been averted? China and Japan are the only two decent Asiatic powers, and they could have found some better pastime than clawing each other and drawing blood. Several great European powers are constantly angling in Chinese and Japanese waters to hook their particular fish. Instead of grandly proclaiming neutrality after the declaration of war, England might have mediated and so might have Russia, but the mutual suspicion of these two powers prevents them being of any friendly use to another when they happen to be in the presence of each other. When trade is paralysed, China and Japan will both think their honour satisfied, and England and Russia will then perhaps mediate. |
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is not happiness without action. — Book of quotations on Happiness Life is to be worshipped. For through Life, we can realise God and come closer to Him. —Book of quotations on Hinduism Steadfastness cements the road to Supreme Knowledge. —The Upanishads Good humour is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society. — Book of quotations on Happiness One who has seen Him experiences the stillness of a forest glade within himself. —The Upanishads The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. — Book of quotations on Happiness He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. — Book of quotations on Happiness Learn to let go. And feel the healing touch of peace. —The Upanishads With the true knowledge, his sufferings and sins are wiped out. He obtains happiness and real joy, repeats Guru Nanak.
— Guru Nanak  |
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