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Neighbourly relations Border dispute |
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Majesty of law
Potentials of satellite TV
Nip the evil in the bud
Maritime security Thailand govt in crisis Delhi Durbar
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Neighbourly relations DURING his just concluded Islamabad visit, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee suggested that India and Pakistan should try to learn from Europe for peace and progress in South Asia. The point he stressed was that if European nations, having fought two world wars, could come together to constitute the European Union, nothing could prevent India and Pakistan from acting on similar lines. After all, India and Pakistan cooperated with each other in the aftermath of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. There is, however, need to promote the concept of shared growth, highlighting the point that it can also create an atmosphere conducive for the resolution of all the problems between the two neighbours. Pakistan’s Opposition leaders, too, realise the usefulness of the European model, as they did not reject it when Mr Mukherjee mentioned it during the exchange of views with them in Islamabad. It seems the peace constituency is continuing to expand on both sides. That is why these leaders appeared to be appreciative of the India-Pakistan peace process. They are right that it is not progressing as fast as it could. Yet, it has yielded enough for both sides to remain optimistic. It is only because of the dialogue process that the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad, Amritsar-Nankana Sahib and Amritsar-Lahore bus services as also the train service between the two countries have been started. The maritime survey to resolve the Sir Creek dispute has begun and Pakistan has hinted that a way can be found to take care of India’s stand on the Siachen glaciers -- that the positions being held by India and Pakistan must be recorded before any agreement on troop withdrawal is reached. The India-Pakistan dialogue process could not be expected to progress more speedily with Pakistan yet to honour its commitment on fighting cross-border terrorism. However, efforts are on to tame the terrorist monster through the joint anti-terrorism mechanism set up by the two countries. The peace process may get a boost if General Pervez Musharraf’s invitation to the family members of Indian prisoners of war to identify their relatives in Pakistani jails leads to satisfactory results. It is good that both sides have decided to set up a committee comprising retired judges to tackle the problem of prisoners rotting in jails. Any step that helps reduce animosity is welcome. |
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Border dispute THE border dispute between India and China is as old as the hills. And it has also remained frozen like the snow on top of those formidable peaks. There has been some forward movement of late, but this has led to only marginal progress. Under the circumstances, the direction given by the Prime Ministers of the two countries, Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Wen Jiabao, to their pointsmen to pursue these negotiations “with vigour and innovation” has a special significance and urgency attached to it. For more than 50 years now, the issue has been discussed threadbare. A breakthrough is possible only if the two sides agree to think out of the box. There should be a realisation that merely stating their respective stands will not get them anywhere when they meet next in Delhi on January 17 and 18. There has been progress in other fields, but as long as the border dispute remains in the way, right camaraderie cannot develop. India has already made a major compromise by saying that the final solution of the problem has to be found in such a manner that the existing populations on both sides of the Line of Actual Control are not disturbed. Earlier, India was firm on getting back areas which China had usurped during the 1962 skirmish and also earlier than that. Unfortunately, this gesture has not been fully reciprocated. The way the Chinese Ambassador laid claim to Arunachal Pradesh was not conducive to an amicable settlement. One just wants to hope that the directive of the prime ministers will soften this hardline approach. The final solution cannot be expected from the regular meetings of interlocuters. For that, the political leadership will have to step in. But if they themselves also show “vigour and innovation” they have told their special representatives to display, the border issue can indeed be reduced to a non-issue. |
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Majesty of law THE President of India will now decide the fate of Mohammed Afzal Guru, who was given death penalty for his involvement in the attack on Parliament in 2001. The doors of the judiciary were finally closed for him when the Supreme Court refused to review its own verdict confirming his death penalty. Such petitions are entertained only if the accused is able to show some infirmities in the judgement. In other words, no substantive review of the verdict was even expected. Under the law, the final arbiter in such cases is the President, who alone has the power to grant clemency to those who are on the death row. If the way the power of presidential pardon is exercised is anything to go by, the Head of State enjoys very limited say even in this regard. Presidential pardon is as old as the Constitution. There are institutionalised mechanisms to study individual petitions of mercy before decisions are taken. They are often guided by the nature of the crime, the propensity of the criminal and the circumstances in which he carried it out. It is the Home Ministry, with inputs from the state where the crime occurred, which makes the final recommendation to the President. A whole lot of factors thus go into the making of the decision, which may take months and, in some cases, even years. Thus there is no certainty that his mercy petition will be decided within a stipulated period. The imperfections in the hearing of the Parliament attack case notwithstanding, it cannot be argued that Afzal Guru did not get a proper hearing. In fact, he could go right up to the Supreme Court to have his case heard. Seen in this context, the mercy campaign that some people have been mounting on his behalf seems misplaced. Equally misplaced is the campaign of some political leaders to hasten his death by hanging. What is required is to allow the due process of review of his case by the Home Ministry to proceed so that it can give the right recommendation to the President. Whether he is given clemency or is sent to the gallows, it is the majesty of the law that should prevail. |
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Diligence is the mother of good luck.
— A proverb |
Potentials of satellite TV WE, all of us, take pride in "shining India", "Hamara Bharat Mahan" and in every step of the achievement ladder we climb, despite the other India that is not shining. India has, indeed, broken many glass ceilings and a measure of self-congratulation is in order as long as we keep our progress in perspective. But in a vital area, we have failed to take India to the world. In the world of satellite television, we remain content with satisfying the Indian diaspora or others from the developing world hooked on Indian soaps and Bollywood. There is no attempt at breaking into the field of world news television, of covering the world from an Indian or Asian perspective. That this should be so is curious because India is better equipped than most developing countries to make a splash in a vital new field of communication. On second thoughts, the Indian failure in exploiting the new medium of international communication should not surprise us because few of our prosperous newspapers see fit to post staff correspondents abroad, taking the cheaper option of teaming up with foreign agencies or internationally syndicated material. Yet we have energy-rich Qatar, population 628,000, which shook the West and the world by launching Al-Jazeera, a phenomenally popular 24-hour news television channel in Arabic that projected events in the tempestuous West Asia and the larger world from a non-western Arab perspective. Acting on the theory that it you can't beat it, join it, CNN and other western television channels borrowed Al-Jazeera material on Afghanistan and Iraq to inform their own audience. Not since Nasser's time has one voice struck a responsive pan-Arab chord among the masses. Encouraged by the success of the Arabic channel, Al-Jazeera has now launched an English channel. Its premise is that it has an alternative point of view to international developments, particularly on the Arab world and the core issue of its conflict with the West, the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation. It recently took Mr Jimmy Carter to make the point that mainstream American media are biased against Palestinians because they are inordinately influenced by Israel and the Jewish lobby. In the western world, the French, who are justly proud of their language and literature, have thought it fit to launch a 24-hour television news channel in English to reach a wider audience. The French objective is to give a view of the world different from the Anglo-Saxon one. And in Latin America, we are seeing the beginnings of a trans-national television channel initiated by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Unlike the old days, when Britannia ruled the waves, in the new world order, air waves and cable influence, if not rule, the world. Regions and nations have different perspectives and information is often translated into power. National television beamed to a nation's diaspora is good for the diaspora but is no tool for seeking to influence important segments of world population. What is required is a dedicated international channel staffed by good anchors and programme executives at home and a team of active foreign correspondents spread around important capitals in the world. To enable such an institution to come into being, we ideally need entrepreneurs willing to invest money in order to make money in the long run while performing a useful service for the country. There was a time not so long ago when major Indian newspapers had more staff correspondents abroad than the most prosperous of them have today. With honourable exceptions, most newspapers are content with employing a few in such watering holes as Washington and London, making do with part-time stringers (non-staff men and women) and reams of syndicated material and foreign agencies. Why the Indian Press is more parochial today than it was, say two decades ago, is a complex subject determined by such factors as the evolution of print media as products in a newly empowered consumer society. But if India wishes to make a splash in the world and declare that it has arrived, it needs an Indian English-language international 24-hour news channel projecting an Indian and Asian perspective on the world. And I do not mean the kind of reporting indulged in by Indian news agencies that hew close to the official Indian government line and are more mindful of Indian ambassadors than of developing events in their regions. Here is a rich field for a Tata or an Ambani to exploit, those with a vision and think big. West Asia or the Greater Middle East, as the Americans call it, is an area of immense interest to India. Yet it is pitiable how few Indian reporting and analytical media resources are. If we receive information through the filter of European or American eyes, we will inevitably see issues and problems through a distorted lens. This is not to suggest that all western reporting is biased; only that western reporting has a built-in western perspective. If no visionary industrial leader is willing to undertake the challenge, the host of Indian television channels that have sprouted can come together to form an international channel. CNN was the pioneer in satellite 24-hour news channel. I recall the excitement with which I watched it from the Information Ministry building in Baghdad and an Amman hotel in the 1991 war. The BBC caught on to the great potential of world television and has made a significant contribution to this genre of news and comment. Al-Jazeera was the first to strike a blow for the non-western world firmly planting the state of Qatar on the world map. In addition to giving Arabs a voice in the world, Al-Jazeera has brought about a revolution in Arab reporting. Pan-Arab print media were traditionally Saudi-owned, based in London, outside the constraints of national governments' sensitivities. But they were suitably mindful of their Saudi masters. Al-Jazeera broke many taboos in reporting and commenting upon events in the Arab world (it was, however, restrained in reporting on events in its home base) and was periodically banned in one Arab country after another. The Saudis have followed with their own Arabic satellite channel based in Dubai. If Qatar and France can do it, so can India. When Indian industrialists are buying up companies abroad, they can surely put up $ 100 million to give India a leg up in world
television.
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Nip the evil in the bud IT has been more than two decades now that I have not worn a neck-tie. However when some years ago when I, along with all the present, was presented with one expensive silk one, and that too after a sumptuous cocktail dinner laid lavishly at a posh local club, I liked the gift very much. All this happened at a “press-conference” that was held perhaps to announce the inauguration of a “registered” sports organisation that was to deal with a game I had heard for the first time — Korf Ball. However my chance and disinclined association with the organisation could not be kept “tied” beyond the day I found that unlike us, the so-called officials, and the members of the fourth state, the players, most of them as novice and ignorant about the game as I, were being given an “all-round” hurting raw deal even while providing them with their daily measly meals. In Chandigarh the number of such sports organisations abound. For, the city houses at least three organisations representing a single game (UT Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and at times Himachal Pradesh too). Thus “The city beautiful” has acquired a “self-sufficient” status to hold “State Level” sports “melas” on its own. While the mismanaged working of bigger, because of their riches rather than their sporty excellence, sports federations, like that of cricket and hockey, often come to the fore no one seem to bother about the non-professional approach of the smaller sports organisations that I have referred to above. In fact these are the nurseries of the nefarious non-sports activities that have brought disrespect to the country’s sports scenario at both national and international levels. The recent tragic death of two young boys of the local DAV College at Chennai has brought into focus the misdoing of one such small sports organisation which though is reportedly registered in the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh but is being operated from the city. Its digitally-fast working can well be imagined from the fact that it could proficiently prepare the unfortunate boys, (who used to commute daily from Rajpura, Punjab and had no previous training in any game, including Yoga that they were representing), to represent in a so-called national level event within a short period of four months of joining their college. In case the authorities still remain indifferent towards the nefarious doings of such small sports organisations the sports standards of our country would remain unchanged — a BIG LOW! And no amount of sporadic protests, like the recent one that past giants of Indian Hockey held at New Delhi against the IHF, would be of any benefit. ‘Nipping the evil in the bud’ is still a relevant adage!n |
Maritime security INDIA is essentially a maritime nation with a coastline of nearly 8,000 km which falls halfway to the nation’s land frontier of 15,000 km. But by adding up the sea waterways comprising territorial sea of 12 nm, contiguous zone of 24nm, EEZ of 200nm, and continental shelf of 200-350nm, the sea frontiers extend manifold. The oceans are recognised as a repository of treasure and this add-on area gives the country sovereign rights over all living and non-living resources with regard to activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the sea. Some two decades back India was granted the status of Pioneer Investor as a lone developing country. This gave the nation exclusive rights to explore its mineral wealth in an area of 1,50,000 km in the Indian Ocean. However, the Department of Ocean Development has so far been able to explore only half of the area i.e. 75,000 km bringing out 9.5 metric tonnes of natural wealth. The reason being the technological constraints. The Indian Ocean is the third largest ocean in the world covering about 20 per cent of the earth’s water surface. Being home to a half and quarter of the world’s oil reserves and one-third of the gas reserves, it has played a vital role in maintaining activities, both in the area of politics and trade. While it was the spices which led Vasco de Gama in the 15th century to discover India, it is the oil today which is the primary source of energy, powering the economic and industrial sector of the states falling in the Indian Ocean region. Accounting for transportation of the highest tonnage of goods a half of the world’s container and cargo traffic is carried through it. Ninety per cent of India’s trade is ferried through sea, making it a lifeline of the nation’s economic prosperity. However, despite the lack of sea consciousness we are the sixth largest producer of fish and possessing the seventh largest merchant shipping fleet. The world shipping tonnage puts India at the 17th position. The country has 12 major and 175 small ports. There are inadequacies in terms of infrastructural growth, port congestion, lack of networking and communication, poor power and water links and the mafias. Even though India has achieved a high degree of self-reliance in the field of marine science and technology, it has failed to exploit its sea opulence judiciously. The Government of India came out with the Maritime Draft Policy in 2004 and revised it in 2005. It speaks about the development of India’s maritime sector in a prognostic manner and calls for new projects, including visualising options for developing shipping, ports and waterways. Especially mentioned in this context is Rs 10,00,000 Sagarmala project, signalling the end of benign neglect of sea ports as a major national policy decision. However, a lot needs to be done in strengthening, infrastructure as it is causing a major loss to the exchequer. For example, while the local conditions at Alang in Gujarat are turning the other countries for burial of their ships to countries like Vietnam and China, our port operations are circumvented by Singapore, Dubai and Colombo. India has entered into a strategic partnership with the U.S. and, for that matter, also with China. The three have even been undertaking joint naval exercises, but despite such cordial relations registered from time to time, there is a binding interest of strategic nature which keeps them apart. As of today, the area between the Gulf of Aden and Malacca Strait is seen as India’s sphere of influence and, according to the last Indian Premier, our strategic perception must equally broaden, but then the question is: do we have adequate naval strength when more than half of the Indian warships are in the process of aging? Moreover, controversies like the present as far as the Barak missile are concerned, would forbid us in the near future to get any right kind of equipment. Our naval perceptions have to take into account the growing American presence in our near proximity, however friendly they are, and also of China, which has built up a String of Pearls around us. The later include a naval facility at SITWE, Hanggyi island; electronic post of Manaung, Hanggyi Zedetkyi and at COCO island, besides developing submarine infrastructure at Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal and constructing Gwadhar with Pakistan in the Arabian Sea. The country will add up INS Vikramaditya in 2008, but by then the existing fleet may require a complete turnover of naval vessels to safeguard India’s maritime interests. The Indian Navy needs to build up a new strategic vision where in time to come the threat would be more from non-state actors in terms of terrorist attacks pirates, smuggling, drug-trafficking, narcotics, poaching, money-laundering, small arms proliferation and choking of in-lets, which will have a direct implication for the country. Further, allowing any such event to build up on the Indian sea horizons would only bring out the repeat of Kargil in our sea area. The author is a defence analyst, currently on the guest faculty at the Centre for Defence and National Security Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh. |
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Thailand govt
in crisis FOREIGN tourists and middle-class Thais jammed restaurants, hotels and downtown streets on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the end of a tough year for Thailand. Nearly 15 weeks earlier, the army had overthrown the divisive prime minister following months of street protests over his alleged corruption and abuse of power. But as the New Year’s partying began, nine bombs exploded around the city, killing three people and injuring 42. In this Buddhist country known for silk, spicy food and a polite welcome to tourists, “such a violent attack in the capital is a major shift in the environment,’’ said Panitan Wattanayagorn, a Bangkok political science professor. The bombs signaled that the struggle to rule Thailand is ongoing and could get more violent as the army-led government prosecutes ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies on corruption charges, Panitan and other analysts say. Thaksin was in New York when the coup occurred and has been traveling since. The Thai junta is caught between a need to get tough on Thaksin and his still-powerful loyalists, and to show a democratic, tolerant face to Thais who no longer suffer army rule as passively as in generations past. While Thailand has seen 18 coups and 16 constitutions since it abandoned absolute monarchy in 1932, this crisis is especially troubling because Thais cannot count for long on the stabilizing presence of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has moderated political conflict here over a 60-year reign. Bhumibol (pronounced “pumipon’’), the world’s longest-ruling monarch, is frail at age 79. His son, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, is widely seen (although never publicly described) as a somewhat thuggish playboy who will be unable to play his father’s stabilizing role. Thailand’s all-powerful kings were displaced by nearly all-powerful generals who, after 1932, ruled directly or indirectly for 50 out of 56 years. Taking the throne in 1946, Bhumibol patiently rebuilt the monarchy’s weakened authority with a personal crusade to develop Thailand’s economy. He made countless visits to villages and towns, founding more than 3,000 projects – schools, fish farms, water supply systems, agricultural research stations and others. As education spread, Thais increasingly resisted army rule. Mass demonstrations from the 1970s to the 1990s forced the military to limit or surrender its governing powers, and Bhumibol, perhaps reticently, became a political arbiter of last resort. Thaksin, a billionaire businessman and former policeman, won election in 2001 and built a strong base among the rural poor with populist economic policies that reduced poverty and helped end a deep recession. He also built a political machine based on corrupt patronage, critics say, and alienated many Thais with violent policies. The army overused brute force against Muslim rebels in the south, human rights groups said, exacerbating the conflict, which was fueled by religious, ethnic and economic rivalries. And a “clean-up’’ of the drug trade in Bangkok and other cities in 2003 killed 2,000 people within three months, most shot dead by police. When Thailand’s auditor general investigated Thaksin and his allies for alleged corruption, the government tried to oust her and wound up in a face-off with the king, who blocked the move. Thaksin built a telecommunications company largely by winning government contracts, and sold a stake last year to a Singaporean state holding company for $1.9 billion, paying no taxes in the process. Protests against that sale and other allegations of corruption forced Thaksin to call an election in April, which the opposition boycotted, preventing the seating of a new parliament. After a meeting in which the king reportedly urged him to step aside, Thaksin announced – but later reversed – a decision not to run for re-election. “Thaksin did not show much respect to the king,’’ said Kavi Chongkittavorn, a senior editor at The Nation, an English-language daily. Thaksin’s resistance to the king, and a perception that he was trying to tighten his personal grip on the army and build personal influence with the crown prince, led generals to overthrow him, said Thai and Western analysts. “Discussing the politics of the royal household is taboo (in Thailand), so you will please not quote me,’’ said a Thai intellectual. When the prime minister was overthrown, relieved Bangkok residents handed out flowers to the soldiers. The problem now, voiced here only in whispers, is that the thrice-married crown prince is seen as an arrogant womanizer prone to eruptions of bad temper. By arrangement with |
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Delhi Durbar THE MP from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi, is interacting with Congress claimants for various seats in UP. He has been meeting youth leaders and grassroots workers as he believes that is the only way to revive the Congress, which is in a shambles in UP. A bird tells us that Rahul is arming himself with facts and figures, including the caste configuration of each segment. In the prevailing circumstances, is Rahul preparing for the general election of 2009? For rank outsiders, that is what it seems like.
Rush at Punjab Bhavan Punjab Bhavan's dining hall is often packed to capacity these days with Congress workers, ticket seekers, besides former and sitting MLAs and ministers. The lunch hour on weekdays witnesses a manifold growth in the number of guests from an average of 30 to 150, compelling the dining hall managers to introduce a pre-paid buffet system. Prominent among those who enjoyed the rich Punjabi food over speculation about ticket distribution last week were former minister Lakhmir Singh Randhawa, Vice-President of the Punjab Youth Congress Aman Arora, President of the Punjab Kisan Khet and Mazdoor Congress Kuljit Singh Nagra and Municipal Councillor at Kharar Jaswinder Singh Jassi.
Iran hopeful of better ties The Iranian Embassy in the Capital has instituted several awards for Indians contributing to bilateral cultural relations, promoting the Persian language and literature. Cultural Counsellor in the Iranian Embassy S Shakeeb hopes these rewards will strengthen relations between the two countries. He has no doubt that the political tension between India and is a passing phase and will not affect the strong cultural and historical links between the two countries.
Tihar jail gets more cells More cells are being added to the overcrowded Tihar jail. The Union Home Ministry is believed to have stepped in to expand Asia's biggest jail. Sources are quick to link the expansion of Tihar jail to some influential people like Pappu Yadav and Manu Sharma being lodged in the jail. Then the ministry also has to contend with what is being viewed as judicial activism. Clearly, the ministry does not want to be caught on the wrong foot with space constraints, if more such persons find themselves at the wrong end of the law.
Contributed by R Suryamurthy, Tripti Nath, Satish Misra and Syed Ali |
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