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MPs with dubious past The Bhagalpur shame |
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Bt cotton is safe
Refugees in J and K
From Chandigarh to Delhi
Chasing safety and freedom in alien lands Viable growth strategies needed for Punjab Defence Notes
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MPs with dubious past There
are some Members of Parliament who ought not be allowed entry into its portals. There are those who are known for their questionable antecedents. They do not hesitate in making false claims to become the members of our law-making bodies. The latest case that illustrates this sorry state of affairs is that of a Samajwadi Party MP from the Akbarpur (reserved) constituency in UP, Mr Shankhlal Manjhi. He contested and won the parliamentary election in 2004 as a Scheduled Caste candidate by obtaining a certificate from the authorities concerned to substantiate his claim. He now faces disqualification by the Election Commission, as his Scheduled Caste status has been set aside by the Allahabad High Court after a 14-year-long legal battle. The earlier he is weeded out of Parliament the better it will be for the system. A few months back CNN-IBN carried out a sting operation to prove that a controversial MP from Assam was a criminal from Nepal. The matter was taken up with the Supreme Court, but what ultimately happened is not known. The development points to alarming dimensions of the issue relating to wrong elements getting into Parliament. Political parties have been careless in selecting candidates, unmindful as they are about the consequences of their decisions. There is need for launching a drive by public-spirited persons to force the political parties to deny tickets to people with a shady past and sometimes with a history of crime. Parliament, too, should not keep quiet as the issue can erode the credibility of the democratic system, particularly when MPs can stoop so low as to ask questions after having been paid for. Some time ago the Election Commission had worked out a procedure to throw out criminal elements from the country’s politics following the intervention by the Supreme Court. But the move was opposed by the entire political class, saying that this could lead to the harassment of innocent contestants for a membership of Parliament or a state assembly. The problem is that the political parties continue to be guided primarily by an aspirant’s ability to win an election. The nation has to devise a foolproof method to prevent criminals from becoming people’s representatives.
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The Bhagalpur shame That
the criminal justice system has taken 17 long years to punish the guilty of killings in the Bhagalpur riots case speaks volumes about its ineffectiveness and standards of governance in the country. The much delayed court verdict convicting the 14 accused in one of the worst communal riots comes when people had begun to believe that nothing would come out of the court proceedings. This also reflects on the lack of political will and the prosecution and investigation agencies of the state. People often commit crime and get away with no early investigation in sight, not to speak of trial and final judgement. It is a travesty of justice that those found guilty in the Gujarat riots are yet to be punished. The same is the case with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Cases are not investigated properly and the police, being influenced by political or other extraneous considerations, buckle under pressure. Orphans of the 1984 riots are in their 20s now and most of the guilty are roaming free. What is happening in Gujarat today is a mockery of the criminal justice system in the state which people like L.K. Advani certified as the best administered. The police machinery of the Narendra Modi government seems to be working as an adjunct of the political leadership. The Supreme Court had to shift the Best Bakery case to Maharashtra after the state government refused to see reason. The Bhagalpur riots were sparked off way back in 1989 by a Ramshila procession carrying bricks to Ayodhya as part of the BJP’s agitation. Though this area had experienced many communal riots in the past, the district administration allowed the procession to go through the town. Monday’s convictions notwithstanding, the last word on the Bhagalpur riots is yet to be said. One does not know the fate of over 600 cases relating to the month-long riots. More important, justice still eludes many riot victims. The judicial commission appointed by the Nitish Kumar government is yet to submit its report. There is a lurking fear among the victims, especially those who want to return to the villages they had left during the riots. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s request to the Centre to help rehabilitate the riot victims on the pattern of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots merits urgent attention.
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Bt cotton is safe Scientists
of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, have ruled out any adverse effects on animals grazing in the Bt cotton fields. Their commendably fast response comes following the Andhra Pradesh government’s advice to farmers not to graze animals in the Bt cotton fields after some goats and sheep were reported dead. The Andhra government perhaps acted on the findings of four laboratories that found traces of nitrates, nitrites and organophosphates in Bt cotton plants. The PAU cotton experts, however, have luckily denied the presence any such chemicals in Punjab’s cotton belt where Bt cotton has been grown. It is the confusion created by such conflicting reports that has delayed the use of genetically modified seeds in the country. Genetically engineered crops are reportedly grown by 10 million farmers in 22 countries, including the US and China. In India Bt cotton was introduced after several field tests and a clearance by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee set up by the Centre. Though expensive, GM seeds have significantly raised production and reduced the use of pesticides which pollute the environment. It is estimated that biotech crops planted in 2005 have cut global emissions of carbon dioxide by 20 billion pounds. The introduction of Bt cotton has benefited farmers in southern Punjab. Earlier, cotton growers had been driven to penury and even suicide due to successive crop failures. The excessive use of pesticides to fight the American bollworm had raised their costs and made ground water toxic. Bt cotton has come to their rescue and it has reduced the use of insecticides by almost 90 per cent. Moreover, cotton production has doubled. Off and on there, however, have been reports of farmers being sold spurious seeds. The government has to make the regulatory mechanism more effective. Also, scientists will have to ensure constant monitoring of the biotech crop to see if there are any side-effects and ensure that the growers stick to the prescribed norms. Farmers should not spurn the benefits of scientific research just because there is a questionable report about adverse side-effects it may have.
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Human nature seldom walks up to the word ‘cancer’.
— Rudyard Kipling |
Refugees in J and K
A
fierce controversy is raging in J&K over the issue of refugees/migrants, often taking a regional or a communal form. Does anybody engaged in this controversy know what is the number of refugees and migrants in the state. Bulk of these refugees reside in the Jammu region. What are the categories to which they belong? What precisely are their respective problems and solutions. The issue was raised in the report of the working group on “confidence building measures across segments of society” in J&K presented at the third roundtable conference in New Delhi on April 24, 2007. It just mentioned problems of some of them without suggesting their solution. For instance, the group recommended that the rights of Kashmiri Pandit migrants to return to the places of their original residence should be recognised and a comprehensive package devised in consultation with their representatives . The Pandit representatives in the conference protested against this recommendation. They asked why their right to return should need recognition and why the working group did not consult their representatives to devise a package. Kashmiri Pandits are a very vocal community and have raised their problems at international fora. Moreover, there is no controversy over their right to return. Nor do they lack sympathy of their Muslim brethren in the Kashmir valley. But the same cannot be said about refugees in Jammu from other areas. The working group has not shown much awareness about the range of refugee problems, much less discuss their solution. It has taken notice of the refugees who came from West Pakistan and recommends that the problem of their state subject status should be settled once and for all. But it avoids any discussion on how to settle this issue and their other problems. Similarly, it mentions in passing the problems of full rehabilitation of refugees after the wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. But it did not examine the nature of their problems and their solution. But the most glaring omission in the report is total ignorance of the refugees from the Pakistan-administered part of the state who are by far the largest in number. Nearly 42,000 families were officially registered. Their number has obviously multiplied by now. They are state subjects like any other class of citizens. Unlike refugees in Punjab, their claims for the properties left behind were not registered and they received no compensation for them, on the specious plea that PAK was a part of India and they would be rehabilitated there when it would be liberated. But after 60 years this plea has hardly any meaning. There is absolutely no justification for not treating them on a par with the refugees from Pakistan in other parts of the country. Some of them belonging to rural areas have been settled temporarily on the land of Muslim evacuees. Under the Evacuee Property Act, the evacuees who return could claim their property. But the limitation period is 12 years. As this period is long over, no such claim can be entertained. Moreover, most of the evacuees have acquired Pakistani citizenship, hence no more entitled to be state subjects. In any case, I had made a suggestion to Sheikh Abdullah which he had accepted that all the evacuee property should be disposed of and the price thus received be deposited in the bank in the name of the evacuees. Which may be given to them if and when a final decision is taken on the whole issue. This would safeguard their rights in a far better way than the present arrangement. The land thus acquired could be used for permanent rehabilitation of the rural refugees. As far registering the claims of refugees from West Pakistan, there is absolutely no justification for treating them differently from the refugees from Pakistan settled elsewhere in India. Whether they should be given permanent citizen rights can be decided when tempers cool down. It may, however, be mentioned that the total number of their families was 3000 and they are Scheduled Castes. Even making allowance for an increase in their number, their presence is too insignificant to affect the demographic composition of the state. I remember when some of their representatives raised the issue at a convention of the National Conference at Bishnah under my presidentship, Sheikh Abdullah replied that it was a humanitarian issue and should be considered sympathetically. It is obvious that if it could not be resolved during his time, the smaller men at the helm can hardly be expected to do it now. However, one concession can be considered with a consensus of support. It pertains to their right to vote in local panchayat elections. They had this right till the J&K Panchayati Raj Act was passed in 1989 by the National Conference-Congress coalition government. The small number of West Pakistani refugees would not, in any way, affect the politics of the state if they vote in elections to panchayats where they have been living for 60 years. While discussing the problem of refugees, their other categories should also be considered. A large number of people migrated from villages on the border and the Line of Control during firing from the other side till a ceasefire was announced in 2003. Some of them were advised to vacate their land by the Army to enable it to lay mines on the border. According to a statement by the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, their number totalled 1.50 lakhs. Even if they go back, they cannot enter mined areas and an area of 16,000 acres of land occupied by the Army. Of course, there has been movement in the contrary direction also. Around 350 families are reported to have migrated in recent years to join their co-religionists across the LoC. Then AICC incharge of J&K, Satyajit Gaekward, called it a matter of shame and condemned the state government for its apathetic attitude towards these migrants. Then there are migrants from militancy-affected parts of the Jammu region who are putting up in temporary shelters around Jammu city. They were not registered as migrants and given much relief as the government felt that it might encourage more migration from those areas. As violence has come down considerably in Doda, Rajouri and Poonch districts as compared to the valley, the government should consider the case for their return in stages with adequate compensation and means to resettle there. Finally, while the case of Kashmiri Pandit migrants with 33,000 registered families is widely debated, the case of 1600 Muslim and 1656 Sikh registered families who had to migrate from the Kashmir valley in 1990 due to insecurity has been completely ignored. The Muslim migrants felt threatened on account of their political beliefs. They are not vocal in raising their problems as they apprehend reprisals on their relatives left behind. Each category of migrants have specific problems which call for different solutions. But first of all a thorough study is needed to know the exact situation. If the government is not interested or is unable to do that, some NGOs and research scholars should undertake the task in an objective and impartial manner as is possible. After all, it relates to a population which almost equals permanently settled persons in Jammu and is one of the major causes of regional discontent. It would not be an exaggeration to call Jammu, a land of migrants . Above all, political leaders should be able to rise above partisan and regional or religious considerations and treat a human problem which essentially it is. It does not speak good of the political health of the state that almost all parties of Kashmir, whether mainstream or separatist, are on one side of the fence while all Jammu-based leaders are on the other side on this
issue. The writer is Director, Institute of Jammu and Kashmir Affairs, Jammu
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From Chandigarh to Delhi
THE day the woman at the steering wheel of a Delhi-registered car consulted me for directions to Karol Bagh while waiting for the traffic light to turn green at Dhaula Kuan was the day I felt I had well and truly arrived in Delhi — the heart of the country. I told her to turn left and follow signboards carefully. “Otherwise you will miss your turning. The flyover is very complicated,” I informed her in a patronising tone. The moment the traffic signal turned green, like a true-blue Delhiite I honked till the car in front moved, revved up the engine, stepped on the accelerator and zoomed ahead. In this show-off of my prowess as someone well versed with Delhi roads, I also managed to scare off the car on my right onto the divider (I hope the traffic policeman is not reading this). The reason for euphoria — I am not from Delhi and not very long back, three years to be precise, was driving on the roads of the City Beautiful. Then my husband got posted to the Capital and my boss, very kindly and compassionately, also decided to transfer me. The transition from driving on Chandigarh’s straight boring roads to Delhi’s curvaceous ones was not so difficult as, though my husband would differ, I think I am a damn good driver. The problem was finding the right way in the maze of complicated twists and turns. In Chandigarh if you miss a turning, life and Le Carbousier give you another chance and there is the option of going a few metres ahead and amending the mistake. But in Delhi if you forget to make the right move at the right time, that’s it. After that your life will become one big sad story as only after driving kilometres and kilometres will you get the second chance. I spent first few months fine-tuning the minutest details. My husband took me on a recce of the city. And every time I stepped out of the office I would consult my learned colleagues on the best options available. On the road, the autowallah became my friend, philosopher and guide and I often took the advice of the magnificent men driving green and yellow flying machines. Quite natural that after all hardships, I cannot let a single chance escape that shows how well the Capital and I have taken to each other. I have learned the typical Delhi road behaviour — honking, changing lanes and overtaking. Even my car knows where to turn and if you don’t believe, ask my Alto LXI. Now that I am also playing Raju Guide, my life is complete and I have attained nirvana. But I show a lot of respect to Blueline buses in Delhi for the obvious reason that I value my
life.
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Chasing safety and freedom in alien lands Sixty
years after Indian independence, the occasion of World Refugees Day on 20 June is a reminder of the turbulent birth of the of three South Asian states - India and Pakistan in 1947, and Bangladesh in 1971 – and the large flows of refugees that attended their coming into being. Around 10 million crossed the British-drawn borders of India and Pakistan, while, in 1971, the rush of 10 million refugees over nine months, from what was then East Pakistan, proved to be a casus belli for war between India and Pakistan and the precursor to the birth of Bangladesh. Refugees flee from persecution – or feared persecution – on religious, racial or national grounds. In South Asia they have underlined the diversity, tolerance and intolerance in the region. For Indian nationalists the ‘partition refugees’ marked the failure to agree on a united India because the Muslim League aroused Muslim fears of Hindu intolerance; it demanded and achieved the sovereign Muslim homeland of Pakistan. India went on to become a secular democracy after 1947, and became a home to refugees from neighbouring countries on several occasions, although it has yet to ratify the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or to frame a national law on refugees. Following the communist Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1959, more than 100,000 Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama into exile in India in 1959. India provided them with shelter and the means to make a living. In the aftermath of the 1975 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the subsequent installation of the fundamentalist Taliban regime there, India accepted Afghans who sought escape from the Soviets and their Afghan collaborators, and later Afghans who did not subscribe to the Taliban’s extremist programme. India also played host to some 8000 Hindus and Sikhs, who fled persecution by the Taliban . The outbreak of the Sri Lankan civil war in the early 1980s propelled more than 100,000 Tamil refugees into southern India; while an authoritarian regime in Myanmar has pushed Burmese refugees into northern India. About 1000 of these are in New Delhi; possibly as many as 50,000 in the north-eastern border areas, but their exact numbers there are not known. Some 40,000 Chakma refugees entered India from Bangladesh and have been granted protection by India, and legal help by the National Human Rights Commission. New Delhi has also received Palestinian s from Iraq and Somalis from Africa. Article 14 of the Indian constitution gives refugees in India equal protection under the law; Article 21 protects life and liberty. Refugees are registered as foreigners and must report to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in New Delhi to avoid arrest, detention or deportation. They must also abide by the laws of India. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees opened office in India in 1981. UNHCR deals with almost 11,500 refugees, mainly from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Iraq and Africa. The agency verifies their refugee status and collaborates with the Indian government in helping them to integrate. UNHCR registers refugees, and pays them a subsistence allowance to encourage them or their children to attend government schools and to gain access to government hospitals. It also helps them to acquire new skills, to find work and to integrate into Indian society. Training is given in home-based activities, vocational education, taking Hindi lessons. The Indian government and UNHCR share responsibility for ensuring that women and children refugees, are protected against rape, sexual violence, and other violations of human rights. India has accepted refugees out of a combination of political and humanitarian considerations. The Tibetans and Tamils are the largest refugee groups and are outside UNHCR’s purview. Sri Lankan Tamil refugees live in government-run camps and are provided with subsidised rations. They are given permission to go out to work. In 1992 UNHCR set up an office in Chennai, to help some Sri Lankan Tamils to go back to Sri Lanka, to verify that they are returning voluntarily and facilitating their getting travel documents. Refugees can apply for Indian citizenship after a period of 12 years. Few go back to areas of war and dictatorship. In 2006 UNHCR received 1001 applications for resettlement to the US, Canada, New Zealand, and the Nordic countries: Almost 600 refugees Afghans have been repatriated by choice through UNHCR; the majority of them since 2002, following the establishment of Hamid Karzai’s government. Contested South Asian borders, ideological differences between neighbouring countries, and intolerance within some states imply that refugees are likely to remain on India’s agenda for some time to come. The Indian government prefers to deal with refugees as a bilateral issue, perhaps because it deals with all disputes with neighbouring countries at the bilateral level. Meanwhile there is contact between the Ministry for External Affairs and UNHCR on different aspects of refugee issues. India has done much to help refugees on its soil, and much can be learned, at the international level, from its experiences in handling them. Despite the political upheavals there are strong Indian traditions of tolerance of diversity. It is to be hoped that this tolerance will win out in South Asia generally, and that the diversity of the region’s peoples will be a source of their enrichment.
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Viable growth strategies needed
for Punjab Economic
resurgence is the only way for Punjab to regain its lost glory as a preferred investment destination and become a part of India’s economic growth story. Having already lost the battle to the other fast growing states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and neighbouring Haryana, the SAD- BJP government will have to initiate drastic steps to get the state’s staggering economy back on the rails, as it presents its maiden budget today. Over the years, power deficiency, lack of level playing field for state’s industry in view of tax holidays in neighbouring hill states, unskilled manpower, disparity in trade practices and stagnation in agriculture growth have played havoc with the state’s economy. In terms of per capita income, Punjab has slumped from the number one position in 1990-91 to the fourth position in 2004-05. The GDP growth of Punjab is just six per cent, as compared to a national GDP growth of nine per cent. In the industrial sector, the growth in Punjab is just five per cent, as compared to the national growth rate of 11 per cent. Even in the agriculture sector – which is the backbone of Punjab’s economy – the growth is just five per cent. Unplanned and rapid urbanisation, inability of successive governments to create world class infrastructure, and the turning of Punjab into an investment destination for realtors rather than major industry (no big industry has set foot in the state in the past decade) are the challenges that the Punjab finance minister, Manpreet Badal, will have to take into account as he takes the first step towards “hard-selling brand Punjab”. The state needs additional resources worth Rs 1500 crore to meet the demands for expenditure on infrastructure, education and health. Against the revenue receipts of Rs 10,000 crore, the state has a committed expenditure of Rs 9000 crore. The government has to find new ways to bridge this deficit in revenue or borrow money from financial institutions. With Punjab already reeling under a debt of Rs 53,000 crore (up from Rs. 32,000 crore in year 2002), the only alternative left will be to increase the tax collections, while at the same time sparing the common man. Another area for increasing revenue would be through ensuring better tax compliance. Manpreet Badal has admitted earlier that better tax compliance could alone lead to a mopping up of Rs 1500 crore as additional revenue. Though tax buoyancy was expected after the implementation of The Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005, revenue growth after its implementation was just nine per cent as compared to a growth of 20 per cent in Haryana after VAT was implemented there. However, in this era of competitiveness between the states, when each one is out to offer the best infrastructure and maximum tax exemptions to attract major industry, the government is left with little option but to offer similar benefits and woo FDI in industry and Indian MNCs that are presently in an expansion mode. Senior functionaries in the Punjab government, who are in the process of chalking out the new industrial policy, have hinted that the state will be offering concessions in sales tax and excise, besides power tariff concessions, to all new industrial projects coming up in the state. Though the state has made a representation for a central package for revival of industry, it is almost decided that irrespective of the central aid, the tax concessions will be granted to all new investors and for future investment by the existing industry in the state. With a sharp decline in the water table and heavy dependence on low value agriculture, the agri-economy of the state, too, needs a fillip. The need of the hour is to erode the current net revenue and productivity stand off in this sector and create forward and backward linkages for marketing of agricultural produce. While focusing on increasing agriculture productivity, the state agriculture needs to focus on organic farming, value-added produce, buy-back arrangements and exports, besides a cold chain management system. In a vision document prepared by the Confederation of Indian Industry for Punjab, the leading industrial body has identified agricultural renewal, industrial revival, resurgence of quality education, exploiting religious and historical tourism potential and trade opportunities, especially cross-border trade with Pakistan, as the key force multipliers.
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Defence Notes Injured
soldiers who have been discharged face great difficulties in getting a job, as any disability becomes a major shortcoming. This was highlighted at the War Wounded Foundation’s meet last week, where Chief of Army Staff Gen J.J. Singh stressed on the need to provide rehabilitation to the war wounded. He said that the army would soon work out a formula of reservation of jobs for the disabled soldiers in the corporate sector. Figures provided by the foundation said that there were more than 25,000 disabled soldiers across the country who needed help. The kin of the martyrs do get their due from the Government but there is nothing in store for those disabled in the line of duty.
Fight against AIDS The Indian Army has enlisted the wives of soldiers to bring about awareness regarding HIV/AIDS in the armed forces, and stem the spread of the disease among the soldiers. As per the initial plan, the wives of the soldiers would form groups which would work with the field units of the armed forces to spread information about ways to prevent the disease. The disease is not widespread in the armed forces – 104 HIV-infected soldiers were discharged from service in 2004. A workshop in this regard was also held where a set of 40 Q&As, included in a three booklet set and a CD, was released by Surgeon Vice-Admiral Yogendra Singh, Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services.
BEL components Premier defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) last week handed over to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) two Flight Model Traveling Wave Tubes (TWTs), for use on board communication satellites. At present, there are only a handful of companies in the world which make ‘Space-Qualified Components’ for spacecraft. The TWTs were designed and developed as part of a joint project of BEL, Bangalore, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, and Central Electronic Engineering Research Institute (CEERI), Pilani. Based on a design provided by CEERI, Pilani, BEL developed the two Flight Model TWTs at its Bangalore unit.
Golden Peacock The World Environment Foundation had awarded the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army the Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation Award for the year 2007. The award is for the work done by the Corps of Engineers in arresting environmental degradation and instituting energy conservation measures in all Cantonments and Military Stations across the country. The path-breaking efforts instituted include planned afforestation, water conservation projects, drip irrigation projects, recycling of swimming pool water, soil conservation, rain-water harvesting and projects relating to renewable energy sources.
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Telling, seeing, speaking, moving, living and dying—all are transient. The True Lord, having established the Divine Order, has Himself placed them all under it. Backbiting is more grievous than adultery. Ishwara will not pardon the backbiter until the victim pardons him of that. It is a wonderful thing that God himself loves me tenderly. That is why we should have courage, joy, and should have courage joy, and the conviction that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
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