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Tackling the big
fish Weight of
corruption |
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Shoppers stop
Peep into US
presidency
The positive side
Pak designs on
Afghanistan Delhi
Durbar
Dutch Muslims
condemn ‘populist’ burqa ban move
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Weight of corruption THE collapse of a new bridge undergoing a load test before it is opened to traffic at Tashigang in Poh subdivision of Kinnaur district is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the state Public Works Department. That three people, including a junior engineer of the PWD, were drowned adds to the enormity of the lapse. The reason for the disaster is not far to seek. The private construction company, which had been building it is certainly at fault. Even guiltier are the engineers in the PWD, who had approved of the faulty designs and had turned a blind eye to the use of substandard material and other kinds of cheating. An inquiry has been ordered and by the time its report comes, the corrupt engineers and officers would have covered up everything. For the sake of punishment, one or two low-level officials would be put under suspension, only to be revoked sooner than later. What is required is a quick fixing of responsibility and the summary punishment of the guilty, even if they happen to be those at the top in the PWD. It is a mere coincidence that the bridge collapsed when the top PWD engineers of the country were meeting at Panchkula discussing, among other things, how to enhance quality in construction. Over the years, technology in construction has improved so much that work, which took decades, now takes only a few years, if not months. Yet, incidents of the kind reported from Kinnaur happen quite often. A few years ago, a huge water tank in East Delhi collapsed when it was filled with water for the first time. The minimum life expectancy in civil construction is 100 years but modern constructions, especially by the PWD, like bridges and buildings do not last even 50 years. The Zirakpur bridge on the Chandigarh-Ambala road, which has undergone several repairs and has been declared unsafe for heavy vehicles, is not even 50 years old. The classic case is the collapse of a new bridge in Goa as a result of which an old Portuguese-built bridge, which had completed its life period, had to be used again till the new bridge was rebuilt. How is it that dozens of pre-Independence bridges in Himachal Pradesh continue to be used while new bridges like the one at Tashigang collapses? The answer is obvious: Rampant corruption in the PWD. |
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Shoppers stop Finding
the proverbial fly in the ointment is rarely news. But a fly in a chicken tikka is certainly news. More than news, it spelled trouble for a shop that sold it, particularly because the one who bought the ‘fly-ed tikka’ was the wife of a top cop in the Punjab police. As any customer saddled with such contaminated stuff would do, they phoned the store about it. Without so much as an apology, they were told to return the fly-ridden tikka and take back their money. Although India is not a nation of shopkeepers, like shopkeepers anywhere else, they are quite casual about customer complaints. Except that they met a tartar in the top cop, who set out to teach them a lesson. He filed a formal police complaint and ensured that the food and supply inspector was given the chicken tikka with the fly for laboratory tests. Further, the authorities got hold of various other samples from the store and sent these, too, for a chemical examination. The commoner, even if he is impressed by the prompt action of the authorities to have the store hauled over the coals, may well dismiss the action as being dictated by the influence of the high-flyer involved. Even if that be so, it is a salutary lesson to all consumers that if they find themselves stuck with substandard, adulterated or contaminated foodstuff, they should spare no effort to check the retailers of such products. The police officer is as much a consumer as anyone else, and this should encourage more people to assert their rights instead of being merely fobbed off with a refund of the amount. This will also serve as an instructive example to shopkeepers that they should not take the customers for granted; and that a refund on return of an item unfit for human consumption is compensation enough. This ignores not only the time, expense and effort involved in visits to the store but also shows contempt for the consumer. It is time consumers were accorded their rights and everyone in the supply chain up to the retailer was held to account for what should never be put on the shelf or sold. |
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The end of man is an action and not a thought, though it were the noblest.
— Thomas Carlyle |
Peep into US presidency Bob
Woodward is a court chronicler and the court is that of President George W. Bush. Limitations of such a genre go with the territory but we are grateful to the eager reporter who made his name during the Nixon presidency to take us inside the bubble, as the presidential office has been famously described, to continue to chart the course of the controversial presidency of the last six years. In the third account in the series (State of Denial by Bob Woodward; Simon Schuster, New York), Woodward is more of a reporter and less of a courtier. It is revealing that, contrary to earlier copious sessions Woodward had with the President and Vice-President Dick Cheney, pejoratively called his evil genius, neither of them granted the chronicler on the record interviews for his latest endeavour. It speaks volumes for the state of the Iraq war and the precipitous decline in the fortunes of the President, most recently in the drubbing his Republican Party received in Congressional elections. The American model of presidency is very much an American institution in which the office is elevated to a God-like status, with the Stars and Stripes being viewed with almost equal reverence. This has to do with the United States being a young nation of migrants. Long-standing nations and civilisations have historical memories, which are woven into myths that bind a people together. Lacking such resources, Americans have elevated the presidency and the flag as the people’s rallying cry. While this arrangement has worked reasonably well over time, its distortions in times of crisis have been amply illustrated in the present Bush presidency, as they did in Lyndon Johnson’s time in the Vietnam War. Checks and balances do not work as the President assumes extraordinary powers and the cry of “nation in danger” is sufficient to covert legislators into dummies afraid of being painted as less than patriotic while the hypnotic hold the Israeli lobby has on West Asian policy — being timorously debated for the first time in mainstream media — makes criticism of Israel politically suicidal. Correctives in the system come after the event, after harm has been done. Woodward’s account is of interest to the world for the insights it gives into how the unique institution of US presidency works in a crisis or series of crises. On the plus side, it is an endearing American practice for the highest in the land and his close advisers to sit down with a reporter and author to grant on and off the record interviews, presumably to ensure their place in history. It is the closest thing the outsider will ever get to the Bush White House as it plotted a disastrous war. The revelations in Bush at War, Part III, are disturbing. President Bush is, at the best of times, an incurious person, a born-again Christian surrounded by a set of neoconservative Cold Warriors drunk on employing unsurpassed American power in the post-Cold War world to build something akin to a modern Roman Empire. Unwittingly, terrorists offered the Bush administration the perfect provocation by attacking New York’s World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 for indulging in grandiose plans for world hegemony, if not conquest. President Bush had found a cause to satisfy his new religiosity — his direct communication with God became a recurring theme. First came the attack on Afghanistan, but the prize was Iraq — the toppling of Saddam Hussein, who had surprisingly remained in power, despite his defeat and expulsion from Kuwait — an unfinished business Bush Senior had left for his son or so the son thought. There is a kernel of truth in the belief of President Bush and his advisers that the toppling of Saddam would lead to a reordering of relations in what they describe as the Greater Middle East. But the planning of the invasion and its consequences were so abysmally handled that it is beyond belief. Woodward lets us into a secret. While men like Vice-President Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld knew what they were doing, the aura surrounding the office of President is such that key advisers fall silent or refrain from giving their dissenting views. Woodward has effectively destroyed two reputations — of the luckless Colin Powell and, more significantly, of Ms Condoleezza Rice. General Powell was made irrelevant in his job as Secretary of State, venting his fury in private in sessions with his close advisers. He suffered the ultimate humiliation of being sent to the UN Security Council to make the case for the Iraq War on a tissue of lies, and despite his strong reservations about the Iraq War, he chose to click his heels and say, “Yes, sir”. Given his popular stature at that time, Powell could have delayed the war had he resigned to make his point. At the end of President Bush’s first term, the General was unceremoniously cast aside like a used pair of shoes. Ms Rice, now the Secretary of State, must take the blame for disregarding the urgent warning of the CIA director, Mr George Tenet, about electronic “clutter” indicating the terrorists’ plan to launch a major attack on American soil. Perhaps Ms Rice was distracted by the tensions in the Bush administration surrounding General Powell’s demotion and Mr Rumsfeld’s headstrong ways. Revealingly, the Defence Secretary was a terror for men in uniform and had made his pliant chief of staff and others helpless spectators as he rode roughshod over them. Those who publicly disagreed with his scheme for war such as General John Shalikashvili did not last. Mr Tenet had to take the blame for 9/11 — for his part, he told the President on December 21, 2002, that Saddam possessing weapons of mass destruction was “a slam dunk”. Ms Rice apparently retains the confidence of President Bush. The results of the Congressional elections ensured that Mr Rumsfeld had finally to depart. President Bush is now in search of an Iraq exit strategy. Bush Senior’s advisers representing traditional conservative policies, as opposed to the neocons’ armed jingoism, are suddenly in favour. The former Secretary of State, Mr James Baker, is co-chairing a bipartisan commission that will sweeten the bitter pill of the Iraq disaster. Mr Rumsfeld’s successor, Mr Robert Gates, was a member of the Baker commission and is a trusted old hand. Reading Woodward’s account, I was reminded of my days covering the Vietnam War in the sixties. I used to visit Saigon, as it was then called, every six weeks from my perch in Singapore. Each time I went there, I was given a totally new perspective in my interaction with US officials. The previous house of cards had collapsed in the meantime. I was amazed at what little coherent use was made of the mountains of information Americans collected on every facet of the war. Iraq shows that few lessons have been learned on this
score.
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The positive side My new chauffeur is a lanky youth from Eastern UP. While engaging him, I customarily examined his driving licence; or tried to, because a bad smudge has rendered it illegible. On his marital status, “Arey barbaad ho gaye sahib” he said plaintively, adding that his wife of one year had died during delivery at his house and that her brother was baying for his blood. Further disclosure that the baby girl too died within hours of birth alerted me. Not wanting to jolt him by bluntly asking who actually pulled the trump cord, I enquired circuitously, “Is the police chasing you for wife-killing or for female infanticide?” “Tch tch sahib: he replied cheekily, “The daroga was honest and in only 3000 rupees he closed the case.” Village elders always say that every one has a positive side. I decided to find his. The three hours daily through capital’s traffic has given me ample time to do so. As a first, I am happy to note that he believes in retaining his roots; he had initially learnt his driving on a tractor and continues to practise that art. I am also touched by his care of the clutch; he seldom uses it while changing gears. Whenever, after a considerable wait, the traffic light turns green, he instinctively honks. On being pointed out the futility since everyone in any case is in a similar hurry and needs no urging, his reply was quite a revelation. “It is not to hurry them up sahib, it is to wake up the driver in front.” The discovery that professional drivers actually sleep on the wheel was slightly unnerving. I wanted to ask him if he too similarly indulged, but was dissuaded by a weak heart. However, on the positive side, it revealed a very ingenious waking code among the drivers, which could be usefully adopted by others; such as by our parliamentarians during debates. Of an unwavering disposition, he maintains a steady 60 km, even over speed breakers and rumble strips; I find this a better exercise for lower back muscles than Swami Ramdev’s. The driver is also much focused and keeps his eyes glued to the road in front without being distracted by onrushing vehicles from left and right. With luck, this might some day earn me fame on page 4 under ‘Remembrance’. As a value addition he does social work; keeps the pedestrians in good running order. Scrupulously secular, he is not caste, creed or colour conscious; treats red and green lights with an equal eye. In mere weeks the chauffeur has done for me what the medics couldn’t in years; he has almost rid me of my low BP problem. My gains also extend to the spiritual. While I did approach God for an occasional favour, I had never been a practising regular. The chauffeur has converted me. I now pray three hours a
day. |
Pak designs on Afghanistan With
the successful completion of the third round of the Foreign Secretary-level talks with India, General Pervez Musharraf hopes to deploy with confidence more troops on the Western border to bolster the 80,000-strong army that he already has on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. He feels confident about persuading the United States, the United Kingdom and NATO to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan, which would enable him to come to some understanding with the Taliban, and further Pakistan’s desire to have “strategic depth” in the region. Pakistan has set its sights on at least six southern Afghanistan provinces which could be controlled by its hand-maiden Taliban. The provinces are Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, Paktiya, Paktika and Nangarhar — all bordering Pakistan. These provinces may remain a part of Afghanistan, but the actual control will lie with Pakistan through the Taliban. Simultaneously, Pakistan has toned down its earlier efforts to make the Durand Line a permanent border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. President Karzai was in New Delhi at the weekend to share his concerns with the Government of India. India has conducted its entire Afghan affairs with the unquestioned assumption that the US is going to be absolutely successful in establishing durable peace in Afghanistan. During the last about five years, India has committed $ 650 million for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, which is being appreciated in Kabul. But India has still to make any substantial move to win back its traditional allies, the Pushtuns. There is hardly any Indian project in the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan. However, Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has not been idle. After lying low for sometime and appearing to be sincerely helping the Americans, it has continued to nurture the Taliban. The Taliban has intensified its attacks deep into Afghanistan and made things so hot for the NATO forces that several nations providing troops for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan have been left in a state of confusion. Rattled by the rising casualties, the British Chief of Army Staff, Sir Richard Dannatt, has demanded the withdrawal of the British troops. Canada has refused to extend the deployment and ordered its troops not to participate in any counter-insurgency operations, France, Turkey and Italy have refused to move their contingents out of Kabul to the combat zones. Five Commanders of NATO nations had to tell their respective governments to be tough with Pakistan if they wanted peace to be restored. Pressure was put on President Hamid Karzai to “involve the Taliban in governance as they felt that it was not possible to defeat them.” The Bush Administration has been reluctant to push Pakistan hard enough to desist from its duality. When the Afghanistan government established contact with the Taliban leadership, they replied, “give us control of six provinces, and you will not hear a shot after that.” The Karzai government was furious, and saw through the Pakistan game. They got wind of the fact that after the Taliban secure these six provinces, Pakistan would put pressure for another three provinces — Khost, Kunar and Badakhshan. All this fits into the scheme of Pakistan, both for acquiring the strategic depth against India, which it lost after the rout of the Taliban and the al-Qaeda in 2001, and also securing its vital economic interests. This will provide Pakistan total control over the most vital part of the highway to the mineral and oil-rich Central Asian region and also the oil pipelines to be laid in the near future to transport oil and gas from the Central Asia through Afghanistan. This will also render Afghanistan to remain a weak neighbour and keep the Indian influence away from its backyard. For Pakistan, the control of the Taliban and the Hizb-e-Islami over the bordering provinces is the shortest route to achieve all its objectives. Pakistan tried to convince the Bush Administration and the NATO by signing the much touted agreement with the Taliban in North Waziristan, saying that it is the only way to deal with the terrorist threat. But the US and NATO commanders in Afghanistan are unconvinced. The attack on the madarassa in Bajaur Agency killing 82 militants has put a spanner in the ISI’s designs. The success of Pakistan in its designs and the rehabilitation of the Taliban-Hizb combine and through them, al-Qaeda, will be the greatest setback to the US and its allies and their much trumpeted “war against terrorism.” But it is India which should be the most worried. Pakistan has lured the Pashtuns away from India and turned their full force towards Kabul. India’s inability to go against the Russians during the cold war eroded the entire goodwill which it enjoyed among the Pashtuns as they felt betrayed twice — once at the time of partition and second time during Soviet occupation. After the Russian withdrawal, as the US lost interest and in the vacuum Afghanistan was plunged into chaotic civil war among the various factions of mujahiddeen, the ISI grabbed the opportunity. It created the Taliban, armed them, and provided them all the required logistical support to install its government and control over almost entire Afghanistan, except a very small portion held by the Northern Alliance under the legendary commander Ahmad Shah Masoud. One thing is clear, the Pakistanis must be aware that ruling the Pashtuns is like riding the tiger. The Pushtuns have never in history accepted the dominance of others and are not likely to trust and allow the Pakistanis to rule over them for long. As many in Pakistan fear that the next step maybe the Talibanisation of Pakistan itself, can General Musharraf stop it?
— ANI |
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Delhi Durbar President
A P J Kalam has his own inimitable style of replying to questions. The other day at a conference on countering corruption organised by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the President was in his elements. To a question posed by Additional Director General of Police Ashok Bhan, who heads Jammu and Kashmir's Anti-Corruption Wing, whether people had become corrupt because they
wanted to create more assets for their children and grandchildren, Dr Kalam shot back: "I am innocent. I am a Brahmachari (celibate) and hence this does not apply to me at least." The assemblage at Vigyan Bhavan burst into laughter. No spitting The Metro train link in the Capital has not only changed the way people travel but also their behaviour. The neat and clean environment discourages people from spitting and littering. But this sobering effect appears to be limited just to the Metro jurisdiction as many commuters could be seen spitting and littering the moment they are out of the tube stations. Deve Gowda JD (Secular) President H D Deve Gowda insists it was a wise decision on the part of the BJP to support his party's candidate during the coming bypoll in Karnataka. His initial raving and ranting about his son H D Kumaraswamy joining hands with the BJP in forming a government in Karnataka was all a sham, or so it appears. Nevertheless, Gowda's inherent dislike for the BJP came to the fore when he remarked that he had not withdrawn support to the UPA even though the coalition between the JD (S) and the Congress had fallen through in Karnataka. As far as joining the NDA was concerned, he kept his options open by saying nobody had approached him and that the issue was not before the party. Red faced Municipal Corporation officials rue the day they preferred to approach the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court order that the MCD does not have powers to seal unauthorised business ventures. They had taken the verdict as a threat to the MCD authority and swiftly challenged it in the apex court, realising little that the move would rebound on them severely. The officials were forced to beg for mercy under political pressure for the traders whom they
wanted to punish. When the media asked for their comment on the about-turn, there were no answers, but several
red faces. S Satyanarayanan, R Suryamurthy and S S Negi |
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Dutch Muslims condemn ‘populist’ burqa ban move Muslim
leaders in the Netherlands have condemned a proposed ban on burqas, describing the eve-of-election pledge as an opportunistic overreaction and a populist attempt to win the anti-immigration vote. The announcement on the burqa from the outgoing government took many politicians by surprise because the twin issues of Islam and immigration had barely featured in the campaign up to that point. But the integration of Muslims in the country remains a sensitive issue two years after the murder of the film-maker Theo van Gogh, whose film Submission criticised Islam. On Friday, the hardline, outgoing, immigration minister, Rita Verdonk, said the cabinet had decided it was "undesirable that face- covering clothing - including the burqa - is worn in public places for reasons of public order, security and protection of citizens." She added: "From a security standpoint, people should always be recognisable and, from the standpoint of integration, we think people should be able to communicate with one another." On the streets of Rotterdam headscarves are common but the floor-length burqas are a rare sight and Muslim groups estimate that, in the whole of the country, those wearing head-to-toe clothing number fewer than 50. Ms Vedonk's proposal would ban the burqa in all public and semi-public places, such as streets and public transport. Prior to the law coming into effect, police would be allowed to enforce a ban on burqas in buses for security reasons. Mohamed Hamidi, spokesman for Rotterdam's Moroccan community, said: "The way of dressing is a question of personal freedom. There are not many people who wear burqas: maybe 10 in Rotterdam and 10 in Amsterdam. But there are lots of people without work. Burqas are not a problem. This is populism, playing with the feelings of the people." Speaking in a cultural centre in Rotterdam's Moroccan district, Mr Hamidi called on mainstream politicians to address the main problems confronting immigrant communities in Holland's big cities. "People without education and without qualifications find it difficult to get work and earn money. It's a vicious circle," he said. There was a similar message from the Dutch Muslim organisation, CMO, whose spokesman Ayhan Tonca said the measure was "just ridiculous" and a "big law for a small problem". Many doubt whether the ban will ever come into existence. Though the Dutch parliament has already indicated it will approve a ban on burqas, there have been doubts about the legality of the move and about how popular it would be with the general public. The immigration minister said the legal questions about the regulation have been resolved but it remains unclear whether the new parliament elected this week will approve such a measure. Ms Vedonk's VVD Liberal party has been losing ground in the election campaign and her personal fortunes have been waning. She failed to win the leadership of her party earlier this year. The Liberal's allies, the Christian Democrats, have made a surprise comeback in the polls based mainly on the improving economic situation, and their leader, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, is hopeful of remaining in
government. By arrangement with The Independent |
He alone is blessed with glory who cherishes the holy Word in his heart. — Guru Nanak AUM stands for the Supreme Reality. It is a symbol for what was, what is, and what shall be. AUM represents also what lies beyond past, present, and
future.
— The Mandukya Upanishads Lord of Light! Fill me with the sweetness of honey so that I may speak glorious words to the masses. —
The Vedas |
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