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College capers
Addressing Muslim deprivation
The teacher of English
Unsung wealth creators Land to Tatas: a Leftist turnaround Now bioengineered hearts! Chatterati
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Deal is done IT is a matter of great satisfaction that the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation Bill has been finally given the seal of approval by US Congress. The tension-ridden Congressional process is over and the Bill will now become law with President George W. Bush putting his signature, most probably today. With the amendment introduced in the 1954 US law prohibiting nuclear commerce with a country which is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the stage is now set for finalising the actual bilateral agreement. To be called the 123 Agreement, it will be prepared on the template reflecting the new US legislation and the July 18, 2005, and March 2, 2006, joint statements signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Bush. The India-specific waiver of the US law governing nuclear trade is really “of historic significance” as External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in a statement on Friday. The relations between the two great democracies are bound to scale new heights. India now joins the nuclear mainstream with its status as a responsible nuclear power having been recognised. It has already been getting assurances from various members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, including the UK, France, South Africa and Russia, that they are ready to help India in its efforts to acquire the latest equipment and technology for nuclear power generation. The increased availability of nuclear energy, cleaner and cheaper than thermal and hydel power, will help India meet its growing fuel needs. There are, of course, certain areas of concern. These include the missing mention of the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel by India, the ambiguity in a clause saying that uranium supplies to India will depend on the operating requirements of its reactors and clauses calling for end-use monitoring of the fuel to be exported to India. There is also a clause, though non-binding, that the US President will apprise Congress of how far India is backing the US efforts to cap Iran’s nuclear programme. However, these irritants can be tackled in due course. In view of the gains from the nuclear deal, its sceptics in India like those belonging to the CPM and the BJP should keep quiet. Criticism for the heck of it must be avoided in the national interest.
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Battle over Singur WEST BENGAL Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has done well to invite Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee to discuss the issues raised by the acquisition of farmland for the Tata Motors project in Singur. In a democracy, protests and agitation have their place, but only up to a point. That point is reached when the protest has the desired effect of compelling the authorities to reconsider a particular policy or course of action. To that extent, Ms Banerjee’s agitation has served its purpose, for now the chief minister has called her for negotiations. If the lady who is protesting too much is serious about the terms of land acquisition for the automobile factory and is motivated by the urge to get the farmers their “rightful” due - and not to persist with her obstructive politics - then she must respond to Mr Bhattacharjee’s invitation positively. The bottom line is that West Bengal has been lagging behind in attracting investment to revive industrial development, which has been suppressed for at least two decades. As a result, the avenues for employment have not only stagnated but also declined over the years. But now that the Left Front government has woken up to accept the inescapable realities of economic reform, the policy departure should be welcomed and facilitated by all those interested in the state’s development and creation of jobs. It is all very well for Stalinists and Naxalites to set themselves against business and industry purely on ideological grounds, regardless of the consequences for the state’s economy. But those with a stake in the development of the state, such as the Trinamool Congress, for example, can influence policy more effectively through discussions with the government. Mr Bhattacharjee has offered to discuss more than the Singur project; he is ready for negotiations over the state’s industrial future, too. This is an opportunity that must be seized by Ms Banerjee, if she is earnest about resolving the issues she has raised.
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College capers THE Lyngdoh Committee had made several salutary and necessary recommendations to bring some sanity into university and college-level elections, riven by almost all the maladies afflicting politics in general. There was to be an upper limit on the poll expenditure. Printed pamphlets were not to be used. Those contesting the elections were to be below a certain age and they also had to have a minimum percentage of attendance. All these steps were tailor-made to keep out professional leaders in the making who came to colleges and universities not to study but to further their political ambitions. Naturally, when the time came to implement the well-meaning recommendations, the budding netas felt threatened and tried to scuttle the move through muscle power. The violence that erupted in Lucknow University following the student protest is a proof of the intentions of these so-called students. They fought pitched battles with the police and did their best to damage the property of their alma mater. The same was the case in various colleges affiliated to the university. This led to the closure of the university. Their argument that what is sought to be implemented in educational institutions must be applicable elsewhere too is absolutely phoney. It is unfortunate that such lawless elements have the support of various political parties. For them, colleges and universities are only prized turfs to be kept under their control. The amount of money that is poured into university and college elections can rival that spent in regular elections. The agitation has also put on display another seamy side of the political backing that the student leaders enjoy. Many of them with criminal background are not only accompanied by armed bodyguards of their own but they are also provided official security. Nothing could be stranger than that. The state has no business to be protecting the trouble-makers. The no-nonsense attitude adopted by the Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor can call their bluff provided the political parties do not fan the fire.
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He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator. — Francis Bacon
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Addressing Muslim deprivation THE Sachar Committee’s thoughtful report on the Muslim condition in India 60 years after Independence makes sombre reading. More than making nonsense of any Muslim “appeasement”, the report card represents a national indictment of gross discrimination and benign neglect. The Muslim population of India was 15 per cent in 2001. Add another 30 per cent for Dalits and tribal Indians, plus the genuinely depressed layers of OBCs. No democratic society can endure, let alone prosper, with this magnitude of deprived, discriminated against and excluded. Here is a huge civic deficit that must be ended. To dismiss the Sachar Report as vote-bank motivated, divisive or old hat would be wrong and dangerous. Some myths are demolished: that Muslims shun modern education and flock to madarsas (only 4 per cent do so); that they are averse to family planning (fertility rates are in decline); and that demographically they will before long swamp the rest. Two factors lie at the root of the Muslim problem — educational backwardness and socio-administrative mindsets. Of these, the first is the more fundamental. Education opens the door to equality of opportunity, with schooling as the foundation. Access, retention, quality (of teaching, textbooks and infrastructure) and instruction in the mother tongue, Urdu, matter. Given this, vocational and higher and professional education will follow. But to accomplish the first step satisfactorily and soon the Sachar Committee recommends, as for other mattters, that the 58 districts of Muslim concentration be targeted. Simultaneously, madarsas should be enabled to modernise and issue recognised certificates so that their alumni can be mainstreamed into higher education. Girls’ education merits particular emphasis, with provision for more female teachers, scholarships and hostels as a necessary adjunct. Livelihoods follow. The comparative statistics of employment are dismal, whether in government, PSUs or the corporate and private sectors. Muslim job ratios are a quarter or less of their population. This cannot be happenstance or solely attributable to lower educational attainments. Because of their lower visibility in public spaces — in the administrative, police and security services, in the judiciary, the corporate world, professions and public life, especially at local body levels of democratic participation and decision making - Muslims are diffident to compete and do not come forward in sufficient number. The committee, however, points out that several constituencies of Muslim concentration are reserved for the Scheduled Castes when other constituencies would better qualify. Such aberrant delimitation must be corrected. The community has a perception of being discriminated against. Though exaggerated in some cases, discrimination is certainly evident in access to social infrastructure (health, water supply and sanitation, transport and communications) and bank finance. Muslims are also unable to rent accommodation in cosmopolitan areas/buildings, leading to involuntary ghettoisation. Some handicaps are general rather than community-specific and stem from poverty. Many can be cured by extant poverty alleviation and basic needs programmes and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. But targeting of such programmes is also necessary. Muslims fall into three broad caste categories, the Ashrafs or upper castes, the Ajlafs, who are OBCs, and Arzals, equivalent to the Most Backward Castes who perform menial tasks. Muslim OBCs account for 40 per cent of the community and 15 per cent of the overall OBC cohort and are particularly disadvantaged. The committee recommends affirmative action as a means of ameliorating the condition of the Ashrafs but would lump the Ajlafs with the OBCs and the Arzals with the SCs for reservation. The committee is of the view that the process of promoting inclusive development and mainstreaming would be greatly assisted by a constantly updated National Data Bank and the establishment of appropriate fast-track mechanisms to ensure equal opportunities. Affirmative action could be furthered by reference to a suitably constructed diversity index. Entities earning high diversity ratings could be eligible for various incentives on a sliding scale. The suggestion that Muslim participation in all spheres of political life be buttressed through “a carefully conceived ‘nomination’ procedure” is more problematic. Nomination could become a dangerous crutch and lead to charges of political partisanship to win political support. There is much the community can do on its own. One instrumentality would be through better-managed and suitably reformed Wakf Boards. The committee estimates their properties could yield an annual revenue of Rs 12,000 crore for a variety of projects that benefit the community. The Muslim condition is not uniform. By and large, the southern states are better off while the situation in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam gives cause for concern. Overall, Muslims fare a cut above the SCs and the STs but rank below other the OBCs. Muslim Indians missed the modernisation bus post-1857 and again post-1947 (as a community under siege). With the loss of elite cadres to Partition, a “secular” state mistakenly turned to clerics and conservatives as the authentic voices of Muslim opinion. Today, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board claims to speak for the community thereby obstructing, with strong “secular” backing, such modernising and long overdue measures as a uniform civil code that does no injury to anybody’s personal code. Such anomalies must be rooted
out.
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The teacher of English SHE came to us when I was in Upper Three or Class Six. The elegance of her attire, the whiff of delicate perfume that preceded and followed her as she clip-clopped down the cloisters and her flawless enunciation earned her instant admiration. She was an excellent teacher but there was a streak of arrogance, a looking down upon her pupils, that precluded any endearment. She would walk into class, turn immediately to the blackboard, and, raising herself on her toes — she was petite — she would, in her beautiful, immaculate handwriting, write across the top of the board. “Pin Drop Silence”. While she did this, I would pull out a pin from my turban, hold it up for the class to see and drop it to the floor, raising much laughter. Inevitably I was caught. “And pray what may you be doing?” she asked. “I was only testing the silence ma’am” “Out, you uncouth villager, get out of my class.” Thus began a running battle between us. I loved the subject and worked diligently at it but the years she taught me I never scored higher than 44. In our final year a lady from the British Council came up to school and was asked to mark our half yearly papers. You can imagine my excitement when my essay paper was returned with a big red “89” across the top. I compared my marks with the others — Yes, I had scored the highest. She waited for me to return to my desk. “Across the top right had corner in bold, red pencil is the mark that some upstart English woman thinks you deserve. In the top left hand corner in small red ink is the mark that you have scored.” I looked closely at my paper. Yes, there it was — 44. I returned to school 14 years later as an English teacher and was given two sections of Upper Five — class X. I worked very hard and produced an excellent result. My English teacher, now my Head of Department, came down to the staff club in the evening. I was playing tennis and she called out to me. “Harishpal, I want a word with you” I abandoned my game and came up to her. She handed me two chocolates, one for each of my results. “I always knew you had great potential,” she said. “You had a strange way of showing it ma’am. You never gave me more than fortyfour.” “That was for your own good, to make you work harder. Without it you would not have got firsts in your graduation and post-graduation — you would not have produced such excellent results today.” I knew she was waffling, but it did not matter. She had been meticulous with her correction work, adamant that we do all our corrections: whatever merit I have achieved as a teacher or as a writer is all because of the work I did in her
class.
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Unsung wealth creators Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans, Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground, The emptiness of ages in his face, And on his back the burden of the world. Who made him dead to rapture and despair, Stolid and stunned, a brother of ox …..'
WHEN in the 19th century farmers and agriculture workers were facing distressing times in America and Europe, Edwin Markham, who was later described as "democracy's greatest poet" penned these lines from the immortal poem "The Man with the Hoe". The poet had himself worked at a ranch as a labourer and had personal experience about the turmoil through which farmers and farm workers were passing through. The poem was a cry for justice and it portrayed the hoeman as a victim of oppression and exploitation. The poem ignited an extensive debate across America. Edwin held the rulers of the time responsible for the wretched state of farmers. Regrettably, no poet has described the pitiable state of the debt-ridden farm community of India. There is a striking resemblance in the conditions faced by the American farmers then and their Indian counterparts now. First, the British rulers denied them respect and dignity. Later our own "brown sahibs" did not give them their due. The rulers woke up to realise the depth of the agrarian crisis only when the farmers in desperation started taking their own lives. In fact, for years, the states of Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra tried their best to hide the facts about such suicides. However, as the media's reach expanded to the countryside, reports about farmers committing suicide began making to the front pages of newspapers. The suicides began on a big scale following the failure of the cotton crop, because of the American bollworm menace in the Malwa region of Punjab and Southern states in the eighties. This resulted in heavy indebtedness of the farmers concerned. Earlier, water logging had rendered vast tracts of land barren in most parts of the Sangrur-Bathinda belt. However, the governments concerned remained in denial mode and did not accept that farmers had committed suicide because of the crisis in agrarian sector. The National Farmers Commission in its recent report has revealed that farmers had been committing suicide for the past several years. Their number is in thousands in Punjab and 31 districts identified as the "suicide zone" in Maharashtra and adjoining states. As no social reality can be kept under wrap for long, the SAD-BJP Government was the first to concede the problem in the late 90s. In fact, the government would never have accepted the truth regarding suicides if Mr Inderjeet Singh Jaijee, a person devoted to the cause of farmers, had not documented such suicides by moving from one village to another. He brought the issue to the center stage to make the rulers break their slumber. There is still a lobby of politicians, bureaucrats and social scientists that calls reports regarding debt-related farmer suicides as hogwash. Had they met hundreds of widows, who gathered a few weeks ago at Bathinda, they would have realised the truth. Efforts to give any relief to the farming community are opposed by the lobby, either directly or indirectly. For the lobby, foodgrain being produced to millions of hungry people is not creation of wealth but a duty assigned to farmers by a divine order. The failure to comprehend the fact that farmers are the largest generators of employment and producer of real wealth is the root cause of the farmers' suicide. Small and marginal farmers do not wear safari suits and neckties and they are, therefore, quickly shooed away by the bureaucrats and politicians, who stand up to greet wealthy businessmen and industrialists. For survival, food comes first and not wealth. An attitude of disdain against farmers has remained, by and large, part and parcel of the establishment. As politicians need votes of farmers, they lose no opportunity to shed a tear or two of sympathy at public platforms and to pretend as guardians of interest of farmers. If the rulers had the interest of farmers in their mind, they would not have allowed the crisis in the agrarian sector to turn so grave that even after the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, at least three farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha everyday. The announcement of a special relief package for the four affected states failed to make any impact. In any case, piecemeal solutions will not serve any purpose. In Punjab, the issue of relief for farmers, who are under the burden of debt worth Rs 24,000 crore, has become a contentious issue between the state government and the Centre. Any attempt to frame a legal mechanism to regulate lending of money at exploitative interest rates is foiled by the vested interests. Private loans the farmers have availed of are worth Rs 12,000 crore. Tension in the relations between farmers and commission agents can prove highly dangerous, socially and financially for Punjab. There is a need to set up a legal mechanism to avoid social strife. All the commission agents, who lend money, are not bloodsuckers. Nor are all the farmers defaulters. A mechanism that meets the needs of both is the crying need of the state.
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Land to Tatas: a Leftist turnaround RARELY has there been a more variegated collection of personalities battling for a single cause. Politicians in search of relevance, perennial do-gooders, Marxist and Maoist revolutionaries, writers on the far left of the political spectrum, rightwing leaders - all have assembled together to oppose the West Bengal government-sponsored automobile project of the Tatas in Singur. Leading the charge to protest against the handover of fertile agricultural land for industrial purposes is Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who has always been known to oppose whatever the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) does. But it is the motley crowd around her that provides an insight into the political and social ramifications of the protest campaign. If Banerjee is the quintessential opposition leader who feels that acceptance of the ruling party's policies - even if they have a positive side - will undermine her position, each of her new friends has his or her personal and political axe to grind. Among the first to jump on to Banerjee's bandwagon was all-time social activist Medha Patkar, well known for her opposition to big dams, such as the one on the Narmada river in Gujarat. Although the Singur project has nothing to do with dams, she has discerned a link in the problem of rehabilitating the displaced people which enterprises of this nature entail. In the process, however, she has had to take on an anti-leftist position because the Tatas have the full backing of the Marxist West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya. It is the same with the Akademi award winning Bengali writer Mahashweta Devi, who is known for her Naxalite (Maoist) sympathies. And if these two icons come together, can Booker prize winner Arundhati Roy be far behind? So, she too has led a demonstration in front of the CPI-M office in New Delhi over the Singur issue. But what is curious is that these aggressive votaries of Left find themselves today on the same platform as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh and convener of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) George Fernandes, both of whom are usually branded as 'fascists' by Left activists. The support extended by Singh and Fernandes to Banerjee was only to be expected; she remains a member - albeit an unpredictable one - of the NDA. But that is not the full story. Both Singh and Fernandes are after acquiring some kind of political relevance. As is known, Singh remains in the shadow of the two BJP stalwarts, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani, despite becoming the party chief with the blessings of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Fernandes is at a loose end, having been virtually evicted from the position of power in his own party, the Janata Dal-United, by the Nitish Kumar-Sharad Yadav duo. If the 'fascists' are looking for a cause that will bring them into the political limelight, so are the Marxist and Maoist revolutionaries. Hence, the 24-hour shutdown called by the minuscule Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) in West Bengal and the attack by a handful of young men claiming to be Maoists on a Tata automobile showroom in Kolkata. Banerjee may have been initially pleased by the support she was getting from both Left and Right, but the pitfalls of such help from people ploughing their own furrows have now become apparent. Singh's appearance on the same dais with the Trinamool Congress leader has made the West Bengal Congress distance itself from her after an initial show of solidarity. Now, Patkar too has expressed her uneasiness at being seen on the same side as NDA. The violence of the Naxalites has also put Banerjee in a difficult position. Herein lies the complexity of a situation that violates the norms of conventional politics. Normally, the likes of Patkar, Mahashweta Devi and Roy would have been behind the Bhattacharya government. But the latter is now pursuing a path diametrically opposed to what the Left upholds. Not only that, the state government has also shown no hesitation in using the strong arm of the law to keep the protesters at bay, using tactics which the Left used to routinely associate with 'bourgeois' administrations. For Bhattacharya, however, there is evidently no alternative. Having embarked on the path of industrialization, he has to ensure that the investors are not discomfited in any way. And since the Tatas are at the top of the corporate ladder, the government has to be particularly sensitive to their needs, not least because both Orissa and Himachal Pradesh have expressed their willingness to let the Tatas bring their Singur project for manufacturing small cars, priced at Rs. 100,000, to these states. At one time, when the leftists were not in power in West Bengal, they used to favour the settlement of the refugees in the Sunderbans. But their views changed after assuming office; just as it has now on industrialisation. So, the Left slogan today is not 'land to the tiller', but land to the Tatas. — Indo-Asian News Service
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Washington: In a step closer to creating replacement parts for damaged human hearts, or eventually growing an entirely new heart from just a spoonful of loose heart cells, boffins at the University of Michigan have reported a significant progress in growing bioengineered heart muscle, or BEHM, with organized cells, capable of generating pulsating forces and reacting to stimulation more like real muscle than ever before. The three-dimensional tissue was grown using an innovative technique that is faster than others that have been tried in recent years, but still yields tissue with significantly better properties. The approach uses a fibrin gel to support rat cardiac cells temporarily, before the fibrin breaks down as the cells organize into tissue. Ravi K. Birla, Ph.D., of the Artificial Heart Laboratory in U-M's Section of Cardiac Surgery and the U-M Cardiovascular Center, who led the research team, said that the results should help accelerate progress. "Many different approaches to growing heart muscle tissue from cells are being tried around the world, and we're pursuing several avenues in our laboratory," says Birla. "But from these results we can say that utilizing a fibrin hydrogel yields a product that is ready within a few days, that spontaneously organizes and begins to contract with a significant and measurable force, and that responds appropriately to external factors such as calcium," he said. As a part of the research, the boffins compared two different ways of using fibrin gel as a basis for creating BEHM: layering on top of the gel, and embedding within it. They found that the layering approach produced a more cohesive tissue that contracted with more force - a key finding because embedding has been seen as the more promising technique. The ability to measure the forces generated by the BEHM as it contracts is crucial. It's made possible by a precise instrument called an optical force transducer that gives more precise readings than that used by other teams. The measurement showed that the BEHM that had formed in just four days after a million cells were layered on fibrin gel could contract with an active force of more than 800 micro-Newtons. And though that is still only about half the force generated within the tissue of an actual beating heart, it is much higher than the forces created by engineered heart tissue samples grown and reported by other researchers. The team also reported that contraction forces increased when the BEHM tissues were bathed in a solution that included additional calcium and a drug that acts on beta-adrenergic receptors. Both are important to the signalling required to produce cohesive action by cells in tissue. Over the course of several days, the fibrin broke down as intended, after fulfilling its role as a temporary support for the cells. This may be a key achievement for future use of BEHM as a treatment option, because the tissue could be grown and implanted relatively quickly. And while BEHM is still years away from use as a human heart treatment, or as a testing ground for new cardiovascular drugs, the U-M researchers say their results should help accelerate progress toward those goals. The U-M team details its achievement in a new paper published online in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part.
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Chatterati IT was a week full of fun, surprises and celebrations, a week of royalty visiting Delhi. Many luncheons, dinners and receptions were hosted by VIPs. The first to come was Kasuri from across the border. Then came Sri Lanka ex-President Chandrika and the present President too. Then arrived the real royalty, King Jordan and his beautiful wife, Queen Raina, who clearly bowled over Delhi-ites. Listed by the Forbes magazine as the most powerful woman, this style icon impressed us with her simplicity and humbleness. She explained how in Jordan they are full of admiration for what India and Indians have achieved. A staunch Muslim, she prays five times a day and insists on being a strict mother to her children, the future rulers. In Delhi she called on Sonia Gandhi, among others. Her love story with India began when she came calling earlier this year to work with UNICEF.
Clinton: a charmer When Bill Clinton came calling, he did not deviate much from his usual Indian routine. He checked into the very same hotel that he did on his last visits, and there, did the same things all over again. And that included charming everybody from guests to staffers! He ordered all his favourites -Sikandari raan, murg malai kebab and tandoori jhinga. Early morning he was off to see Sonia Gandhi and launch paediatrics HIV/AIDS programme. A tired Clinton left on Friday morning. His usual ebullience resurfaced quite quickly when he was introduced to children of Thazhanguda village who have successfully coped with the post-tsunami trauma. Clinton heaped lavish praise on the speed with which permanent shelters were provided to all tsunami survivors, economic opportunities created for fishermen and an early warning system was installed. This model should be extended to tsunami victims in other parts of the world. Praising the early warning system at Cuddalore, he said the Katrina-devasted Florida has much to learn from the people of Cuddalore when it comes to prompt and efficient management of "serious weather events".
Still superstitious
Superstition affects all we know. Hotels don't usually have 13th floor. Friday, the 13th, we usually keep our fingers crossed. But now even the judiciary is superstitious. Well, at Delhi courts lawyers avoid marking their chambers 420. Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code is related to crimes of dishonesty and cheating. The three lower courts of Delhi Patiala House, Tis Hazari and Karkardooma Court do not have a chamber number 420. It is usually 419 and 419 A. First it was No. 10 and now 420. Well, “Dus Numbaria” and “Char So Bees” are numbers the lawyers feel will create doubts in the minds of their clients. Instead of 13, it’s also usually 12 and then 12A. All this despite the Supreme Court time and again expressing its displease over the various judicial institutions being rooted in strong superstition.
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Ishwara is one supreme entity. He is absolute, all pervading and eternal He has no beginning and no end. He has no form, colour or description. Sometimes in the form of word, He manifests Himself. He is the creator, the cause of causes. He is all powerful and does not require help from any one else to carry out his desires. Why? None else but He never exists. — The Vedas There is something common to all living beings from the highest to the lowest, irrespective of species, caste or creed. We have all been created by God and this must never be forgotten. In His eyes, we are all equal. Our human facilities create differences among us. — The Bhagvad Gita He alone can dwell on the True one who engraves God in his mind. — Guru Nanak
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