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Tying the knot BJP is willing |
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Price fluctuations
Bihar Assembly
dissolution
Pain is the kernel
Naxalite menace in Bihar Americans unrelentingly cheerful Two immigrants, two standards
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Tying the knot TUESDAY’S Supreme Court order making registration of marriages compulsory will help regulate the institution of marriage. The court’s seriousness can be gauged by the fact that it has asked the Centre and the states to frame appropriate laws within three months after seeking the opinion of the public and due scrutiny by the court. The order came on a petition regarding a marriage dispute. Significantly, the court enlarged the scope of the petition and sought the views of the National Commission for Women The court accepted its submission that non-registration of marriages affected women the most and that there is need for a uniform law throughout the country in this regard. The proposal for compulsory registration has been hanging fire for the past 15 years. The order, when implemented, will help achieve many objectives. It will, among other things, help prevent child marriages, check bigamy and polygamy, enable married women to claim the right to live in the matrimonial houses, help widows to claim inheritance and deter men from deserting their wives. Today, there is no uniform law on the registration of marriages. As a result, most women are subject to untold mental torture, agony and hardship by their husbands. While Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh have provisions for compulsory registration of marriages, Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Meghalaya have laws for voluntary registration of Muslim marriages. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, empowers the state governments to make registration compulsory to facilitate documentary proof of marriage. However, the Act specifies that non-registration should not affect the validity of a marriage. The Supreme Court ruling rectifies this major loophole in the Act and provides a welcome relief for women. The court has directed that the new rules should clearly spell out the “consequences of non-registration”. Above all, the order will help courts save time to prove the authenticity of a marriage and spare a litigating spouse avoidable harassment. Several cases of bigamy have ended up in acquittal because it is binding on the wife to prove that both the marriages are valid.
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BJP is willing THE initial indications were that the BJP would not go along with the UPA government’s stand on Iran. But quite the opposite has happened and it has all but endorsed the official line. The criticism of the government for allegedly permitting itself to be hustled (by the US) is only aimed at ensuring that it is not accused of toeing the government line lock, stock and barrel. Apparently, this change of heart has come about after a tough stand taken by the RSS, which does not want another nuclear neighbour. Motives may not be strictly straight, but still the BJP line is now in consonance with the national interest. Indeed, there is no rational section in India which wants Iran, which has been quite irresponsible in its international dealings, to go nuclear. The way it has flouted various commitments has forced even Russia and China to turn their back on it. Under the circumstances, it is entirely wrong to project any vote against Iran as being against any community. As we mentioned in these columns yesterday, this only exposes the narrow-mindedness of some politicians. This endorsement of the government stand by the BJP may not go down well with a few in the saffron party but such matters need to be kept above vote politics. The tradition in India — as in most other responsible democracies — has been to test everything on the touchstone of national interests. Since the soundness of the decision stands confirmed, there is no reason why it should be opposed only for the sake of opposing. Perhaps some BJP men are apprehensive because of the tendency of the Left to occupy the Opposition space, despite propping the government. Indeed, the sharpest criticism of the government policies has been coming from the communists. But that does not mean that the BJP should emulate them. Rather, the Leftists are themselves getting cornered because of the overdose of protests. The BJP can take heart that there are many other issues available for it to turn the heat on the government, Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla and his infamous Trusts, for instance, to cite just one.
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Price fluctuations IT may seem a bit odd for a chief minister, who has been vigorously working for crop diversification, that is, a shift from the wheat-paddy cycle, to plead for a higher minimum support price for wheat. But that is what Capt Amarinder Singh did during his meeting with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in Delhi on Tuesday when he demanded that the MSP of wheat be raised to Rs 700 from the present Rs 650 a quintal. The year-after-year rise in the MSPs of wheat and paddy had led to a glut in recent years. Subsequent Central mismanagement has depleted the stocks, resulting in a sharp rise in the wheat prices, particularly in the southern states. Now the whole policy advocating a shift from wheat may have to be reworked. It is excessive paddy cultivation that has actually harmed the farmers’ interests. The farmers do need protection. They have got a raw deal in the recent market fluctuations. Despite a bumper crop, cotton has not fetched the expected price. The onion growers are now shedding tears as the prices have slumped. The wheat producers feel cheated, having sold the commodity at below-market prices. Now by the time they bring the produce to the market, imported wheat will arrive, leading to a possible crash in prices. Their demand for an increase in the MSP of wheat is, therefore, justified. Besides, input costs have risen. Diesel alone has become costlier by 30 per cent. In this context, the chief minister’s suggestion to the Centre to set up a price stabilisation fund merits consideration. The state can intervene whenever the prices fall. It is common knowledge that the traders manipulate prices in connivance with the officials of procurement agencies when farmers bring their produce to the mandis. As a result, the middlemen make more profits than the growers. So it makes sense to strengthen the marketing mechanism to protect the farmers’ interests. The farmers too will have to make efforts. They can, for instance, form cooperatives and store their produce for deferred disposal.
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Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. — Les Brown
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Bihar Assembly dissolution NOW
when the dust has settled and passions have subsidised, it is time to
make a critical analysis of the Supreme Court judgement which led to
the exit of Mr Buta Singh as Governor of Bihar. It is based on the
assumption that Mr Buta Singh had sent a report to the President under
Article 356 of the Constitution in which he had recommended
dissolution of the assembly. This assumption is constitutionally not sustainable. He did not send any such report for the simple reason that after the promulgation of President rule in Bihar in March 2005 his power to send any report or to make any recommendation under Article 356 of the Constitution stood extinguished. On March 7, 2005, the President issued the proclamation on consideration of the report submitted by the Governor under Article 356 of the Constitution in which he had stated, “I explored all possibilities and from the facts stated above, I am fully satisfied that no political party or coalition of parties or groups is able to substantiate a claim of majority in the Legislative Assembly.....” The President declared inter-alia in the proclamation as follows: “I hereby proclaim that I “(a) assume to myself as President of India all functions of the Government of the State and all powers vested in or exercisable by the “(I) in the exercise of the functions and powers assumed to myself by virtue of Clause (a) of this proclamation as aforesaid it shall be lawful for me as President of India to act to such extent as I think fit through the Governor of the said State; “(ii) the operation of the following provisions of the Constitution in relation to that State is hereby suspended: Articles 163 and 164; Clause (1) and Sub-Clause (a) of Clause (2) of Article 174.” As a result of this proclamation all powers of the Governor stood transferred to and became vested in the President of India. Consequently, power of the Governor to submit any report to the President or make any recommendation under Article 356 of the Constitution ceased to exit. Nor could the President assume such power. The President obviously could not make any report or recommendation to himself. The Governor derives his power to invite any person to form the government from Article 164 which provides that “The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor”. Since the person who is appointed as Chief Minister is obliged to demonstrate the support of majority on the floor of the Assembly, it is essential that the Governor should have the power to summon the Assembly when it is not in session. Article 174(1) vests such power in the Governor in that it provides: “The Governor shall from time to time summon the House or each House of the legislature of the state at such time and place as he thinks fit.” Both Articles, namely Article 164 and 174(1), were suspended. Therefore, the Governor ceased to have any constitutional power or authority to invite any person or appoint him as Chief Minister of Bihar. This power was not transferred even to the President of India. However, Article 174(2)(b) was not suspended. This Article conferred power on the Governor to “dissolve the Legislative Assembly”. The power to dissolve the Legislative Assembly stood transferred to the President of India. The proclamation was approved by Parliament Under Article 356(4) the proclamation was to remain in force for six months from the date of the issue “unless revoked”. It should, therefore, be clearly understood that no person could be invited to form the government or appointed as the Chief Minister before the expiry of six months unless the proclamation was evoked and suspension of Articles 164 and 174(2) (b) of the Constitution was annulled Mr Buta Singh was left with no power to send any report to the President of India under Article 356 of the Constitution. It was, however, his duty in the discharge of the functions assumed by the President to keep him informed about the events and developments in the state. Therefore, he sent a communication to the President of India on April 27, 2005, in which he stated that various reports “indicate a trend to gain over elected representatives of the people and various elements within the party and also outside the party being approached through various allurements like money, castes, posts etc, which is disturbing feature.” He expressed the view that “if the trend is not arrested immediately the consequent political instability will further give rise to horse-trading being practiced by various political parties/groups trying to allure elected MLAs. Consequently, it may not be possible to contain the situation without giving the people another opportunity to give their mandate a fresh poll.” When this letter was written, on April 27, 2005, no political party or alliance of political parties was able to command majority. He spared no party from the possibility of indulging in horse-trading. However, the Centre took no steps. On May 21, 2005, the Governor sent another letter to the President. This was in furtherance of his earlier letter of April 27 to which he invited a “reference”. Once again it may be emphasised that it was neither a report nor a recommendation as envisaged by Article 356. It was a communication sent by him in the discharge of his administrative duty to the President to apprise him of the latest political situation in Bihar. In his letter he confirmed that what he had apprehended in his letter of April 27 had come to pass. On May 22, 2005, the Central Government swung into action. The haste with which those in the Central Government who had been entrusted with the task of handling the affairs of Bihar acted was not called for. So long as Articles 164 and 174(2) (b) ramained in suspension, no one could be appointed the Chief Minister. Therefore, any combination of political parties claiming to have secured majority had to approach the President of India and request him to revoke the proclamation so that the constitutional way was cleared for their leader to be appointed the Chief Minister
by the Governor. It was the constitutional prerogative of the President to decline to revoke the proclamation if he was of the opinion that the majority had been secured by unconstitutional or undemocratic means, by bribery, corruption or other allurements or was of such a nature that it could not provide a stable government. There is no provision in the Constitution which obliged the President to hold an enquiry in receiving any information from the Governor he was being misled or not before he took it into consideration. The Supreme Court has no power to interfere with the prerogative of the President to revoke or not to revoke the proclamation which has been validity made and approve by Parliament. It is, therefore, beyond comprehension how the majority judgement could possibly hold that the dissolution of the Assembly
was unconstitutional. After having declined to revoke the proclamation, it was still open to the President to dissolve the Asssembly on the ground that it was in the interest of the people to hasten the restoration of the democratic process and provide another opportunity to them to elect the Assembly afresh for political stability. Therefore, to blame Mr Buta Singh, as majority judgement of the Supreme Court has done, for having sent a report to the President and recommended dissolution of the Assembly under Article 356 of the Constitution is constitutionally unsustainable and factually incorrect. The writer, a barrister-at-law, is a former Member of Parliament.
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Pain is the kernel Nothing loved is ever truly lost, and pain is a small price to pay for memories. IT figures. How can anyone lose whom he or she has loved and cherished? “Love” is a feeling that colours our memories of the misty black and white past. How can one lose the colours of thoughts and memories? The colour of love, alive in the colour of the once-worn dupatta that Mom gave me to wear when she had not even worn it once herself. When the colour of that memory still tugs vividly at my heart, how can Mom be gone? The colour of love, when she got up to give me medicine because I had raging fever, when she could barely walk up to my bed herself. How can Mom be gone when a cured me sits here on computer, the colours of memories flooding the landscape of my living mind? The rainbow colours of love that danced and twinkled in every bite of the food she cooked for us — as babies, as infants, as adolescents, teenagers, as school children as office-goers — could any number of buckets of tears wash that love away? My hand is still warm from the first time I stood up and Mom took my little hand in hers — and it was always there. How could that hand be gone, when the warmth of her love still pulsates in every pore of my being? The songs that we shared together, still reverberate in her room where the music sits. So why do I shut my ears, because it hurts too much? Every shared song, every shared word — the love she had for us, her children, the love we had for her — Our Mom and Our Friend. Is not pain the kernel, and love only the
husk?
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Naxalite menace in Bihar WITH the new dispensation in Bihar completing three months in office on February 23, it has finally worked out a roadmap to contain the growing Naxalite menace in the state. The new roadmap reportedly envisages a two-pronged strategy to combat the Maoists by initiating developmental activities in the Naxal-affected districts on the one hand, and by stepping up security measures in the areas adjacent to Jharkhand, UP and Nepal on the other. The roadmap is also in favour of improving the intelligence network of the police and ensuring better coordination between the police and paramilitary forces deployed in the Naxalite-affected districts. Mr Nitish Kumar views the activities of Maoists as a serious threat to internal security. This is primarily because of the cross-border implications of the problem. During an interaction with the top brass of the police, he was reportedly briefed about the close liaison between Indian Maoists and that of Nepal in the backdrop of the 700 km common border between Bihar and Nepal. On his part Mr Nitish Kumar says that he considers the problem of Maoists not only as a security issue, but as a political problem too as the Maoists are capitalising on the grievances of the common people at the grassroots level. Lack of development has deprived them of even the basic minimum needs of life. This has prompted Mr Nitish Kumar to launch the “government at doorstep programme “ to bridge the gap between the administration and the common people and make the “justice delivery system” more effective. The programme was launched with a special focus on resolving land related disputes at the local level as far as possible which he considered as one of the root causes of the Naxalite menace. But, ironically, the proactive developmental approach of Mr Nitish Kumar to counter the growing Naxalite menace in the state is reportedly facing obstacles from the prevailing red tapism and absence of a proper “delivery mechanism”. Sources disclosed that out of 74 Maoists who had surrenderd in the past three years only 18 have been rehabilitated so far, thanks to the red tape, which has marred the rehabilitation packages for the Maoists announced by the Centre and the state to bring them back to the mainstream and subsequently isolate the ultras from the common people. It was also learnt that the erstwhile RJD government had in 2001 announced a rehabilitation package of Rs 4.62 crore for the Maoists.But in reality the amount did not percolate down to benefit the surrendered Maoists. A senior official said that going by the package, after a Maoist surrendered before the government, he or she was supposed to get Rs 3,000 per month till the district administration provided the Maoist with suitable means of livelihood or provide land worth Rs 2 Lakh so that he could earn a living. The proposed Rs 2 lakh package was supposed to be cleared by the DMs, SPs or other official concerned, following which Rs 3,000 per month stood automatically cancelled. There has been inordinate delay on the part of the respective district administrations in implementing the proposed package, thus making the surrendered Maoists even doubtful about the intention of the government. Sources admit that such lackadaisical attitude on part of the bureaucracy even helped the ultras to misguide people by imparting a sense of mistrust in their minds about the intention of the government to address the problem of underdevelopment. Going by official estimates, over 80 per cent villages in Bihar till date neither have electricity, nor roads. The majority of villages are also deprived of primary health facilities and preliminary education. The issue reportedly figured at the recent review meeting held on the Maoists problem and attended by Chief Ministers of several states in Delhi where the Union Home Ministry stressed the need to expedite the process of rehabilitation of surrendered Naxalites and development works in the areas through a “proper delivery mechanism”. For Bihar the Naxalite problem has assumed menacing proportions with 30 out of 38 districts affected by it. The adjacent Jharkhand has also been hit. Against this backdrop, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi launched a state focus paper for 2006-07 with the “stress on micro credit for poverty alleviation” at a seminar recently. The state focus paper prepared by the National Agricultural Bank for Rural Development (NABARD), has emphasised on the importance of micro-credit in poverty alleviation as well as promotion of micro-credits through self-help groups. It also stresses on the need for broad-basing the investment credit portfolio in the agriculture component of the rural financial institutions. The paper has projected a potential credit flow of Rs 6,043 crore for 2006-07. Of this Rs 4,671 crore has been earmarked for agriculture, Rs 866 crore for rural non-farms and Rs 1,406 crore for other priority sectors.
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Americans unrelentingly cheerful
A big new survey on happiness, among other findings, states that married Americans are more blissful than the unmarried by a ratio of almost 2 to 1. “All these people talking themselves into being happy about marriage—it’s mass delusion,” divorce attorney Raoul Felder says with the certainty of a man who has become rich working the marital exit door. Not that Felder fancies himself a sour lemon. “People who get divorced are very hopeful,” he says. “They want to get happier.” So it goes with happiness, which in a new Pew Research Center report—“Are We Happy Yet?”—appears to be a smiley-face American birthright. Eighty-four percent of Americans describe themselves as either “pretty happy” or “very happy.” They’ve been relentlessly cheery for decades. The Pew report, released this week, comes with a chart known as the “Happiness Trend Line,” which reveals barely a ripple since 1972. (For careful students of the inexplicable, the percentage of “very happy” Americans seems to peak slightly in the mid-1970s, which coincided with a presidential impeachment, the fall of Saigon, a fuel crisis and a deep recession). The polling data slice and dice the happy and the not very, and why they are and where they live and how much they make. So we find, aphorisms aside, that Americans are convinced that more money makes for more happiness. “Reported happiness rises in a nearly straight line through eight levels of annual family income,’’ Pew reports. A gilded euphoria sets in above $150,000, as fully 50 percent of respondents insist they are oh-so- “very happy.” Does that trendline continue to arc upward? Are billionaires a gigglier group than mere millionaires? More data are needed. “It’s fine to say happiness is a state of mind,” says Mitchell Moss, a New York University professor who studies his city’s upper classes with an anthropologist’s eye. “But it’s a lot easier to have that state of mind if it’s accompanied by big income.” What else? Dog and cat owners are equally happy, but no more so than the petless. Republicans and churchgoers have more pep in the step than Democrats and those who prefer to sleep late on Sunday. White evangelical Protestants report they are happiest: 43 percent say they are very happy. Thirty-eight percent of churchgoing Catholics report being “very happy.” Thirty-six percent of whites and 34 percent of Hispanics report they are very happy. Both groups report being happier in greater numbers than do African Americans, of whom 28 percent report being very happy. Geography plays a role. City folks and sweater-clad Northerners are grumpier than Sunbelters, who are happy except perhaps during hurricane season. But one might ask: What is happiness anyway? And can we believe all these grinning people? “Not too many people want to admit to a pollster that they are unhappy and failures,” said Darrin McMahon, a professor at Florida State University who has written a book on the subject, “Happiness: A History.” The mechanics of happiness is not entirely clear. Perhaps the prescription desk of the local pharmacy is of assistance. But most speculation centers on Darwinian imperatives. For early man to roam the veldt in pursuit of mastodons and saber-toothed tigers required a certain wacky optimism.
— LA Times-Washington Post
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Two immigrants, two standards WE recently learned that U.S. immigration policy is, in fact, capable of fast action and flexibility. It just depends on who the immigrant is. In December Congress speedily passed special immigration legislation to benefit just one person: an ice dancer. As a Canadian, she couldn’t join the 2006 U.S. Olympics team. But a law was written that lasted exactly two days, long enough for her to be fast-tracked for citizenship and sent to compete for the United States. Around the same time, we at the Safe Harbor Project at Brooklyn Law School received notice that the U.S. immigration system had denied entry to Teresa, a 14-year-old African girl who has been stranded as a refugee in Guinea almost all her life. She is trying to join her adoptive mother, Momara (no real names are used here, as is generally practiced with asylum), a refugee from Sierra Leone who was granted asylum in the United States. But in this girl’s case, there is no fast track, only the rigid application of a procedural rule. Teresa’s harrowing story began when she was born in the bush, where everyone from her town had fled to escape rampaging rebel forces threatening to kill them. Her birth mother died giving birth to her. Without a second thought, Momara scooped up the infant and from that moment on considered Teresa her own. She, Teresa and her other young children went to a refugee camp and remained there until the rebel forces struck again, robbing the refugees and stabbing Momara. The family made its way to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, but they were still not safe. Rebels beheaded Momara’s husband before their eyes, gang-raped and beat Momara, and stabbed her sons. Miraculously, they escaped and fled to Guinea. With our legal representation Momara received asylum in 2004. She now lives with her grown son in Queens. An uneducated woman with few personal belongings, she has great dignity and endless hope for her future in the United States. Yet her worries have not ended, because she has not yet been reunited with all her children. The law permits immediate relatives of refugees—spouses and biological and adopted children—to come to the United States. Momara’s three biological children were recently granted derivative asylum and await visas. But Teresa can qualify for a visa only with proof that she is adopted. The Department of Homeland Security denied her application because she does not have an “official adoption decree’’ from Sierra Leone. As Momara’s lawyers, we explained to the DHS that Sierra Leone was devastated by a 10-year civil war, which has orphaned many children. It is customary for other families to raise them, albeit without official papers—the country has no functioning government, much less a formalized adoption procedure. This flat denial shows an all-too-familiar inflexibility in the administration of U.S. immigration policy and frustrates one of its most fundamental stated goals: family unification. Our nation’s consensus, derived from international norms, is that innocent families, survivors of terrorism and brutality elsewhere in the world, be granted asylum here. Yet the DHS has chosen to bar a victimized, vulnerable girl for the flimsiest of reasons: lack of an unobtainable document. The machinery of Congress was geared up to make it possible for an ice dancer to bring Olympic glory to the United States. Why can’t it be set in motion for humanitarian cases such as that of Teresa and her mother? That would bring us a measure of glory, too.
— LA Times-Washington Post
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From the pages of Sir J.C. Bose’s confidence
Addressing
the students of the Nagpur University, Sir J.C. Bose said that given the necessary facilities India could make important contributions to science “by her special habits of mind and inherited gifts handed down from generation to generation.” This is profoundly true and Sir Jagdish can speak with some authority on the subject. With all their shortcomings Indians have wonderful powers of imagination, absorption and a passion for knowledge — qualities eminently fitted for the pursuit of science. Scientists like Sir Jagdish, Prof Raman, Dr Ray or Prof Saha, men of world repute, may be exceptional. But many a youth of fine promise has never had a decent chance of the full development he was capable of. Sir Jagdish himself pointed out that the extraordinarily sensitive instruments employed in his research had all of them been constructed by Indian mechanicians trained in the institute and observed that there was a large number of young men who could be trained in the most advanced methods of science.
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When instead of fighting, the warriors engage in a battle of words; the mighty smile. Angry words are a crowd’s weapon. The great warrior speaks his anger through his flamming arrows. — The Mahabharata Better than the Brahmin is a donkey who serves man, a dog is better than a low caste as it guards the house, a cock is better than a Mullah who wakes up a man from his sleep. — Kabir A well directed mind is the greatest friend that a man can have. Neither mother nor father nor any other relative can be of service to a man like the power of a well-directed to a man like the power of a well-directed mind that thinks clean thoughts and does not try to harm anyone. — The Buddha Eat and drink but be not prodigal. — Islam The love of God grows in the heart through selfless work. Then, through his grace, one realises him in course of time and God can be seen. One can talk to him as I am talking to you. — Ramakrishna
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