 |
|
Sufis and saints Portfolios by another label This is not cricket |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reservations by religion
No accounting for tastes
Money for defence UK intensifies surveillance with I-card Chatterati
|
Sufis and saints KASHMIRIYAT came under attack when terrorists targeted a religious congregation in Pulwama district on Friday. The provocation was the growing popularity of Maulana Abdul Rashid Dawoodi, who reportedly belongs to the Barailvi School of theology. The preacher draws sustenance from the sufi tradition of Islam, which has its deep roots in the Valley. Unlike him, the terrorists take inspiration from a militant form of Islam which the Saudis have been overtly and covertly encouraging. Known as the Wahabi school of Islam, it seeks to dissociate the religion from the little Islamic traditions that have flourished in Kashmir since time immemorial. The Wahabis are more doctrinaire as they claim to be solely guided by the Holy Book and other scriptures. Few people now realise that in Kashmir, Islam gained its strength through the patrons of Sufism and other mystic forms of religion. The terrorists have never shown any sympathy to the sufi traditions of the state as they want Islam as a monolithic religion that does not countenance saints and gurus. Over a decade ago, they showed their utter contempt for such traditions when they burnt down the 14th century shrine dedicated to the patron saint of Kashmir, Noorud-Din Wali, at Charar-e-Sharief. Dawoodi became anathema to the terrorists because he preached a more tolerant form of Islam, which can coexist with other religions in a multi-culture society like Jammu and Kashmir’s. And for good measure, his school of Islam also encouraged shrine worship all of which brought him into their firing line. It did not matter to them that while targeting the preacher, they killed four innocent children and injured nearly 35 people, who flocked to the local masjid to hear a religious discourse. Nothing is more condemnable than this act of violence against what is called a soft target. The timing of the attack is also significant. It came a week before secretary-level talks are to begin between India and Pakistan in New Delhi. It amounts to a warning that the terrorists cannot be ignored in any deal they may strike. However, they cannot be left to their machinations, as the government has to adopt a more proactive approach to deal with the problem of terrorism.
|
|
Portfolios by another label Politicians
exhort the public to obey the law, not only in letter but also in spirit. And yet, they themselves do exactly the opposite merrily. Mind you, this is done not only in their personal capacity but also in the official one. The classic example of this is the bringing in of a large army of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries in state after state. The 91st constitutional amendment had been brought about to keep the size of the ministries in control. But the politicians have gotten over the “hindrance” by finding this escape route. The Himachal Pradesh High Court has quashed the appointments and the matter is now before the Supreme Court. But such Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries sit pretty in several other states like Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat. Ironically, the Centre has tried to wash its hands off the whole issue by shifting the onus onto the states. This has constrained the Supreme Court to remark: “If this is the stand for amending the Constitution, you can go back to Parliament and amend it again.… There is no point in circumventing the law.” Indeed, where was the need to amend the Constitution if the purpose was to be defeated by bringing in CPS and PS in place of ministers? Nor does it behove the Centre to wash its hands off the circumvention of the Constitution that has also been perpetrated by many Congress governments in the states, among those belonging to other parties. Strange as it may seem, sticking to the limit on the size of the ministries is in the interest of Chief Ministers too. They can withstand the pressure from numerous MLAs, by showing them the amendment. It is just that while trying to appease as many MLAs as possible, they have themselves devised the Parliamentary Secretary route for distributing patronage. This practice spawns a lot of corruption too because the posts are held as a bait to those desirous of switching parties — of course in the company of sufficient number of other deserters — in search of greener pastures.
|
|
This is not cricket
A game which has seen everything from bodyline bowling to match-fixing may have never quite been a pure gentlemen’s game, but there was certainly an association with fair play and restrained behaviour that is increasingly eroding. The just concluded Champions Trophy started off on an ominous note with the Pakistani speedsters Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif testing positive for drugs. And it concluded with the unseemly incident where a bunch of more than exuberant Aussies shoved around India’s cricket board chief in their eagerness to get their hands on the trophy and start celebrating. And just when one thought that it couldn’t get worse, we have allegations that Shoaib Akhtar not only misbehaved in a disco, but slapped his own coach, Bob Woolmer, “on the neck,” besides banging on Indian team rooms in the night, and rousing Greg Chappel and his wife out of their beds. While these incidents have been denied, it is fairly clear that unseemly behaviour has become increasingly common and even gained a certain legitimacy. While Ponting has done the right thing in offering to apologise, both his and his cricket chief’s comments fall short of expressing true regret, and have not yet served to clear the air. Mr Sharad Pawar, of course, has chosen to maintain dignity, and has played down the incident. But the Aussies clearly owe him and Indian cricket an apology. As former India coach John Wright put it, dressing rooms (and cricket fields) are certainly not churches. On the other hand, some basic values are essential to preserving the character of the game. Questions of racism have also cropped up too often to be dismissed. Even casual talk by visiting teams and some commentators about “the conditions” in the subcontinent, betray a certain less than appropriate attitude. They are clearly not talking about just heat and humidity. Resentment about BCCI’s “money clout” is of a piece too. Merely blaming increasing commercialisation won’t do. All players and officials should work to restore mutual respect in the interests of the game.
|
|
Good parents give their children roots and wings. Roots to know where home is, wings to fly away and exercise what’s been taught them. — Jonas Salk
|
Reservations by religion WHEN we entered the age of reservations in the early 1950s, we closed both the front and back doors to reservations by religion. Are we opening them now, some half a century later ? When the debate on reservations began, in the Constituent Assembly, we decided we would have job reservations only for the Scheduled Castes and tribes. A little later we opened the door to “other backward castes “ as well, because they were making practically the same case as had been made earlier by the Scheduled Castes, that Hindu society had inflicted social and economic discrimination upon them and thus had gravely reduced their capacity to compete with others on a footing of equality; therefore for a time they needed reservations as a class to regain their competitive ability. On each occasion some Muslim leaders urged similar reservations for such Muslims as belonged to the same disadvantaged categories. Their implied rationale was that since most Muslims were converts from Hinduism or had descended from the converts they were also disadvantaged by the Hindu society and needed the same compensatory advantage for a time. But the demand was rejected on the ground that anyone who could be shown to belong to a scheduled or a backward caste could qualify as such where he was, but since his religion, Islam, claimed that it treated all Muslims as equal — and many Scheduled Caste Hindus had been persuaded to become Muslims on the promise of such equality — he could not at the same time claim compensation for an inequality which, according to his religion, did not exist. They might have won reservations under a system meant to remedy economic deprivation. But the system we had then was aimed against inequalities inflicted by the caste system, which did not exist among them as claimed by them. A few things have happened since then which impinge upon any reconsideration of that issue. First, court judgments have narrowed the scope for reservations even on the basis of caste because they have ended reservations for the so called “creamy layer” among the entitled castes, that is those persons among the entitled castes whose socio-economic status has risen somewhat already. Second, and somewhat contrary to the first, reservations have been extended to categories who are under-represented in the services and also suffering from “social and economic backwardness”. This has been the combined effect of the First Constitutional Amendment Act, adopted in 1951, and the 1985 judgment by the Supreme Court in the “Vasant v. the state of Karnataka” case. Third and latest, the Sachar Commission has shown that the Muslims are under-represented in many walks of life and can be presumed to be socio-economically backward as well. But a contrary view is also being voiced, that reservations by religion would be like separate electorates by another name, would divide and destroy national unity along communal lines, and should be eschewed as strictly now as it was 50 years ago. It would also mean reservations for Muslims as such because other religions are not under-represented, and Muslims too get disqualified not because they are Muslims but because they do not qualify in sufficient numbers in entrance tests. Therefore, it has been suggested by some people that we should focus on backward areas, not communities, and this would also be of most benefit to Muslims without inviting the opposition which reservation for Muslims as such would attract, especially at a time like this when in India too, like in many other countries, there is an increased chill in relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. Most of the backward areas, particularly in northern India, have large concentrations of Muslims. Educational and other similar schemes which focused on these areas as such would better prepare their Muslims for jobs and increase their representation, and yet not be considered communal in these sensitive times. The Prime Minister appeared to recognise this when, speaking in New Delhi on November 2 he advised his audience that more schools should be opened in backward areas. But, perhaps because the occasion was his address to the annual conference of state Minorities Commissions, his emphasis shifted quickly to the Muslims as a community, not to the areas where they formed large proportions of the population. Was this shift incidental to the occasion or does it represent a newer and deeper trend ? Three signs are disturbing. First, the shift has not only reached the level of the Prime Minister, and such a Prime Minister at that ; and second, it came after the ground had been prepared for it by the elaborate report of the Sachar Commission which shows that the Muslims have fallen behind in most walks of life. The third sign is disturbing for the cause of the Muslims themselves. The tone of much that is being said today in quarters close to the government, and particularly close to the HRD Ministry, is not only not neutral in communal terms but proclaims its particular sympathies. How far this will assist and how far it will hinder the flow of benefits to the Muslims in the present circumstances is questionable. This is not the fault of Indian Muslims or non-Muslims but of some conspicuous trends in the political climate around the world. It has had many countries worried about their domestic communal relations and their fallout on the foreign and domestic policies of those countries. Indian domestic and foreign affairs have been far less affected by these trends than might have been expected considering, firstly, how deeply India’s domestic affairs have been affected by these trends in the past half a century; and considering, secondly, that India is the only country of this size which over the past few centuries has seen political authority change hands so dramatically between Muslim and non-Muslim rulers. It is best not to disturb these memories too much. It would be much better for Muslims as well as others for all of us to think more about the reasons why the proportion of Muslims who qualify competitively in most recruitment drives continues to be much smaller than their share in the population. The community itself can obviously do much more about that by its own efforts than the government can do in communally neutral
ways.
|
No accounting for tastes MOST people consider that top-quality food should not only taste good and have a good aroma but also should be attractive in appearance. There is, however, one person who holds quite a contrary view. His bright idea is — if “bright” is the appropriate word in this context — that food is best eaten without any light whatever on it to show what it looks like. His restaurant in London, a £ 8,00,000 venture, has its diners sit in pitch black darkness and have their food without being able to see at all what they are eating. The reasoning is that eating that way heightens one’s senses and liberates the taste buds. The restaurant, it is said, is quite popular and is doing good business. Generally artistes long to have their work last forever but there is exception in Belgium who is clear that his exhibition must not go beyond precisely three days. Because by then his work will have decayed completely: it consists entirely of various types of meat-steak, mince and bacon. Meat, according to him, is a very erotic material and illustrates the cult of decay and death. It also serves as a lesson in modesty to artistes who wish their work would have eternal life. For the exhibition he has worked with his assistants to turn 100 kg of steak, 15 kg of mined meat and a few kilometres of bacon into “art” — in plain terms a coat, a tent and a few sleeping bags. This has not been his first venture of this type either. A few years earlier he covered the columns of an entire public building with bacon. Some people manage to work out such an equation with their pets that one is left wondering whether they own the pets or the pets own them. A woman in a town near Glasgow has allowed her Yorkshire terrier to sleep on her bed. When she married, the dog just would not let the husband came near the bed, however hard he tried. In fact, the couple had to stay in hotels for sometime in order to be together. Finally, they had to resort to a dog training expert for the dog to be persuaded that its appropriate place to sleep was its own bed and not the one that was theirs. Tailpiece: As a reward for its loyalty a Bosnian dentist decided to give his dog a gold tooth. The pet, he says, likes the present and often shows it off as he knows it is something different and special. Another doting owner maintains that the secret of the long life of his 22-year-old Dachshund is cigarettes: it has been munching its way through some 10 cigarettes year after year. It eats the tobacco and the paper and then chews on the filter for a while before spitting it
out.
|
Money for defence THE government is already engaged in formulating the national budget which will come up before the parliament next February. Gaps in armed forces modernisation, so dramatically highlighted in the media on account of the rather rapidly declining combat strength of the Indian Air Force, not to talk of the other two services, would naturally pose fresh challenges. The Finance Minister would have to undertake a delicate balancing act to cater for competing priorities. Indians have come to believe in 8 per cent growth and the reality of rising India. These essentially demand consonant macro-economic policies, which will also have to cater for credible defence capabilities. And this is where military modernisation poses the most serious defence financing and economic planning challenges -- defence planning flows from fiscal planning for required defence capability). There are three macro issues in defence modernisation: that of money, weapons and systems, and manpower. As for money, historical trends inform us that we spent an average of 2.3% of the GDP annually for the past 15 years. Even with an 8 per cent economic growth rate, it may be extremely difficult to allocate a modest 2.5 per cent level for defence. It would be closer to reality to assume that the actual figures would be somewhere between 2.3 to 2.5 per cent of the GDP. Trends at the global level and in our neighbourhood (where China and Pakistan are engaged in a massive military modernisation with Russia underwriting it with high-technology weapons and systems) indicate that the military force that maintains and is capable of operational employment of high-technology weapons and systems would have a distinct advantage in armed conflict and wars. But we have undertaken very little modernisation of our military in the past two decades. Even the NDA government, which came to power on the platform of according high priority to national security and defence, actually invested a mere 26 per cent of the defence budget to modernisation (under the capital head). In all fairness it did budget for much higher amounts, but was unable and/or unwilling to actually spend the allocations leading to large sums being surrendered year after year. The present government raised it substantively to an average of nearly 42 per cent of the defence budget. But this level is simply inadequate to achieve modernisation of the three services which needs a higher level of investments. The inadequacy of even the current level of allocations become clear when it is realised that for a variety of reasons the bulk of the defence budget actually gets pre-committed. The Defence Secretary, in his evidence to the bipartisan Parliament Standing Committee on Defence, deliberating on the defence budget last year, had expressed the frustration of modernisation by stating that all that the Ministry of Defence had available for any new scheme of modernisation was a paltry Rs. 1,000 crore for the year - that is, less than 1 per cent of the budget! That equals the cost of five Su-30 aircraft without weapons!! It is clear that even 42 per cent of the defence budget would remain inadequate to fill existing gaps and the back-log, leave alone remain competitive in terms of quality in future. What is clear is that the expenditure on revenue account has to be controlled and reduced if modernisation for the future has to be undertaken. Manpower and its related expenditure constitute the bulk of that expenditure. Whether we cut the manpower down or not, it is clear that we cannot afford the present levels and rates of its growth without the negative impact on modernisation that has become the norm for two decades. Many options are available to reduce spending under the revenue account among which outsourcing and modern and cost-effective logistics are important. The growth of private industry, especially in the services sector which now contributes the greatest to our GDP, is waiting to be tapped by the Armed Forces. For us this approach is even more important since the bulk of logistics needs and tasks suitable for outsourcing would be required within the borders of the country with a very small proportion for commitment/requirement of contingency missions outside the country where infrastructure may not be available. Cost of manpower also can be controlled by streamlining military manpower by employing them on shorter periods of engagement. Ever since the “colour service” (active service engagement) was increased from 5-7 years since the early-1970s, the costs of manpower has been escalating. We now have more military manpower on pensions than those in active service. An accounting change by taking pensions outside the Defence Services budget has reduced it now by around 16 per cent; but not from the overall requirements of funding. As we modernise our weapons and systems for the future, we will also require manpower of higher quality -- and that means higher costs to provide a quality of life that would be a pre-requisite for attracting them. What is obvious is that a fraction of the reduction in manpower costs would be able to fund rehabilitation and retraining of early retirees etc. For a country like ours and its military modernisation, expanding self-reliance in design and development is crucial if we have to get out of the vicious circle of “buy and make” -- that is, import, and/or manufacture (under licence). What we lack (in spite of some commendable effort and results) is capability in design and development. In today’s world the key route for us would be that of joint ventures in design and development. With our requirements in the coming years we need to make the best of the off-sets clause fortunately introduced into our procurement procedures. This would increase the costs of acquisition. We must be willing to accept that, and not insist on the prevailing lowest bid criteria, as long as the seller invests in defence industry in India. This would energise it for the future and support industrial growth and exports.
|
|
UK intensifies surveillance with I-card SO finally Tony Blair bites the bait. The world’s biggest multi-billion pound, ‘human-tracker’ scheme will be launched in the UK in 2008. The biometric ID card is now inching towards reality. Blair announced last week that the ID card would be compulsory for non-EU residents. The card will be vetted by biometric data about the holder. The scheme starts in 2008, and non-EU citizens will be the first ‘target’, though gradually all UK nationals will also be brought under the scheme. Every non EU citizen, over the age of 16, who resides in UK for more than three months will have to carry the ID card. While Blair said it would make borders more secure, many were not convinced. The announcement by Blair came shortly after the UK home secretary announced a new hardline policy towards immigration. John Reid said steps were needed to control “the biggest new phenomenon in the world in the last 10 years, which is mass migration on a massive scale”. Initial reaction to the proposal did not seem positive. Michael White wrote in The Guardian, “For a man who has invested so much political capital in promoting biometric ID cards Tony Blair rarely sounds convincing on the subject.” The scheme is set to cost over five and a half billion pounds. The PM said it would make “the nation’s borders more secure”. Secondly, it helps in checking the identity of potential employees (i.e. only non EU employees, not EU citizens seeking employment in UK). Criminal detection, prevention of fraud were mentioned by Blair as the other benefits of the ID card proposal. There are around about 30 million non-European nationals that pass through the UK now every year and that figure is rising all the time, Blair added. But there are issues like ‘identity theft”. Identity theft for financial gain, illegal immigration and illegal working have all increased. The PM himself stated that “One in four criminals use false identities, some terrorist suspects have as many as 50 assumed identities. Indeed, this is part of the training they have received in Al-Qaeda training camps.” But brings us back to the same question. What is the guarantee that these cards would not be subject to identity thefts? After all there were around 135,000 cases of identity fraud in 2005 with over 55,000 reported cases in the private sector. Identity fraud is estimated to have cost £1.7 billion a year. Blair cites biometrics as the magic mantra again this kind of theft. Expectedly criticism from the Conservatives was very prompt. David Davis, shadow Home Secretary responded, “And he (Blair) claims it will tackle identity fraud when Microsoft tells us it is more likely to trigger identity fraud on a massive scale.” The conservatives also doubted the cost of the project stating that “It will almost certainly cost twenty billion pounds, will solve very few problems, and may make many much worse”. There are other questions as well. If the scheme is to thwart illegal immigration and is a counter terrorism measure, then how about British nationals who are suspected to have joined the ranks of terrorists or home grown terrorists who were reported to be involved in London terror attacks? Finally, there arises the question of privacy. Only last week, the country’s information commissioner, Richard Thomas raised the issue of Britain becoming a “surveillance society”.
|
|
Chatterati ON my way to Bombay, I realised that I was going for a ‘high funda’, power-packed wedding. After all, the daughter of Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel was marrying the son of senior leader and former Congress Minister of Karnataka R. V. Deshpande. Praful’s daughter is an architect and Deshpande’s son is a lawyer. The sangeet at the Grand Hyatt was a grand affair. The entrance saw celebrities like Jyoti Aditya Scindia, Shobhana Bhartia, Farooq Abdullah, Imran Khan, Margaret Alva and Rajat Sharma, along with the regular page-3 guys. A little towards the bar one saw the Mumbaiwalas like Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Anupam Kher Sunil Gavaskar and then, of course, the business tycoons like Lakshmi Mittal and Kotak Mahindra. The afternoon wedding at the Taj saw Gulam Nabi Azad, Vilas Raj Desmukh, Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Rahul Bajaj and many others. There was vegetarian food, great ambience and it was all so traditional. Then, of course, came the huge reception at the Turf Club which saw a rain of celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Aishwarya Rai, Amitabh Bachan, Amar Singh, Rajat Sharma, Aroon Poori and Udhav Thackrey. Keeping in mind the security hassle for VVIPs, surprisingly, there were no traffic jams, and no waiting in lines for the cars. Drinks and food were in plenty and no special enclosures for the VVIPs, as it is usually done in Delhi. This was a welcome change. Everybody mixed with everyone without any hassels. All is not over yet. There is a reception for the newly weds in Bangalore, then one in Praful’s constituency in Maharashtra and one in Delhi too. So, some more celebrations and some more intermingling of politicians, Bollywood, cricketers and industrialists. But my vote in all this goes to Praful’s chief Sharad Pawar and his daughter the new MP. He remained in the background through every function. Just being a part of the family and celebrations was enough for him. Well, simple, elegant and so power-packed were these three days, without any flashy stuff.
Fashion fundas As I was in Mumbai during the Lakme Fashion Week and the Champions Trophy, there was no escaping the participants of both in lobbies or shopping areas. Our cricketers were a bit shy and overwhelmed about how the rich and famous drooled over them. Actually, it was the BCCI nobodies who walked around in the corridors with an air of arrogance. Not that anybody recognised them. Whether it was Rahul Dravid or Ravi Shastri they were smiling and quite happily signing autographs. Coming to the fashion week, the word prêt has been debated enough by our Indian designers. Couture means exclusive and expensive whereas prêt means affordable yet stylish. Somehow the Mumbai designers understand this word better than our Delhi guys. Well, the Mumbai ramps have the Bollywood stars walking hence more tamasha and hooting. But they do still have the silicon bras making national headlines, along with policemen peeping in the make-up room and storms brewing among designers accusing each other of copying designs. There is also the lack of courtesy in the evening parties. The Mumbai fashion week is no doubt much ahead of the Delhi one. Even as we talk of the drawback of techno silhouettes, models walked in their best robotic gait.
New look Delhi Assembly The Delhi Assembly has got a new look. The designs of the furniture and the lighting arrangements have been completely changed. The House has got new gadgets, including two large LCD display boards for voting. But the changes got a negative vote from deputy speaker Shoab Iqbal. He wrote a letter to the speaker, Prem Singh, demanding a probe into the renovation. The very next day, however, Iqbal had a change of mind. When asked about this U-turn, he said he just wanted to put up oil portraits of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi at proper places. As is usual in the Congress however, the move was aimed at building pressure on PCC President Chaudhary Prem Singh. Iqbal is a Sheila loyalist, after all. BJP members have started calling the Delhi Chief Minister Sealing Dikshit. But behind the sealing hungama the Delhi MLAs managed to hike up their salaries by nearly double the amount!
|
Madhyam (in the middle) are they who understand the speaker’s intent but do not act without explicit instructions. —The Upanishadas The king may not heed the advice of his parents while waging war. But it is the parents who suffer most, not only because he perishes on the battlefield. They have to live their last few years on the charity of the victors. —The Mahabharata Use your own strength, stop placing hope in others. When the river flows through your own backyard, how can you die of thirst? —Kabir
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
