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23 years too late Tigers in the air |
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PM’s business tips Create conditions for industry to grow WHEN Dr Manmohan Singh told the Indian industry at the Steel Summit in Delhi on Tuesday to invest more at home than abroad, he must have felt concerned at the massive outgo of private investment. For the first time, more investment is moving out of the country than flowing into it.
Overweening pride and prejudice
Andhernagri Chowpat Raja
Australia–Japan ties worry China Remembering Haryana’s
Vikas Purush, Bansi Lal Defence Notes
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23 years too late THE phrase “better late than never” becomes a meaningless jumble of words when the woman who saw her husband, son and son-in-law murdered brutally in the 1984 riots has to wait for 23 years to see three of the killers convicted. Harminder Kaur has relived the horror of that lynching all these years. The consolation that she has at least been alive to see this day is too meagre to be of much value. In this long long time, a whole generation has come and gone. Her daughter Harjinder had become a widow on that dark day during the holocaust at the age of 23. She had a daughter only two years old who became an orphan. The child has grown into a woman who has never known her father. We know that justice is not dispensed in a hurry in India. But this case went much further than that. After all, it took Harminder Kaur all of 12 years just to get an FIR registered. What a fight against the irresponsive system it has been for the traumatised widow! It is not only a classic example of too late, but also of too little. Imagine nearly 3,000 persons being killed and conviction coming in only a handful of cases, like this one and the earlier life sentence passed on five persons in May 2005 for killing Baba Singh. And it is only the foot soldiers who are being served just desserts. Politicians who masterminded the horror have as good as escaped punishment. Everyone knows their role but they have managed to ensure that the trail goes cold and there is not “sufficient evidence” against them. The 1984 riots were among the worst nightmares that Independent India has had to suffer, the others being the Babri mosque demolition and the Gujarat riots. Till all the guilty are accounted for, such incidents will continue fostering disillusionment, embarrassment and misgivings. The sooner the shame-faced country comes clean, the better.
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Tigers in the air THE air attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Sri Lanka’s main air force base at Kattunayake, some 30 km north of Colombo, should ring alarm bells in the entire region. The air capabilities of the LTTE, which has a potent naval force called the Sea Tigers, though long suspected, had never been in evidence before. With this first air bombing, the LTTE has declared a war that could become more intense, blowing up any chance of a political solution of the ethnic crisis. The bombing of the air base confirms that the Tamil Tigers have exploited the period between the 2002 ceasefire and now for building up their military capabilities to revive their armed struggle in pursuit of a separate state. By all accounts, including those on the rebel website, the LTTE is gleeful at the “successful warning” it has delivered to the Government of Sri Lanka, which has been on a military offensive against the LTTE’s bases in the north and east of the island. The day after the air raid, an LTTE suicide squad drove a tractor-trolley loaded with explosives into an army camp in eastern Sri Lanka’s Batticaloa district, killing at least seven people. The Sri Lankan government and the LTTE have now joined a no-holds-barred battle, which can only escalate in the near future. Colombo, although it had spoken of a possible “major attack” by the LTTE had no clue to what was coming. Clearly, it was unprepared in terms of defending military bases and camps as well as gathering intelligence to repulse the attacks. It is a measure of the LTTE’s sophistication that it could build air capability despite being designated a terrorist organisation and isolated by influential sections of the international community. Colombo’s utter unpreparedness, especially intelligence failure, is a cause for wider concern to Sri Lanka as well as India. Like Colombo, New Delhi appears to have been caught unawares by the LTTE air raid. The implications of a well-equipped terrorist organisation across the Palk Straits, with the will and capability to launch air, sea and ground attacks, are all too obvious and need not be spelled out. India desisting from taking a hand in resolving the conflict does not mean the government can remain unmindful of the security and strategic concerns that require to be addressed with utmost urgency. |
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PM’s business tips WHEN
Dr Manmohan Singh told the Indian industry at the Steel Summit in Delhi on Tuesday to invest more at home than abroad, he must have felt concerned at the massive outgo of private investment. For the first time, more investment is moving out of the country than flowing into it. A Washington-based group of financial institutions, Institute of International Finance, has estimated a three-fold rise in the direct investment flow out of India in 2007. The country is expected to receive foreign direct investment of $12 billion this year (China gets five times more). Most of it, however, goes into stocks and, therefore, is prone to flow out at short notice should there be a problem. The current year has seen the Tatas’ acquisition of Corus for $12.2 billion and the Birlas’ buyout of Novelis for $6 billion. Propelled by strong growth, easier availability of credit and tremendous self-confidence, India Inc is out on a buying spree beyond the geographical boundaries. In this context, the Prime Minister’s appeal to the Tatas and the Mittals to look for opportunities on home ground is understandable. No doubt, India is trying to erect a workable infrastructure, though not at the scale witnessed in China. The construction industry is booming. The growth is particularly robust in manufacturing and services. The economic scenario on the whole is rosy and inviting. But there is a problem. Despite deregulation, it is still difficult to do business here. Corruption and red tape at the state level are big deterrents. Industry, it is common knowledge, is driven more by profit than patriotism. The government will have to create a congenial environment and a level-playing field for the industry to flourish. Besides, even if the industry goes abroad, part of the benefits in terms of profits and technology will flow back. Globalisation recognises no boundaries and the process, the Prime Minister himself admits, is irreversible. |
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I slept, and dreamed that life was beauty;/I woke, and found that life was duty.
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Overweening pride and prejudice
THE mindless hysteria exhibited by cricket fans at home after the Indian team’s consecutive World Cup defeats at the hands of the Bangladesh “minnows” and the more formidable Sri Lankan side does the country no credit and reflects a dangerous tendency to flirt with exaggerations and delusions of grandeur. The burning of effigies, vandalising of posters, residences and property of the players, tonsuring of heads, abusive ridicule and imprecations against all and sundry constitute as immature and shameful a response as the preceding pujas, prayers, hyper-coverage and wild fantasies. The media and the advertisers must share the blame for hyping the event, and over the years the game itself, to a point where international cricket has increasingly become a gladiatorial contest that must be won at any cost. Little surprise then that the reaction to the Indian team’s early discomfiture and the reality of its being sent home without the trophy was one of stunned disbelief and vicious anger. The media, especially television, has popularised sport and other spectator events by taking them into people’s homes and to hitherto unfamiliar places and audiences. The transformation has been greatest with regard to South Asian cricket, which has become an obsession. Sadly, cricket has elbowed out all other games in India, a development that has done disservice to Indian sport and Indian youth. Cricket today is business and the Board of Control for Cricket in India has raked in millions. Their professional fees apart, leading cricketers, like other icons, earn vast sums from commercial endorsements and are showered with prize money, land grants, tax concessions and gifts by the State, private benefactors and fans. This is understandable up to a point. Beyond that cricket becomes commerce. The market and the media dictate. Bookies join the business. The end result of all this is tragedy, like Bob Woolmer’s brutal murder and the resurfacing of ugly rumours about match-fixing. Just weeks ago, the I&B Minister arbitrarily ordained that Nimbus must share its hard-purchased global cricket rights with Prasar Bharati on the ground that poor non-cable householders in India have a right to watch cricket in real time. Shades of Marie Antoinette! Doing one’s best is more than winning. However, false values, big money and hugely overblown media commentary brought about the World Cup fiasco. Bangladesh clearly out-played an out-of-form India. The Indian fans reacted with unprecedented scorn and outrage, bordering on hatred for their icons. At a moment when the team and the coach needed sympathy and support, they were reviled and abused and felt pressurised, threatened and insecure. The media went to town retailing every manifestation of crudity, a national zero-hour. A Dhaka newspaper wryly noted that Bangladesh had not once been invited to play in India over these many years, a very sad commentary if true. While the cricket tamasha was being played out, the country witnessed other avoidable episodes of political vulgarity. Parliament was repeatedly disrupted by the Opposition on the pretext of the Nandigram events. Seeking a debate was certainly legitimate but preventing the two Houses from functioning and discussing the budget was totally unjustified. The CPM resorted to rowdy behaviour over the introduction of a Bill in the Lok Sabha to establish a Maritime University in Chennai, rather than in Kolkata. Its self-righteous double-speak has long begun to wear thin. Unfortunately, any and every issue has become grist to the electoral mill and all parties are guilty of grinding their axes in the run up to the UP polls. In the process Mr Rahul Gandhi did no credit to himself, his family, party or country by telling an audience in Rae Bareli that “if anyone from the Gandhi family been active then”, the Babri Masjid would not have been demolished in 1992. It is not clear what Mr Gandhi intended to convey but whether as an assurance to Muslims or an unfurling of his secular flag, it was singularly brash and recalled the infamous slogan that “India is Indira and Indira is India”. The Gandhis have admittedly rendered the State some service. But they have also been responsible for egregious errors that cost the country dear. The effort by party spokespersons to defend Mr Rahul Gandhi’s statement only compounded the offence, placing personalities and expediency before principles. Not to be outdone, the BJP lamented that Mr Gandhi’s words had “hurt Hindu sentiments”. Whatever the party was trying to say, it bears a heavy responsibility for initiating, promoting and cheering a chain of events that led to the destruction of the mosque and triggered communal violence by fanning right-wing chauvinism. The vengeful tit-for-tat actions of the new government in Punjab, as elsewhere, are also typical of the tendency to appropriate government as though it were private or party property. These ill omens call for honest introspection and remedial action. The nation must beware of self-deception and hubris in overselling itself as a great economic power and democracy that now bestrides the world stage. Much has indeed been achieved. But much ugliness, injustice and deprivation remains. There is a long way to
go.
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Andhernagri Chowpat Raja
ONCE upon a time there was a king. He was known more for the speed with which he dispensed justice than for its quality. One day a poor man came to his court with a complaint that his neighbour’s wall had collapsed, killing his goat. The neighbour was promptly summoned and ordered to be hanged. He, however, pleaded that the fault was not his but that of the builder who had constructed the house. The builder in turn argued that the real culprit was the mason; the mason blamed his helper for adding too much water to the mortar and the helper passed on the blame to a fat man who happened to be passing by and had scared him so much that he had lost his balance. The death sentence was thus pronounced in turn on the builder, the mason and the helper, all of whom managed to escape punishment by shifting the blame to someone else. The fat man, who was eventually held responsible, however could not be traced. But a crime had been committed and someone had to be hanged for it. The king, therefore, ordered that the fattest man in his kingdom be found and hanged. The order was duly carried out, but a problem arose when it was discovered that the neck of the fat man who was taken to the gallows was too big for the noose. The only logical next step for the king was to order the execution of a thin man. An unexpected problem arose when the search began for a thin man as too many thin men turned up, vying with one another, asking to be hanged. The explanation given to the king was that it happened to be an auspicious day and anyone who died on that day would go straight to heaven. On hearing this, the king naturally decided to hang himself! A similar process of instant justice seems to be under way as the men-in-blue lick their wounds following their premature exit from the World Cup. The process has been characterised by indiscriminate finger pointing and irresponsible suggestions. Some have called for “sweeping changes” in the composition of the team. Others put the blame squarely on the captain and the coach — whose tenures have abruptly ended anyway — and have called for their immediate replacement. Yet others say that it is really the fault of the selectors. But then who appointed the selectors? Shouldn’t the board be held responsible? Where does the buck stop? What about the Chairman himself? Will the problem be solved if there are wholesale dismissals? What is the guarantee that those who are chosen to replace them will be any better? What we really need is a radical change in the way sport is managed in this country. Otherwise cricket is doomed to go the hockey way. Let us hope that those who are engaged in the current search for scapegoats for India’s debacle in the Caribbean will display better judgment than the proverbial Chowpat Raja of
Andhernagri. |
Australia–Japan ties worry China Australia and Japan entered a new phase in their relationship, having signed a joint declaration on security in Tokyo during Prime Minister John Howard’s recent Japan visit. China obviously is not happy. Of course, both Prime Minister Howard and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have emphasised that their new closer security relationship is not directed against China. According to Howard, “This document is not designed at China…The purpose of this is to express the common desire for Japan and Australia to work even closer together to contribute to security in the region.” But more telling was Howard’s observation that “Japan and Australia have a common destiny in this part of the world.” Howard has said before that “Australia has no greater friend in Asia than Japan.” The two countries are already part of a high level trilateral strategic dialogue with the United States. Howard wouldn’t, though, consider entering into a similar security arrangement with China because it is not a democracy. Australia’s relations with China are pragmatic, based on economic realities, with both countries gaining from mutual trade exchanges. China is getting assured supplies of much-needed resources from a stable country and Australia gets to expand its economic opportunities in a growing Chinese economy. In this sense, Canberra doesn’t seem unduly worried about Beijing’s negative reaction. China will do business with Australia because it needs access to its resources. Canberra is, therefore, determined to pursue its strategic interests based on growing security ties with Japan and its security alliance with the United States. Howard has pointed out that the security agreement between the two countries is not a full fledged security pact. He maintained, though, that it might develop into one like Australia’s ANZUS treaty with the United States at some future time. If so, it could entail a mutual obligation to come to the other’s aid in the event of an attack on either party. Even without the status of a security treaty, Australia’s security relationship with Japan will now be closer than with any other country, with the exception of the United States. And for Japan, it will be the first security agreement outside of its US alliance. The Australia-Japan defense agreement will involve “joint exercises and training” between their two armed forces. Much of the joint training is likely to happen in Australia. It also involves gathering and sharing of military intelligence, and “exchanges of strategic assessments and related information”, as well as contingency planning. It should enable both Australia and Japan to mesh in their military and strategic plans. Keeping in mind China’s sensitivities, only North Korea is mentioned as the country requiring attention with a view to “peaceful resolution of issues related to North Korea, including its nuclear development, ballistic missile activities and humanitarian issues.” The security agreement between Japan and Australia squares the circle of US-Japan-Australia strategic relationship. Commenting on its significance, one senior official is reported to have said, “The US and Japan already have a security treaty and Australia and US have the ANZUS alliance. This fills in the missing bit of the trilateral process.” China is worried. They would sense it as part of a containment strategy to curb China’s role in the Asia-Pacific region. And undoubtedly it is, despite what Australia and Japan might say to the contrary. Calling those in Australia who advocate equal treatment between Japan and China “dreamers”, Paul Dibb, an emeritus professor of strategic studies at the Australian National University, said, “China is not a democracy and it has a poor attitude to the rule of law and a dreadful record on human rights.” He added: “This is not to underestimate the importance of our relations with China, but the jury is still out on how a future militarily strong China will behave.” In other words, Australia is keen to pay an advance premium on its future security by further cementing its ties with Japan as part of the trilateral US-Japan-Australia equation. It was Canberra which took the initiative in this regard “with the strong backing of the US”, as Paul Kelly, editor-at-large of an Australian newspaper pointed out in his column. Canberra indeed wanted a formal pact but “Japan told Australia any treaty must be submitted to Japan’s parliament and, given the pacifist constitution, there would be trouble.” After that Canberra settled for the joint security declaration with the prospect, at some time in the future, of a formal security pact between the two countries. It is also important to note the policy of closer security ties with Japan is supported across the political spectrum of both the ruling party and the main opposition Labor Party. The opposition leader Kevin Rudd has supported “greater security cooperation with Japan”. He doesn’t believe, though, that, in the current circumstances, “we should now be moving down the path of a formal defense treaty between our two countries.” In any case, Japan is not yet ready for a security treaty because of its constitutional constraints. With the new Australia-Japan security declaration closing the “missing bit of the trilateral process”, the circle is now squared to China’s chagrin. The talk now is of making it quadrilateral by bringing India in. |
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Remembering Haryana’s
Vikas Purush, Bansi Lal The situation was entirely different four decades ago. Bereft of vegetation, except for some thorny plants like babool, kikkar and beri, these giant mounds of sand used to give a desert look. There was no water even for drinking. The people had to go to miles to fetch water and quench their thirst. Life was miserable and the people were not able to fulfil their basic needs. It was here in this parched belt that Bansi Lal was born on August 26, 1927. Eldest among four brothers and four sisters, his father could not afford to send him to school beyond the 4th standard. He had to complete his school education as a private candidate. A law graduate from Panjab University, he started his career as a legal practitioner at Bhiwani, which was a sub-division of Hissar district. He was elected to Rajya Sabha in 1960, which was the beginning of his political career. He was elected to state assembly in 1967 and then in the subsequent year, 1968, became the Chief Minister of Haryana at the age of 41. Perhaps then he was the youngest Chief Minister of any state. ‘A backward state’ as it was reckoned then, this newly born state witnessed a new era of progress and development under his stewardship. Haryana became the first state in India where every village was electrified and all villages connected with metallic-roads. Lift irrigation schemes started during his tenure in 1968 were the first of its kind and proved a boon for south Haryana, especially for the parched sandy belt. A number of drinking water supply schemes were also launched. Amongst these, one having its boosting station at Bapora near Bhiwani was perhaps the biggest water supply scheme in Asia, primarily supplying drinking water to 72 villages of that area. Bansi Lal translated his vision through his actions. Seldom did he make false promises. Never did he escape from the promise he made. The persons of his like are rare in present day politics. Though strongly criticised by some persons for ruling the state peremptorily, development could not have been possible without a strong and disciplined administration. He was an administrator par-excellence and worked out result-oriented plans. Even his worst critics admit that he was instrumental in the overall development of Haryana. He fully committed himself to the development of the state and work done by him in pursuance of that commitment made him a legend in Haryana during his own lifetime, and his name became synonymous with Vikas (development). The people truly named him Vikas Purush. The late Bansi Lal also served the union cabinet as minister without portfolio, Defence Minister, Railway Minister and also as Transport Minister. During his last tenure as Chief Minister his government imposed prohibition in furtherance of their election manifesto. It was a noble cause but could not, unfortunately, got the desired support from the masses. This was subsequently withdrawn by him heavy-heartedly. This Vikas Purush of Haryana breathed his last on March 28, 2006. Ironically, neither any memorial nor any statue can be seen in memory of this person in the state whose destiny he shaped.
The writer is an advocate, Punjab & Haryana High Court |
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Defence Notes The Indian Coast Guard has launched its first dedicated pollution control vessel built by the ABG Shipyard. Launched at Surat, the vessel is named as “Samudra Prahari” (Ocean Guard) and was launched by Mrs. Thrity R Contractor, wife of Vice Admiral RF Contractor, Director General, Indian Coast Guard. The Pollution Control Vessel has a displacement of 3300 tons with a maximum draught of 4.5 meters and a design speed of 20.5 knots. The vessel would be of great help in controlling pollution on sea as it has the capability to recover and store 300 tons of spilled oil from the sea waters. In addition, it is capable of continuously recovering and transferring spilled oil through floating barges. The vessel can also carry out other Coast Guard duties at sea. It can operate Chetak, ALH and Sea King helicopters from her deck, including stowage of Chetak helicopter. Two more vessels are likely to be completed and delivered at an interval of six months each. New money remittance facility A new facility for remittance of money by Defence personnel to their families has been launched by the Army Postal Service (APS), in the form of “Field Postal Order”. This convenient, safe and economical remittance facility, meant exclusively for defence personnel, was formally launched with the handing over of the Field Postal Order to Lt Gen Sudhir Sharma, Quartermaster General and Colonel, Commandant Army Postal Service by Mr IMG Khan, Secretary, Dept of Posts at a simple ceremony held at 1 Central Base Post Office at Delhi Cantt. With banking facilities not widely available in the field and counter insurgency operations areas, there was a perceived need to offer defence personnel a convenient and cost effective facility for remitting money to their families. The Field Postal Order would be available through Field Post Offices only and in six denominations, namely, Rs 2,000/-, Rs 3,000/-, Rs 5,000/-, Rs 10,000/-, Rs 15,000/- and Rs 20,000/- with commission charges varying between Rs 30/- to Rs 90/-. It can be encashed in any civil or Army Post Office in India. Cross-country
for a cause Travelling 5,084 kms in 26 days across deserts and mountains, a group of National Cadet Corps (NCC) youngsters undertook a cross-country motorcycle expedition, in an effort to spread awareness on issues like AIDS, road safety and solar energy, among the people of the country. Starting from Bangalore on February 26, the group completed the journey last week. The states that the group journeyed through included Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. |
“The eye cannot see it; mind cannot grasp it. The deathless Self has neither caste nor race, Neither eyes nor ears nor hands nor feet. Sages say this Self is infinite in the great And in the small, everlasting and changeless, The source of life. Living in solitude now and then, repeating God's name and singing His glories and discriminating between the real and the unreal, these are the means to employ to see him. A great householder named Shaunaka once came. To Angrias and reverently asked: “What is that by knowing which all is known?”
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IF
you have ever chanced to visit Loharu (a sub-division of Bhiwani district bordering Rajasthan) via Bhiwani, you would have found mounds and mounds of balu (sand) all along, but the seasonal greenery would be visible.