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Capital violence Koda’s troubles |
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Shifting sands
Political promiscuity
Basic human values
Brand Amul A Hanuman leap for Bollywood Delhi
Durbar
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Capital violence IN a long long time, Delhi had not come face to face with the kind of violence that was let loose on Wednesday during the traders’ bandh against the MCD’s sealing drive. The policemen reacted in kind, making it an ugly confrontation. Loss to life and property was considerable. If the sealing drive is indeed withdrawn now, it will only embolden lumpen elements, much to the discomfiture of law-abiding citizens, by sending the signal that any disciplinary action can be derailed by confronting the authorities. Who orchestrated this “show of strength” is anybody’s guess. What is obvious is the purpose behind it: to prove that court orders were “unenforceable” as it would cause a widespread law and order problem. The role of the politicians in the whole episode has been dubious. They have tried to project the judiciary as the villain of the piece. They have adopted a confrontationist posture against the judiciary by talking of rewriting the laws and even amending the Constitution. All this has been done to please the strong traders’ lobby. No thought has been spared for harried residents of various colonies whose life has become hell because of the rampant commercial activities being conducted there. What is their fault if the civic authorities looked the other way when these were started? If the traders have the right to conduct commercial activities from residential areas, residents too have a right to lead a hassle-free life. Will anyone speak up for the silently suffering majority? This is not the first time that such hullabaloo has been engineered. There were similar howls of protests when the Supreme Court had taken the initiative to introduce CNG fuel in the national Capital. Inspired stories were floated that this would mean untold hardship for “poor autorickshaw-wallahs”. Now that Delhi breathes a little easier because of the introduction of the clean fuel, the self-styled protectors of the poor people’s rights have appropriated another cause.
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Koda’s troubles Jharkhand
Chief Minister Madhu Koda has won the confidence vote. The UPA was one up in the game of numbers right from the day four ministers, including Mr Koda, quit the Arjun Munda government and switched sides. This, in a way, forced the BJP leader to resign without facing the trial of strength. His victory notwithstanding, Mr Koda has to walk a tightrope in running the affairs of the state. In the 82-member House (including the officiating speaker and a nominated member), he has a majority of only two members. Keeping the flock of 41 members in good humour would indeed be a challenge for the young chief minister. His immediate task is to expand his council of ministers. And this is going to be his first test. Jharkhand can have only 12 ministers, including the chief minister. But there are too many aspirants for the remaining eight berths. Three ministers were sworn in along with Mr Koda. While the Congress is supporting the government from outside, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha are lobbying hard for the maximum number of ministerial berths. There is a tussle even for the post of deputy chief minister. Some members are also angling for portfolios like home, mining and geology, industries and PWD. Doubts are bound to arise on the stability of the government when the chief minister himself is an Independent with no experience in statecraft and handling political parties. The three ministers who were inducted along with Mr Koda are all first-time MLAs. Will Mr Shibu Soren and Mr Lalu Prasad give him a free hand? Jharkhand is not only one of the poorest states but also one of the worst affected by the Naxalite menace. In such circumstances, will this government be in a position to tackle the Naxalites? Unprincipled politics is the bane of the Indian political system. Once elected, politicians care two hoots about governance and people’s interests. The least that Jharkhand needs today is a stable government which the Koda ministry cannot provide. Perhaps, the recent developments are a prelude to early elections in Jharkhand.
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Shifting sands OF late, there has been a noticeable change in the US and Iranian rhetoric on Teheran’s controversial nuclear programme. The confrontationist attitude seems to be giving way to dependence on negotiations. It was not without reason that President George Bush and Iranian President Mehmoud Ahmadinejad avoided coming in direct contact with each other during the UN General Assembly session. The White House held a reception for foreign dignitaries at the time when Mr Ahmadinejad was busy addressing the General Assembly on Tuesday. And he kept himself away from the UN headquarters when it was time for Mr Bush to deliver his speech the same day. Of course, they criticised each other’s policies and programmes but the language used was not the same they have been employing to browbeat each other. Before going to the UN President Bush asked Iran to come to the negotiating table or face sanctions. Reading between the lines, one gets the impression that there is a subtle shift in the stance. Fresh efforts are on to ensure that there is no need for the Security Council to impose sanctions. This is despite the fact that Iran is guilty of having refused to honour the deadline —- August 31 —- fixed for it to stop all kinds of uranium-enrichment activity. While Russia and China have been opposed to a sanctions regime since the very beginning of the crisis, France is now arguing that the world community should forget about this coercive course of action if Iran is ready to sit at the negotiating table after suspending uranium-enrichment activity. And Teheran is not averse to talks. During the recent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, its chief, Dr Mohammed ElBaradei, too laid stress on diplomatic means to handle the Iranian nuclear issue even at this stage with a view to avoiding the consequences that would only add to the tensions the world is faced with today. It seems the international community is optimistic that the crisis can be handled successfully through dialogue and with a little give and take despite the setbacks suffered so far. Now all the parties concerned should prepare themselves for a fresh dialogue with the conviction that nothing should be done that can destabilise the world further.
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I don’t care anything about reasons, but I know what I like. — Henry James
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Political promiscuity
ON Monday the Madhu Koda ministry of Jharkhand — the third in less than two years, and the fifth in the six years since the state’s formation — was sworn in. Only four men, including Mr Koda, all of them deserters from the previous Cabinet of Mr Arjun Munda, took the oath, which only underscores the new chief minister’s agony. For, no fewer than 28 other members of the tenuous ruling combination are claiming ministerial berths but the law allows a Cabinet of only 12 in a House of 82. At least three “parties”, each having only a single member in the legislature, have laid down elaborate conditions for their support’s continuance. It is bad enough that in the Jharkhand legislature the two rival sides are so evenly balanced that even a small shift in the notoriously fickle political loyalties can bring the government down. More alarmingly, “independents” like Mr Koda, rather than the two mainstream parties, the Congress and the BJP, or even the dominant state party, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, call the shots. Some corrective to this ugly state of affairs might have been possible were the two major parties willing to agree at least on the barest minimum rules of the game. But that, alas, is far from being the case in the present polarised and confrontational ambience. The interplay between the largely venal political class and Big Money, with its own axe to grind, is also worrisome. Industrial houses making enormous investments in the raw material-rich Jharkhand want to be sure of the state’s rulers they do business with. That is where the rub seems to lie. For, the new Cabinet’s first decision is to “review” all the memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed by the ousted ministry. It looks like a repetition of the infamous Enron affair in Maharashtra. Sadly, this pernicious pattern might not remain confined to Jharkhand. The way the constantly fragmenting politics is also becoming permissive, indeed promiscuous, might make Jharkhand a role model. A bird’s eye-view of recent developments in some states confirms this. The case of the most sensitive state of Jammu and Kashmir — about which few bother except when some horrendous terrorist outrage takes place — is most instructive. Past mistakes born of neglect, bad governance, rampant corruption, and unending political chicanery and manipulation, the brazen rigging of elections in particular, created the widespread alienation that made J & K the happy hunting ground for those hell-bent on exporting terrorism to it under the cloak of “freedom fight”. After the 2002 assembly poll — acknowledged as free and fair by one and all — and the formation of a coalition government by the Congress and the People’s Democratic Front, headed by the PDP leader, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, there were welcome winds of change. But bad old habits of placing party, factional and personal pursuits above national interest reasserted themselves when, under prior agreement, the Mufti handed over the office of chief minister to Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress. The issue was the PDP’s demand for the ouster of its representative in the state Cabinet, Mr Muzaffar Hassan Beig, whom Mr Azad had designated Deputy Chief Minister. But for the belated intervention of the Congress “high command” the coalition could well have collapsed. In UP, politically the key state, the situation is bizarre. The Congress’ anxiety to regain, in the forthcoming assembly elections, the bastion lost in 1990 should explain the murky manoeuvring on this score, such as the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh’s reckless gamble over OBC reservations. At a different level, the antics of Mr Ajit Singh, the son of the late Chaudhri Charan Singh, are more laughable. Currently in alliance with UP’s Samajwadi Chief Minister, Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav, he is willing to cross over to the Congress and the UPA, typically, for a price. He wants a seat on the Union Cabinet, a portfolio of his choice and the appointment of one of his associates as a minister of state. An intriguing addition to this discouraging backdrop was the two-day convention of the Nationalist Congress Party over the weekend at Dehradun. There, this party, led by the Union Agriculture Minister and Maratha strongman, Mr Sharad Pawar, spoke with a forked tongue, with Mr Pawar saying all the right things about the Congress but other leaders of the NCP — and more significantly, its political resolution — sharply criticising the Congress party’s “big brotherly” attitude, ineptitude and infighting. The call for a Third Front was loud and clear. The general secretary of the CPM, Mr Prakash Karat, has also publicly expressed his preference for the Third Front but has admitted that its formation is not feasible at present. To be sure, there is no danger to the UPA government’s survival for its full term of five years. Its main challenger, the BJP, is in such a pathetic state that it is paralysed for all practical purposes. However, no sensible Congress leader can afford to forget that even when the party used to have a two-thirds majority, it invariably landed itself in acute difficulties at the halfway point in its five-year term. This happened even after Indira Gandhi’s spectacular triumph in the 1971 general election followed by the liberation of Bangladesh. In two months’ time, the Manmohan Singh government would be reaching that critical juncture in its career. It will therefore have to watch its step and take mid-term corrective action. But that is easier said than done. For, despite excellent relations between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the relationship between the party and the government leaves a lot to be desired. The Prime Minister faces arguably more problems from his Congress colleagues than from allies content with running their ministries as fiefdoms. As for the party, it seems to have lost its faculty to think. The only idea that emerges from any Congress conclave at any level — usually in a sycophantic chorus — is that Mr Rahul Gandhi should be assigned a “greater role”. More surprisingly, both Rahul and Ms Sonia Gandhi seem to believe that the sprawling and vital state of UP is but a small corner of Rae Bareli and Amethi, the parliamentary constituencies of mother and son respectively. If either of them or anyone else is doing anything to build up the moribund Congress party across the state, where its stakes are the highest, the country has yet to hear of
it.
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Basic human values IN this age of relentless pursuit of material success, human values are the commonest casualty. Just look at the world around us. Today, we easily doubt the integrity of almost every critical institution: political leaders, bureaucrats, judges, lawyers, policemen, doctors and so on. Ironically, while this trend has a direct corelation with the material progress of mankind, it could be lethal for the future of the civil society. So, what is it that keeps us going? I firmly believe we draw sustenance from those few around us who do not compromise their integrity despite all odds; those who hold on to basic human values in the face of every challenge and temptation. I am writing this piece as a person who saw Justice Satish Chand Mital from close quarters and believes that certain chapters of his life hold immense value for our generation. I would therefore focus on those attributes that endeared him to almost everyone he came in contact with. During his tenure as District & Sessions Judge, Karnal, from 1966 to 1969 he conducted the Kairon Murder Case trial that finds prominent mention in the annals of judicial history. There was a moment during this trial that reinforced his belief that if one conducted oneself in a humane yet professional and dignified manner, one could make a place in any heart. How else could Sucha Singh, the killer of former chief minister of Punjab Mr Partap Singh Kairon, come up to my father after getting a death sentence from him and say: “Please excuse me for any lapse on my part during the proceedings of the case” During his three decades of judicial service, he delivered judgements on some of the most high-profile cases involving powerful people that were litigated till the apex court. However, there is not a single instance when his judgement was set aside by a higher court. That spoke volumes about his legal acumen as well as his humane sense of propriety and justice. In the now-famous Panipat arson case, his insights led to a turnaround in the earlier ruling in the case and 10 innocent persons belonging to labour class who were mistakenly convicted, were freed. The judgement was eventually upheld by the Supreme Court. It is hard to believe that a person so full of simplicity could deliver landmark judgements in some of the most complex cases. Many a time when these judgements were delivered, odds were heavily stacked against him. I can’t forget the day when he came back from the court visibly very moved. He had successfully reconciled an estranged couple who were adamant on divorce upon instigation from powerful vested interests. He took special permission to meet the couple alone and made them see reason. A marriage on the rocks was thus saved. I could see that it was his fatherly love and concern that helped him go that extra mile and save a marriage. It was his firm belief that when values are at the core of your persona, making decisions comes easier. It was this sentiment that always made him go beyond the hard facts of the case and draw radically different conclusions. His exemplary worklife did leave a mark on his profession, I
believe.
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Brand Amul THE cooperative sector in Gujarat has been in turmoil ever since Verghese Kurien resigned as Chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF). The rumblings in GCMMF were an issue of concern for the cooperative milk sector – the flagship of the Indian cooperative movement. However, the recent decision of the district cooperative milk unions in Gujarat to sell milk under a single brand – Amul – will definitely strengthen the cooperative dairy sector in Gujarat. Amul is all set to become the largest milk brand in the world. The projected market volume will increase from 36-38 lakh litres per day to 45-46 lakh litres per day This welcome development provides Amul a competitive edge in today’s market-driven economy. Before consolidation, the unions were selling their own brands in their respective territories. This was despite the fact that a national brand like Amul was available to them. This did this not make any sense. At a time when there was a need to strengthen the common Amul brand in the wake of Amul’s foray into production of various value-added products, the unions’ passionate clinging to their local brands defied business logic. The unions, which had made immense contributions to the popularity of the Amul brand outside Gujarat, were sending wrong signals to the private players by sticking to their local roots with their own brands. This too at a time when Amul had taken such initiatives like setting up 100 retail parlours under the name “Utterly Delicious”, which would give it a retail edge as compared to HCL Cadbury. No doubt, the recent statement by Kurien that adoption of a common brand would promote healthy competition in the milk sector bolsters this view. In recent years, cooperatives have not been able to do effective marketing of their products as compared to big players due to their inability to generate adequate resources for advertisements, publicity events, and the like. The exceptions here are cash-rich organisations like IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED, and GCMMF, to name a few. As a result, the cooperatives are always on the look out for cost-effective methods to prune their expenditure on publicity, while remaining competitive at the same time by channelising their resources into other needful areas. Consolidation under a single Amul brand would lead to a significant decline in the publicity expenses incurred by each union, which runs into several crores. This would enable Amul to reduce its costs while at the same time, its publicity focus will not diminish. This will enhance Amul’s appeal as a unified brand with a clear identity that the customer can relate to. The Amul brand has been etched in the memory of the customers for a long time. For customers, it has been a triumph of the cooperative spirit, symbolised in the powerful dairy revolution ushered in by the milk cooperatives. Further consolidation of the brand would provide a clear identity of the strengths of cooperatives to customers. It will be a perfect marketing tool to propagate the cooperative concept as a viable business strategy for the benefit of the consumers. There are wider implications for the cooperative sector too. Despite cooperatives making immense progress in all fields, brand building has been a neglected area for cooperatives. Brand-building and consolidation, and highlighting the ways in which cooperative products are different from private sector products, are needed if cooperatives are to emerge as competitive business units. The Amul example shows that while building up or strengthening brands is important, a single brand can economise marketing expenditure in a big way. For more success stories other than dairy cooperatives, cooperatives have to market their strengths or distinctiveness through a single brand which can be cost-effective. A single brand has other advantages too. The consumers will gain from a single brand Amul as the price benefit ratio will also increase. This will definitely benefit the customers and strengthen the customer loyalty and provide Amul an edge over other private competitors. Despite the brand consolidation, Amul must take all necessary steps to ensure quality. Quality has been the trademark of Amul which has enabled it to build up a strong-customer base. The quality has to be standardised and strictly maintained. Amul must re-evaluate and devise effective strategies in this regard. Its ability to work on these lines will determine its competitiveness as compared to other private players. The consolidation of the Amul brand is a welcome step in boosting the general image of the cooperative sector at a time when the political squabbles seemed to have raised eyebrows on the growth of the cooperative dairy sector. The dairy sector, needless to say, has played a big role in building up the image of the cooperative sector in the recent times. The decision of the district unions to forge unity through a single brand will definitely provide a new direction to the cooperative dairy sector. This will also mould public opinion towards cooperatives in a more favourable way. The writer works with the National Cooperative Union of India, New Delhi
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A Hanuman leap for Bollywood MY four year old is addicted to the movie, Hanuman. The amusing part is I enjoy the film, recently available on DVD, just as much. It has foot-tapping music, animation at par with any international production and a wonderful, Indianised storyline. This tale features apsaras, asuras and the Himalayas rather than fairies, goblins and the Alps. Has the Indian animation industry, finally, arrived? The global entertainment industry is $70 billion and animation makes for $37 billion of those revenues. Two of the most successful films in the US this summer were the Pixar animation production, Cars, which grossed $20 million in its opening weekend, and Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks production, Monster House. India too is coming of age in the animation field, and it is emerging as a new destination for the international animation and special effects industry. According to the trade magazine Variety, the Indian animation industry, which is now pegged at $550 million, is expected to grow at 30% annually in the next couple of years and reach a level of $15 billion by 2010. Hanuman is just the first baby steps towards introducing a new genre of entertainment to the audiences. Although digital animation is in its infancy, animation has been used by Indian film-makers for three decades. Acclaimed animator Ram Mohan’s projects, like Meena for UNICEF and India’s first animation feature, Ramayana: The Legend of a Prince, are well known. India has the creative talent and, as the surprise success of Hanuman has shown, growing interest among audiences for full-length animation features. Indian airwaves, until recently, were completely monopolized by animation shows based on Western themes. “Our Western competitors have had a huge advantage over us in terms of investment, revenue, infrastructure and experience,” says P. Jayakumar, CEO, Toonz Animation India, “but now the Indian animation industry is slowly spreading its wings and learning to fly.” Animators agree that Indian epics, with a mix of rich mythology, epic dramas, fantasies and colourful characters, constitute the right stew for animated cartoons. Turner Entertainment Networks Asia recently did a survey on what the Indian children preferred and found that animation based on Indian characters and stories are most popular. Whether Hanuman (or the earlier Bhaggmati) will change the course of Indian animation remains to be seen but it is an exciting opening act. The adorable animated couple, Hum and Tum of the movie Hum Tum, will soon be enthralling their young fans as a TV series made by Kathaa animation company. And I haven’t given my son the real good news: Precept Picture Company and Toonz Animation are all set to produce the sequel, Hanuman 2.
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Delhi
Durbar UNDER its India leadership initiative, the CII, in
tandem with the Aspen Institute and Goldman Sachs, announced 24 fellowships for leaders in various walks of life. The Chamber had proposed that selected leaders from business, government and civil society between the 30-45 age group be exposed to a range of “thought leaders” from around the globe. The idea was to “compel them to put their own visions and leadership styles into action.” Those selected included young politicians like Omar Abdullah, Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia; business leaders like Shivinder Mohan Singh, MD of Fortis Health care and Salujja Firodia Motwani of Kinetic Engineering; besides others from NGOs, media and the legal profession. Felicitating the achievers, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia complained that one important category, which has a major impact on the economy and government policies, had been overlooked. He hoped the next time they would include leaders from the trade unions. “The leaders from this section also need to be engaged in major leadership programmes,” Ahluwalia observed amid light banter by the captains of industry.
Yashwant’s gain The mole controversy seems to have cost former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh dear within the BJP. Jaswant, who had been articulating the party’s views on foreign policy issues, has been relegated to the back seat. The spotlight is now on Yashwant Sinha, who has also served as External Affairs Minister. Whether it was the crucial Indo-US nuke deal or the recent Joint Statement between India and Pakistan in Havana, Sinha has been addressing the press conferences and presenting the party’s views to the media.
People’s man Himachal Pradesh Irrigation and Public Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur has been taking part, for the past 14 years, in the annual ‘Sair Festival’ of the Mandi Jan Kalyan Sabha, a forum of people hailing from Mandi in the national capital. Even when the Congress was in the opposition, Kaul Singh was invited for the festival and he came every year. Kaul Singh, who has won several successive assembly elections, knows how to strike a rapport with the people. At this year’s ‘Sair Festival’, he joined the cultural troupe on the stage for an impromptu dance. People in Himachal Pradesh have the best access to drinking water in the country and Kaul Singh, who holds three other portfolios, is evidently proud.
No respite from harassment Is Delhi a city of sexual perverts? A group of women who recently tried to create awareness against sexual harassment in the city were in for a rude shock. A late-night march organised by these women to protest against improper behaviour of men in the city came to naught as they were mobbed by roadside Romeos who started clapping, whistling and passing lewd comments. The terrified women taking part in this “Night Action Plan” organised by the Blank Noise Project, were left with no option but to run for cover. Some of the participants said the incident had left most of them shaken and only strengthened their claim that Delhi is unsafe for women. Contributed by Manoj Kumar, S Satyanarayanan, Prashant Sood and Smriti Kak Ramachandran
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From the pages of Still hugging a cult ONE of the major reasons for the current mood of disenchantment and despondency in the country is that promotion of the personality cult over the three decades since Independence. It was first Jawaharlal Nehru, and then it was Indira Gandhi, with a few minor heroes thrown in, not as alternatives so much as complementary to the two principal performers on the national stage all these years. Those who promote the cult of personality are best described as the votaries of political feudalism. They are happy to transfer their own responsibility as citizens to a personalised power focus. What India needs in 1981 is neither blind faith in the infallibility of a political guru nor the total rejection of the present system in favour of anarchy. India needs the will to work on a pattern of consensus supported by at least a minimum set of ethical values to which we seem to have said goodbye in the decade which ended yesterday. |
I would go to the sacred places of pilgrimage and bath there, if by doing so I could win His love and grace. But bathing alone is of no use, if it does not please Him. There are many ways by which we can try to win Him over. Only we have to work towards that end by listening to His voice. Meditating on Him we can develop priceless faculties of the mind and the soul. — Guru Nanak None should boast of what they cannot achieve. Called to the challenge, they are forced to seek wild excuses which convince none and make them a laughing stock. — The Mahabharata
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