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On Record
Shuffling IAS, IPS officers like
chess pawns
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People must be taken into
confidence
Profile
Treat women as equals
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On Record
Excerpts: Q: Reports say, you are trying to keep Mr Fernandes in good humour. But differences between you and him have surfaced during the organisational elections.
Why? A: George Fernandes is my old friend. The first person I met after winning the election was him. His contribution to the party is greater than mine. I sought his blessings and he offered me sweets. We have sorted out the differences. Let bygones be bygones. I said earlier that Mr Fernandes will continue to be the NDA
convenor. Q: Was it a full-fledged election? For, 123 members from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttaranchal led by Mr Fernandes boycotted the
election. A: This is not true. Half of the members from these states voted for me. Though Maharashtra completely boycotted the election, the number of voters from this state is negligible. We already got three extensions for holding the election. The Election Commission had warned us that this was the last extension.
Q: Did Mr Fernandes’ ideological affinity with the BJP and the Sangh Parivar work against
him? A: No, as the NDA convenor, he has to sort out issues within the allies and manage them. If there are any differences within the BJP, he has tried to sort them out. He is the only person who should be credited with bringing Mamata Banerjee back into the NDA. On several occasions, he tried to ensure electoral alliance between Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal and the BJP in
Haryana. Q: What would be your priorities as party president? A: Farmers’ suicides, irregularities in the Public Distribution System and unemployment problem faced by students from non-public schools. We will wage a war on all these areas.
Q: How is your party coping with the development backlog in
Bihar? A: It will take time to undo the damage caused by the 15-year misrule of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. We won Bihar elections purely on development plank. Our people are engaged in development. Bihar has got more allocation from the Planning Commission. The Centre had chosen 23 districts. The state government has extended the scheme to 20 other districts. Our government is taking steps to revive the sugar industry. We have also announced incentives as land and infrastructure for setting up medical and engineering colleges. The previous power plants had limited power generation and were in bad shape. We have given Rs 700 crore to improve them.
Q: How about the party expansion plans outside Bihar? A: We want to strengthen our party in Jharkhand and Karnataka. In Karnataka, the masses are with JD (U), but the leaders are not united. I am trying to organise them and sort out their differences. I plan to visit Karnataka and meet Janata Dal (Secular) President H.D. Deve Gowda, former Karnataka Chief Minister S.R. Bommai, former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and state party chief Somshekhar. Jharkhand has been our stronghold. We are contesting Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. We are contesting 20 seats in Assam, 40 seats in Tamil Nadu, 11 in Kerala and five in West Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh, Assembly elections are due a year from now. In UP, our party is very strong. In Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, our party has a discernible presence in tribal areas. In Punjab, we will try to have seat adjustments with the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal). In Haryana, we will strengthen ties with Om Prakash Chautala’s INLD. Mr Chautala, who is away in the US, called me up to congratulate me on my election. He is very happy about my election. He belongs to the old Janata Dal
family. Q: You have good equations with Mr Deve Gowda. Is there any possibility of JD (U)-JD(S)
merger? A: Discussions have taken place in this regard, but nothing concrete has emerged yet. I have had a very good relationship with Mr Deve Gowda. I think he was the best Prime Minister. What he did for the poor, no other Prime Minister has done. He announced a subsidy of Rs 22,000 crore for those living below the poverty line. He has also done a lot for sugarcane
growers. Q: What about training camps? For a long time, no such camps have been organised and there is no party journal in sight.
Why? A: Training camps are not being organised because of our preoccupation with elections. Party work is bound to be affected because of the election schedule. The provision for training camps does not figure in the party constitution, but such camps are necessary. It is not possible to make party cadres without holding camps. We plan to hold training camps after 7-8 months in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. We will ensure that at least one camp is held in the country every year. We want to hold camps for students, youth, farmers, party women and workers. It is through such camps that senior leaders inspire the youth to come forward and join the party. I was an engineer and got attracted to socialist ideology by attending such camps. I got the opportunity to listen to the views of Samajwadi party leaders like Ladli Mohan Nigam and Mama Baleshwar Dayal. The latter spent most of his life in tribal areas. Madhu Limaye was a big leader of the socialist movement after Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. All of then including Jai Prakash Narain and Karpoori Thakur organised training camps to educate people about the party ideology. We plan to revive our party journal, but we need money for
it. |
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Shuffling IAS, IPS officers like
chess pawns
Early this month, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav peremptorily transferred 25 IAS officers, including the Chief Secretary, four Principal Secretaries and six District Magistrates. He also transferred seven IPS officers including the Director-General of Police.
The government has not given any reasons for such large-scale transfers. The media reported it as a “major administrative shake-up”. Is it not so much more than that? The Director-General of Police of the largest state police organisation in the country was transferred as the Chairperson and Managing Director of the Uttar Pradesh Police Housing Corporation. Police are a disciplined service with a clear chain of command, mandated to protect the public, upholding the rule of law and ensuring a peaceful and secured environment. If the head of the police service can be transferred for no apparent reasons, other than administrative shake-up, it is a matter of grave concern. The message that it sends across the police organisation is that one is in a position only so long as one is not removed by the political masters. Serving them rather than the public is to be the primary aim. And the revelations of the police investigations or role in Jessica Lal’s and Mehar’s case show that this message is well received. The National Police Commission of India had observed as far back as in 1979 that the “the manner in which political control has been exercised… has led to gross abuses, resulting in erosion of rule of law and loss of police credibility…” India has the dubious distinction of having the oldest Police Act (of 1861) in the Commonwealth. Although this law does not specifically allow political meddling with operational independence of the police, it provides ample space to unscrupulous politicians to do so. Appointments, transfers, promotion and at times disciplinary sanctions continue to be the weapons in the hands of the political executive to ensure compliance with illegitimate, illegal or partisan demands. The Police Act provides that the “superintendence” of the police shall vest in the government. In a democracy, superintendence of the police force by the elected representatives would normally be a mechanism to ensure the accountability of the police. However, the failure to define the term “superintendence” coupled with the faulty drafting and unclear policy has meant that the executive control has become more of an illegitimate interference in operational matters than an external mechanism to ensure accountability. Criminologists and social scientists argue that for the police to function independently without fear or favour in implementing the law, they must be assured operational independence. Though the scope of “operational independence” varies in different jurisdictions, at a minimum, it signifies that the head of the police enjoys complete independence with respect to decisions on investigations, arrests and prosecution in individual cases. Ideally, the executive is responsible for providing strategic directions and policy to the police in performing their functions while the police retain independence to function within the framework of law. It is important to be clear that the head of the police, like any other public official, should not only be free to exercise his or her responsibilities but also capable of being held to account afterwards for the manner in which he/she exercises them. It would be impossible to have operational independence without a security of tenure. The Supreme Court of India, in the 1997 Hawala case, had directed the Central Government to set up an independent statutory mechanism for selection/appointment, transfers and postings of the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation who must be ensured a fixed tenure of two years. The government was also mandated to pursue the matter with the state governments and ensure that a similar mechanism is set up in each state for the selection/appointment, tenure, transfer and posting of not only the Director-General of Police but also of all police officers of the rank of Superintendent of Police and above. The Supreme Court observed that the Central Government must take such prompt measures “within the ambit of their constitutional powers in the federation to impress upon the state governments that such a practice is alien to the envisaged constitutional machinery.” Little has changed since then. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been pushing for security of tenure for District Collectors, Superintendents of Police, and Directors-General of Police with the Chief Ministers without success. He had, in fact, written to the Chief Ministers soon after taking charge of his office. “I must confess that I have not succeeded in carrying convictions with the Chief Minister, but I haven’t given up and I propose to persist,…until an effective, workable solution to this problem is found.” If we want a police that is not partisan and biased, then we must support the efforts of the Prime Minister and push for security of tenure, at least for certain important police posts including the Director General of Police, the District Superintendent of Police and the Station House Officer (SHO). Security of tenure, certainly, does not imply that the officer cannot be removed; say for misconduct, but that the concerned officer may be removed only for reasons specified in law. If we do not protest against the arbitrary transfers of IAS and IPS officers in Uttar Pradesh, we have no cause to cry foul when the next fellow decides to tow the line and do what his/her political master
wants. The writer is Project Officer, Access to Justice Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi |
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People must be taken into
confidence
Two unfortunate events need a close look. One is the demolition of illegal buildings, residential and commercial, in New Delhi. And the other is the forced closure of unrecognised schools in Punjab. Both happened following the court orders and the government stood as a mute spectator. The people were not consulted. Is this the way in which the world’s largest democracy should work?
In the United Kingdom, when a county faced falling number of students in some schools, they decided to close some, expand some and change the status of others. They adopted a three-pronged strategy. First, they decided which schools to be closed, shifted and merged with respective deadlines. They advertised the action plan widely and invited suggestions from the public and parents of the affected children. Secondly, the authorities formed discussion forums and groups to hear everyone including public men and senior citizens on related issues. And finally, they decided to hold public meetings at various places to elicit public response. They discussed their plans with teachers and parents. By the autumn, the proposals were finalised. They wanted to make it sure that the public was fully aware of their action plan before it was sent to the council for consent. Isn’t it wonderful? So much public concern for such a trivial decision which, in India, would have been within the purview of a Block Education Officer who seldom cares for the general public! Well, this is democracy, whether one likes it or not. In India, the authorities care two hoots about the people. The political parties exploit the voters for partisan ends. And once elected, the representatives do not bother about the people. In Punjab, private schools mushroomed after the government schools failed to keep pace with the changing times in terms of the work ethic, curriculum and teaching methods. The private schools jumped into the arena and proved their worth. As a result, the government schools lost the confidence of the people. Having realised the problem, the government should have enacted legislation on the working of private schools, but little happened. These schools excelled amid odds and established themselves. The state boards were silent as their rulebooks did not provide a format to the private schools. The rules of affiliation clashed with the rules for recognition. For purposes of affiliation and recognition, all schools are required to be charitable institutions. As a result, they maintained double records, double salary registers and some fake committees. Meanwhile, the courts directed the state government to enact rules for these teaching shops. Reports said that a piece of legislation called the Private Schools Act 2004 was on the anvil, but it did not happen. Now that the court has ordered the closure of unrecognised schools, the state government seems helpless. This crisis could have been averted by timely
action. |
Profile
So acute were shortages that many fights would have had to be cancelled as aviation fuel reserves touched the bottom. Koirala’s most crucial task will be to bring Maoists in the mainstream. They have temporarily suspended the three-week-long blockade following Mr Koirala’s telephonic talks with the Maoist supreme
Prachanda. Happily, Maoists have now announced a three-month unilateral truce and want the tag of rebel to be removed. Koirala rode to power in 2000 for the third time. However, in July 2001, he was forced to quit amid turmoil. His government was beset by the Maoist insurgency, a bribery scandal and recriminations over the palace massacre that wiped out much of the royal family. He was arrested or detained several times over the past 14 months by the King who had assumed full powers. House arrest for him did not mean confinement at home. He was totally cut off from the rest of the world as all channels of communication such as telephone lines and access to independent media were cut off. Vowing to step up protest against King Gyanendra, he was elected President of the Nepali Congress for the third time in 2005. Jail going for Koirala was nothing new. He spent seven years in prison in the 1960s for fighting for democratic rule. At times he remained in exile in India. Koirala became the Prime Minister of the first democratically elected government in 1991 after a popular revolt ended absolute rule by King Birendra. He was forced to quit in November 1994 as the Nepali Congress was unable to continue a coalition government. This marked the beginning of a long period of instability in the Himalayan Kingdom. His second term (1998-99) was the shortest as Maoist insurgency made inroads in rural Nepal. Koirala is a scion of the first political family of Nepal which had led the Nepali Congress — the country’s oldest and largest party — for most of the 60 years since its inception. Born in Bihar, he is the youngest son of Krishna Prasad Koirala, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He began his career as a labour leader in the jute mills of his hometown
Biratnagar. Krishna Prasad had to leave Nepal when the present Prime Minister-designate was not born and his elder brother Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala was barely three years old. There was warrant of arrest against everyone in the family and their entire property was confiscated. While the father later died in a Nepalese prison, the eldest son kept the torch burning, struggled all his life and became Nepal’s first democratically elected Prime
Minister. Bishweshwar Prasad had held office barely for 18 months when he was deposed and imprisoned by King Mahendra who, obviously, feared that absolute power was slipping from his hands. Since then, he spent his years mostly in prison or in exile, fighting relentlessly for restoration of democratic freedom of his country. He died in 1982. “There has been indeed politics in the blood of my family”, says Koirala as he appears to be on the threshold of realising the dream of his late lamented father and brother — freeing the people from the shackles of monarchy. Koirala was greatly influenced by his legendary brother’s struggle for democratic rights of the Nepalese people. Time was when Bishweshwar Prasad was involved in India’s movement for Independence. He even joined the Congress party led by Mahatma Gandhi. During the Second World War, he was interned in Dhanbad for two years. With India attaining freedom, he set about trying to bring change in Nepal. He founded in India the Socialist Nepal National Congress which, in 1950, became the Nepali Congress. He was imprisoned in Nepal in 1947-48 after returning to his home town,
Biratnagar, to lead a labour demonstration. A year later, he was arrested again but was soon released after a 27-day hunger strike. Popular protests, and the intervention of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru followed. He even led the armed revolution of 1951 which overthrew the 104-year-old Rana
regime. |
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Treat women as equals
Woman has given birth to scientists, scholars, saints, seers and soldiers. However, her very existence has been subjected to critical evaluation since the very inception of human race. Unfortunately, muscle power has taken precedence over emotional and spiritual strength since time immemorial.
In ancient times, Nathyogi, poet of Punjabi, called woman “she-wolf” which eats away the vigour and vitality of her counterpart. To change this contemptuous attitude of society towards her, Guru Nanak Dev ji reacted sharply to such abominable views and emphatically supported her by saying: So kayon manda akhiye jit jame rajan. During the medieval times up to great Punjabi Kissa-Kavi Kadaryar, we find that all the Punjabi poets named the love story of Puran and Luna as Kissa of ‘Puran Bhagat’, condemning her for having come close to young Puran Bhagat almost of her age. However, during the early 20th century, Shiv Kumar Batalvi gave a new meaning to all these happenings and named his lyrical book as Luna, depicting her true feelings of head and heart. In this epoch-making book, he asserts that whenever a girl takes birth in a family, the whole atmosphere of the house becomes sad and sorrowful as if there is a calamity. She is called Praya Dhan in her parents’ house and Parayi Dhee in her in-laws’ house. During the contemporary period, with the spread of education among women, women’s empowerment plans, aimed at breaking social chains, are gaining momentum. Nowadays, the girl is educated, bold and assertive in her day-to-day affairs. Against this background, the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, is an encouraging step; it seeks to bring her at par with sons in the family by giving her an equal right to share ancestral property. Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, which deals with devolution of interest in coparcenary property, says: On and from the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, in a joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara law, the daughter of a coparcener shall: (a) by birth become a coparcener in her own right in the same manner as the son; (b) have the same rights in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son; (c) her subject to the same liabilities in respect of the said coparcenary property as that of a son. It also says that any reference to a Hindu Mitskshara coparcener shall be deemed to include a reference to a daughter of a coparcener. In this context, it needs to be mentioned that some intellectuals and scholars misconstrued these rights given to the fair sex for bringing them on an equal pedestal with their brothers. They argue that if a girl is given a share equal to that of her brother in parental property, it will lead to fragmentation of land holdings, reduce production and increase family quarrels and litigation. They fear that the enforcement of the Amendment Act will disturb the brother-sister relations, breed hatred and lead to societal chaos. In a nutshell, they attribute all negative happenings prevalent around us during these days to this Amendment. However, a dialogue with representatives of women’s organisations advocating empowerment of women and other sociologists, psychologists and philanthropists who deeply understand the social web and texture of Punjab, suggests that the truth lies somewhere else. By nature and necessity, the girls are neither quarrelsome nor litigant. Rather they imbibe the memorable qualities of motherhood, compassion, humanity, humility and love. In various courts and police stations, most cases deal with distribution of property, especially agriculture land among brothers, father and sons, uncles and other male relations. In Punjab, a large number of farmers have land holdings below one hectare. Of them, 65 per cent are under debt. For such a miserable plight, women can’t be held responsible. The addiction of men to alcohol, drugs, bhuki, extravagance and leading of a “princely life” make them reach such a situation and not by giving the required share of land to their sisters. If giving a share of the land to a sister gives rise to fragmentation of land holdings, the holdings meet the same fate when a son migrates to the city after marriage, takes his share of the land and disposes of, and if another son prefers to live in his in-laws’ village, takes his share of the land and sells it to meet his expenses. It is in this context that the Amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act is timely. Sadly, the sacred proclamation from the Akal Takht Sahib and the sobs and sighs of baby girls have had no effect on our deaf ears. We should welcome such constitutional measures with open arms and make every effort to arouse public opinion against female foeticide. We must realise that the decline in the sex ratio will not only play havoc with India’s population stabilisation programme but also increase the incidence of eve teasing, molestation and rape. This campaign will get a boost if religious preachers in cities and villages condemn it on the public address system in temples, gurdwaras, churches, maths and mosques and advocate equality between boys and girls. All of us know that Gurbani declares all human beings as equal: Ek Pita Aiks Ke Ham Barik. The Amendment to the Hindu Succession Act makes boys and girls equal shareholders in their ancestral property. Section 2 of this Act makes it applicable to the followers of all prevalent religions in India whether they are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs, on all their children, legitimate or illegitimate, convert or reconvert. Let us give our dear daughters their due legitimate
share. The writer is a senior IAS officer of the Punjab Government |
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Diversities
— Delhi Letter
The issue of Harvard University sophomore Kaavya Vishwanathan lifting words and sentences and stuffing them into her debut novel, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Lift, is on focus in the Capital. So much so that at the release of Manju Kapur’s book Home, one of those present hurled this question, wanting to know her reaction to it.
Manju came up with words along the strain that what seemed even more strange is the fact that at 19 years, Kaavya could write a novel, for it’s only with years you have something substantial to scribble and put across! There was another voice (coming from another present in the audience) that there have been writers who did make a mark rather early in life…Yes. There is no countering to that. However, with Kaavya, there is this whole issue of the so-called literary theft. Though Kaavya has come up with some weak explanations, I’ve just mentioned her explanations seem weak and just not satisfactory enough. There can’t be any pardoning for lifting somebody’s expressions and flow of words. For this whole business of writing is much to do with expressions and perceptions and how the writer goes about putting these across, through the flow of words. I remember once when I had interviewed Balwant Gargi and asked him whether the experience of going through emotional pain — remember he went through a broken marriage and also failed relationships — was the basis of his writings he’d swayed his neck, “No…that’s not enough, for tell me who doesn’t go through broken affairs or setbacks in relationships? All of us go through emotional upheavals. It’s the writer who feels the pain so very intensely that he is able to write it down, convey it in his words and that what makes a writer so very different than an average who can just about feel the pain but can’t express it”. Gargi did have a point. In this context, I think that it’s more than unfortunate that this young writer Kaavya sat and copied sentences — however unconsciously — from another writer, Megan McCafferty’s works. It’s definitely what’s termed, “literary theft”! Here, in our country, when poor kids are jailed for stealing a loaf to stuff it down their empty stomachs or jailed even when having committed no crime, literary theft ought to be dealt with strongly and condemned. Age is no factor. It’s the very act.
PVN’s book on Babri demolition The Capital is getting hotter and hotter day by day. With the mercury rising, more books are coming forth. Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao seems to have beaten them all hollow. Civil servants begin to indulge in writing those tell-you-tales once they retire and then sit in oblivion. Re-seeking attention or whatever you’d call it. However, Narasimha Rao wanted his book on the Babri Masjid demolition to be published after his death. And so his book, Ayodhya 6 December 1992 (Penguin) is published posthumously. It hit the stands very recently. It said that “though Rao took to writing this book in the mid-90s, after he stepped down as Prime Minister, it had to be published posthumously according to the author’s wishes”. Apparently, he wrote this book to clear all those accusations being directly or indirectly hurled at him. Presumably, one reason for writing this volume would have been to clear those accusations and yet he didn’t want to give those clarifications in his lifetime. A rather patient man, he goes with these lines, “I cannot count how many people, both friends and opponents, have hurled at me the question, Why did you not impose President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh in order to save the Babri Masjid from vandalism on 6 December 1992? Indeed, this question must be examined. “The purpose of this factual account is to unravel the truth about the Ramjanmabhoomi- Babri Masjid, which has determined the politics of a major part of northern India since the mid-80s. It is essentially a religious matter that has been blatantly exploited for political and electoral purposes. Religious emotion has been made to sway the electorate in the Lok Sabha elections in 1989 and 1991 and the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.” The question that nags is why couldn’t he himself do something about this in his lifetime or when he was the Prime Minister? Don’t we all know that religion is always used and misused by politicians to settle political scores or pit one set of people against the other? The spark set off by former Prime Minister V.P. Singh is today going uncontrolled. And though he has himself moved away towards painting and poetry, the divide is getting wider by the day, with the debate on reservations going unabated.
Food to beat the heat As I was sitting and cursing the heat, there’s come this little distraction. The India International Centre is hosting Grishma Ritu (summer) dinner — complete with veggies and fruits and grains that have the potential to beat the
heat. |
Though the contest be among the young and strong, though the contest be of martial art, pure and saintly rishis and learned Brahmins come to the contest to bless it and to resolve any dispute with their
wisdom. —The Mahabharata Fame is useless. Just like a date tree which provides no shade for travellers and whose fruit is hard to
reach. — Kabi |
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Diversities — Delhi Letter
Sharad Yadav’s election as Janata Dal (United) President has been a subject of controversy within and outside the party. A seasoned politician who was first elected to the fifth Lok Sabha in 1974 at the age of 25, Yadav has before him the gigantic task of matching the much acknowledged calibre of his septuagenarian predecessor George Fernandes. Yadav’s political career dates back to his student days in Jabalpur Engineering College. Born in Babai village in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh in 1947, he had a flair for politics like his father, the late Nandkishore Yadav who was a Congress leader. Nandkishore and Sharad Yadav’s grandfather’s brother had taken part in the 1857 revolt. As a Union Minister, Yadav held key portfolios including Civil Aviation, Labour and Textiles. He was jailed several times during
1971-77.
Girija Prasad Koirala is the Grand Old Man of Nepal’s politics. His critics call him the Grand Old Fox. Ailing, but mentally alert, 84-year-old Koirala steps in the Prime Ministerial office for the fourth time. Unlike his previous three terms, Koirala’s present tenure may see a ramshackle institution of monarchy finally crumbling; he may never have to go to jail again. His immediate task is to hammer out an understanding with the seven-party alliance to form an interim government to enable him to run the Himalayan Kingdom reeling under acute shortage of essential commodities.