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Buta Singh must go Exit Neera Yadav |
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Scorpenes for India The deal should cheer up the Navy The signing of the Scorpene deal not only means that the Indian Navy can finally look forward to bridging the submarine gap in its inventory, but that the idle facilities at the Mazagaon Docks can again buzz with activity. India currently possesses 16 diesel electric submarines, many on line for decommissioning.
Breaking the logjam
in Nepal
A happy lot
Human
Rights Diary Is Pakistani cinema
dying? Clone-generated
milk, meat may be cleared
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Exit Neera Yadav The
Supreme Court’s order to the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday to transfer tainted Chief Secretary Neera Yadav to another post is more than justified. The state government had no choice but to shift her as Chairperson, Board of Revenue. But the matter does not rest here. The issue raises disturbing questions on Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav posting her at the helm of the state administration in April last even though several cases of corruption, misuse of power and maladministration are pending against her. A
1971 batch IAS officer, Neera Yadav’s appointment was patently void because no tainted official, charge-sheeted in several cases, could occupy this high office. The CBI has charge-sheeted her in as many as seven cases. The Justice K.T. Thomas Committee appointed by the Supreme Court is also inquiring into the alleged multi-billion rupee land scam during her tenure as CEO of Noida. In addition, she is facing 22 departmental inquiries. The apex court’s ruling quashing her appointment as Chief Secretary as “illegal” is particularly significant because it upheld the time-tested principle that a charge-sheeted officer whose integrity is doubtful cannot be assigned the highly sensitive post of Chief Secretary. There is a rationale behind this cardinal principle. The Chief Secretary is the head of the state administration and when her own integrity and conduct are in question, how can she inspire confidence and lead other officials effectively? It is unfortunate that Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav never paid heed to the public concern that Neera Yadav’s continuance as Chief Secretary was affecting the quality of governance adversely. But such was her clout that she got away with whatever she did, because of her overbearing influence in Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s political setup. Even when she was voted as the “most corrupt IAS officer” by the UP IAS Officers’ Association, her defence was that the Association had not “named” the officers. The ends of justice will be met only if all the cases against her are pursued vigorously and action taken, if she is found guilty. |
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Scorpenes for India The
signing of the Scorpene deal not only means that the Indian Navy can finally look forward to bridging the submarine gap in its inventory, but that the idle facilities at the Mazagaon Docks can again buzz with activity. India currently possesses 16 diesel electric submarines, many on line for decommissioning. They are what the Navy calls the SSK — Submarine Search and Kill — type of vessels. The Scorpene is also a conventional SSK, as against an SSN, a nuclear powered submarine, but its stealth, endurance, and advanced technologies should help the Navy deploy a potent sword arm. The Scorpene’s torpedoes and missiles are integrated with a suite of sensors into the much touted “SUBTICS” combat management system, similar to what Pakistan has on its Agosta subs, also from Armaris. The importance of submarines in the modern war fighting context cannot be understated. Traditional surface assets like destroyers, however well equipped, have limitations when operating close to enemy shores. The development of precise cruise missiles which can be fired from stand-off range make them vulnerable. One does not even require a sophisticated enemy to do damage, as evidenced by the terrorist attack against the USS Cole in 2000. While nuclear SSNs will continue to have a strategic role, the importance of conventional SSKs is thus rising, in a full spectrum of roles ranging from anti-submarine, ship and surface warfare, to mine clearing and laying, land attack, and reconnaissance. Project 75, cleared in 1999, envisages the building of 24 submarines, in two production lines, from 2000 to 2030. The 24 subs are to be an optimal combination of acquisitions from Western and Russian sources, along with those built in India. After the delays in the Scorpene deal, the Navy and the Centre should work towards ensuring that this vision continues to be on track. India’s nuclear posture and the need to protect high value assets like our aircraft carriers requires that it also fields SSNs, and the reported deal in the pipeline to lease Russian Akulas should be expedited. Work on the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) towards an indigenous SSN capability should also be brought to fruition. |
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Forgiveness is man’s deepest need and highest achievement.
— Proverb. |
Breaking the logjam in Nepal
Although
King Gyanendra’s cancellation of the visit to the UN General Assembly came as a morale booster to the democratic forces and the human rights defenders, the political stalemate is far from resolved. On August 22, the seven-party alliance in principle decided to hold dialogue with the Maoists. But, no visible progress has been made on this front as yet. King Gyanendra has also spurned the unilateral ceasefire declared by the Maoists on September 3. The situation in Nepal is an abyss. Though state of emergency was lifted on April 29, flagrant violations of human rights both by the security forces and the Maoists continue to be reported. Security forces continue to extra-judicially execute innocent people, apart from arbitrary arrest, excessive use of force during arrest, illegal detention and torture. According to the estimates of Asian Centre for Human Rights, about 665 persons have been killed by the Maoists and the security forces between April 30 and September 12. Out of them, 374 were killed by the security forces. On May 2 at 10.30 am, 22-year-old Rupen Rai was extra-judicially killed by Royal Nepal Army (RNA) soldiers at Soyang area of Ilam district. A statement issued by the RNA in Kathmandu claimed that he was a Maoist rebel killed in an encounter. But a probe conducted by the Human Rights Monitoring Coordination Committee comprising 10 members from the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), Child Workers in Nepal, and other human rights organisations, found that “injured Rai could have well been taken in custody after the forces fired at him. However, the security personnel continued firing at him, thereby killing him outright.” According to the report, there was no retaliation from the Maoists’ side. On July 3, plainclothes security personnel shot dead Rama Adhikari (38) in front of her husband at their residence in Taghandubba-7 in Jhapa district, accusing her of having “fed the Maoist cadres”. The security forces also threatened to kill the other five members of the family and tried to bury her secretly. Later on, an officer from the District Police Office asked Devi Prasad, the husband of the deceased, to sign a paper. A fact-finding team consisting of HimRights LifeLine, INSEC, CWIN, CVICT and Advocacy Forum also found that Rama Adhikari was summarily executed. The government treats the courts with contempt. As many as 22 persons, including former minister Jaya Prakash Prasad Gupta and student leaders Gagan Thapa and Rajendra Rai, have been re-arrested following their release by the Supreme Court since lifting of emergency on April 29. And the government defends such illegal re-arrests. When asked by journalists why student leader Rajendra Rai was re-arrested on May 18, the Home Minister Dan Bahadur Shahi replied: “Did the Supreme Court order not to re-arrest him?” Censorship on the press continues. Private FM radios continue to be denied permission to air news bulletins. At least 176 journalists have been detained while protesting or covering protests, 13 were summoned, and 16 others were harassed or assaulted by the security forces since the lifting of the emergency. The government also restricts the freedom of movement of human rights defenders. After an armed clash on August 7, the security forces had barred human rights activists and journalists from visiting Pili in Kalikot district, where at least 43 army men and more than two dozen Maoists were killed. An investigation by INSEC found that on August 11 patrolling security personnel set fire to a health centre, beat up and shot at local people on suspicion of being Maoists in the villages adjoining Pili following the attack by Maoists. The Maoists too have been responsible for gross violations of international humanitarian laws including indiscriminate targeting of the civilians. Between April 30 and September 12, the Maoists have killed at least 291 people. Though the Maoists have released the soldiers taken hostages after Pili armed clash, the Maoists continue to abduct hundreds of civilians. There have been credible reports of unilateral ceasefire by the Maoists. The RNA personnel too have been provoking the Maoists. Given the determination of King Gyanendra to cling on to power, there is no quick solution in sight. The Maoists have consistently expressed desire to sit for negotiation with the help of the UN. However, to a visiting delegation of the UN consisting of Secretary General Kofi Annan’s Special Advisor Lakhdar Brahimi, senior political advisor to the Secretary General. Tamrat Samuel and the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, Ian Martin to New Delhi from August 29 to September 1, the government of India reportedly rejected the UN mediation. While India’s position is nothing new, India has so far failed to facilitate some sort of agreement amongst the forces opposed to the dictatorship of King Gyanendra or put adequate and effective pressure on Gyanendra to break the stalemate. The position of the United Kingdom has been fairly consistent with regard to the combating terrorism as well as the need for dialogue with the Maoists. Despite continued arms embargo, the United States’ position keeps on changing. India’s role for resolution of the political stalemate as well as the armed conflict in landlocked Nepal is indispensable. If India seeks to maintain its turf, it must act more decisively. Otherwise, the refrain for UN involvement will increase as patience runs out. India on its part must not oppose any resolution on the situation of human rights in Nepal at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly and form a Working Group consisting of the US, the UK, European Union and the UN to evolve a policy for the restoration of democracy and initiating a meaningful peace process with the Maoists.
The writer is Director, Asian Centre for Human Rights, New Delhi
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A happy lot We
have reasons to rejoice. An international survey has found that Indians are the fourth happiest population in the world. Our happiness quotient is far higher than that of First World countries like England and Canada. Only Australia, the US and Egypt are ahead of us. Those who dismiss us as a depressed lot due to our grinding poverty, illiteracy and diseases will find this contentment intriguing. But we ourselves will be least surprised. We know the art of extracting cheerfulness out of any adversity. The British survey only confirms this fact. Supposing a flight or train is 36 hours late. People in countries like Russia, Japan and France, which are in the “unhappy” category, will tear their hair. Not us. We will celebrate that the plane/train has not been cancelled or hijacked. We lose 1-7 in hockey. No sweat. We dance the night away for that one brilliant kick that we sent past their star keeper. Even if we momentarily lose our calm when Saurav Ganguly fails to reach double figures yet again, we just burn a few buses and trains and are back to our chirpy self again. We are beaten up by policemen for no reason whatsoever. We do not raise hell. Instead, we thank our stars that we were not branded terrorists and shot. Papers are leaked and exams delayed by three months. We take solace from the plight of our brethren who have found after studying for years that their university was fake and their degrees worthless. We go to a hospital with an emergency case. There is no doctor. The patient dies. Do we raise a hue and cry? No, we are thankful that we did not have to incur huge expenditure on treatment because we know that the patient would have died even quicker had he fallen into the hands of the doctor, who owed his job to his relationship with a minister. Ten persons die in our locality after drinking hooch. We drown our sorrow in liquor from the same shop. Terrorists kill all men in a village. We eulogise them for their humane gesture of sparing women and children. A killer of 20 innocent persons is to be hanged. We organise a march to protect his life. Politicians take us for a ride for four years and 11 months. Come payback time during elections and we again allow them to make an ass of us. A leader siphons off crores of rupees. We do not boycott him. He brought phones to our village, didn’t he? There are cows on the road. We are beholden to the administration that there are no tigers. We consider a government servant upright if he takes bribe, but at least does our work. There is no electricity, water or road. We are still grateful that there is kerosene in the ration shop. If rapes and dowry killings go out of hand, we simply kill our daughters at birth. With such sterling qualities, we deserve to be recognised as the world’s happiest people. Yet, we are relegated to the fourth place. We are ecstatic nevertheless. Cheers to that
spirit! |
Human Rights Diary But the rape remained a sheer crime in the theocratic Pakistan while it got politicised in the secular society of India. For one, it was a shameful incident; for the other, it was also the question of identity. As usual, Muslim intellectuals on both sides were silent, fearing the wrath of mullahs if they took any contrary stand. First, details of the two cases: Mukhtaran Mai was gang-raped in Pakistan as a punishment to her brother’s alleged affair with a woman from a high family. The village council made the rape legitimate. This is similar to what has happened in Rajasthan. The sister of a Hindu boy was raped on the village council’s order because he had molested a woman from a high caste family. A lower court acquitted the rapists of Mukhtaran Mai. The high court endorsed the verdict. But she did not give up. She spoke out openly against the judgement. So loud were her wailings that they attracted international attention. Some organisations in America invited her to tell her story. Before she could decide on her travel abroad, the Pakistan government stepped in to confiscate her passport. President Pervez Musharraf did not want her to project “a bad image of Pakistan.” Subsequently, he used derogatory language to run down a raped woman as if she wanted to be molested to get fame and money. General Musharraf has tried to rub off his indiscreet observations by blaming the Press for misquoting him. The general thinking in the subcontinent is not to let the truth reach the outside world even if it means suppressing the incident because the country will get a bad name. The Supreme Court of Pakistan reversed the earlier judgments and ordered the arrest of some 13 men, including members of the village council which had sanctioned the rape. Mukhtaran Mai was happy to get justice. The society was satisfied because the verdict provided a catharsis of sorts. Women organisations that had lent their voice to Mukhtaran Mai’s protest too felt elated. The Supreme Court will hear the case de novo. The second case is that of a 25-year-old Indian woman, Imrana, who was raped by her father-in-law. The village council, behaving as outlandishly as the one in Pakistan, wanted Imrana to marry the rapist, her father-in-law. She refused to accept the decision and wanted to live with her husband. The country was so appalled by the incident that it demanded severe punishment for the father-in-law who was arrested and put on trial. Things got more complicated when the ulemas of the Darul Uloom Deoband in India jumped into the fray and issued a fatwa that according to the Shariat a woman had become “haram” (unfit) for her husband because of her rape by his relative, her father-in-law, in this case. Therefore, she could not live with her husband. The All India Personal Law Board endorsed the fatwa, but the Muslim Women Personal Law Board rejected it. Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav of Uttar Pradesh, the state in which the rape took place, was the first politician to support the ulemas’ opinion. The BJP tried to communalise the issue. The Congress did not say anything because it was averse to displeasing any side. The Leftists took the father-in-law to task and demanded the law to take its own course. The Imrana case attracted so much attention that it became a point of debate all over the country, particularly in the North. There was hardly any newspaper, TV or radio network which did not cover the story at length. Women activists raised their voice in favour of Imrana and staged a demonstration at Muzaffarnagar where the rape had taken place. The government-appointed National Commission for Women was timid in its approach and talked about compensation and rehabilitation. Imrana, on the other hand, accepted the fatwa but said at the same time that she wanted to live with her husband. He too first accepted her but then went silent. The Indian law came into operation belatedly. The father-in-law was sent to jail. There is a sense of horror although all agree that there were hundreds of Imrana in both communities, Hindu and Muslim. The consensus is that Imrana and her husband should be allowed to live together if this was what they wanted. But the ulemas have played another card. They have announced that after visiting Muzaffarnagar that there was no incident of rape. According to them, the whole thing was only a hullabaloo. None has been taken in by the ulemas’ finding. Still the manner in which Imrana’s rape has been discussed by the Indian society raises a fundamental question: did the nation stay firm on the path of secularism when it was in the midst of discussing Imrana? One common feeling among the Hindus is that the practices followed by Muslims in divorce and marriage have not modernised with the passage of time. A common civil code is considered a way by most non-Muslims. By all means there should be a common civil code. But the code cannot be a Hindu civil code. It will have to have the support of all communities — the Muslims, the Sikhs and the Christians. It also cannot come into conflict with the Constitution which gives sanctity to the Muslim Personal Law. Imrana and Mukhtaran Mai are the victims of male chauvinism in both India and Pakistan. Woman is still treated as a commodity for trade or treated in the manner men decide. Reservations for women, as demanded in India, may mitigate the evil partly. The basic point is respect. Men in the subcontinent refuse to treat women as equal. In the Hindu religion, Manu, a religious thinker, advocated an inferior status for women. If male chauvinism subsides, there may be realisation that women should be accorded the same regard and dignity that the men enjoy. Until this change comes about there will be victims like Imranas and Mukhtaran Mais. They will continue to groan under the burden of inequality, aggressiveness and violence. Rape is only a symptom. The disease is man’s complex of superiority.
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Is Pakistani cinema dying? Pakistan’s
once thriving movie industry appears to be dying a slow death. The number of movies produced has fallen from a high of 111 in 1977 to 50 in 2004; studios have dwindled from 11 in the 1970s to just three; and the total number of cinema theatres in the country today is just about 300. From lack of ideas to Bollywood, from viewer disinterest to religious intolerance, virtually everything is being blamed for the sorry state of affairs in Lahore, the industry capital. “It is pathetic,” says Aijaz Gul, a film critic attached to the Pakistani chapter of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Films, talking about the fall of Pakistani cinema. The highest paid star in Pakistan commands a price of one million rupees, and most movies - in Punjabi, Urdu or Pushto - get made for under Rs.7 million. This is nothing in comparison to Bollywood. Some good films are still made. Shootings still take place abroad - in Malaysia, Scotland and Spain. But the movies are still flopping. Yet there was a time when Lahore dared to think it would be like Bollywood - some day. Today, after battling one crisis after another, things have reached a flash point. Experts say script writing has reduced to re-writing the lines of Indian moves, cost of production has soared beyond recovery levels, the industry is not attracting talent, and it has not been able to widen its technical, investment, artistic and professional base. In defiance of all principles of planning, many scripts are penned on the sets even while shooting is on. This makes movies financial unviable. “What is wrong with our film industry?” asked an anguished Sajjad Haider Malik some time ago. “The answer is: everything.” Another industry insider is more candid: “Pakistan’s cinema has hardly ever been out of crisis. Its ability to survive has been perceived to have declined with the passage of every year.” Indian films and their easy availability on cable TV have contributed to its choking. Bollywood productions command a huge following across Pakistan, and Indian stars have millions and millions of fans. Taxi driver Faisal, an admirer of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, was contemptuous of the local films. “I never watch them, they are totally hopeless,” Faisal told IANS. “I can tell you nobody watches these movies.” That may be an exaggeration, but Indian film music is a must for Pakistani marriages. Restaurants play Hindi film songs. And there is a huge demand for them. Said Karachi resident Yousuf Ibnul Hasan: “Indian movies are seen in Pakistan even before they are released in India! They are smuggled to Pakistan. Everyone loves them.” Pakistan’s ministry of culture reiterated Thursday that it had no plans of allowing Pakistani cinema halls to screen Indian movies - until the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is resolved. But the situation, said Gul, is now beyond redemption. “We keep telling the government: what is the use of banning Indian movies? Everyone watches them any way, everyone likes them any way, and they are easily available. “In any case, has the ban helped Pakistani films? It has not. So it will be better for the government to allow Indian movies to come in legally and earn tax on it,” said Gul. —
Indo-Asian News Service |
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Clone-generated milk, meat may be cleared The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to rule soon that milk from cloned animals and meat from their offspring are safe to eat, raising the question of whether Americans are ready to welcome one of modern biology’s most controversial achievements to the dinner table. Hundreds of cloned pigs, cows and other animals are already living on farms around the country, as companies and livestock producers experiment and await a decision from the FDA. The agricultural industry has observed a voluntary FDA moratorium on using the products of clones, but it has recently become clear that a few offspring of cloned pigs and cows are already trickling into the food supply. Many in agriculture believe such genetic copies are the next logical step in improving the nation’s livestock. Consumer groups counter that many Americans are likely to be revolted by the idea of serving clone milk to their children or tossing meat from the progeny of clones onto the backyard grill. This ``yuck factor,’’ as it’s often called, has come to light repeatedly in public-opinion surveys. Asked earlier this year in a poll by the International Food Information Council whether they’d willingly buy meat, milk and eggs that come from clones if the FDA declared them to be safe, 63 percent of consumers said no. Yet mounting scientific evidence suggests there is little cause for alarm, at least on food-safety grounds. Studies have shown that meat and milk from clones can’t be distinguished from that of normal animals, although work is not complete and researchers say that clones do suffer subtle genetic abnormalities. While milk from clones might reach grocery shelves, clones themselves are not likely to be eaten, since they cost thousands of dollars apiece to produce. They’d be used as breeding stock, so the real question is whether their sexually produced offspring would be safe. The FDA has been promising a policy for three years, but hasn’t produced a final version, and some biotechnology companies involved in cloning have run out of cash while waiting. Weary livestock producers have dubbed the FDA the ``Foot Dragging Administration.’’ When the birth of Dolly the sheep was announced in 1997, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, American farmers and ranchers were as shocked as everyone. But by now, thousands of farm families have seen clones at agricultural fairs and grown comfortable with the idea. The producers of prime pigs and cattle shown in contests at those fairs have been among the first to embrace cloning. Show animals represent only a small portion of the food supply, but the finest are sometimes used as breeding stock to upgrade food herds. Companies have been selling clones to some show-animal producers for years, practicing their cloning techniques for the day when they can put them to use in the far larger market for food animals. While the number of clones on farms is low now, Fisher predicted that as soon as the FDA opened the door, producers would embrace the technique. ``Within 18 to 20 months after that, there will be hundreds of thousands of clones growing’’ on American farms, he said. — LA Times Washington Post |
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From the pages of Cornering of wheat
We are told that Mr James Patten has been dealing on enormous lines in wheat at New York in the last few days and is winding up his gigantic operations so successfully that he is now regarded as a more astute “Wheat King” than any of the famous aspirants to that title and to great wealth since the days of old Hutchinson 15 to 20 years ago. He cleared in profits £ 4,00,000 in three days on the sales effected by him. His object is to get into his possession as much wheat as he possibly can and than to be in a position to regulate prices all the world over, Russia and Canada are two other countries in the world which grow immense quantities of wheat. So far as India is concerned there is every indication that the export trade in wheat will be very brisk this year, although it cannot be denied that Mr Patten’s operations must affect Indian prices to some extent. No matter what may be the prevalent prices, Great Britain must import wheat from India, America, Canada and Russia. |
A Hindu believes that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, spiritual knowledge, and liberation from the cycle of rebirth, is attained. Not a single soul will be eternally deprived of this destiny. — Book of quotations on Hinduism There are many who feel that people are different because their values differ from each other. It is not the values but their natures that are responsible for differences in behaviour. Their nature make them look on the world differently.
— The Mahabharata Hindus and Muslims fight in the name of Ram and Rahim to self-destruction. Neither of them understands the fact that the Almighty is one.
— Kabir |
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