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Maha injustice Friends and neighbours |
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Sums and stars
Umpiring Parliament
Green house
Planning Punjab’s future Securing soccer’s super spectacle Chatterati
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Maha injustice
IT is unbelievable that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had to intervene in settling an inter-caste marriage in Bhiwani. It is a reflection on the district administration’s efficiency that the matter reached the court. The issue arose over the marriage of a boy belonging to a lower caste with a Jat girl. The families of both the bride and the groom reconciled themselves to the love marriage and they should have thereafter lived happily together. That is when the Jat leaders of the area woke up to what they thought was a “sacrilege” committed by the couple. They put pressure on the two families to end the marriage and forced the girl to marry a boy from her own caste. As if a panchayat was not sufficient, they also called for a mahapanchayat which was to decide whether it should allow the boy’s people to stay in the
area. It is a different matter that with no other alternative, the mahapanchayat has been called off. In none of these actions did the Jat leaders bother about the happiness of the wedded couple, nor their right to marry whosoever they like. What mattered to them was the “prestige” of their caste. All their activities were a clear violation of the fundamental rights of the couple and their families. The district authorities should have suo motu taken action against the instigators of the mahapanchayat in which case the matter would not have reached the court. If maintaining law and order and protecting the rights of the people are not the responsibilities of the district magistrate and the superintendent of police, why are they posted there? After all, the issue has been brewing for quite some time much to the agony of the couple and their close relations. It is in the name of protecting caste and family pride that some of the worst offences are committed in the country. Take the case of what happened in Phillaur on the night of June 8. The brother and father of a girl stoned her and her lover to death when they objected to their desire to marry each other. The caste panchayats in Haryana are notorious for dispensing the kind of justice they sought to dispense in Bhiwani. It is not the first time that the High Court had to intervene to prevent injustice in matters of heart. The state administration also needs to ensure that the caste panchayats do not take the law into their own hands and become instruments of oppression of the Dalits and other castes they look down upon. |
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Friends and neighbours
Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s first visit abroad after he assumed office at the helm of the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) was appropriately enough to New Delhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underscored that form is as important as substance on this state visit by breaking protocol to receive Mr Koirala at the airport. The red carpet was rolled out, and not just by official India and the United Progressive Alliance. Mr Koirala was welcomed by parties and leaders across the political spectrum, and there were hardly any discordant notes. If there were any murmurs of discontent they were by the Maoists back home. But given the bonhomie and economic aid accomplished during his four-day visit, Mr Koirala had every reason to return happier, and not worry too much about even the Maoist demands. In announcing the Rs 1000-crore package to enable Nepal to overcome its pressing economic problems, New Delhi has shown a generous appreciation of the neighbour’s needs as well as priorities. The package includes a grant of Rs 100 crore to the Nepal Government’s budget, soft credit of Rs 500 crore to expeditious execution of infrastructure development and enhancement of aid to the budget from the prevailing Rs 65 crore to Rs 150 crore per year. India has waived the dues payable by Nepal for defence purchases and also exempted Nepal’s exports to India from the four per cent additional customs duty. The number of scholarships for Nepalese students in India has been doubled. These are but a few of the high points of New Delhi’s commitments to assist revival of the Nepalese economy. With the albatross that was the autocratic monarchy having been downsized to popular expectations, Nepal’s expenditure on defence should come down considerably and free resources for economic development. The Maoists, who were very much a part of the movement for restoration of democracy, need to march in step with the mainstream parties. Any strife or disruption of agreed political processes underway at this critical time of transition can be highly damaging. Nepal needs peace for stability to pursue economic development and rise out of its condition as one of the world’s poorest countries. |
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Sums and stars
King Bruce has a challenger — and a far more determined one at that. Robert the Bruce of Scotland had tried to take back his kingdom from England only six times, before becoming disheartened, to be motivated yet again on seeing the persistence of a spider while hiding in a cave. A seventh battle was fought, forcing the King of England to retreat to his country. Shiv Charan of Kohari village near Behrod in Rajasthan is made of even sterner stuff, it seems. He has taken the matriculation board examination as many as 37 times and is yet to hear those magical words, “Pappu pass ho gaya”. During this test of endurance, he is now 72, but he is game for another go at the impossible barrier next year. The pot of gold at the end of the examination rainbow does not consist only of a matriculation certificate he is working for. He has also pledged to get married only after he gets the reclusive certificate. So, his eternal bachelorhood is also at stake. Some may suspect that he has it all calculated. He has put up this impossible condition to escape the rigours of wedlock. This time too he has got only eight marks in mathematics. He is neither willing to break his “Bhishma Pratigya” nor shift to an easier board of examination. Perhaps the board-if it is not callous—will declare him successful next year for his sheer perseverance. The tribe of those wanting to attend his wedding must have grown considerably over the past nearly four decades. They must be hoping that his would-be bride has not taken any similar vow. If she is also committed to getting married only after clearing her exams, the whole matter will get further complicated, making it a typical case of marriage delayed being marriage denied. Is it his failure to clear his math test that is keeping him away from a would-be wife, or simply astrologers’ inability to make correct planetary sums? |
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One hour’s sleep before midnight is worth two after.
— A proverb |
Umpiring Parliament
THE duties of the office of Speaker and the persona of the distinguished incumbent of that office are not a riddle wrapped in mystery or encased in enigma. Both are open books. In terms of party politics, Mr Somnath Chatterjee has a proletarian connection. Socially and professionally, he is a patrician and a member of the Bhadralok elite, in other words, the upper bourgeoisie. That he is an eminent lawyer is a notable asset to him in his office to which he came at a critically fractious time. Objective observers and participants in public life know his dilemmas and difficulties. By common consent, he is regarded a huge success and rightly so. In times of transition and turmoil, the umpiring of the somewhat chaotic and pandemonium-prone empire of the people tends to run frequently into rough weather, particularly in the deliberations of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Although the management of the House is the joint responsibility of the political parties and not that of the Speaker or the Chairman, it is the Speaker and the Chairman who take the brunt personally and institutionally. If political parties are remiss, the Chair can do only so much and no more. Mr Chatterjee has done more than any other Speaker and in much worse circumstances. His successes are personal; the failures are systemic, cultural, psychological and partly political. No doubt, the Speaker is not infallible but a tribute is due to his judicious objectivity, flexibility and sensitivity in his office. His advantage is that he is open, and he knows the rule book and the political barometer like the palm of his hand. Ultimately, peace in Parliament depends on an amicable institutional equation between the alliance in power and the alliance in the Opposition, and more specifically their respective leaders, managers and spokesperson. The failures in the functioning of the House are primarily the consequence of the ubiquitous collapse of confidence and goodwill between the two alliances and their increasing and accentuated alienation. The alliance in power has, therefore, a greater responsibility and a larger share of the blame to shoulder. The alliance in power has to be less provocative, more conciliatory and more responsive and sensitive. Instead, the alliance is often seen as being neither united nor allied, neither sufficiently conciliatory nor quite fully responsive. Both the alliances in battle array are not unaware that we live in a divided and divisive period of time when the democratic discourse has been distorted by holier-than- thou platitudes, shadow boxing and antagonistic cheerleaders. It is often a free style wrestling match in which there are no real rules of the game. The hindmost who are left to be taken by the devil in the discourse are democratic parliamentary norms, transparency and national interest. Pandit Nehru had once said that if there were no opposition, he would have to invent one. First and foremost, the ruling alliance has to recognise the value addition of credibility which the Opposition brings to governance. It has to be accommodated and has to be seen to be accommodated fairly. The power and responsibility vested in the ruling alliance should make it more humble, more accommodating, more giving, less aggressive, less strident and less provocative. The Opposition too has to be more reasonable and responsive. Civil society views the whole scenario of bellicosity with amused cynicism. To speak the blunt truth, politicians and the political process no longer inspire much confidence in the people. The Speaker or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha cannot by themselves fill the huge credibility gap. The credibility gap can be filled only if both alliances were to work in concert to make the system work. One of the problems of the Indian majoritarian parliamentary system is that it has become too sharply partisan and aggressively adversarial. Cut-throat competition in pursuit of issues and non-issues has become the order of the day involving a huge waste of precious parliamentary time, enough to dub the system as sulking and malingering. The Speaker is not right when he confesses to a sense of failure in winning the confidence of a section of the members. They have their own political compulsions when they find that the ruling alliance is not listening to them. Moreover, a certain level of alternating bilateral dissent or dissatisfaction with regard to the Speaker’s rulings is perhaps indicative of the broad balance The Speaker cannot, in fairness, be accountable for most of what is transacted and decided in the House and its committees. The unfortunate erroneous decision to admonish Mr Subhash Kashyap recently was, for example, not that of the Speaker but that of the Privileges Committee and the House. No one should be surprised that the speaker is an unhappy man in a high position because of declining standards in the Lok Sabha. Who in the country does not share the Speaker’s unhappiness? Mr Somnath Chatterjee is, however, too much of a gentleman to blame the others, but it is ultimately for We the People in civil society to judge our representative institutions. The verdict of civil society is unreserved praise and encomium for the Speaker and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Civil society freely and sincerely recognises and acclaims the magnificent role the two esteemed umpires in the two Houses - the Speaker and the Chairman - have performed. Civil society would, of course, like the political parties to work together in a constructive spirit to optimise the performance capabilities of our parliamentary system. Let us hope the major political parties will introspect and ponder over the ways and means to improve the culture and quality of their inputs in parliamentary deliberations.
The writer is an eminent jurist and leading constitutional expert.
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Green house
Our house had a name in the neighbourhood. In times when experimenting with facades was not such a done thing, it wore a striking green on the outside. Only at a few places, the canopy of emerald was interrupted to create space for dashes of orange — a deadly combination indeed, and one much ahead of its times. I was barely nine then, and assumingly quite juvenile to make sense of colours. But despite the age and its impetuosities, I assigned myself a serious role — one as spokesperson for my fashionable little house. In free time, I would go about flaunting my possession among friends and priding in the wake of their envy. One fine day, I went a bit too far on the road to pride. I almost punched a younger friend whose “under-construction” house was shaping up as a potential challenger to my fully furnished one. And having done what I thought was my duty I went straight to my father, almost dictating him to take action for immediate restoration of my honour, which had been so badly bruised. He sat on his favourite couch, reading his favourite newspaper, while I stood opposite him; thumping, thudding, fuming and doing all that my frail built allowed me to do. After putting up with my histrionics for 10 minutes, he finally got down to parenting - art, which children often take for granted. He flung his strong arms around my shaky little shoulders and flashed at me the most incredible smile I was to ever see. “Let her have all the red,” he said, “You still have the best colour in the world. Had it not been for the greens, God’s nature would not have looked divine as it does. Nor would the earth look so beautiful in contrast with the blue sky.” I understood, but not quite. So we decided to take the lesson further into the day, and then into another one. At the crack of dawn the following day, my father came over to wake me up. Over the next two hours that morning, we were walking hand in hand, talking about things that stay hidden in nature, revealing themselves only to those that care to envision. For the first time in my life that day, I listened to the voice of nature, which whispered its beauty right into my ears. On what turned out to be an enchanting trail, I watched over the glorious greens that God had spread for its creation to savour, I counted every leaf that lay strewn on our path, I listened to the music of now-chirping, now-humming birds that nested proudly in the groves of massive trees. And as I woke up to the amazing truths about nature and about the colour in which it expressed itself, I stood a proud girl again. My worries were gone in no time at all and my bruised honour was well restored. Needless to say, I was back on the house promotion circuit all too soon. Only this time I had better logics to give — ones that ensured that my green house never fell out of
glory! |
Planning Punjab’s future
The Punjab government was on cloud nine a while ago. Big industrialists appeared, descending on the state. People in villages, particularly around Mohali, started talking about the prospective impact of the industrial projects highlighted through the media. However, suddenly, the government finds itself in an uncomfortable situation. The highly publicised project of Reliance Group of Industries has got punctured. The 20 acres of land in Mohali, owned by the Punjab Mandi Board, was allegedly being given to the Reliance group for the project at its original purchase price of Rs. 2 crore. It was obviously a throw-away price. The estimated market price was above Rs 100 crore. This land deal evoked vehement protests not only from the opposition parties in the state, but also from leaders of the party in power. The special invitee to the All-India Congress Working Committee, Jagmeet Singh Brar, has openly taken up cudgels with the Chief Minister on this issue. It has created intra-party wrangling that provoked immediate reaction of the party supremo, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. As if this was not enough, there were rumblings from the Punjab Congress president also. Leaving aside the political parties, almost all ‘kisan’ organisations in the state have reacted strongly and opposed this deal. They were already up in arms against the land given to the Trident Group in three villages near Barnala. The Reliance deal has added fuel to the fire. A strong wave of resentment is permeating through the villages and among the peasantry which feels that the government is bent upon handing over fertile land of Punjab to the industrialists thereby, uprooting the farmers. Look at the predicament of the government. On one side the farmers are saying that farming has become a loss-incurring vocation. Various economic surveys have proved the ‘loss’ aspect beyond doubt. It has also been found that the remedy of improving the lot of farmers lies only in industrialisation of the state, wherein surplus manpower now dependent on farms could be absorbed. The farm produce will also be profitably utilised. It will make a good riddance of the wheat-paddy cycle now jeopardising the soil and the water table in the state. But when the government embarked upon the industrialising mode, it is being met with tough opposition on one pretext or the other. After all, the industries cannot be set up in space. Why this opposition? The farmers are not that simple. Obviously there is something else which doesn’t meet the eye. People feel that for four years, the political executive of the state did not touch the development aspect. Rather some of the welfare schemes were either curtailed or withdrawn. Now when their term is at the fag end and the elections are hardly nine months away, all this hullabaloo of development has begun. People also think of the projected development strides as money-making adventures, something that can hardly be disbelieved in the present political scenario. The farmer community, therefore, doesn’t take the development claims seriously, much less in the right perspective. In fact, the resentment among the public on government’s working has been brewing for quite some time past. It probably started when the government’s stake in Punjab Tractors, a navratna-type unit in the state sector, was sold to a private company. Where was the urgency of selling Punjab Tractors to a private company which is now said to be doing well? A case in point is of the BALCO, a public sector company where government’s stake was divested at Rs. 77 per share during the NDA regime and talk about a ‘ghotala’ of Rs 1,000 crore resounded in Parliament. Another contentious issue in public mind has been the one-time settlement of the PSIDCs overdues. The case of a Ludhiana industrialist, whose huge overdue loans were settled, apparently at very accommodating terms, not withstanding the RBI guidelines on settlement exercises. This got lot of attention in the media. The inviting of the big builders from abroad for setting up big malls and housing colonies also caused disquiet. Several other similar proposals were contemplated where only the sale of land was involved, but they had to be abandoned in view of the negative public sentiment. The irony of the situation is that the big or small projects, ‘settlements and land deals’ etc. are made out in such a manner that the exchange of hush money, if any, cannot be proved. The system has got so polluted that every deal appears wrong, no matter how much honesty may have been exercised. Unfortunately, a very progressive and much-needed effort towards industrialising Punjab is being dampened. The reason? Unabashed publicity, tall claims, unbridled criticism by some. All this makes the development scenario murky. People have a perception that now new industry is to be seen even after four years. What has the government been busy with till now? Tall and hollow claims, that too in condemning the previous government and attributing every evil to them. The oft-repeated insinuations: empty treasury, rampant corruption, favouritism, illiterate Akalis, people have got sick of hearing it. No sane person would build castles on others’ graves. Alas! This is what has been fed to the people as development during the past four years. Why the building activity only has been allowed to dominate the development scenario? The people are watching. However, the common man, the poor guy forgets that ‘money is where the development is’. In the presence scenario, a new road map for industrialising Punjab preferably envisaging agro-based industries in cluster of villages, opening vistas of employment to the local youth, needs to be drawn The map should suit the soil and state and not entirely to the industrialists and the traders involved. |
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Securing soccer’s super spectacle
BERLIN — The World Cup opened in Germany on Friday as security forces prepared for terrorism, racial attacks, hooligan violence and neo-Nazi rallies aimed at rousing the past and spoiling the nation’s image before a global audience. The month long soccer tournament will be played in 12 cities, creating a massive security grid of hundreds of thousands of police officers, surveillance equipment, bomb-sniffing dogs, intelligence operatives, fighter jets and other anti-terrorist tactics of the post-Sept. 11 world. Germany is expecting 1.5 million visitors from dozens of countries, and the security presence was evident this week with police ringing stadiums and helicopters skimming overhead as arriving fans waved flags and chanted songs. The nation’s borders were tightened, and German authorities worked with police in Britain, the Netherlands and other countries to stem the flow of thousands of hooligans. “There’s hardly a better target than the World Cup,” Bavarian Interior Minister Gunther Beckstein said. “Some matches are watched by billions of people around the world.” Europe has been unnerved in recent years by terrorist cells that carried out bombings in London and Madrid, Spain. Germany and other nations are also battling rising right-wing extremism. Memories still linger of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, when 11 Israeli athletes were taken hostage by Palestinian militants. A rescue attempt left 11 Israelis, five terrorists and a police officer dead. A major concern of German police is that neo-Nazi and skinhead groups will exploit the tournament’s international media coverage. Using text cell-phone messages and Web sites, right-wing extremists have been planning rallies and meetings with radicals from around Europe. The National Democratic Party, a remnant of Hitler’s Nazi machine, has told members to march in Leipzig on June 21 when Iran plays Angola. The German far-right supports Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s calls to annihilate Israel. “The neo-Nazis are well organised, and that’s what we’re afraid of,” said Andreas Nowak, a security expert and lawyer for the German police union. The radical right is a fringe movement deplored by most Germans. But a recent government report shows that right-wing, racially motivated violence jumped 23 per cent in 2005 and that the number of right-wing extremists willing to use force rose from 10,000 to 10,400. German security forces want to avoid the atmosphere of the 1990s, when a spate of immigrant deaths conjured scenes from the nation’s past and led to a crackdown on neo-Nazi groups. “During the World Cup, everyone can feel safe wherever he goes in Germany,” Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. Hooligans are more difficult to contain. Fuelled by drinking binges, their violence is more sporadic, leading to fights in pubs and stadiums and rampages through city streets. “I don’t think the problem facing the World Cup is terrorism or racism,” said Michael Backendorf, who studies and writes about soccer violence. The danger, he said, is hooligans and other radical groups coming together “where all it takes is one day, on one street, in one cafe for bad things to
happen.” By arrangement with LA-Times–Washington Post |
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Chatterati The latest sport in town is to be in the Commonwealth Organisation Committee. Suresh Kalmadi hosted a fabulous dinner for the visiting Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennel. However, the cold vibes of the sulking Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer were enough to freeze in the heat. At least something is keeping the pot-bellied politicians busy. They head various committees—judo for example is chaired by Jagdish Tytler. Oops! Shiela Dixit better beware! You may need to know that Vijay K Malhotra heads archery, football has Priya Dass Munshi, and table tennis is for Abhay Chautala. Anand Sharma looked a bit stiff. Obviously, man! He is a mantri now. Ah! One cannot help noticing the charming, petite Shiela Dixit, while Nafisa Ali skips, hops and jumps for attention. Shiela may be adding a few more grey hair everyday to get the basic paani bijli problem sorted out, but the new planners of Delhi have yet to make a start to prepare the city for the games, sometimes playing footsie, at other times kabaddi and archery behind the scenes. With enough money to be got by the auction of plots for hotels and other such revenue-generation avenues, I wonder how many greased palms will have gold dust on them.
Trial by media As usual when a celebrity is involved in any case the electronic media goes hysterical. Trial by the media is enough now, why bother the courts? Tragedies in families are now for free viewing. The crucifixion by the media of Rahul Mahajan’s mother, while she got out of her car, was enough for all to feel sorry for her. Poor Lady! How is she expected to answer why her husband was shot dead by her brother-in-law, or if Rahul is on drugs? If something similar had happened to any of the big media moguls or other powerful people, would they have let the media behave in the fashion? How a lot of children of the influential in Delhi are hooked on several such substances is an open secret. How do you expect parent to answer for their kids’ lifestyle? Doctors having hurried Press conferences, making statements and being pursued by the Press/police aggressively…. I feel that in future, no doctor will try to help/save patients who have been admitted in emergency situations. The new trend among criminals of first going to the media and then to the police is sure to cause hindrances in police investigations. Why is the Press allowing itself to be misused by suspects who are using it as another tool to get away with their wrong actions?
Sepia splendour of
Kashmir I have not seen such a spectacular exhibition of photographs where the scenic beauty of Kashmir has been captured to perfection. The black and white photographs, clicked by R.C. Mehta of the Mahatta Studio in Srinagar, spoke volumes about the valley pictured from the 30’s to 60’s. A photograph of lone man facing a storm reminded one of Gulam Nabi Azad’s position today. Down memory lanes of old Kashmir, the black and white photographs took us all back to its days of glory and splendour and bygone days without the colour of red that prevails heavy in Kashmir nowadays. |
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From the pages of February 12, 1953
Privy purses
The problem of the scale of privy purses which have been sanctioned for the erstwhile princes has been before the public for some time. There is a growing demand for the scaling down of the amounts which in the case of some of the more important ex-rulers are very considerable, indeed. It appears that the princes themselves are not unconscious of what the public expects of them at this time. A report appeared in the press a few weeks ago, stating that the Rajasthan princes had met at Jaipur to discuss the question of privy purses. The news item said that Rajasthan princes were in favour of a voluntary cut. But subsequent reports have not indicated whether the ex-rulers’ consultations have resulted in a definite decision nor have they made any mention of the extent of reduction the princes are prepared to make in the privy purses they enjoy. |
I and nine indicate ignorance. Without ignorance one cannot have such a feeling as “I am the doer; these are my wife, children and possessions”. — Ramakrishna The Supreme truth is immortal and indestructible. It has remained the same since the beginning of time. One who does not know this, is merely deluding himself. One who feels that all that exists is the present, is making a grave
mistake. — The Bhagvad Gita |
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