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BJP’s creed — Intolerance Welcome step |
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Right to clean air and water
India in US eyes
Essence of policing
Saving the girl child Internet solution to recycling problem Delhi Durbar
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BJP’s creed — Intolerance ONCE again Mr Madan Lal Khurana is in the doghouse. He has been suspended for announcing his decision to attend Ms Uma Bharti’s rally on Tuesday. His statement a few days earlier that the greatest political folly he committed was to follow Mr L.K. Advani’s advice and resign from the chief ministership of Delhi could not have been to the liking of the party leadership. However, this does not constitute behaviour deviant enough to attract summary suspension. The party could have waited to figure out what exactly Mr Khurana had up his sleeve when he decided to join the sanyasin’s rally. Perhaps, the party wanted to warn his followers in Delhi to desist from attending the rally and making it a success. Whatever the proximate cause, the suspension exposes the intolerance of dissent by the party leadership. It is not all of a sudden that this impression has gained ground. The way in which Ms Uma Bharti was hounded out of the BJP for criticising Mr Advani’s leadership did not show the party in a good light. Dissent is central to democracy and a party, which is run on the democratic principles, has to not merely tolerate dissent but even respect it. If dissent is frowned upon, a political party will degenerate into an outfit of sycophants, which will ultimately sap all its vitals. This is what is happening to the BJP even after Mr Advani was forced to pave the way for Mr Rajnath Singh. Unfortunately, the leadership is unable to make a distinction between dissent and indiscipline so much so that even airing a contrarian viewpoint is considered an act of indiscipline that deserves the severest punishment. But for all its emphasis on discipline, the BJP today is riven by factionalism in most of its state units. What’s worse, even at the central level, there is intense fight for supremacy with each leader trying to outsmart the other. The common people have begun to notice that ideology is no longer a cementing force for the leaders. Small wonder that the BJP has not been able to regain its lost moorings even in states, which were once its strongholds. If the party continues to pursue in the name of discipline its familiar authoritarian policy vis-à-vis dissidents like Mr Khurana, it will soon find itself in the same predicament as the Delhi strongman, who has limited options either within or without the BJP.
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Welcome step THE Centre has given in-principle a go-ahead signal for the upgradation of Chandigarh airport. Moving fast, the UT administration has constituted a committee under the Deputy Commissioner to acquire land, some 7.5 acres, from the Army and the Air Force. The Planning Commission has already sanctioned Rs 40 crore for the expansion, which also has the approval of the Airports Authority of India. Whatever the hurdles were, the Chandigarh Administrator is reported to have got them removed. Despite a delayed start, Chandigarh has made rapid progress in boarding the IT bandwagon. The city now needs infrastructure matching its emerging status. There are no two opinions on the need for raising Chandigarh airport to the international status. The difference of opinion is on how and when to go about it. The airport, spread on 18 acres, will not become “international” just with Rs 40 crore and a few acres more of land. The UT administration has only taken the first baby step and much remains to be done. The Civil Aviation Ministry has much bigger plans of upgrading the country’s major airports, but these are mostly on paper and the take-off is being delayed by the cash constraint and the AAI staff’s opposition to the job being handed over to the private sector. Despite having international flights, Amritsar airport is only a little better than a bus terminal. The proposed airport near Ludhiana is still being talked about. The airport at Chandigarh is strategically located and can serve the growing needs of the Union Territory and three states— Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The sudden upsurge of industrial activity in Mohali, the new Information Technology Park of Chandigarh and the nearby Baddi area of Himachal Pradesh are bound to attract high-income corporate professionals. Poor and inadequate airport facilities also hinder the inflow of domestic and foreign tourists. Emerging housing projects are targeting non-resident Indians, who need direct flights to foreign destinations. Development and employment potential of the region needs to be fully tapped. A modern airport at Chandigarh should help.
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Right to clean air and water RISING nitrogen oxide (NOx) levels in Gurgaon’s air and worsening ground water contamination in several districts in Haryana are testimony to the slow poisoning that we are all living with. While the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has found Gurgaon’s NOx levels to be three times the national average, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has identified several areas in 16 Haryana districts, including Gurgaon, with excessive ground water contamination. Faridabad is among the worst, with high levels of salinity, fluorides, nitrate and heavy metals. NOx levels, in fact, are rising alarmingly in several cities in India. NOx is produced by burning fuels, from petrol and diesel to coal and gas. Experts have identified the large number of generators in Gurgaon’s swank commercial establishments as a particularly major source. Notices have now gone to the big malls, and companies like Maruti. There is also a welcome attention being paid to checking noise pollution. As for ground water, given the high levels of dependence on it, particularly in the rural areas, a long-term, holistic plan is needed if the people are to be saved from debilitating ailments. While diesel generators need to be targeted to ensure compliance to environmental norms, as indeed any source of industrial pollution, ensuring a clean environment is going to require a larger vision and a broad-based approach. One reason why such generators are prevalent, for example, is that reliable power from the main grid is not available. Keeping diesel cheaper, which pollutes more than petrol, is also problematic. Thermal plants pollute more than an efficient nuclear one. For now, state agencies should concentrate on better regulation and law enforcement, even while the Centre explores policies that offer incentives for non-polluting technologies and practices. And the public should push for better regulation and compliance. It is our children’s lives that are at stake.
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Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable. — Jane Austen
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India in US eyes THE US has surprised the world by admitting India into the nuclear club although India is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. India will open its civilian nuclear facilities - or 14 of its 22 nuclear reactors -to international inspection. New Delhi will also lower barriers to foreign investment, and Indo-American trade is expected to double to $40 billion over the next three years. There are no illusions on either side. India’s military nuclear facilities will remain closed so that it can, if it wishes, secretly build up its military deterrent. The nuclear deal doesn’t make India the poodle of the US. In July 2003 India turned down the US request to provide 17,000 troops to shore up America’s illegal war in Iraq. After the signing of the deal Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has reiterated that India will not support any US attempts to isolate or topple the regime in Iran and that it wants Russian diplomacy on Iran’s nuclear programme to succeed. The deal will not necessarily spur an Asian arms race. The individual strategic calculations of China, Pakistan, North Korea and Iran already defined their nuclear ambitions and decisions. The new Indo-US relationship does reflect Washington’s awareness that the lone super power is not omnipotent and that India and China will be among the six powers that will enhance international security in the 21st century. Probably for the first time since 1945 Washington perceives India as a world power which is contributing to America’s perception and redefinition of its global role. The US wish that the new balance of power should favour democracy partly accounts for this. China is not America’s enemy - if only because of the $200 billion invested there by US companies. But consistency is not a virtue in politics. China’s GDP threatens to outstrip that of the US over the next half century, and democratic India is the only country with the potential to counterpoise it. That is why, 15 years after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism as an ideological competitor to democracy, the US wants to help India become a world power. The US is impressed that democratic India is stable, despite its ethnic and religious diversity in contrast to communist China, with whom the US will continue to raise questions about political and religious freedom. The anti-Taliban war of 2001 made the US the dominant foreign influence in South Asia; the nuclear deal has further changed the region. In one stroke the US has asserted that it will remain a major South Asian power and that it has ended its 52-year-old policy of trying to maintain a strategic balance between India and its archenemy Pakistan. That policy only annoyed India while allowing Pakistan to use American arms to destabilise neighbouring countries. So, Mr Bush ruled out a similar nuclear-pact with Pakistan, a US ally since 1954 and a frontline state in the anti-terrorist war, because its history as an unstable “Islamic” dictatorship differs from that of democratic India. As the only stable South Asian country, India is an attractive partner for the US. Afghanistan is yet to get stabilised, Pakistan remains unstable and unpredictable as a training ground for religious extremists, who seek to destabilise Afghanistan and India. In Sri Lanka, the election of Sinhalese hardliner Mahinda Rajapakse as President in November 2005, has cast fresh doubts about the chances of resuscitating the peace process there. A Maoist insurgency and royal authoritarianism have made Nepal a collapsed state. India’s economic modernisation is necessary if the US is to shift the global balance of power in favour of democratic development and security. New Delhi has welcomed American know-how in investment, management and governance to help it achieve an annual growth rate of 12 per cent. This is hardly surprising. Even during the fractious Cold War years the US was India’s largest economic donor. American - or Western - technology saved malfunctioning Soviet-aided public sector projects such as the Bhilai steel plant and the Oil and Natural Gas Commission from disaster. India owes most of its earnings from outsourcing to investment by American companies. Despite fears that outsourcing is costing many American workers their jobs, Mr Bush is against economic protectionism at home - and in India. Skilled Indians have already contributed significantly to America’s scientific and technological revolutions. Trade and aid could help India to remove the poverty which restricts its international influence. But it may be hard to remove the barriers to US investment and Indian entrepreneurship. One has only to experience the crisis of governance in the national Capital, Delhi, where multiple governing authorities, which include the Centre, cannot deliver properly even an essential service like drinking water because of bureaucratic hurdles and political opaqueness. As the world’s two largest democracies, India and the US, can consider themselves, in the words of Mr Bush, as brothers in liberty. But democracy is not necessarily the leitmotif of the new Indo-US relationship. Given that the American invasion of Iraq has probably precipitated civil war rather than democracy, Mr Bush’s assertion that Indo-US partnership will advance democracy sounds fanciful. And during the Cold War, most of democratic India’s nonaligned friends were dictatorships. India supported the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 and did not concern itself with gulags and mass killings by Soviet or Chinese communists. Both countries have a vested interest in improving their political and economic ties with China. But if the deal fulfils its purpose of giving India the energy it needs, the new Indo-US realpolitik could yet show the world how the ideals of democratic progress and stability can be made into a
reality.
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Essence of policing IT was nearly a decade ago when I learnt the Guru Mantra of Policing. An aging experienced cop told me, “Sir! As a police officer you must learn to suspect everything!” It sounded strange then. But over the years I have realised that a good cop actually suspects everything. No sir! This is not a typical Indian cop trait, it is something that all cops share across the globe. I was in Russia recently to select some Russian police officers for the United Nations. We were a two-man team. My companion was an officer from Egypt. As we were checking in at the airport, my friend insisted: “I want a seat next to the emergency exit.” I didn’t bother to ask then but as we were sipping coffee waiting for our flight he said: “Do you know why I always travel in this seat?” I nodded my head. He said: “Well my friend. In case this plane gets hijacked, I want to be the first one to get out and assist the anti-hijack team.” I asked him, how on earth could our airplane get hijacked when all passengers are subjected to such humiliating security checks to the extent of removing their shoes. He said: “Well! A cop must be cautious and suspicious all the time.” This sounded familiar. “OK, but one surely needs weapons to hijack a plane?” He answered: “Well! Of course! If I can smuggle weapons why can’t a hijacker?” I panicked and thought of disowning him. He pulled out a ballpoint pen and said, “If thrust in the eye this could kill”. Then came out a plastic comb, “ If used properly this is as potent as a jagged edge knife. Now, you help me in keeping a watch on the activities of all passengers.” I had always dreamt of winning a gallantry medal. I thought this was my chance. I quickly bought a ballpoint pen and pulled out a plastic comb from my shaving kit and hoped desperately for some suspicious movement. We boarded the plane and quickly under his supervision we went through all the bored faces of our fellow passengers. Then we stealthily took our seats. Throughout the five-hour flight we kept mum. We refused all kinds of food that was offered as food makes us lazy and sleepy. Any attempt to start a conversation irritated him. “Please let me concentrate. Remember we have a job to do”. In the hope of a gallantry medal I forgot to mention that we were on a job very different from what we were doing then. But then I remembered that a cop is always on duty. Damn my luck. The flight was absolutely uneventful. We landed at Moscow airport at some unearthly hour. I was tired and sleepy and very disappointed. We did our work and returned home sans a gallantry medal. But I also realise that thanks to cops like my suspicious Egyptian friend, this world is a safer place for ordinary mortals like
me.
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Saving the girl child
I have retired from government service with a good pension. My three daughters are highly educated and are working. My son-in-laws are well placed. I own a house in the city. Because of my old age, my wife and I have decided to shift to the Senior Citizen’s Home. I cannot stay with my daughters. “Socially, it is not the done thing. It amounts to lowering her prestige and status in the family. My daughters have tried to persuade and reason with us to stay with them but we found it difficult to agree. It would have been different if I had a son, sighs Karnail Singh (name changed). Social compulsions of this nature along with others like inheritance, family name and performance of the last rights account for the devaluation of the girl child. This situation is basically created by the social roles firmly entrenched in traditions and cultural practices that mould the behaviourable psyche of men and women in a given society. In a recent discussion on the subject in two villages, not far from Chandigarh, male members of one community very aggressively put it across to us that girls should not go out to work for “their place is in the home”. They recalled the old saying: “Andar bhaithi lakh di, bahar gai kakh di” (The one who stays indoors is worth a lakh one who ventures out is worth a straw). It is indicative of the mindset that dictates social roles and discrimination against the girl child. In the feudal and patriarchal society of Punjab the girl child is not only deprived of access to basic facilities but also of the basic right to be born. The sex-ratio of Punjab has always been a matter of concern but this concern sounded a red alert when the state entered the 21st century with a sex ratio of 874 females per 1,000 males. The sex ratio in the age group 0-6 is 798 females as against 1,000 males. Where are the missing girls? The obvious answer is they have either been eliminated even before they were born or had died a slow death as a result of neglect. The perpetrator of the crime goes scot-free. The infant mortality rate is the lowest in Punjab at 51 per 1,000 live births after Kerala with 13 and Maharashtra with 50. The sex determination tests followed by sex selection abortions have given an impetus to the hideous crime of killing the girl child prevalent. The P.N.D.T. Act alone cannot change the situation even though its stringent implementation may bring down the number of sex selection abortions. The nexus seems to be too strong and weighs heavily in favour of the medical fraternity. A holistic approach directed towards cultural practices, social roles, norms and values, folk lores etc. is needed to achieve tangible results in changing the mindset of the people. One has only to turn a few pages of history to discover that infanticide was common in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and it was practised by all classes. In Punjab the innocent infant girl was put to death in a variety of ways. One of these was to put the infant in a water pot and bury it. The UNDP report, 1995, pointed out that double the amount spent on the medical treatment of a boy as against a girl in Punjab, similarly more money is spent on clothes for the male child. There has not been much change in the 21st century. In August, 2004, it was found that in one hospital 25,538 male children and 12,645 female children were brought to the O.P.D. and 1954 boys were admitted to the paediatrics ward as against 1,081 girls. The money saved on her treatment can be invested for her dowry, is a comment one generally hears. Women continue to visit quacks and so-called and saints in the quest for a son. They also visit Chintpurni, Jawalaji temple, Baba Balak Nath and Shrine of Baba Buddji. Things do not end here some ayurvedic medicine, food items and other remedies are prescribed before and after conceiving for the birth of a son. A recent survey of two villages each in Punjab and Himachal revealed that almost all respondents wanted sons. One son and one daughter is a compromise. However, two daughters are not an acceptable proposition. When the second daughter is born in Punjab, she is received, if she is allowed to survive, with these words by many people “pather jam piya” (stone is born), bojh vadh giya (burden has increased). Discrimination against the girl child continues for she is also a victim of dowry. The demand for more dowry is a constant threat which is used for sending her back to her parents or giving her a divorce. It may ultimately lead to her burning or drive her to suicide. Dowry apart, parents of the girl, in accordance with the social customs, have to give gifts both in cash and kind throughout their life time to the daughter and her in-laws. In fact, when the daughter dies, it is the parents who are required to meet the expenses on her last rights. They are also expected to send gifts on festivals like Lohri, Divali, Karvachauth etc. The birth of a child, particularly a son, is another signal for them to spend a substantial amount on gifts for the child and other members of her in-laws’ family. A marriage of a daughter’s child is an occasion for sharing the expenditure. Thus expenses do not end just with dowry. It is commonly said better to spend Rs 500 on sex selection abortion than to spend Rs 5 lakh on her dowry later. The custom of dowry might have been introduced to ensure security for girls. Dowry was considered as “istri dhan” and was only made use of in an emergency. Today the law provides her a share in parental property. Women, it is believed, need protection and, therefore, a male figure in the form of father, husband or son. The question arises: protection from whom? Natural disasters don’t make any distinction between men and women. It is the animal in man which needs to be blamed for raping and molesting women. It is the man who is responsible for uncivil behaviour that makes people think in terms of protection. The problems of dowry, exploitation of girls and old age security are not insurmountable and, if handled with a strong socio-political will, the root cause for the elimination of the girl child can be removed to a great extent. It must be realised that there would be no girls for marriages, no inheritors, no family name and no one to perform the last rights if the practice of killing girl child continues. Besides, the incidence of rape, molestation and kidnapping would increase. The Chairman of the National Commission for Women has reported that there is a rape case every minute, eve-teasing every three minutes and a dowry death every three minutes. It must be understood that the fight is not against men as such. It is a fight against the social system, traditions, social norms and values, customs and rituals which have chained the man. It is these shackles that have to be broken and he has to be helped to redraw his role. Constitution confers equal rights on all citizens. These rights need to be recognised in case of women. Therefore, man is not giving any concessions, the rights stand conferred on women. Women also have to learn not to ask for rights, but to assert themselves and take their
due. The writer is an eminent social worker.
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Internet solution to recycling problem MOVE over eBay, a new internet site is attracting the interest of tens of thousands of computer-literate trendsetters. Like an electronic version of a car boot sale, Freecycle.org contains all manner of unwanted birthday presents, unused electronic hardware and dusty items. The only difference is: it is all free. Since starting in the United States three years ago, freecycling has grown into a global network with two million members and is now spreading rapidly in Britain. The idea is simple: people who no longer want household goods can post a message on a local freecycle site. Anyone who wants the item replies and the owner decides who comes to collect it. Anything can be “advertised” and people who wish to acquire goods can post wanted messages. The aim of the site is to find homes for products that would otherwise be jettisoned in rubbish bins or the local dump. There is only one rule: no money changes hands. If the idea takes off, freecycling could transform waste management in the UK and slash the amount of rubbish sent to landfill. The grassroots movement fulfils the highest aim of the recycling movement: re-use is the least polluting way of dealing with waste. The visionary behind the network is a Deron Beal, 36, a professional recycler from Arizona. Frustrated that no voluntary organisation would take some surplus office supplies, Mr Beal asked himself: “How can I get this stuff not put in a hole in the ground?” His solution was to start a not-for-profit organisation that enabled people to offload unwanted items at no cost to themselves — or anyone else. Since then, the idea has spread by word of mouth. The organisation estimates that it keeps 200 tons of rubbish a day from going into landfills — and the figure is rising by the day. In Britain, there are 145,000 members in 250 groups from St Austell in Cornwall to Glasgow. With more than 8,000 members, the London branch is the biggest and is in the process of being split into smaller groups. Although the Freecycle head office in US does have a small staff, the British operation is run entirely by volunteers on the community section of the Yahoo website. Darren Wyn Rees, a spokesman for Freecycle UK — motto, “Changing the world one gift at a time” — said: “It seems so patently obvious, like so many good ideas.” Local councils facing rising landfill costs — and higher government targets for recycling — are embracing the movement. Northampton Borough Council, for instance, promotes freecycling in leaflets at roadshows. The site forestalls the need to create a bespoke swap site. — The Independent
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Delhi Durbar WHEN
President George Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met recently, there were some grey areas on which New Delhi refused to budge. So when the two delegations later, it was Bush who calmed matters. Just as Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee set the ball rolling by briefing the gathering on how defence cooperation was progressing, Bush intervened by showering praise on IAF pilots who had participated in the air exercises with their USAF counterparts. Delhi-Rohtak
rail link Youthful Congress MP from Rohtak Deepinder Hooda has got a thumbs-up from Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav that the Delhi-Rohtak sector will be electrified. It took Deepender three hours to convince Lalu and his team of railway officials about the significance of this electrification. The mandarins initially ruled out electrification on the ground that there was no freight traffic on this section. Deepinder contested this argument and won his point. Finally, Lalu bowed and assured Deepinder that the Delhi-Rohtak rail corridor would be electrified. Probe into NGOs’ funds A leading NGO, which was in the news recently during US President George W Bush’s visit, is said to be under a cloud as a little bird tells us that the government has launched a probe into the NGO’s fund collection and its source. As a matter of fact, many other NGOs receiving foreign funds are understood to be under the scanner. Rail Minister’s
air trips Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav may have given stiff competition to the airlines by announcing a substantial cut in the fare for airconditioned rail travel, but for his frequent trips between the national Capital and his home state of Bihar, the minister’s preferred mode of transporation remains the aircraft. Taking into account his air dashes, Lalu could well be an ambssador for private air carriers. While the minister could reap the benefits of the frequent flyers’ scheme, the Railways could devise ways of cutting down the expenditure incurred on the maintenance of Lalu’s private saloon which he rarely uses. Better than
the British A few aspects of commonality were thrown up when Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath called on visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard recently. Both India and Australia are members of the Indian Ocean Rim, members of the Commonwealth, speak English and play cricket. At a luncheon meeting, Kamal Nath spoke of yet another commonality, observing “we play cricket and speak English...and are better than the English in both.” Contributed by Rajeev Sharma, Satish Misra, Prashant Sood and Smriti Kak Ramachandran
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From the pages of Nehru & Independence Day OUR Allahabad correspondent is responsible for the statement that it is regarded as very probable in political circles that the short-lived freedom of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is going to terminate on January 26. “The issue the Government has to face,” he says, “is whether to allow the Independence Day to be celebrated, and there is supposed to be only one way open to the Government — its usual way.” What our correspondent seems to anticipate is that the Government will prohibit the holding of the Independence Day celebrations and will call upon Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru not to participate in it, and that the Pandit be will arrested if he disobeys the order. We are not in the secrets of either the Government or of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, but we feel no hesitation in saying that any such renewal of the conflict between the Government and the Congress leaders would do no good to either or to the country. The Congress leaders will, in our opinion, do well not to hold the demonstration if they have reason to believe that it will be a mere incident in the civil disobedience struggle which it is in the best interest of the country to bring to a speedy end…..
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