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Nepal: the road ahead See the rift, not the
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Planning for poverty
PROFILE DIVERSITIES — DELHI LETTERS REFLECTIONS
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Nepal: the road ahead PARLIAMENT
has been revived. For the fifth time the veteran leader of the Nepali Congress has begun functioning as Prime Minister. This time, he does so as the head of the seven party alliance and with the tacit (even though conditional) support of the Maoists. One has to wait and watch. Meanwhile, a stock-taking is necessary. One shudders to think what would have happened if the pro-democracy forces in Nepal had gone ahead with their plans of storming the palace. Whether the Royal Nepalese Army succeeded in repelling the attack or the protesters overpowered the palace, consequences in either case would have been grim. With the inevitable massacres, the cost in terms of blood spilled and lives lost would have been colossal. Fortunately, bowing to the collective will of the people and sustained pressure from India and the rest of the international community, the King has at last relented. A disaster of massive magnitude has been averted. A model of "masterly inactivity", India feigned unconcern and in its non-interference postures remained a silent spectator of the plight of the friendly neighbour for too long thereby allowing the situation to deteriorate to dismal depths. Though belated, it was a wise move to send Dr. Karan Singh as a Special Envoy to bring round the King to see the writing on the wall and respond to the pro-democracy sentiments of the people. India-baiters and detractors were quick to allege that a former Maharaja was rushed to Kathmandu to save the beleaguered monarchy. Nothing could be further from the truth. India hardly needs to parade its commitment to democracy or its closeness to pro-democracy forces in Nepal. In fact, the Government of India for once gave evidence of sagacity and statesmanship in zeroing in on the senior philosopher-statesman, former Cabinet Minister and Ambassador to U.S., the most credible exponent of the best in Hinduism, incidentally, also the former Maharaja of J&K closely linked to Nepal and the palace through matrimony. No one else, certainly not a mere politician, could talk to the King the way Dr. Karan Singh did and no one else could make him see reason and yield. His decision to have only a one-to-one meeting with the King was also a masterly stroke of diplomacy. In the presence of the Foreign Secretary and Ambassador, Dr. Karan Singh could not talk that freely and the King would not have been that comfortable to accept his failures and agree to move to break the deadlock and transfer power to the seven party alliance. Critical voices raised in India and Nepal notwithstanding and political party polemics and anti-India lobby propaganda apart, the hard truth is that the credit for the big break-through to defuse the crisis must go to the Karan Singh mission. It is a bit pathetic that a country of India's size and importance with no dearth of talent should be without a full time Minister for External Affairs. It would have made much more sense if Dr. Karan Singh had gone to Nepal as such Minister. In any case, what is of the utmost importance now is not the blame-game or allocation of credits and discredits but the road ahead. For the journey has just begun. India fully respects Nepal's sovereignty and sensibilities. In fact, if anything, it has a vested interest in the security, stability and well being of Nepal and its people. It is well known that modern representative democracy operates through political parties. But, all this presupposes a certain degree of constitutional culture. Unfortunately, of late there has been a serious disconnect between the political parties and the people. This is not only in Nepal. Perhaps the Nepalese political parties made the mistake of following our parties in India and for that very reason lost credibility and respect. The Maoists, so long as they are armed and wedded to violence, are as much a threat to India as they are to peace and stability in Nepal. Together we have to overcome the problem. While it may be necessary to make the Maoists realise that they cannot succeed by the force of arms, the King and the political parties have also to be conscious of their having lost much of their shine, acceptability and power base. The King should accept that the days of absolute monarchy are gone. Kings and Queens can best survive as titular, ceremonial and symbolic heads. Neither the international community nor India can for long remain mere silent spectators of atrocities perpetrated on the people and their human rights violated with impunity by anti-people autocratic monarchs. No lasting solution in Nepal may be possible without bringing the Maoists fully on board. Their bottom line demand of a Constituent Assembly sounds most reasonable and democratic. A confluence of interests between the King , the parties and the Maoists should still be possible on the ground of (i) continuance of a ceremonial monarchy, and (ii) a freely elected sovereign Constituent Assembly to frame a Constitution for the country without any pre-conditions. May be Nepal has to devise a new architecture for democracy on the basis of its own culture and needs. If anything, it can learn from India what not to do while charting its own course in Constitution making. We must remember that power in the hands of the political parties today does not mean power to the people. While it is true that the Nepalese parties, with the tactical support of Maoists, have regained some of their lost ground, they have still miles to go to regain the faith of the people. The Parliament is, of course, already debating a resolution for convening the Constituent Assembly. But, a categorical imperative is a genuine desire to have the Constituent Assembly much before the political parties and their leaders again return to their old ways and differences and people again lose faith in them and the Maoists are left as the only option.
It is essential that without any delay the people at the grassroots are made to feel the glow of freedom and transfer of power to their hands. This is almost the last chance for the professional politicians in the seven parties in Nepal to think about a proper constitutional structure and give to the nation a clean and efficient administration, good, corruption free, people-friendly governance and a Constituent Assembly elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise under independent auspices. Once in position, it would be for the Constituent Assembly to decide on behalf of the Nepalese people how they wish to be governed and what kind of political system they want —multi-party, two-party or no
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See the rift, not the
fault RECENTLY, a three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court, while permitting dissolution of a 30-year-old mismatch, strongly urged the Government of India to amend the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, in order to make "irretrievable breakdown" a valid ground for dissolving marriage. In the view of the Judges, this is imperative "for covering a large number of cases where the marriages are virtually dead". This indeed is a seminal suggestion. The breakdown principle is implicit in the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act after the amendment of 1964 (Act 44 of 1964), which inserted a new section 13 (1A). Under this section, a petition for dissolution of marriage is permitted at the instance of "either party to a marriage", if "there has been no resumption of cohabitation" or "restitution of conjugal rights" between the parties for two years (reduced to one year after the 1976 amendment) or upwards after passing of a decree for judicial separation or restitution of conjugal rights in a proceeding to which they were parties. Prior to the 1964 amendment, only the decree holder (the so-called "innocent" party) had the right to move court for divorce against the so-called "guilty" party. Extending the same right to the spouse hitherto considered "guilty" was the introduction of the principle of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. It implied that the critical consideration for granting divorce is not the finding, whether the petitioner himself or herself is guilty of some matrimonial offence; the court's concern should be to find if the marriage has broken down beyond redemption. Such a position is said to be "settled beyond doubt" by the decision of the Supreme Court in Dharmendra Kumar v. Usha Kumar (1977). In this case, the wife had secured a decree for restitution of conjugal rights. Soon after the statutory period of waiting, when she presented her petition for divorce under Section 13 (1A) (ii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, the husband vehemently resisted on the plea that he sincerely made several attempts to take her back, but she deliberately avoided them, and, thereby, it was she and not he, who became the deserter. He pleaded that in view of Section 23 (1) (a) of the Act (which forbids the court to grant relief to a petitioner who is taking advantage of his or her own wrong), her petition for divorce deserved to be rejected. This plea did not find favour with the Apex Court: the allegation "that the petitioner refused to receive or reply the letters written by the appellant (husband) and did not respond to his other attempts to make her agree to live with him … even if true" did not disentitle her to the relief she had asked for under Section 13 (1A) (ii) of the Act (emphasis added). The basic premise of the "irretrievable breakdown" principle is that the determinant of dissolution of marriage should not be to find out who is guilty and who is innocent, because in marriage there no single party is totally guilty or innocent. In a matrimonial conflict, either both are guilty or both are innocent. If we insist on finding who is guilty, the difference between the two partners may be only of degrees. The purpose of this principle is not to make divorce easy, nor is to make it ridiculously difficult. To use the language of the British Law Commission on Reform of the Grounds of Divorce, its objective is two-fold: "One, to buttress rather than undermine the stability of marriage; and two, when regrettably a marriage has irretrievably broken down, to enable the empty shell to be destroyed with maximum fairness and minimum bitterness, distress and humiliation." The whole concern of the court is to find out not just whether or not the marriage has broken down but also whether or not this breakdown is "irretrievable". In reality, the principle of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, as introduced even in a piecemeal manner by the Amending Act 44 of 1964, is essentially located on the non-adversary plane. Under this, attempt is made to find out if the marriage has indeed broken down beyond repair. The determination of this question is conterminous with the responsibility of the judicial order to reconcile the spouses as far as possible, because the institution of marriage is unarguably worth preserving. Having its preoccupation with judging the marriage itself rather than mere apportioning the fault of the spouses, its concomitant conditions are more conducive to reconciliation. The express introduction of the "irretrievable breakdown" principle, as has been done in England, will be much more conducive and functional than merely relying on the "implied" principle. Besides, the administration of justice on the basis of clearly codified law is superior to the adjudication from case to case. For this, Parliament could reintroduce the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 1981 (No. 23 of 1981), which earlier did not fructify into law for expressly introducing irretrievable breakdown of marriage as the singular ground for divorce, as the Bill was allowed to
lapse. The writer is UGC Emeritus Fellow in Law, Panjab University, Chandigarh
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Planning for poverty CONSTITUTIONALLY
speaking, India is not a welfare state. At least the Preamble does not contain this expression. The word is conspicuously missing from the other Articles also. The People of India gave this Constitution to themselves. They must have wished their own welfare, at least. However, the framers of the Constitution avoided the expression. They knew better. That is why all schemes meant for people's benefit start from the top and dry up before filtering down to even the higher middle class. At the grass-root level, the people have been only getting poorer and more. A few even commit suicides, many become criminals and leave enough work for the police and gasp for the media. Mr George W. Bush, President of the USA, said the middle-class India was more than the total population of America. He is right; India is indeed a fertile market. In a country of more than 100 crore persons, if you say that 30 crore are well to do, then should we be proud of 30 crore wealthy individuals or be ashamed of 70 crore of the poor, who after 59 years of Independence, cannot even get two square meals a day. Half of Mumbai lives in slums. If the development policy in Punjab does not change, then every city in the state would become another Mumbai, surrounded by slums. India will then be a rich country inhabited by the poor. More than 90 slums surround Chandigarh. There is no scheme to rehabilitate inhabitants of even one colony. When land was acquired for Mohali, there was no scheme to rehabilitate those who would be uprooted. No authority ever tried to know how many persons the new town dislocated and how they lived thereafter. Ignorance is bliss. The Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA), has always shown the zeal to clear the slums, but never succeeded in reducing their number. Today, slums have penetrated the cities. Though we have failed to convert slums into cities, our indifference will ensure that cities are now converted into slums. Municipal taps do not supply clean water. Underground sewerage, in whatever little area it is present, has collapsed. Punjab has conceived progress through some mega projects, but there's no progress in it for villages. Around some big cities, big companies would be invited to build expensive shopping malls and high-rise apartment blocks for the upper middle class or the NRIs with foreign money. There would be no infrastructure to improve rural life, except that some village roads might see patchwork repair before the elections. Thousands of villagers would migrate to cities in search of jobs and live in slums there. After the mega projects are completed, each city would have double the number of slums. Let the country progress at the rate of 7 per cent or over annually, but think, at what rate would the number of the poor increase in that
time?
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PROFILE It is said Buddhadeb managed to pull off what former Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, S M Krishna and Chandrababu Naidu could not do; a thumping victory based on a poll plank of economic reforms and IT-friendly policies. He led the CPI-M to a record seventh consecutive term in office. Indeed after becoming the Chief Minister six years ago, he began the process of liberalization of West Bengal's economy, having attracted a lot of foreign investment. Many new industries and IT-related services have emerged under his leadership. He is generally seen as a communist leader who is open to reforms but has critics too in his own party who accuse him of taking farmlands to build industries. The resounding victory of the Left Front has now silenced his critics. It is a definite sign that West Bengal would continue to be an investor friendly destination and that IT industry will smile with the second coming of Buddha. Born in 1944 in north Calcutta, Buddha is the nephew of the revolutionary poet, Sukantya Bhattarcharya who was his mentor. Soon after graduating from Presidency College in 1964, he joined the CPI-M as a primary member. Besides taking active part in the food movement, he also supported Vietnam's cause in 1968. As a result, he was appointed state secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation, the student wing of the CPI-M that is now known as Democratic Youth Federation of India. In 1977, he was elected an MLA for the first time. His constituency then was Kashipur. It was the first time that the CPI-M led Left Front had come to power in West Bengal. He was given the charge of the department of Information and Culture; it was his favourite area and he went on to make a lot of contribution to Bangla theatre, movies and music. After losing the 1982 Assembly election from Kashipur, he changed his constituency to Jadavpur in 1987 and won. In 1996, the Marxists won the Assembly elections for the fifth time and Buddha was reappointed Information and Culture Minister with additional charge of Home (police) department and Chief Minister Jyoti Basu looked after personnel wing of the Home portfolio. Not only did he and Basu become closer during this period, Buddha matured as a politician. He acquired image of a leader who is both moderate and efficient, can manage both the hardliners and liberals in the party. That was, perhaps, the reason that after 1996, he was considered a viable alternative to Basu. Also, some of the facets of Buddha's personality came to the fore. He established the reputation of being an incorruptible leader who has never bestowed undue favours on anybody and is noted for his frank speaking. Buddha's real political Guru was Pramode Dasgupta, known to be one of the founding father of the Communist movement. Having led the Left Front to victory for the 5th time in 1996, Jyoti Basu showed reluctance to carry on the responsibility of governing the state and, in an effort to shed some of his burden, he handed over the charge of the police department to Buddhadev. It was then made out in CPI-M circles that the party had overused Jyoti Babu and he needed rest. The long strenuous years started telling on his health. A positive indication that the aging Chief Minister has been grooming Buddha as his successor came later when the party's secretariat of West Bengal nominated the young minister as acting CM in absence when Jyoti Basu proceeded on a 24-day visit of the UK and South Africa. It was an important day in the life of Buddhadeb's life when the ruling Left Front committee met to elect him as Dy.C.M, setting aside claims of five other aspirants. As certain objections were raised by Front's constituents with the plea to CPI-M leadership not to impose Buddha unilaterally, Basu reportedly told his allies: "tell your party men that a it is a request from me". Since then there is no looking back from
Buddha. |
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DIVERSITIES —
DELHI LETTERS This week the National Human Rights Commission brought the focus back on police atrocities through two of its directives. The NHRC has directed the Punjab Government to pay compensation to the next of kin of 45 more persons who died in police custody in its anti-terror drive during 1984-1994. In its order, the commission states: “In its first order dated Nov 11, 2004, the Commission had granted a compensation of Rs. 2.5 lakh each to the next of kin of 109 persons who admittedly died in police custody. The Commission found the State of Punjab accountable and responsible for the infringement of the right to life of the deceased. Again on March 8, 2006 the Commission granted compensation in respect of 38 more persons. In this regard, the counsel for the state of Punjab informed the Commission that the State Government has already deposited Rs. 95 lakh with the Deputy Commissioner concerned as compensation for disbursal to the next of kin of 38 deceased. Out of this, the next of kin of 20 deceased have been paid the amount while the process for disbursal in respect of 18 was on. “Accordingly, the Commission has direct the State of Punjab to pay compensation rate of Rs. 2.5 lakh each of the next of kin of 45 deceased. With this the Commission has so far awarded compensation in respect of 194 persons in the Punjab Mass Cremation Case.” Recent police atrocities were of concern also. The NHRC has asked for a report on the recent police action against anti-reservation protesters. “Taking note of disturbing news reports appearing in newspapers as well as electronic media about the alleged police action on medical and engineering students indulging in peaceful protests against the proposed increase of reservation quota for certain section of society in higher education, the Commission has called for factual reports from the Commissioners of Police, Delhi and Mumbai in respect of the unprovoked lathi charge on the students in the two places. The allegations of police action, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of human rights. No civilised state can justify use of brutal force on peaceful demonstrators.” Yes, the manner in which protesting doctors were treated by state seemed more than shocking. It seems that the establishment wants to snatch away the basic right of an individual to voice his protest. Correct me if I'm wrong, but most peaceful protestors turn anti-state and anti-establishment because of the treatment meted out to them. Bordering on the barbaric and ruthless .Yet we call ourselves civilised! Why should there be a lathi-charge on a protestor? Why shouldn't a citizen be allowed to say what he or she wants to and not live in fear of the aftermath? Why should he be reduced to such a weak position that he can't raise his voice! It's really getting to be a hopeless situation where the average citizen will have to think several times before protesting against the establishment and those in power. Unfortunately, this holds true for any part of the country. In the Capital it gets into immediate focus because of the simple fact that it takes place right in front of the Who's Who in the government and establishment. However, in places like Srinagar this is daily affair; happenings of this kind taking place almost on a routine basis. Mind you, even if you are not protesting but simply going about your business on the road in an auto rickshaw. Where can an average complain? Nowhere! And till a change is brought about, perhaps at the very training level of the men who are supposed to maintain our security, its going to be a tough existence. Both, for the protestor and also for those who sit mute. Food and thought This weekend SAHMAT is holding a convention on the implementation of reservation quota of 27 percent for OBCs in admissions to the institutions of higher and professional education, in which Prabhat Patnaik, Arjun Dev, Abu Saleh Sharif , Anil Sadgopal, Zoya Hasan and several other academics would be speaking. I am filing the column several hours before the event, so I will not be able to put in details of the ongoing debate on the whole reservation issue. And while the doctors are on strike or lying wounded or drained out, coming into focus are alternative systems of medicine, also called the complementary or the traditional form of medicine. In fact, there's beginning a full series on this form of curing and healing. The very first in the series will focus on homeopathy, on May 29. For a country like ours, the citizen will have no choice but to resort to the alternative system of medicine. Then, there seems to be good utilisation of the summer heat. Earlier a special food festival was held which highlighted how fruits and herbs and grains that could lessen the summer heat. And now comes up the so-called Madhya Pradesh Festival, complete with screening of films, music, cuisine and yes, also that fashionable ingredient — yes, a seminar! No major meet seems complete here without the organisers holding a seminar in an air conditioned hall or auditorium. While on seminars and other bitter realities, there's been one on the current demolition drive in the Capital, with politicians from major political parties crying hoarse on the issue. And while they went on and on, the demolitions
continued.
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REFLECTIONS The first thing I do after getting up in the morning is to go for an hour of walk in one of the well-known gardens of my city. For my walk, I take along either my transistor to listen to the news or an audio CD or an audio tape to listen to a discourse or an audio book. It's the best hour of my day. I cannot do without it. Nor can I do without the garden where I go to walk daily. Through this piece I am inviting you to walk with me and see what I do, almost daily. As I near my garden I wade through the tightly parked cars and motor cycles to enter the garden. This is when just a few yards away there is an earmarked parking lot. I slip through the narrow spaces between the cars and enter. As I step into the garden, instead of the fresh air from the trees, or the fragrance of flowers I get the stench of the toilet, which is right at the entrance. I have to block my nose and move on fast. Now I am on the walkway. It is made of red Kota stone slabs. It is well-used and merges with the colour of the soil and does not irritate the eye. I now switch on my listening device which I carried with me to hear the news/discourse/music and try to be on my own. But I stay alert. For I have to be careful that I do not step on the excreta of the Labradors left right in the middle of the walkway. Overseas, I have seen the dog walkers carry disposable gloves and carry bags to lift and remove their dog shit. They dare not leave it for others to step over. They would be fined a few hundred dollars. I move on…I meet familiar faces. They do not disturb me for they know I like my walk by myself. But I hear loud 'collective laughter's', or elongated 'Hari Oms'…or loud 'group talks'…all done by people as if this was their own space on which they alone had the right. They are not concerned about others space and quietitude. I increase the volume of my electronic device in my earphone and pass by. I am now on to a quieter patch. It is greener and cooler. For it is at a height with more trees and shrubs. I pass by a recently started garden restaurant. It plays the FM radio fairly loudly to attract tea drinkers but no one comes at this time any way. I now walk into cleaner portions. I swing around my arms to exercise my back bone. I now walk down the slope. I hope that this clean are will last for a while. It does not. On the foot of the slope is a big garbage dump of a neighbouring stadium. As if it is their backyard. It is not their concern that the dump is on the path that morning walkers in their neighbouring garden take. Not only this, I occasionally also get company from a few stray dogs who walk along, or even block my way. I let them be, for it is also their space, I realise peaceful co-existence is safest in that situation. And who knows I may be intruding into their space. Hence I better be quiet and avoid troubling them. I walk on. I now come closer to a large playground. I find boys, (sorry, no girls), playing cricket. And there is more than one group. All playing side by side! Perhaps catching or hitting each other's balls unknowingly. All hitting as if they are all 'Dhonis..' Great fun, but only till the ball does not come my direction and hit me. I have narrowly escaped it a number of times. But my mother could not. She was badly hit once on her temple. Her eye narrowly escaped serious injury. As the school holiday season sets in, all possible empty spaces of this city garden become cricket grounds with tree trunks as stumps. Try even walking on the grass overseas, you will be fined heavily. You have to stay off the grass. Here it is the opposite! True Democracy. The other day while I was walking on the walk path few school children astride bicycles came at a great speed from behind me. I caught the carrier of one of the cyclists and forced him to stop. Then I told him not to ride on the walkway as it is meant for walking, not for cycling. He got down, walked a few yards, looked behind, mounted the cycle and sped away.… The worst of the defiance is yet to come. It is the triangular corner of the park which runs along the roadside. It has all been dug up. It is being converted into marriage reception ground. Weddings and receptions are already taking place. Food is left behind and it stinks. Our walk has been cut short by at least 200 meters. For now this portion of the garden is not walk-able anymore. As I walk back, along the well-designed fountain way, I find its side walls and the floor all dug up too. The lights and the wires all uprooted. Anyway, I do not recall when they used this last. The big water tank which is supposed to feed the fountains had been one big breeder of mosquitoes all through the year. It was always full of dirty and still water which was never drained. Perhaps waiting for the rains? And so were the pathways waiting for the wash? Or a sweep? I came back to the same entrance from where I had entered. I had walked for about 40 minutes. I had heard the morning news, and the discourse tape I had carried. It had made my day. I had walked the garden my mother walked for years. As long as she lived she walked this pathway every day. I felt her presence all around. Despite all the distractions. I only wish my mother's garden was better looked after. To me, it looked orphaned! Like many other public
places.
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In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. — Mahatma Gandhi In the day is the night and in the night is the day. Heat and cold are likewise contained in each other. —
Guru Nanak The spirit buries itself in the Supreme as the arrow in the target. — The Upanishads The presence of the wise sanctify the holy sacrifice as the cold valleys are warned green by the rays of the spring sun and as the cool monsoon breeze brings life to heat baked plains. — The Mahabharata I see the world is mad. If I speak the truth they rush to beat me, If I lie they trust me. — Kabir
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Why have the Leftists done better in elections in India when communist ideology is fading the world over? The basic reason for the communists' successes is said to be introduction of the dialect of change into the Marxists terminology. And, the man behind, what some term as the second revolution in Marxists ideology, is Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. He saw future in the Chinese model, but not the way many in India think. Buddha, as the second term Chief Minister is popularly called, has foresight to understand that Communism has to integrate with market forces. The results have been heartening indeed; one can seen youngsters in Calcutta, especially those from the IT and ITES industry, lauding Buddha as an ideal Chief Minister. Apart from changing the communist ideology to keep pace with times, another major achievement of Buddha has been to bury the ghost of "scientific rigging" hovering over his predecessor Jyoti Basu's head for over two decades. It was an easy accusation to make and an easier one to be believed outside WB. However, peoples' support to Marxists in the May 2006 election erased that stigma. Their victory is now attributed to solid economic benefits that flowed to under-privileged in a reformed communist system.