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Skulls, more skulls Dialogue to trade |
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Ash you like it
New Iraqi strategy
Tea tattle
Haryana’s missing girls Save Chandigarh’s open spaces Defence Notes
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Skulls, more skulls THE drain behind the house of Moninder Singh Pandher at Noida in Uttar Pradesh seems to be bottomless. It has already yielded 30 skulls and, given the discovery by the CBI of bagfuls of human remains, there are reasons to suspect that the death count may cross 40. If the perversity of those who did all this defies imagination, the laxity of the Noida police and the UP Government is monumental. First of all, they ignored the entreaties of the family members of those who went missing. Even when fingers were pointed at Pandher and his servant, they went out of their way to save them, because of pressure or inducement. And when bodies started being fished out of the drain, the attempt seemed to be to make sure that all of them should not be found. Perhaps that is why only 17 skulls were found after 10 days of police search, which was called off inexplicably. Even if this was done only because of laxity and not any type of complicity, it is colossal neglect calling for extreme punishment. The enquiry was handed over to the CBI after great hesitation. Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Man Friday Amar Singh chafe at the allegations that there is no law and order in their state. But can they honestly fend off that conclusion after Nithari? It is unfortunate that instead of taking the blame with some show of self-respect, they have been trying to politicise the issue by trying to blow up the Muktsar factory killings, as if two wrongs can make one right. Mr Yadav, whose minister brother dismissed the Nithari killings as a commonplace crime, obviously, has never heard of the term “moral responsibility”. What happened in Noida was the ugliest possible manifestation of the total collapse of the police machinery. Elsewhere, too, the men in khaki wake up from their legendary slumber only when an influential person - that too of the right political affiliation - is affected. Otherwise, they are happy siding with the criminals. The sobriquet “Ulta Pradesh” that UP has got over the years is well-earned, thanks to politicians like Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. |
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Dialogue to trade THE Cebu (Philippines) summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its dialogue partners like India provided enough proof of the growing interest of these countries in India. Both sides see immense trade and investment opportunities once they sign the proposed Free Trade Agreement, most probably in July this year. The problem of a negative list of items for trade has been successfully handled. At Cebu, they agreed that their negative lists would not exceed 5 per cent of their bilateral trade under all circumstances. This is not a small achievement particularly for India, whose negative list mainly has agricultural products because of political and other reasons. It also has to take care of the regional factor, as most farm products have regional overtones. The agreement on the negative list plus India’s readiness to accept Singapore’s proposal for an “open skies” policy in ASEAN and its dialogue-partner countries may multiply trade and investment opportunities in the entire region. India is bound to be a major beneficiary because of various advantages it has, including the size of its economy. Last year, the India-ASEAN trade grew by over 30 per cent. Allowing the airlines of India and ASEAN countries unhindered access to one another’s skies is quite logical after the success of the 2003 initiative by the two sides to liberalise their air services. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and 15 other leaders, who had gathered at Cebu, also signed another significant document - the Cebu Declaration on Energy Security - with a view to developing renewable energy sources, including nuclear power. This is an essential requirement of the fast-growing economies of Asia. They have to find an affordable alternative to the conventional and fast-depleting sources of energy. Together, it will be easier for them to succeed as such ventures need substantial investment. But, at the same time, they will also have to concentrate on other infrastructure requirements of their economies for their sustained growth. |
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Ash you like it MARRIAGES may be made in heaven but they are performed on the earth. And everybody loves a good romance, especially the stage where the beautiful bride gathers herself in all her finery to ascend the threshold of sacred vows that holds out the promise of supreme cosmic bliss. When the bride is one of the world’s most beautiful women, Aishwarya Rai, and the groom none other than the eminently eligible Abhishek Bachchan, then the fantasies of a fairy-tale wedding are just too overwhelming to be confined to the couple alone, or even to their families. Everyone, especially everyone who doesn’t know them, wants a piece of the action, vicarious though it may be. That may well explain the unrelenting media hype over what some have described as the ‘Wedding of the Century’, though there remain 93 years to January 1, 2100. Abhi, as the son of Amitabh and Jaya, and the grandson of Harivanshrai Bachchan, is the man of the moment who can set a million hearts aflutter on and off the screen. Alluring Ash is the heartthrob of millions more and not just in India. On screen or off stage, the two are a hit, and the media could not have asked for better icons to promote the selling of fantasy as reality shows. The unreal - promise of eternal beauty and youth endowed with both intelligence and wealth and all of these united in a celebratory wedlock - is the stuff of real fantasy. Bollywood could not have come up with a better script for a blockbuster than the media mapping every move of Abhi and Ash as they proceed under the glare of television cameras to take the solemn vow. From their presence at the premiere of Guru to visits to temples, from the price of saris to the weight of jewellery purchased for the wedding, every detail is open to the hungry gaze of a curious public fed unceasingly by a voyeuristic media. Is the public curiosity a result of the media hype? Or is the media hype driven by public curiosity? Whatever the answer, this is certainly the greatest show running on television now. Stay tuned, don’t blink. |
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A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it.— |
New Iraqi strategy
US President Bush has unveiled his much-awaited new strategy for Iraq. It involves sending an additional 22,000 troops to Iraq to help the Iraqi Army and police forces to police effectively Baghdad and maintain peace in the city. The Bush strategy is the result of a joint plan between the Iraqi government and the US military authorities in Iraq. Today the problem in Iraq is two-fold. Firstly, the Sunni Baathists and Al- Qaeda elements who have infiltrated into Iraq carry out attacks on Americans as well as Shias. Secondly, Shia militias retaliate by attacking Sunni targets. Till now the Iraqi forces have not been effective in disarming the militias. The Shia militias have a lot of political clout and the most prominent among them is the Mehdi Army of a clergyman, Muqtada Al-Sadr, on whose political support Prime Minister Noori Al-Maliki relies. According to the new plan, Baghdad will be divided into nine districts. Eighteen Iraqi Army and National Police brigades along with the local police will conduct patrols, setting up checkpoints, going door to door and disarming militias. The additional US troops now being sent will be embedded in Iraqi formations and work with them. Prime Minister Maliki has warned that all militias, including the Mehdi Army, will be disarmed. The US has also made it clear to the Iraqi administration that its support to Iraq is not open-ended. The US expects the Maliki government to exhibit adequate political will to carry out this operation. The US also proposes to increase its forces in Anbar province, a Sunni area, which Al-Qaeda elements use as their base. The US President hopes that a sustained effort of this kind, combined with development programmes, will over a reasonable period enable the Iraqi administration and its security forces to establish control over law and order and make the US forces to be drawn down. The US President has also taken a tough line vis-a-vis Iran and Syria, accusing them of helping the militias and anti-American forces in their violent activities. The US will take action to interrupt the flow of support from these countries. This strategy has drawn widespread criticism from the Democrats in the US, many experts as well as foreign observers. Considerable scepticism has been expressed about the Iraqi political will to implement the plan. The critics argue that the Iraqi politicians have developed a dependency syndrome vis-a-vis the Americans and they expect the Americans to carry out the policing work, which is the legitimate duty of Iraqi security forces. Secondly, the Shia-Sunni hostility is very deep as was demonstrated by the blowing up of the dome of the Samarrah Mosque. Therefore, the critics are of the view that the Iraqis should be put on notice that US forces will be steadily drawn down and they will be left to their own devices. Some other critics are of the view that the Bush strategy is provocative and will lead to strengthening of Jehadi elements both in Iraq and elsewhere in the world. President Bush himself has warmed that the year ahead will demand more patience, sacrifice and resolve. Mr Bush perhaps committed an awful blunder in invading Iraq. Having done that, today the US is not in a position to cut and run at this stage. That would result in the Jehadis expanding and intensifying their attacks on the US and Western nations in a spirit of triumphalism. Secondly, it would make the other Islamic states of West Asia vulnerable to jehadi destabilisation. There are also possibilities of a major Shia-Sunni strife in the Islamic world. President Musharraf has warned, ``If we don't get our act together, there will be a sectarian catastrophe within the Islamic world.'' Therefore, there is a compulsion for the US to stay engaged after having opened the Pandora's box of Iraq. However, the recommendation of the Baker-Hamilton bipartisan study group that the US should try to engage Syria and Iran diplomatically in stabilising the situation in Iraq appears to have been rejected by President Bush. This may be due to one of the following reasons. Ever since the American diplomats were taken hostages by Iranians in 1979 the US establishment has developed an intense animosity towards Iran. Secondly, Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapon capability. Iran, if approached in connection with the Iraqi stabilisation strategy, may demand a high price in respect of its nuclear efforts. Thirdly, the US negotiating with Iran on stabilising Iraq will enhance Iran's prestige in the region, and Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states may have opposed the US engaging Iran. Whatever be the reason, the US has decided to go it alone in trying to stabilise Iraq. Whether the US will succeed or not will be known in the follow-up action the Iraqi government has to take. It has to begin to disarm the militias, including Maqtada Al-Sadr's Mehdi Army. Then it has to pass legislation to give a fair share of oil revenues to the Sunni minority whose region does not have any oil reserves. They are to hold provincial elections. They are to undertake a reconstruction programme of 10 billion dollars. All this requires the Kurdish and Sunni minorities’ cooperating with the Shia majority in a national endeavour. There have been suggestions, including by some eminent Americans, that since it is extremely unlikely that Shia-Sunni-Kurdish unity can be obtained in Iraq, it should be allowed to break up into three. President Bush in his speech has emphasised that success in Iraq requires defending its territorial integrity. A breakup of Iraq and secession of Kurdistan will set off a chain reaction of secession by the Kurds in Turkey and Iran and the Azeris in Iran. Perhaps, in a year's time from now it would be known how far the present Bush strategy makes headway in stabilising Iraq. It is very unlikely that the US will withdraw from Iraq during his presidency. It is almost certain that Iraq will feature as a major issue in the Presidential election of 2008. The US withdrawal will be strongly opposed by Saudi Arabia and Gulf states. The US is strengthening the military defences in the area with additional Patriot missile systems and an extra carrier group. There is also a hint in the US President's speech of a new bipartisan working group to be set up to consider, among other things, an increase in the size of the US Army and Marine Corps. That is a clear indication that Mr Bush will not retreat. |
Tea tattle IT was an international programme and the venue was Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Delegates from almost all South Asian countries had arrived to attend the programme being organised in a five-star hotel. The hosts were extra conscious about giving the participants glimpses of the rich cultural diversity of their country. This was particularly reflected in the cuisines and wares offered during meal times and tea times which was about five times during the working hours. Sometimes we forgot whether one of the objective of the workshop was to make gourmets out of the naive-about-cuisine people as we were especially those from Pakistan and India. During the elaborate Chinese lunch green tea was offered in small ceramic bowls with beautiful lids. The hospitality staff would go on pouring more tea from dainty kettles into your bowl if you left it uncovered, which then everyone sipped happily during the course of the meal. Despite people from Singapore on our table extolling the medicinal benefits of the green Chinese tea it hardly appealed to our taste buds. “Our” included delegates from Pakistan and India who had stuck together like peas in a pod since day one. During the afternoon high tea too we were served thin black tea with milk and sugar to be added at will. We had by then started wilting due to non-availability of our kind of tea, thick with milk, sugary and boiled hard. “Back home nobody will drink this tepid water”, commented our Pakistani friend. Then during our next meal I found one of the ministry official Mr Vimalan sipping a drink from a large glass beer mug like the ones the roadside juicewala gives for orange or kinnow juice. His drink appeared very much like our tea with a lot of froth on the surface. Forgetting all my manners I rushed to ask him what was it he was drinking. He told us it was ‘Teh tarik’ or pulled tea. ‘What a funny name! Pulled? tea? ‘and why was it called so? Because it is prepared by pouring the prepared tea back and forth from a container held high in the container to another held in the hand below. The tea seems to be pulled. “Just like our lassi”, we exclaimed! What is Teh tarik made of? It is a tea where the flavour of tea leaves is completely destroyed by boiling it with sugar and condensed milk. The method of pouring is believed to mix the ingredients thoroughly. By then Mr Vimalan looking at our excited faces had already ordered Teh tarik for our whole group. Its taste matched perfectly with our very own “Chai” and till the remaining days of the programme it was Teh tarik for us — Pakistanis and Indians and we really experienced the fact that how unifying or dividing a force our taste of tea, can be!n
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Haryana’s missing girls THE issue of missing girls and women in Haryana has gone to an alarming stage and needs a serious overview so that some concrete interventions can be thought of Consumer-oriented economic development, commercialisation of the medical profession and sexist biases in our society together have created a sad scenario of missing girls. Instead of women the empowerment, we are doing feminisation of labour. Global comparisons of sex ratios show that the sex ratios in Europe, North America, Caribbean, Central Asia and the poorest regions of Sab Saharan Africa are favourable to women as these countries neither kill/neglect girls nor do they use NRTs for the production of sons. On the other hand, the lowest sex ratio is found in some parts of India and Haryana is one of them. The bottom 10 districts in child sex ratio are Fatehgarh Sahib (754), Patiala (770), Kurukshetra (770), Gurdaspur (775), Bathinda (779), Mansa (779) Amritsar (783), Sonepat (783) and Ambala (784). There are 16 districts in India having a less than 800 sex ratio and 10 of them are in Punjab and Haryana. There are 1852 villages in Haryana where the child sex ratio (0-6) is less than 750. This practice had been earlier also, but now it has taken a new turn with the widespread use of new reproductive technologies in Haryana during the period of the Green Revolution. The census results of 2001 have revealed that with a sex ratio of 927 girls for 1000 boys, India had a deficit of 60 lakh girls in the age group of 0-6 years, when it entered the new millennium. In Haryana we are short of 3,22,436 girls in the age group of 0-6 years as per the 2001 census. The NRTs in the context of patriarchal control over women’s fertility and commercial interests are posing a major threat to women’s dignity and bodily integrity. The two-child norm policy is also posing a negative impact. The supporters of pre-birth elimination of females put forward various arguments like “pay Rs 500 now and save Rs 5,00,000 later”. Also it needs to be clarified that the right to abortion must remain as an essential right of women, a right to determine their life, their body and fertility. In this context the crucial and important question is: can we allow Haryanvi girls to become an endangered species? Dr Sabu George and myself conducted a study on female foeticide in rural Haryana in a rural population of about 13,000 in Rohtak district and we interviewed more than 1,000 women to know the pregnancy outcomes during 1995 to 2000. We have found that the “sons only and sons must” syndrome has been perpetuated by resorting to female foeticide, using modern technological tools, thus reinforcing the patriarchal values as cultural determinants. In our survey done in 2004 in 12 villages there were 50 cases of brides purchased from other states. In the last panchayat elections it became an election issue that if they win they would arrange for more purchased brides. When we discussed the issue with a group of women in villages, they had a misconception that if their number decreases, their worth would increase. They also told us that they have to have extra care from the birth of the girl child till they are married and later life as well beca use of the increasing, insecurity in society. They revealed that when a girl is born, there is an atmosphere of “mattam” and when a boy is born this is celebrated by beating a “thali” and distributing sweets. The tradition of the 6th day celebration on the birth of a boy “Chhath” is there. A mother who gives birth to a boy is given 10 kg of ghee and the mother giving birth to a girl is given 5 kg in villages. When asked whether they celebrate the “Namkaran Sanskar” of girls, all of them answered in the negative. Similarly, many traditional discriminatory points came in during the discussion, confirming again the reflex conditioning of women’s psyche and society as a whole. The PNDT Act amendment rules 2003 have activated the implementation machinery to curb nefarious practices contributing for missing girls. This is true but we have a great task in front of us i.e. to change the mindset of doctors, the people at large and the victim women in particular, to create a socio-cultural milieu that is conducive for the girl child’s survival and monitor the activities of commercial-minded doctor thriving on sexist prejudices. The following policy-level changes are required and these need to be implemented by the state through both governmental structures and voluntary organisations: Registering and monitoring of all pregnancies from the 6th week onward and not from the 12th week. Increase the marriage age of girls from 18 to 21. Provide compulsory, free, quality education to all girls up to the secondary level. Extend 50 per cent representation to women in all decision-making bodies of the state to introduce a feministic political culture conducive to women friendly political action. Eradicate child labour and guarantee employment for adult women. Bring policy and legal measures to ensure that women have rights and control over productive resources for the economic empowerment of women. Provide life-sustaining resources such as health, nutrition, water, education to all children without gender bias. Entrust power to panchayats to maintain a register of the demographic profile with details on vital statistics. Frame a child policy and a girl child policy to protect the interests of children. Extend gender sensitisation training to policy makers, planners, administrators and implementers at all
levels. The writer is a Professor of Surgery, PGIMS, Rohtak |
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Save Chandigarh’s open spaces CHANDIGARH owes its importance as a city of open spaces to its creator, Le Corbusier, who had envisioned the new capital to symbolically represent an open spirited city, “open to give and open to receive”, which the iconic hand sculpted by him testifies. It is this legacy of open spaces that now needs to be safeguarded. From whom? From the onslaught of rapid urban growth, real estate pickers promising sparking new townships, new technology masters who would like the doability of technology parks to match the livability of this city haven, new money wanting to flash qualitative lifestyles, the several upholders of the pillars of democracy who soon become its uprooters and the several other power brokers the system throws up from time to time. A scenario may emerge where representatives of money or power may lay territorial claims to “locations” for their being “sound financial spaces”, and thereby usurp land which is an established natural landscape resource. We need to forearm ourselves suitably to prevent damage from such a possibility. It is also possible that city planners may have compulsions to re-evaluate planning norms of the City Beautiful for reclaiming land under open spaces to be put to “other uses”, This may inadvertently lead to urban morphing of new activities over old ones and result in one more faceless city. Retaining the green slumless riverine trails, an unpolluted Sukhna Lake, encroachment-free Shivalik foothills versus just any other city, is a choice which merits debate and discussion. Any dilution to the city’s enviable 40 per cent land under green cover (on a par with international standards) would be an insult to Corbusier and a grave misdeed if the safeguarding process is not pre-empted. The writer suggests three steps as preventive mechanism to usurping of the city’s open spaces. They are briefly stated here. One, at any given point of time the proportion of the green cover in the city should be reclaimed and kept constant as an “inviolable land use” at 40 per cent of all land put under urban use. Two, that all tracts of open spaces should be protected and demarcated for their prime urban resource value and that a neutral zone should be incorporated between the built-up expanded urban realm (complete with its paraphernalia of property right and structures) and the protected open spaces. This intermediate or mediating neutral zone, acting as a transit public space between urbanity and nature would help protect the city’s mosaic of large and small open spaces from predation. Needless to say that design sensibilities will be brought to the fore for doing this banking on the city’s several practising architects. Three, involving citizens in the protection of green spaces will not just ensure their approval but also project sustainability. Availing the therapeutic quality of greens (as network of cycle tracks, joggers trails, sports-yoga-meditation centres, forests and man-made landscape settings) for physical and psychological rejuvenation would become a plus for their total involvement. Again, this could translate to creative design exercise for a stimulating aesthetic experience. A continuous layering of such landscape and topographical space and a translation of eras and ideologies would be a befitting patrimony. To put this to practice, the formation of a trust (acronym Cost — for Chandigarh Open Space Trust) will enable the government as the custodian of land to co-opt individuals committed to the cause, drawn from the socio-cultural milieu of the city into responsibilities (given some measure of authority) to adopt, conserve, manage and defend open spaces from violations, encroachments or other mal practices. With the help of technology (GIS) mapping and quantifying green open areas will be possible. This is a radical idea and Chandigarh as its first test case could successfully lead a revolution in town planning practice that can be followed in other cities of the country — provided there is a
will. The writer is an ex-Professor, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi |
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Defence Notes THE
Minister of State for Defence Production, Rao Inderjit Singh, during his recent official visit to Chile, chose to make a trip to the coldest continent on earth, the Antarctica, where he inspected the Chilean air base and research facilities. During the five-day visit he signed an MoU on defence cooperation with his Chilean counterpart. He held talks with the Chilean Defence Minister, Mrs Viviane Blanlot Soza, and other officials on bilateral cooperation in defence industries. India and Chile have a great scope in joint production and marketing of defence products and platforms in Latin America. Chile has also evinced interest in the purchase of “Dhruv” advanced light helicopter from India. A 10-member Indian Naval team, which recently went on a skiing expedition to the South Pole, crossing the South American nation, also met the Minister of State for Defence Production at Santiago. Raising Day The Corps of Army Air Defence (AAD) celebrated its 14th Raising Day last week. The Raising of the Corps is attributed to operational requirements and dynamics of modern warfare, which necessitated the bifurcation of the Regiment of Artillery and raising of the Corps of Army Air Defence on January 10, 1994. The overall responsibility of air defence of the country is that of the Indian Air Force. However, it is executed jointly by the three Services. The Corps of Army Air Defence is tasked to perform the critical battlefield mission of preserving the combat power and freedom of maneouvre of our combat force as well as inflicting maximum destruction on enemy aircraft and helicopters. In addition to the operational responsibility, Air Defence units are actively deployed in counter insurgency operations in J and K.
Highly qualified Lt Gen D.D.S. Sandhu, Director General of Ordnance Services and Senior Colonel Commandant, AOC, has been appointed honorary ADC to the President of India. The General Officer is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the Army Ordnance Corps on January 11, 1967. He is a graduate of the Defence Service Staff College and has done his postgraduation in defence studies from Madras University and M. Phil in defence and management studies from Devi Ahilya Bai University, Indore. The General Officer has an MBA in materials management from Rani Durgawati Vishwa Vidyalaya Jabalpur. He is also a Fellow of the British Institute of Management, Honorary fellow and member of Board of Studies of the Indian Institute of Materials Management and Patron of Asian Council of Logistics Management. He has an inclination towards research on vital issues of military logistics and acquired his doctorate in “international marketing of Indian defence products” from Punjabi University,
Patiala. |
No human is high or low, no man is a condemned sinner or a sanctified being. By Ishwara’s grace one obtains greatness. By his will some are born prosperous and others have to work for it. —The Vedas M corresponds to Prajna. Those who know this, by stilling the mind, find their true stature and inspire everyone around to grow. —The Mandukya Upanishads If you know you are alive, find the essence of life. Life is the sort of guest you don’t meet twice. — Kabir |
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