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When lives are lost In-laws on the train The Blair truth |
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NAM today
Life has to go on
No short-cuts to good teaching Why Sahar was killed in Mosul Delhi Durbar
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When lives are lost No
compensation can ever bring back the victim of a mindless terror attack. This holds true of the Samjhauta Express blasts too, which killed over 67 Indians and Pakistanis on February 18 this year. India has already paid preliminary compensation to the tune of Rs 50,000 each to the relatives of the victims from Pakistan and will pay Rs 10 lakh to Rs 45 lakh on July 5. The full compensation could be paid only after relatives of the victims had been duly identified. Under the circumstances, it was not right on the part of the Pakistan Railway Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, to have alleged that New Delhi had not paid any compensation to the Pakistani victims of the Samjhauta Express tragedy. India has been prompt in coming to the victims’ rescue unmindful of the fact whether they were from India or from Pakistan. One is not too sure how the Pakistani government would have reacted if, God forbid, such a tragedy had struck Indians visiting Pakistan, but the core issue here is that one should not try to score brownie points, at least not when human lives are involved. At the same time, it must be admitted that the cold-blooded killers who masterminded the blasts on the train are still at large. Punishing them will be the most appropriate compensation for the victims and their relatives. Just as the nationality of the victims is not relevant, the nationality of the killers too should be ignored and Pakistan must help India in every way in nabbing them. Many killers are roaming free today merely because of the failure of the State to nab them for punishment. The train blast was proof enough, if at all any was needed, that the terrorists can spill blood irrespective of the nationality of the victims. If not the nations, terrorists are trying to make the borders irrelevant. Both India and Pakistan must defeat their designs. |
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In-laws on the train Railway
Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s brothers-in-law — Subhash Yadav and Sadhu Yadav — have reduced the status of the world’s largest railway network to that of a family fiefdom. Shockingly, they show little respect for the rules or propriety. On Sunday, Subhash Yadav held up the New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express at Patna station for over 25 minutes. The reason: his reservation was not confirmed in the AC First Class. When the officials adjusted him in an AC Two-Tier coach, he refused to budge, out of pique, and stopped the train, after it rolled out at its scheduled time. While fellow passengers protested, he shouted that “he was Parliament” and that he must be accommodated in AC First Class. The officials had no alternative but to request two passengers with confirmed reservation to shift to an AC Two-Tier coach so that the honourable MP and his wife could travel in AC First Class. Indian Railways has well-governed rules regarding VIP reservation and officials can’t simply circumvent them at the last minute to suit the comforts of the Railway Minister’s in-laws. Every berth confirmed under the Parliament Quota or High Official Requisition is accounted for and there is little scope for manipulation since the reservation charts (including the berths allotted under these categories) are finalised before four hours of a train’s departure. Simultaneously, the charts are fed into the railway’s all-India computer network. But, then, the Railway Minister’s brothers-in-law care two hoots about the rules or the rigidities of the computer network. They seem to feel that the travel rights of in-laws are more important than those of the common passenger. Incidentally, it was the same Subhash Yadav who not long ago forced the Patna station authorities to bring the New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express to platform no. 1 (instead of its usual platform no. 4 where the train arrives every day). Sadhu Yadav, too, throws his weight around and always has his way on the track. His bad behaviour in Parliament is well known. In April 2006, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee condemned his conduct for which Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav had to apologise. The Railway Minister’s in-laws have also been in the news for ticketless travel. It is his duty to ensure that his relatives do not misuse his position. |
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The Blair truth President
George Bush can be faulted for many things, but not for lack of candour. He never hesitates to call a spade a shovel. While many may find this virtue of candour admirable, the subjects of his frank and forthright comments are not the most admired people. Take the case of our own one and only Tony Blair, who made himself indispensable to the president of the world’s only “indispensable democracy”. Mr Bush, after long years of knowing the former British premier, has revealed that the former British Prime Minister was not his poodle. It would be crass to then ask whether Tony, who certainly betrayed none of the attributes of the tenacious British bulldog, is a Doberman or a Great Dane. The all-important question is that if Mr Blair was not Mr Bush’s poodle, then who is it? There are many vying for this honour and many a world leader would go to any length to become Mr Bush’s poodle. Or is it that Mr Bush near the end of his White House years has no longer any desire to nurture a poodle? Should that be so, it would be a crushing disappointment especially for the transatlantic media, which has reported with commendable intrepidity and insight not only on the activities of US presidents but their pets, too. Love me, love my pet has been the credo of every American president. A world that cannot get by without a US president certainly cannot be expected to manage its affairs without his poodle. Some Britons may have resented that Mr Blair was more loyal to Mr Bush than to Britain. The same British owe a debt of gratitude to Mr Bush now for assigning Mr Blair the job of a peace broker in West Asia. This should keep Mr Blair out of Britain and off the back of the new Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown. Whose job — Mr Bush’s or Mr Brown’s — will he do while finding his way through the tricky desert terrain of West Asia? |
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The thoughts of a prisoner — they are not free
either.— Alexander Solzhenitsyn |
NAM today
It
is well recognised that the concept of non-alignment is long past its prime. Over recent decades, even before the end of the Cold War and the bi-polar world, its membership criteria were progressively diluted until just about any developing country could become its member. Indeed, its success lay in its attraction for the have-nots; it became fashionable to belong to NAM (non-aligned movement). NAM served India admirably in the first decades of Independence. Jawaharlal Nehru was punching much above the country's weight in the world, and it gave a poor developing country with a weak economy and little military muscle an enviable room for manoeuvre in promoting its foreign policy objectives. Inevitably, the United States' anti-Communist crusade and hunt for satellites found India on the other side of the fence. There was a measure of inevitability also about the budding close relations with the Soviet Union, ultimately sealed by the Indo-Soviet Treaty. Indeed, non-alignment thrived for decades because it served the developing countries' interests in the age of decolonisation and the fight against apartheid. After the end of the Cold War, it continued to exist because it requires a radical act to kill an organisation and it had already become a habit. Before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice set the cat among the pigeons by questioning the relevance of non-alignment in today's world, many in India and other parts of the developing world were asking themselves the same question.The verdict of the internal debate was mixed. Many had little patience with the Pavlovian-like reflex of Indian politicians to explain everything by trotting out the mantra of non-alignment. Obviously, we are living in a vastly changed world, with America flexing its muscles as the unchallenged master of the universe and Russia seeking to reassert itself after the chaos and humiliation of the end of the Soviet Union, and the European Union is still unsure on how far it can be a world political power. China looms large on the American and world radar.Leaving aside the shibboleths of NAM and the clichés that abound, non-alignment did give India and other members belonging to the movement the habit of thinking independently in pursuing their foreign policy interests. The old world of traditional colonies and white regimes is gone, but the unilateral and hegemonic policies of the United States are very much in play as is Washington's search for satellites, both as sheriffs and warriors in fighting America's definition of terrorism. The problem with Ms Rice's condemnation of non-alignment is her motive and the alternatives America is offering. Suggesting that non-alignment has lost its meaning, she told an Indo-American audience in Washington: "Now the question I would ask is, as fellow democracies with so many interests and principles in common at a time when people of every culture, every race, and every religion are embracing political and economic liberty, what is the meaning of non-alignment?" He was perhaps repaying his debt to America for single-handedly getting him his job.Ms Rice would have served a useful purpose if her criticism of NAM stimulates a debate on the future of the movement. Perhaps the new leaders of Latin America, a continent undergoing an exciting ferment, should take the initiative to redefine and fine-tune NAM to the challenges of the 21st century. NAM should not die of neglect; when the time comes, it should be given a decent
funeral.
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Life has to go on
She
left when I least expected. Immediately, I didn’t feel the impact of her sudden departure despite the turmoil she was in. But soon it caught on. She was everywhere and yet nowhere. The memory of over 44-year-long relationship lingers on like a perfume. She is there but still not there. Now the reality has begun to dawn on me that my world has crashed. As a result, the children appear to have matured beyond imagination. I have rediscovered them. They have taken control of my life. Despite my 73 years behind me, I have become the centre of attention like a child in the house. They are consoling and sharing the agony together with a vain hope to lessen the gravity of her absence. This role reversal is bewildering, to say the least. They are in no way less traumatised, but since they have their own world and life ahead, this has enabled them to adjust to her departure with amazing rapidity. On my part, I must allow them to live their normal life at the earliest. But where is she? I have no idea. All I know is that she will never come back now. Has she gone into the cycle of life and death on this very terra firma, or gone across to the cosmic world? This is impossible to conjecture. Life after death has been interpreted differently by different faiths and philosophies. As per our faith (Sikhism), the soul either recedes into a cycle of transmigration or merges with the Absolute Being at some state. The cycle of migration is supposed to continue till the soul is able to shed its baggage and merge with the Almighty. Sikhism doesn’t believe in the concept of Narak or Swarg, where one is supposed to reap the fruits of one’s actions. On the contrary, human beings are believed to suffer or enjoy their present lives here itself on the basis of their deeds in the previous lives. Likewise, they are supposed to be recompensed in the next one for their good or bad deeds in this life till they are redeemed. There are frequent references to this law of Karma in Japu ji Sahib. All I know is that she was a pious, compassionate and God-fearing person whose heart would bleed at seeing the downtrodden suffer the pangs of life. Can such a person be anywhere but with Him only? If I say so it’s because of my conviction. Notwithstanding this, I am certain she will always be with me. Does taking resort to religious scriptures help diminish the impact of such a calamity? The experience may vary from individual to individual. While some may find peace and tranquility in it, others may abhor the very idea for whatever reason. Contemplation may fill the heart with bliss besides taking away the mind for that duration from the ever-painful thought. It may also condition the mind to accept the Will of the Almighty — what we call Rub di Raza. But all this depends on an individual’s thinking. Visits and calls from friends and sympathisers have a soothing effect. These help pass the time more easily. More than that, it’s their exhortations that encourage in tiding over the calamity and overcome persistent despondency. But it doesn’t happen always. There are some who want to delve deep into what and how it happened. There are others who tend to impose their own experiences. Some resort to a critical analysis as to what could have happened and what should have been done under the circumstances, leaving the other more shattered with a sense of guilt. While the vacuum created by her sudden departure has left all of us totally devastated, life has to go on. It cannot come to a
standstill. |
No short-cuts to good teaching Are
we concerned about good teaching? Currently, something like half-a-million persons are teachers at the university and college level. Not only that, if someone enters teaching after finishing his or her education and retires as a teacher, he or she would teach something like 20,000 students in the course of a teaching career. In the late 1980’s, the UGC set up Staff Training Colleges in about 50 universities. Over the years, they have trained more than a 1,00,000 teachers, but how empty of content that kind of training is should become clear from one simple point. Teachers are expected to undergo training before they start teaching. In actual practice, more than 90 per cent join the profession without doing so. In most cases, they undergo actual training a couple of years after they have joined. By then, they have hammered out their own individual technique of teaching, and this may be neither defect free nor the best that they are capable of. In this background, how many books have been written by experienced teachers about their experience and how they learnt their craft, and how sharing that experience would benefit fresh entrants? I do not know of more than a couple of them. A new book, Secrets of Good Teaching, (The ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad) is competently done and fills a crucial gap. Viney Kirpal, the editor, is to be congratulated on having got together 20 thoughtful teachers to reflect on the craft of teaching. Two of the remarks made in this book may be reproduced here. One comes from a professional Christian preacher who once said: “If someone in my audience sleeps during my sermon, wake me up.” The meaning is clear. Having decided to be a preacher, he took it as his responsibility to ensure that everyone followed his sermon seriously and did not go to sleep when it was being delivered. It is such an understanding of one’s responsibility that has to be shared by a teacher. One of the contributors says another memorable thing. According to him: “The mediocre teacher talks. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires”. These words are a call for action for any teacher who wants to succeed in his job. The contributions deal with various aspects like Teacher Lessons, A Commitment to Excellence, Teaching and the Pursuit of Clarity, Good Teaching is an Attitude, Teaching is a Dialogue with Students and so on. It would be too much say that each of the contributions is outstanding. The quality does vary. One of them however stands out. The single best contribution in this book is by Sampat P. Singh and is called Teaching is an Art. One of the contributors asks: which is the most important quality in a teacher? Is it knowledge? Is it motivation? Is it integrity, honesty or sincerity? Or is it a sense of humour? Obviously each one of these qualities is important. That is why they have been mentioned. But according to these two authors who talk about the Terror of Mathematics and how to transcend it, the most important quality in a teacher is passion. If a teacher has that quality, everything else will take care of itself. As a matter of fact there are two specific articles that deal with this very issue. One is called Passion is the Key and the other is called It is Really All About Your Enthusiasm. To put it strongly, if the teacher has passion, everything will be in order. There are related issues also, For example, one contributor says that a teacher is both a scholar and a performer. In other words, in addition to having knowledge, the teacher has also to know how to communicate knowledge. If he or she is a good performer, that would make it easier to be a more successful teacher. Everyone is not a performer and that is why everyone will not remember their most outstanding teachers. But some were, and we all remember them. Several contributors deal with the issue relating to the art of communication. That explains the title used by one of the contributors – No Short Cuts to Teaching. At the same time, everyone has to learn how to teach. That is what explains the importance of training. The editor worked for a quarter century in the IIT, Bombay, and now she has settled down in Pune. To some extent this explains the orientation of most of the contributors. At Rs 500, it is also priced a little too high. Having said that, it is also time to add that the different faculties have different expectations and requirements. What has been said so far applies to the bulk of the university and college teachers, but what about professional faculties like medicine and engineering? They have their own special problems. One of these days, a book or two dealing with these faculties should perhaps be published separately. In actual practice, there is such a severe shortage of teachers in those faculties that most professional colleges are short-staffed. The fact of the matter is that the training of teachers is crucial for the quality of performance. Unless we deal with this issue systematically and determinedly, all that we would be doing would be to grumble. |
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Why Sahar was killed in Mosul We
do not know why Sahar went that last time to Mosul. But we do know why she was killed. A democrat, a journalist and a woman – it’s a lethal combination in Iraq. Sahar Hussein Ali al-Haydari, 44, was fearless in writing about attempts by extremists to establish an Iraqi Islamic emirate based around her home town of Mosul. She was harsh on efforts to foment sectarian conflict: The last article we received was a Romeo and Juliet tale of a girl stoned to death for converting from Yezidism (a Kurdish sect) to Islam because she fell in love with a Muslim boy. She wrote, too, about restrictions placed on women by religiously driven insurgents. “Murder has long become a daily companion for the inhabitants of this northern city,” she noted last fall after several female teachers at Mosul schools were assassinated. As a result of these efforts, Haydari was on an al-Qaida target list, and she was afraid. She had been afraid for a long time, in fact, and with reason: Last year she was shot and wounded, and several times she escaped abduction. Some months ago, she moved her husband and four children to Damascus, where we were able to offer her a new job, and she seemed happy. But the more these plans progressed, the more active she became as a reporter – continuing her work for the Voices of Iraq news agency and Iraqi media, and generating print and radio content for the Institute for War & Peace Reporting – and “pitching stories like crazy,” according to our editor. She was a woman obsessed – or perhaps hugely conflicted. The decision to embark on a life of exile is a very difficult one – to depart for safety but at the loss of country, community, professional attachment. This is particularly true for local journalists, whose territories are their livelihoods. This is the Iraqi dilemma: Stay and work to build a new country, and you may die; or depart and save yourself, and the result can be the death of Iraq by a thousand departures. Haydari had no hero complex – she was a mother of four, and I know that she cried when she had to be separated from her family – but she was deeply committed, and this was her personal struggle. The event, as far as we know now, was chillingly mundane and ruthlessly efficient. Visiting the nearby town of Irbil on an errand related to her work, Haydari decided to drive to Mosul for the day. Was it just to see friends and family? Perhaps to tend to some final logistical matters? Or was she pursuing a story? It took only those few hours for extremists to discover she was there and to come for her in the morning. A group of assassins confronted her outside her home in the early hours and gunned her down. A statement to the local media claiming responsibility on behalf of the extremist group Ansar al-Sunna stated that she was cooperating with the Iraqi police and the occupying forces and was “writing false reports about the mujaheddin to distort the truth.” When her cellphone rang after the deed, one of her killers said into the receiver, “She has gone to hell.” Haydari was the 106th journalist killed in Iraq since 2003. But she also was part of another trend: attacks on female reporters. In recent days, four prominent Muslim female journalists have been killed outside their homes – two in Iraq, Haydari in Mosul and a reporter in Basra, and two in Afghanistan. Recently, Islamic radicals demonstrated in Gaza, calling for the beheading of female Palestinian TV presenters who refuse to wear the Muslim headdress, the hijab. The incidents show the courage and professionalism of women in these societies, who often are particularly tenacious because they are new to their work and not corrupted by involvement in old institutions. They are at risk precisely because they are strong and independent (and often without headscarves). They challenge everything that Islamists oppose. “Our psychological state is unbalanced because we live and think in fear and worry, and always think about our destiny and that of our family members, relatives and friends,” she told the UK Press Gazette this year. “But I have never thought about quitting.” But four children in Damascus suffer that void, and Iraq suffers yet one more departure. The writer is executive director of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, which undertakes reporting and training programs for local journalists in Iraq. By arrangement with
LA Times-Washington Post |
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Delhi Durbar BJP
MP from Pilibhit, Maneka Gandhi, known for her frank views, took party colleagues by surprise when she stood up to intervene in the discussion on the party’s debacle in Uttar Pradesh, on the first day of the party’s National Executive meeting. While established UP leaders were trying to bury the causes of the defeat of the saffron party under generalities, Maneka said that if the present attitude of analysing the party’s failure continues then the BJP would be left with “just four Lok Sabha seats” in the 2009 general election. Though she refused to identify those four seats officially, Maneka did share the details informally with trusted party colleagues. Naturally, she believed she will retain her seat from Pilibhit, her son Varun Gandhi will manage to get one seat if the party fielded him, the third seat will be secured by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee if he decided to contest, and the fourth one would be won by former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh.
Nasty polls The
upcoming Presidential polls have been witness to some virulent attacks with the UPA-Left-BSP nominee Pratibha Patil in the eye of the storm. Even those who thought they could enter the fray without attracting adverse attention have not been spared. CPI (M) politbureau member Sitaram Yechuri felt this was an opportune time to attack Kalam who had contested as an NDA-Congress nominee in 2002, to defeat legendary freedom fighter and INA heroine Dr Lakshmi Sehgal. The CPM leader said that “Dr Kalam could not resist the temptation of seeking a second term as he was overwhelmed by the response he received in cyberspace for continuing as the President.” Yechuri said that the number of emails required to jam a computer may not be sufficient even to win the election of a municipal ward.
Sahib Singh Verma, a dog-lover The late Sahib Singh Verma’s popularity as Chief Minister of Delhi and a Jat leader is unforgettable. Known for his simplicity amongst the voters in the Outer Delhi constituency and his party supporters, Verma had many endearing qualities. The media remembers him as accessible for quotes and sound bites. A scribe who heard about his sudden demise in a road accident could not help recalling the former Chief Minister’s generosity and hospitality. Invited for a Diwali get-together to Verma’s sprawling bungalow near the Old Secretariat in North Delhi, the journalist recalled how Verma, a dog-lover, took her around to see his much-prized St. Bernard, that had an equally amazing litter. Much to her astonishment, Verma said that she could take home the pick of the basket. The journalist wishes she had availed herself of the exceptional gift. Contributed by Satish
Misra,R. Suryamurthy and Tripti Nath |
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