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Walking on peace track Help paddy growers Killer tracks |
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Rethinking on terrorism
Like the widow of Zarephath
Caste politics at play Turkey opens formal EU talks Scientist who
poisoned himself to prove his ulcer theory
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Walking on peace track THE peace drive between India and Pakistan got fresh impetus on Tuesday when the two sides expressed their resolve that nothing would be allowed to come in the way. Their determination to carry forward the composite dialogue process found mention in the joint statement issued after the talks between External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, in Islamabad. The Indo-Pak bonhomie was clearly evident after General Pervez Musharraf promised to look at the Sarbjit Singh case from a “humanitarian” angle when Mr Natwar Singh met him in Rawalpindi. The two sides rightly showed seriousness for starting the Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service, for which an expert-level meeting will be held on October 25-26. They agreed to arrive at a common understanding on the Siachen demilitarisation issue before January 2006. They have, perhaps, found a mechanism for troop withdrawal, for which there has been a willingness on both sides, but it could not be possible without the authentication of the two countries’ ground positions. Hopes were raised for a settlement of the Sir Creek issue as both sides agreed to undertake a joint survey of it. Two major agreements were signed on Monday, one on the pre-notification of the flight testing of ballistic missiles and the other on establishing a communication link between the Indian Coast Guard and the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency. Another significant development was the revival of the Indo-Pak Joint Commission, which has not met for 16 years. It has to take up issues like trade and commerce. There will be greater consular access to the citizens of the two countries and a new visa regime benefiting pilgrims, business travellers and students. This is bound to boost tourism and trade besides increasing people-to-people contacts being promoted to create an atmosphere congenial for the establishment of friendly relations between India and Pakistan. The two rounds of the composite dialogue process, reviewed by Mr Natwar Singh and Mr Kasuri, show considerable progress on most of the eight subjects on the agenda. Kashmir is, of course, a part of the process set in motion and it has to take its own time. Any hurry in this regard will be dangerous.
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Help paddy growers IN the past couple of years paddy procurement had been so smooth that it had stopped making headlines and one got the impression that state machinery had been geared up to meet the yearly challenge. But this year has produced a rude shock. For the past many days newspapers have been highlighting the plight of farmers waiting in mandis to sell their produce. There have been reports of distress sale of paddy. Obviously, the vested interests are taking advantage of the situation in the near absence of the official procurement agencies. Farmers have also voiced their anger by holding protests here and there. The suicide by Gurdev Singh, a debt-ridden farmer of Kapurthala district, in the Nadala mandi highlights the agony of farmers. The official reason given out for the FCI’s staying away from the mandis is the higher moisture content and discolouring of grains due to the untimely mid-September rain. But it is not an excuse that it should be making. Farmers who grow early maturing varieties of paddy have suffered the most. In some cases their paddy has been found unfit for procurement or is purchased at below-MSP rates. But not all the paddy has gone bad. Even if the official guidelines on the moisture content and the quality of grains are relaxed now, much damage has already been done. Instead of activating its own buying agencies like Markfed, the Punjab Government kept looking up to the Centre to provide relief and thus bear the burden of procuring poor-quality paddy. That the FCI house needs to be set in order is well known. The FCI, which buys wheat and paddy largely in Punjab and Haryana, has been asked to cut back spending by Rs 2,200 crore as required by McKinsey's report. This will hit its operations in the two states. The reason: the Centre wants to leave procurement work to states. But the states must do their job seriously. Farmers cannot be allowed to suffer.
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Killer tracks TRAIN accidents have become too frequent, the latest being Monday’s derailment of the Varanasi-Gwalior Bundelkhand Express at Datia in Madhya Pradesh. It claimed the lives of 18 people and left over 150 injured. The toll is likely to go up. In the past one year, the nation witnessed five accidents in which 85 passengers were killed — the Sabarmati Express at Samalya; the head-on collision between the Jammu Tawi Express and Jalandhar-Amritsar Passenger at Mansar (Mukerian) in Punjab; and the Shramjeevi Express at Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh. If one takes into account regular derailments, the number of mishaps would be much more. This is not a healthy sign for an organisation that boasts of the world’s largest network. Surprisingly, 60 per cent of accidents have occurred because of human error, but the authorities are yet to address the problem effectively. The staff fails at the most crucial moments. If brake failure was the reason for the latest mishap, why the reported plea of the driver (who was killed in the accident) to change the engine at Jhansi due to some mechanical problem (this request was made a full six hours before the tragedy) was not considered. Equally disturbing is the staff’s failure to fix the hose pipe that had been released at Jhansi. The brake’s vacuum system operates through the hose pipe. If the pipe is released or left loose, air rushes in and the vacuum is affected. No wonder, the brakes of the ill-fated train failed. And when the driver did inform this to the Datia staff, it was too late and they could only divert the out-of-control train to the other line! It was this kind of casual approach to safety that was equally responsible for the Mansar accident. How were two speeding trains allowed to proceed on the same track? If the communication system was not working for over 24 hours, why did the station masters fail to get it restored promptly? One lesson the mandarins in Rail Bhavan would do well to learn is that training or technology would be of little value if the staff does not have quick reflexes.
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To be adult is to be alone. — Jean Rostand
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Rethinking on terrorism THERE are some tentative signs that the United States might be having a rethink on its war on terrorism, which also includes the war in Iraq. In Washington’s terminology, the two are synonymous. For instance, the US Defense Secretary has said that the insurgency/terrorism in Iraq might last a decade or more. In other words, there are no quick fixes even for the world’s most powerful country. If this is the recognition of the limits of US power, it is a welcome sign. At another level, it is reported that the US might phase out its catchphrase, “the war on terrorism”, in favour of something more nuanced, like the “struggle against violent extremism”. Gen Richard Myers, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has reportedly said that he “objected to the use of the term “war on terrorism” because if you call it a war, then you think of people in uniform as being the solution.” In his view, the solution is “more diplomatic, more economic, more political than it is military.” These signs by themselves will not make the task of fighting violent extremism any easier. But once it is shorn of its war character, the policy responses to it might become less extreme. For the present, though, every Muslim in the United States and Europe is a potential terrorist. Not only that: anyone who looks like a Muslim (depending on the stereotype and skin colour) is suspect. How else would one explain the killing of the Brazilian, Jean Charles de Menezes (who was going about his business in London), when the police pumped eight bullets into his body! It is making many non-white people nervous, with the police ready to shoot at sight. They are now scared of both the terrorists (terrorists don’t make any distinction between Muslims and others when they blow up trains and buses) and the police. And there is now talk of further tightening of the law and order provisions to make detention, interrogation and deportation of suspects easier and quicker. Which would, wittingly or unwittingly, target people who look different. In the United States, the Patriot Act is all embracing. It is at such moments that some of the voices of restraint are so welcome. At a recent conference in Malaysia, Mrs Cherie Blair (Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife ) made the telling point, at odds with her husband, that it would be “all too easy” to respond in a way that “cheapens our right to call ourselves a civilised nation.” But nobody seems to be listening, not even her husband. Australia is also worried, with the government and politicians of all persuasions seeking to make the country a fortress of sorts. There is talk of introducing a national identity card, sniffer dogs in trains, bag searches and so on. The Muslim community is under pressure to police itself. Whether it is the United States, Britain or Australia, the community leaders are duly issuing statements and edicts condemning terrorism and suicide bombings. In the US, American Muslim scholars have issued an anti-terrorism “fatwa” declaring violence against civilians to be forbidden by God. All this seems to suggest a certain political naivety about the Muslim community. The Muslims are not an undifferentiated lot. Like the people of other communities, they are individuals who respond differently to different situations. They don’t necessarily follow religious or political edicts of their real or supposed leaders. They certainly feel insecure and scared because their religion marks them out as potential terrorists. Therefore, what they need most is a sense of security and belonging where they live in Western societies. Which doesn’t mean there aren’t terrorists and criminals among them? What it means is that they shouldn’t all be tarred (by implication or implementation of law) as terrorist suspects. Because that is a sure way of making any community secretive and creating a sense of siege. And this will not make the task of identifying terrorists any easier. On the contrary, it will make it more difficult. It is, therefore, imperative to loosen the pressure on the Muslim community to make statements and edicts of loyalty and allegiance to their adopted countries. At the same time, as the law and order machinery gets into gear to nab the terrorists, the authorities might also start a new process of acknowledging some of the failings of marginalising their Muslim citizens and taking corrective action. It will be a slow process but then there is no quick fix for terrorism. In the larger context, the US believes that democratisation of the Islamic world is the answer. But there are problems here. First: it is the image problem. The US is not known in the Muslim world for its altruism. Therefore, its democratic protestations are not entirely credible in that part of the world. Second: there is a strong view that Washington wants to secure the West Asian oilfields. So far it has done it through its compliant regimes. But they are now vulnerable to terrorism in the absence of even a modicum of popular legitimacy. Hence the pressure on them to introduce some sort of democracy like holding elections. But whatever little is happening in this respect lacks credibility. The US badly needs allies on the ground in West Asia, other than the present discredited regimes. A democracy based on the support of the moderate Muslim social class might be the answer. The problem, though, is that to acquire popular legitimacy the leaders of this class cannot afford to be seen as a US creation. They have to show that they can do better than the present US-installed or supported regimes. The easiest way is to claim success on the Palestine sovereignty issue and the Iraq situation. The first would require Israeli cooperation, which doesn’t seem likely to the extent that might pacify West Asia. The US can’t afford to alienate Israel because it is the only reliable strategic asset it has in the region. Israel also has a strong political constituency in the U.S. The second — the Iraq situation- looks like a bottomless pit. The US could still push democracy in West Asia. But that might bring the extremist Islamic parties to power, and that will be a disaster. It is not easy to be a super power when, even with all the power, it still can’t have its way all the
time.
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Like the widow of Zarephath WITHIN seconds of my mother-in-law’s death, I got the news on my cellphone. Seventeen years ago, such a message reached me via California when the caller failed to get me on the trunk line from Kerala. The instant message made me instantly sad. Unlike most others, she came into my life much before marriage. My earliest memory is when we, classmates of her daughter, visited her on her father-in-law’s death. In course of time, she graduated from just an acquaintance to my mother-in-law, to my dear “Mamma”, as I used to call her. Thirty-five years is a long period to know a person. I watched Mamma with awe bringing up her nine children almost single-handedly since she became a widow at an early age. When she lost her husband, a wag commented that “Mariamma Eleven” was no longer a full team. The needs of two toddler daughters were different from that of a postgraduate daughter and son. But like Ashta Lakshmi, she deftly handled them all, winning admiration from one and all. It was a privilege to be her first son-in-law. She would prepare the nicest dishes for me. But there was never an occasion when I dined alone in her house. Anyone who visited her at that time – be he a total stranger or a distant relative or a poor traveller — she would invite him to join the meal. She was truly like the Biblical widow of Zarephath, who gave the last morsel of food she had to a visitor. Her house, once the largest in the village, was an open house. Even larger was her heart. Visitors flitted in and out of her house. They all called her “Mamma”. She never gave alms, she only helped. She had a designated prayer room, where people from far and wide came, prayed, dined and slept. Many of them were poor widows or peripatetic preachers. They never went back empty-handed. She practised what she preached. Many in the village sought her help for treatment, for studies, for going abroad and for marriage and she never disappointed them. She knew only how to give. It was said that the first word she uttered was, kodukku (give). Years later, when all her children were well settled, she would often ask them to bring this or that. But they were things she obtained specifically to give to the needy. Even when diabetes and blood pressure drained her like a leech, her house remained virtually an inn. Many wondered whether, like Draupadi, she had an Akshay Patra. Such was her computer-like memory that she never forgot to wish her large brood of children, in-laws and grandchildren on their birthdays. Towards the end, she had a home nurse to take care of her. But she bothered about the nurse’s own health so much that it was difficult to distinguish who nursed whom. Little surprise, when she heard that the nurse needed a large sum of money for an urgent operation, she emptied her bank account for her. It did not matter to Mamma that she herself was about to be admitted to a hospital, where she breathed her last. She came to this world empty-handed and returned empty-handed. But she left behind a whole village to mourn her death. It can verily be said of her, “she fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the
faith”.
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Caste politics at play THE familiar image of Haryana of a society inherently benign and innocent is fast surrendering to its opposite characterisation due to happenings like Dulina and Gohana. There is a growing apprehension in Haryana that its political elite lacks grossly in its vision and commitment to the values of democracy and liberal humanism. Since its inception as a separate state in 1966, the ruling elite has freely used the card of caste politics. Now it is in a dilemma whether to appease further the caste-based khap panchayats or to safeguard the sancity and spirit of the constitutional order in the state. The Gohana incident has virtually exposed this ambivalence in the political behaviour of the dominant political parties across ideological lines. From the Dulina lynching of five Dalits in October, 2002, to the Gohana incident of burning 50 houses of Dalits, the state machinery is exposed in a quite consistent manner. When it was evident that the panchayat had got the matter in its hand, the administration in Gohana instead of strictly identifying and pacifying the potential miscreants, went to convince the Dalits to vacate their houses. But it only facilitated what happened on August 31. In fact, the Gohana incident is seen by the Dalits and other democratic organisations as just another shameful sequel to the earlier happenings like Dulina and Harsola where hundreds of Dalit families had to migrate from the village. This incident appears to have definite parallels with the psychic structures and methods of violence as witnessed in the attacks on Muslim houses in Loharu and Kaithal in the recent past. It is true that Haryana’s encounter with globalisation is stricken with bizarre contradictions emanating from imbalanced economic development and the intermittent assertion of the undemocratic and backward value system deeply rooted in the collective mind of the people. Beneath the overt projection of a modern outlook and wide spread prosperity, which are said to be the net gains of the Green Revolution in the state, there is an underside of reactionary identities of castes and khaps, and a continued celebration of a limited humanism, which in hours of social, tension, shrinks further. The ruling elite of the state has vested interests in nurturing these tendencies for political
gains. The khap panchayats are basically the faces of a cultural vandalism incapable of visualising human dignity and civil rights of Dalits, women, minorities and other weaker sections. In Dulina when five Dalits were lynched to death, such panchayats had openly demanded the withdrawal of cases against those booked for the inhuman act. Besides, they had justified the “intentions” of the killers in the name of cow protection. It is really lamentable that the violation of humand rights in the context of Dalits and minorities is generally given a political colour in order to pressurise the victims themselves. A simple event of a Dalit entering a temple or putting a bold face to a customary situation of humilisation can easily provoke an unexpected ire in the high caste people. Here it is necessary to mention that a section of society has refused to sympathise with the Dalits of Gohana because they appear to be well off and some of them have enviable pucca houses. In fact, the licence of intimidating Dalits and women is ingrained in the very idiom and forms of popular culture in Haryana society. Yet it would be erratic to conclude that the common Haryanavi, irrepective of caste or religion, has lost the wisdom and genuine urge of having a peaceful coexistence and vibrant socio-economic interaction with others within the given social structure. The tragedies like Gohana and Dulina cannot be understood without a reference to the deteriorating condition of the peasantry in the state. While highlighting the plight of the Dalits in Haryana, it is imperative to understand the political logic of characterising the ruling elite of the state within the caste identity of Jats. The peasantry of Haryana is a multi-layered section and carries conflicting forms of economic and social experience. A small section of rural Haryana has essentially benefited from the Green Revolution, which has stopped yielding to the small peasantry for the last two decades. Criminalisation of rural youths is one of its most conspicuous offshoots. The majority of small peasants have already become landless and it has brought them face-to-face with the crisis of “identity of peasantry” that has always remained intergal to the other identity of caste. But this frutrating experience is easily convertible into the ugliest forms of caste and communal politics. In the Gohana incident, the neighbouring villages have been mobilised by a shrewd manipulation of their caste identity. But the increasing trend of identitfying the rural classes of Haryana with the caste Jat in specific has inherent limitations of sociological perception and carries long-term dangers for the social fabric of the state. This mode of perceiving castes or religious communities as a homogenenous group or class needs to be discouraged as it is the very tool that the casteist and communal forces generally use for their divisive politics. It is really sad that when the situations like Gohana demand a mature and responsible behaviour from our politicians, they fail miserably and justify their refusal to respect the constitution and the democratic rights of all sections of society. At present, the situation in Haryana demands an immediate introspection on the part of the political elite as represented by the dominant political parties.
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Turkey opens formal EU talks AFTER waiting in Europe’s antechamber for 42 years, Turkey early Tuesday became the first predominantly Muslim country to open membership talks with the European Union. The negotiations launched at a gathering of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg followed a day of frantic diplomacy that nearly foundered over Austrian opposition and differences over the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus. ``We have taken another giant step in our march toward Europe,’’ said Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, shortly after the deal was announced late Monday. ``The journey will be fraught with difficulties, and should Europe abide by its promises ... our success will then largely depend on you, the Turkish people.’’ In Luxembourg, British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, who led what he called ``a pretty grueling 30 hours of negotiations,’’ said the agreement marked a ``truly historic day for Europe and the whole of the international community.’’ Since 1963, Turkey has been an associate member of the alliance awaiting full membership. EU leaders agreed last December to open negotiations with Turkey by Monday, partly in response to the sweeping reforms adopted by Erdogan’s government. However, arguments over details of an agreement that would guide those membership talks had threatened to delay or even scuttle Turkey’s bid. Austria dropped its objections after a tough day of talks among the alliance’s 25 members, who had to come to a unanimous decision on starting negotiations with Turkey. A short time later, EU officials announced that they had agreed to Vienna’s request to open delayed membership talks with Croatia, a historical ally of the Austrians. Turkey now faces an arduous process that will see many aspects of its government policies and record on human rights and civil liberties held up to scrutiny by an increasingly sceptical Europe. The EU says the talks cannot end before 2014 at the earliest and that there is no guarantee that they will be concluded successfully. Turkey’s proponents argue that its youthful population, modern army and strategic importance at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East and the former Soviet states would inject sorely needed dynamism and muscle into the European bloc. Straw warned earlier Monday that blocking Turkey’s accession would send a negative signal to the rest of the Muslim world, creating a ``theological-political divide, which could open up even further down the boundary between so-called Christian heritage states and those of Islamic heritage.’’ But opposition to Turkey has been growing across Europe in recent months fed by fears of mass migration from the large and underdeveloped nation of 70 million. Austria had been pressing for a so-called privileged partnership for the Turks that would fall short of full membership. Turkey had roundly rejected that proposal. In addition to Austria’s resistance, differences between the EU and Turkey over alliance member Cyprus threatened to derail Monday’s deal. Turkey refuses to recognize Cyprus, which was divided since Turkish troops invaded the Turkish dominated north of the island in 1974 following an abortive coup attempt by Greek Cypriot ultranationalists.
—LA Times-Washington Post
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Scientist who
poisoned himself to prove his ulcer theory Two Australian scientists who isolated the microbe responsible for peptic ulcers and were the first to show the condition is infectious were jointly awarded the £1m prize on Monday. In 1982, Robin Warren, a pathologist at the Royal Perth Hospital, was the first to show that patients with chronic ulcers also tended to harbour colonies of bacteria in their stomachs. Barry Marshall, a researcher at the University of Western Australia, became interested in Professor Warren’s findings and initiated the studies that led to the identification of the bacterium responsible, which they named Helicobacter pylori. Dr Marshall went on to test the theory personally by deliberating exposing himself to the bug and so triggering a bout of acute gastric illness in his own stomach. Until the two scientists carried out their pioneering research, it was widely believed that nothing could live in the extremely acid environment of the stomach, and that ulcers and gastritis were the result of lifestyle and stress. Professor Warren said it took a decade for others to accept their findings. “Everybody believed there were no bacteria in the stomach. When I said they were there, no one believed it,” he said. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm said the two scientists showed that it was possible to cure rather than simply treat the symptoms of stomach ulcers. “Thanks to the pioneering discovery of Marshall and Warren, peptic ulcer disease is no longer a chronic, frequently disabling condition, but a disease that can be cured by a short regimen of antibiotics and acid secretion inhibitors,” the assembly said. The two scientists managed to challenge prevailing dogmas with tenacity and a prepared mind, the assembly said. They presented an irrefutable case that the bacterium H. pylori is the cause of the disease, it added. Dr Marshall’s first attempt at culturing the bacterium failed and it was only after he had left the bug in the laboratory over an Easter holiday that he achieved success. Lord May of Oxford, president of the Royal Society in London, said the work of the two scientists produced one of the most radical and important changes in the past 50 years in the perception of a medical condition. “Their results led to the recognition that gastric disorders are infectious diseases, and overturned the previous view that they were physiological illnesses,” Lord May said. “In 1985, Marshall showed by deliberately infecting himself with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori that it caused acute gastric illness. This extraordinary act demonstrated outstanding dedication to his research,” he said.
— The Independent
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From the pages of Muslim co-operation in Congress There was another feature in the Congress at Madras which could not fail to gratify the mind and gladden the heart of every Indian nationalist. Need we say we refer to the important part played in its deliberations by eminent leaders of Mahomedan thought? Mr Jinnah, the well-known Bombay barrister, is an old Congressman and it was only natural that he should take leading part in its deliberations. But besides Mr Jinnah, two leading representatives of Mahmodean opinion took a leading part and actively participated in its deliberations. One was, of course, Mr Syed Hasan Imam, the distinguished Mahomedan leader, who took part in the last Madras Congress, and another was Mr Mushir Hussain Kidwai of Lucknow. He was one of the delegates from the Islamia Society of South Africa and he moved the resolution protesting against the treatment of Indians in Transvaal.
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The knowledge that the arising of ill is based on ignorance and it is perpetuated by the craving and intoxication for sensuality and sensations, becoming and rebecoming, delusion and ignorance. Stop complaining about your life. Never take for granted all the joys and freedoms you have. Remember those who have less. —The Buddha If you can put a smile on the face of the poor, remember you are doing God’s work and you will be repaid manifold in times to come. Saints have been given their place in heaven by working like this. —Book of quotations on Hinduism Success gravitates toward those who are perceived to be successful. Regardless of how you feel within, you must emanate success if you want to attract people to your cause. —Book of quotations on Success Seeing you once, my love, I would close my eyes to the world forever. —Kabir The best way to predict the future is to invent it. —Alan Kay The Truth is this. Our lives are shaped by our deeds. One who realises this has reached the summit of self-realisation. All his delusions now disappear. He becomes the self-realised one. He serves as an example to those who wish to know the truth. —The Mahabharata Human happiness seems to consist of three ingredients: action, pleasure, and indolence. And though these ingredients ought to be mixed in different proportions, according to the disposition of the person, yet no one ingredient can be entirely wanting without destroying in some measure the relish of the whole composition. —Book of quotations on Happiness
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THE discovery that bacteria rather than stress cause stomach ulcers and that antibiotics can cure the condition has won this year’s Nobel prize in physiology or medicine.