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Aapki
Amrita A challenge for
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Sugarcane price
hike Growers need more The Punjab Government’s decision to raise the minimum support price of sugarcane by Rs 15 to Rs 115 a quintal is a step in the right direction. If would, however, not be able to coax farmers to bring more area under the crop.
A difficult
neighbour
A miser’s
priorities
Iran may try to
spoil Indo-US nuclear party Ugly dowry
tradition persists Corruption probe
clears Canada PM
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A challenge for Azad THE bomb blast in Srinagar in which 10 people were killed on Wednesday is a grim reminder of the challenge facing the new Chief Minister. It happened hours before Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad was sworn in. Had they succeeded in driving the bomb-laden car to the targeted area, it could have caused an unimaginable tragedy. The attack and its timing could not have surprised those in charge of security. After all, there has, of late, been a series of terrorist attacks in the state, including the killing of a minister, to suggest that the terrorists are on the prowl targeting political leaders of different shades of opinion. It would not be a surprise if, in the end, the recent Delhi blasts also prove to be the handiwork of the same sinister forces demanding secession. With the Congress returning to power, it has been deprived of the advantage of having a buffer in Srinagar. Until now it could deflect criticism of its handling of the situation in the state by pointing the finger at Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. While beefing up security in the state without compromising the need to provide timely relief to the quake-hit will be his first priority, the new Chief Minister faces many a difficult task. The People’s Democratic Party has not taken kindly to the eagerness shown by the Congress to come to power. It did not choose the option of having the Mufti’s daughter and architect of the PDP victory, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, as Deputy Chief Minister. Whatever his failings, the Mufti was successful in safeguarding the Congress-PDP alliance from fissiparous elements. This is not an easy task, as Mr Azad will soon realise. Many people in the Valley would have difficulty to reconcile themselves to the fact that Mr Azad is from the Jammu region. That he has never won an election in the state can be another minus point his critics can point out. On his part, he cannot be oblivious to the demand for greater representation to the Jammu region in the State Assembly. His decision to reduce the size of the ministry is unlikely to find favour with his own party MLAs. Unlike his predecessor, who did not have to bother much about elections, the need to win the next elections will be constantly on his mind as he takes all decisions. For Mr Azad, it is really a challenging situation. |
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Sugarcane price hike The
Punjab Government’s decision to raise the minimum support price of sugarcane by Rs 15 to Rs 115 a quintal is a step in the right direction. If would, however, not be able to coax farmers to bring more area under the crop. Due to the short supply of sugarcane, private sugar mills in the state were forced to buy sugarcane at Rs 140 last year and yet they could make profit. The cooperative sugar mills, on the other hand, did not offer beyond the fixed price of Rs 100 a quintal. As a result, they procured less and operated much below their crushing capacity, suffering losses in the process. Because of mismanagement the cooperative mills face heavy losses and even closure. Three years ago sugarcane growers in Punjab had to destroy their standing crop for want of adequate returns. Not only the MSP is inadequate, payments are also inordinately delayed. In March this year the Punjab Cooperation Minister admitted that the mills owed Rs 58 crore arrears to sugarcane suppliers. Apart from the shrinking area under sugarcane, other reasons warranted a hike in the MSP. For the past five years the sugarcane MSP had remained unchanged despite a steep rise in the prices of agricultural inputs. Haryana already paid a higher price of Rs 117 a quintal and UP too paid Rs 113. Punjab has now corrected the imbalance. To bolster crop diversification, sugarcane holds tremendous potential and needs encouragement. Sugarcane byproducts can be used to generate power. Molasses has been fetching a good price of late. Another byproduct, ethanol, is mixed with petrol in many countries to save on oil costs and reduce the discharge of effluents. In this country the process is yet to pick up. Sugarcane byproducts here are mostly allowed to go waste. The cooperative mills need to be either revived or privatised without any further delay. Otherwise the rising sugar prices would make imports an easier option. |
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Necessity never made a good bargain. — Benjamin Franklin |
A difficult neighbour Lieut-Gen
Jagjit Singh Aurora will be long remembered for leading the Indian Army’s liberation of Bangladesh from the tyranny and oppression of occupying Punjabi Pakistani forces. General Aurora ensured that his soldiers behaved in an exemplary manner when they were in Bangladesh. The Indian Army was withdrawn from Bangladesh barely three months after its liberation. When the General died earlier this year thousands in Bangladesh mourned his death and fondly remembered the soft spoken Sikh commander. A large number of prominent Bangladeshis signed the Condolence Book opened by Indian High Commissioner Veena Sikri. Significantly, there was no message of condolence to General Aurora’s family or the Government and people of India from Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who had, a decade ago, expressed her grief and sent a message of condolence when Pakistan’s former Army Chief Gen Asif Nawaz Janjua died suddenly and somewhat mysteriously. Begum Khaleda’s silence at the demise of General Aurora reflects the amnesia that afflicts the ruling establishment of her Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and its allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami today. A number of people in Bangladesh are understandably envious and anxious of India ‘s size and potential. They also recognise India’s role in their liberation. The ruling elite, like its counterparts in Pakistan, however, has mutually reinforcing links with Jihadi and fundamentalist outfits. It believes that a policy of measured hostility towards India serves its political and strategic interests. It is this mindset that leads to Bangladesh refusing to exploit its gas resources to be sold to India even for sound economic reasons. It is also for this reason that Bangladesh fights shy of taking logical economic decisions to implement the agreement signed with the Tata Group providing for Indian investment of $ 2.6 billion in the 1000 MW power plant, a steel mill and a fertilizer unit based principally on gas, including recent discoveries at Phubari. There is constant whining about the Bangladesh trade deficit with India, when no such complaints are heard about a similar trade deficit with China. Begum Khaleda’s allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami are compulsive India-baiters, who sided with Pakistani occupation forces in 1971. The ruling establishment’s anti-Indian inclinations are evident from actions like its refusal to join the Asian Highway project because of the belief that the trans-Asian Highway will link India’s northeastern states with the rest of the country. Functionaries of the ruling dispensation have made no secret of their interest in establishing an Islamic emirate in the Muslim-majority districts of Assam. New Delhi also has hard intelligence information that Bangladesh has a deliberate policy of facilitating illegal immigration into India, constituting a creeping demographic invasion and takeover of Indian territories bordering Bangladesh. Like the ISI in Pakistan, the ruling dispensation in Bangladesh has encouraged Wahabi-oriented and Saudi Arabia-funded groups like the Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB) that swears allegiance to the Taliban. At least three BNP ministers - Mr Aminul Haq, Mr Fazlur Rahman Patal and Mr Ruhul Kuddus Dulu - are reportedly patrons of the JMJB. The Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, (HUJI) is a founding member of Osama bin Laden’s International Islamic Front for “Jihad against Jews and Crusaders”. The HUJI collaborates with the ISI and the Bangladesh intelligence network in training ULFA cadres in the Chitagong hill tracts. It also promotes Rohingya Muslim separatism in Arakan province of Myanmar. Despite crude attempts by Bangladesh to shift the blame to India for the bomb blasts of August 17, JMJB functionaries have been arrested for their involvement in the bomb blasts. General Musharraf aids terrorist groups like the Jaish-e-Mohamed and then finds that they are attempting to assassinate him because of his close ties with the US. Begum Khaleda faces a similar predicament in Bangladesh. Western aid donors voiced their concern about the growth of religious extremism and political violence in Bangladesh at a World Bank meeting earlier this year. Referring to recent arms seizures in Bangladesh , Admiral William J Fallon of the US Pacific Command remarked: “There were some arms shipments that were not going to the Army or to any group that is up to do good… We know there are people (in Bangladesh) who preach radicalism, who use religion for their own ends.” Facing growing isolation, Begum Khaleda rushed off to China on August 17. China has agreed to provide Bangladesh with over a dozen fighter aircraft. Aiding isolated regimes in South Asia to “contain” India is an integral part of Chinese strategic thinking. The challenges posed by the support to terrorism, separatism and creeping demographic invasion by Bangladesh have to be addressed firmly within India. While we should enhance cooperation with Bangladesh in areas like promoting interaction at the people’s level and removing protectionist trade barriers, the overall approach should be one of carrot and stick. The growing presence of Islamic terrorist groups in Myanmar necessitates much closer cooperation with Yangon to finalise a coordinated strategy to deal with insurgencies and separatist movements. Home Secretary Vinod Duggal has recently visited Yangon and Gen J.J. Singh is set to do likewise. Islamic groups in Bangladesh have links with extremists in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. India’s counter-terrorism dialogue with ASEAN and its individual members has to be strengthened so that Bangladesh realises that it will have to mend its ways. The pressure on Dhaka must be reinforced in regional forums and in Washington. If Bangladesh insists on pursuing its demands for “compensation” in negotiations for a free trade area in SAARC, we can conclude a free trade agreement within BIMSTEC that includes Myanmar and Thailand, but excludes Bangladesh . Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar appears to have reluctantly given up his weird idea for a gas pipeline from Myanmar through Bangladesh - an idea that was strongly resented by Myanmar. The Chairman of GAIL Prashanto Banerji recently acknowledged: “Our past experience shows that we get into all kinds of trouble when we try to work through a third country.” The most serious challenge we face today from Bangladesh is its effort to promote a demographic invasion of India . West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, who takes a statesman like view, recognises the dangers of such illegal immigration. Though Begum Khaleda acknowledged in 1992 that illegal immigration was a serious problem, the Bangladesh Government now pretends that the problem does not exist. Hard options have to be exercised on this issue. One way would be to place Bangladesh immigrants in camps and ask the UNHCR to arrange for their relief, return and rehabilitation. Mechanisms should also be sought to have enclaves in Bangladesh territory to move the illegal immigrants into. Hard options cannot, forever, be precluded, or
postponed.
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A miser’s priorities His
rag-to-riches story is really not known to anyone and he loses his rag if asked about it. Many say he minted money in real estate besides working in a central government office. Others think he may have won his wealth through gambling. But his lifestyle does not indicate anything other than that he works hard and is a miser to the core. He is not a regular smoker but does not mind if he is offered a cigarette. He does not drink but would enjoy a peg or two if invited to. He is otherwise a vegetarian but would not hesitate to ask his share from his neighbour if they cook any non-vegetarian delicacy. He sews his own kurta pyjama. He does not buy prescribed medicines but would ask a chemist to give him a cheaper alternative of the same. He does not mind walking a kilometre or two for buying vegetables at a cheaper price. He does not hire a mason if his house needs any repairs but will do it himself. He himself services and repairs his moped, and does a good job of it. He was a regular visitor to my house in Delhi and both of us enjoyed each other’s company. He always liked my hospitality for I always offered him a cup of tea followed by a cigarette. His narration of human interest stories always enthused me into listening to him intently. Once he heard me haggling with a person who had come to my house for fixing loose telephone wires. I was about to settle for Rs 300 when he interrupted me and offered his services without any labour cost. I didn’t want to bother my old retired friend but he shut me off by saying that I didn’t value money and was a compulsive spendthrift. I was all praise for him when he finished the job by the same evening. The material cost was Rs 75. The devastating earthquake in Bhuj on Republic Day of 2001 had left many dead and caused extensive loss of property. Imagine my surprise when my miser friend came to my house and expressed his interest in donating Rs 21,000 in the Relief Fund set up by the newspaper I was working with. He insisted that his name should not figure in the list of donors. My friend refused to accept my hospitality of a cup of tea followed by a cigarette that day. The next day, before I left for work, he was at my doorstep. True to his word, he had a cheque in hand. I opened it after reaching office. The amount read Rs 51,000. Though I have not asked him I am sure he must have shown the same generosity after the tsunami tragedy and the recent quake in
Kashmir. |
Iran may try to spoil Indo-US nuclear party Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hard-hitting stand recently at the United Nations General Assembly advocating joint international cooperation in the nuclear field within his country could act as a major irritant to the fast-developing Indo-US nuclear relations. This proposal running quite counter to the European and US policy that Iran should completely give up its uranium enrichment, failing which the country would have to answer to the UN Security Council, could well put India on a diplomatic defensive even though we did support an Iranian referral to the international body. Though India has not exactly teamed up with the US for confronting Iran for its suspected nuclear arming, being a friend of Iran for some time now, it can no longer afford to sit on the fence and has to decide one way or the other who its long-term ally will be, the former or the latter. If India wishes to further with any degree of certainty its peaceful nuclear energy cooperation schedule, recently given the nod by President Bush pending Congress approval, the time has come for us to take some hard decisions. The tough Iranian message on its nuclear options seems to have taken most UN observers by surprise. Ahmadinejad has lashed out at America and its friends, and said that Iran had, “every right to operate a nuclear programme for peaceful purposes”. He said that the US is practising “nuclear apartheid” and that his country will involve other nations and private and public sectors in its nuclear programme. The hardline conservative leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran minced no words when he declared that “our nation has the right to defend and obtain its own rights”, and that even the IAEA had found no evidence that his country was pursuing the weaponisation route. Now that Iran has shown its cards, the question is where does India go from here and can it perform a balancing act with the US even when its trusted friends like Russia have always cautioned Bush not to push too hard for a UN Security Council referral before exhausting all other diplomatic routes to get Iran back to the negotiating table? The US has told India in no uncertain terms that if it wishes to sit in with the big boys of the nuclear club, then it cannot pussy-foot around in confronting Iran over its suspected nuclear weapon programme. America and most others in Europe expect India to intervene more vigorously and stop Iran from producing nuclear weapons, a project they believe Iran has been engaged in now for quite some time. The US game plan is to pressurise Iran through economic and other sanctions imposed under the aegis of the UNSC, compelling it to accept certain safeguards under international supervision so that the weaponisation route is avoided. If this cannot be done, then it is very possible that like Iraq, an excuse will be found for an occupation of Iran at an appropriate time. Even though any hard option could be delayed for some time, there is no doubt that Iran’s hard sell will compel the US to adopt a tough stance towards any country not toeing its line on the Iran question, and this will also include India, the recent nuclear India-US bonding notwithstanding. The dangers ahead for India, if we do not play our cards well now, are only too evident. The first casuality could be in the American Congress itself, where the Manmohan-Bush deal could fall through without much effort with Bush fighting with his back to the wall on the domestic turf. The energy needs of India are far better met with a US cooperation than with a mirage of a link-up with Iran, and the anticipated gas and oil conduits that are expected to open up for us from that country. Iranian supplies can never make their way to India in viable economic terms as long as Pakistan does not cooperate fully and the US handle over Musharraf will prevail if it comes to lying down Iran strategically. With the US entrenched in Afghanistan, Iran will find itself surrounded by few friends and, therefore militarily there is little chance that India will ever gain much benefit from Iran under the present circumstances. India’s national interests dictate very clearly to befriend the US at this critical juncture and keep its own nuclear programme on the fast track. During the Cold War we took the wrong side and went along with the Soviet Union, but gained little from this step. The US, which had supported India in 1962 when we clashed with China, has gone exceptional in offering India a big nuclear leverage in the security and nuclear shield even without India having joined the NPT fold. India’s energy needs and its expanding economy boom in the coming years and not to forget the cutting-edge technology that would accrue, all dictate that India steers its diplomacy in the right direction at this critical juncture. We wasted a few decades in following a sterile policy of non-alignment, which got us no where and achieved few of our national objectives. With Iran now unlikely to forgo the nuclear route, a long term formidable China that India will always have to counter and compete with in Asian and global markets, and India poised for major advancement in the IT sector, it is time that we for once batted prudently. |
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Ugly dowry tradition persists Charanpreet
Kaur, 19, had been married less than nine months when her husband and his family decided it was time for her to go. Trapping her in the bathroom, her husband clamped his hand over her mouth while his father doused her with kerosene, according to a police document. The father then lit a match, setting his daughter-in-law on fire. She died five days later. India’s endless dowry wars had claimed another victim. Notwithstanding the gold jewelry, color television set and other finery that served as the price of admission to her husband’s middle-class Sikh household, Charanpreet’s new relations were not satisfied with the bounty and kept demanding more, according to Charanpreet’s relatives and the statement she gave investigators before she died. “Even before this incident my father-in-law used to put pressure on me to get more money,” said the statement by the young woman, who was three months pregnant. Unusual only because Charanpreet lived long enough to point a finger at her alleged attackers, who claimed the fire was accidental, the case underscores the deeply entrenched nature of dowry — and its grim corollary, the murder of young brides whose families fail to ante up — even in the face of rising levels of income and education linked to India’s fast-growing economy. In particular, the death of the young newlywed — a shy, deeply religious schoolteacher’s daughter whose husband had a college degree and worked in computer graphics — shows that the age-old practice endures even, and perhaps especially, among the educated urban middle-class. Despite laws barring dowry, and decades of protests and public awareness campaigns, a nationwide survey of 10,000 households by the All-India Democratic Women’s Association in 2002 found that the practice was no longer confined to the Hindu upper castes, where it originated, but had spread across a broad range of classes and communities, including Muslims and Christians. One consequence is the growing dearth of baby girls in India, where many middle-class parents, fearing the high costs of dowry, have taken to aborting female fetuses identified through ultrasound examinations. The skewed sex ratio is most pronounced in relatively prosperous areas such as New Delhi, the capital, where the 2001 census found 868 girls for every 1,000 boys under age six. The figure for India as a whole is 933 girls for every 1,000 boys. “I think it’s in a way very shocking that social relations are not changing in a fast-growing economy,” said Ranjana Kumari, the director of the Center for Social Research in New Delhi. “All this modernization, liberalization, globalization — all this modern economy — and the people are not changing. The mindset is so rigid.” There are some signs of progress. For example, the number of reported dowry killings has dipped slightly, from 6,851 in 2001 to 6,285 in 2003, the most recent year for which statistics are available. And two years ago, Indian news media made a heroine out of Nisha Sharma, a 21-year-old computer student who summoned police to her wedding when the groom’s family escalated their dowry demands at the last minute. Matrimonial ads placed by parents of prospective brides occasionally come with the caveat, “Dowry seekers need not apply.” — LA Times-Washington Post |
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Corruption probe clears Canada PM A report into a corruption scandal that almost toppled the Canadian government has exonerated the Prime Minister, Paul Martin, but said his predecessor, Jean Chretien, should be held responsible for misspending tens of millions of dollars. There was no evidence that Mr Chretien knew about kickbacks organised by a Quebec businessman involved in his programme to promote national unity in the French-speaking province, Justice John Gomery concluded. But he must bear political responsibility for the programme which he created. It allowed senior members of his Liberal Party to funnel millions of dollars into their Quebec coffers, Mr Gomery said. “The public trust — was subverted and betrayed, and Canadians were outraged, not only because public funds were wasted and misappropriated, but also because no one was held responsible for his misconduct,” Mr Gomery said. The scandal paralysed parliament for months earlier this year. Mr Martin survived a confidence motion by a single vote in May, after he pledged to dissolve the House of Commons and hold new elections after the final Gomery report was released. The second and final report, with recommendations, is due to be released in February. Mr Martin was “exonerated from any blame for carelessness or misconduct” in the report. The roots of the scandal go back 10 years when a federal advertising programme was set up to restore national unity after Quebec almost won its independence. The Liberal government’s response was to earmark C$100m (£48m) to soothe the angry separatist emotions that flared throughout the country. The campaign included hoisting the national red-and-white maple leaf flag throughout Quebec, among other things. There was only one problem: the companies that received the money did little or no work. It was the largest cash disappearing act the country had ever seen and it occurred on Jean Chretien’s watch. The Liberal Party has had a virtually hegemonic rule over the country since 1993, but news that millions of dollars had been diverted united opposition parties normally at war and cost the Liberal Party its majority rule. And when the auditor general Sheila Fraser joined the chorus of outrage, Mr Martin called in Mr Gomery to hold an inquiry. The confessional floodgates burst. In March, Jean Brault from the advertising firm Groupaction Marketing said he was coerced to make back-door donations in exchange for government contracts. He said he paid C$1.2m to Liberal supporters, who essentially did no work. When the judge accepted Mr Brault’s evidence as “credible”, the Conservative Party and Bloc Quebecois joined forces to try to topple the government. Mr Gomery called the scandal a “story of greed, venality and misconduct”. Mr Gomery said that Mr Chretien had ignored warnings and “must share the blame for the mismanagement that ensued”. Mr Chretien has in turn called into question Mr Gomery’s credibility. Mr Martin became involved in the scandal when, as finance minister, he pumped an extra $50m a year into the national unity reserve. but Mr Gomery concluded that Mr Martin was not responsible for keeping tabs on how funds were spent. — The Independent |
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From the pages of FATE OF INDIAN MUSIC
The West has taught the East many things but it has also prompted the East to forget some of its own things. The fine arts, specially music, are some of them. A moral setback threatens the existence of Indian music. Theatres, in the European sense, have sprung up where nothing but a mongreal music is to be heard. The deep and tender “raginis” are neglected and an expressionless, discordant music, sometimes an adaptation of some foreign melody is encouraged. It is often found that at the time of “arati” or vespers in Hindu temples and other religious ceremonies and marriages European brass bands play utterly discordant music. Thus our festive occasions lose half of their charm on account of being associated with foreign elements. People may think that this has no particular effect. It is this fallacious belief that has proved so detrimental to the advancement of music culture of India. The feeling of nationalism may not be paramount in India to-day, but it may be so to-morrow. Will music gain the true recognition it deserves in the process of nation-building? Or will it be buried deeper into the grave of oblivion from which neither voice nor echo may issue as Aurangzeb said? |
One who can give himself over completely to God, can transcend mortality during his own life time. He is the true sage. He is the self-realised one. There is nothing left for him to achieve. — The Bhagvad Gita Many of us begin with the intention of helping others. But then a little voice inside us asks, “What is in it for me?” All our desires for selfless deeds become contaminated with the need for personal gain. — Sanatana Dharma No action which is not voluntary can be called moral. So long as we act like machines there can be no question of morality.— Mahatma Gandhi And among the sings of God is your sleep by night and by day, and your seeking from the bounty of God. Surely in that is a sign for people who hear.
— Islam Vast-learning, perfect handicraft, a highly trained discipline and pleasant speech. This is the Supreme Blessing. — The Buddha The sacred books of the East are nothing but words. I’ve looked beyond their covers. If you have not lived through something, it is not true. — Kabir You must try all beliefs and traverse all the different ways once. — Ramakrishna |
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