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Murder can’t be
condoned Power clash Success in N. Korea |
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Regrouping of
Al-Qaida
Those coat-watchers
Condemned to misery Turkey still a test
case for a Muslim democracy Chatterati
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Power clash The
Punjab power regulatory commission is trying to inculcate financial discipline in the recklessly run power board. It has reportedly scaled down by Rs 4,748 crore the board’s exaggerated revenue demands. The board has reportedly sought Rs 2,900 crore as fuel cost, but the commission has sanctioned Rs 2,400 crore only. More importantly, the board says its employee cost is 1,973 crore — one of the highest in the country. The regulator wants it down at Rs 1,661 crore. That the board is heavily over-staffed is known. But to avoid trouble from the employees, no one dare order any retrenchment or offer voluntary retirement compensation. Since the board already suffers Rs 1,900 crore annual loss due to mismanagement and populist policies, the regulatory commission’s cut is bound to push it closer to bankruptcy. But the board management knows how to wriggle out of a chaotic situation. It has years of experience of taking the easiest route: to borrow more money. The board’s interest outgo amounts to Rs 1,335 crore a year. Here too, the commission wants the board to limit it to Rs 683 a year. Since Punjab is power deficit every summer, successive governments and the board managements have been escaping public ire by purchasing power at exorbitant rates from other states at peak times. Besides, power is diverted from industry, which pays for it, to farmers, who get it free. The loss on account of lost industrial production is seldom taken into account while calculating power losses. Thanks to the regulatory objections, the PSEB functioning is now somewhat more transparent. Predictably, the board can overrule the regulator. It did last season by purchasing more power than it was authorised. The board does not bother to file its annual revenue requirements in time. The real culprit, however, is the state government. It has not cared to enhance generation capacity. The regulator as well as the board cannot force it to pay compensation for free power. Reforms are not being implemented for fear of a backlash from employees. Tariff is not raised for political reasons. It is a no-win situation. Will the Badal government tame the PSEB and force it to manage its affairs better? |
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Success in N. Korea The
process for defusing the North Korean nuclear crisis in a way began with its agreeing earlier this year to undo its controversial plans to produce nuclear weapons. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors are now already on the job of monitoring the closure of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor complex. Once they set up a monitoring system, the North Korean nuclear plans will get disabled in a few days, provided everything goes as agreed to among the nations involved in the prolonged dialogue. The six nations involved — North Korea, South Korea, the US, China, Russia and Japan — are so sure of unhindered implementation of the agreement that they have also begun working on the next step. North Korea tested its nuclear bomb last year, saying that it needed the ultimate weapon to meet the perceived threat to its security from the US. However, many of those following the crisis closely believed that what Pyongyong had done was basically aimed at strengthening its bargaining position with the US. The countries engaged in the tortuous negotiations continued their efforts and ultimately succeeded in making North Korea abandon the path that could heighten tension in the Asia-Pacific region. North Korea was promised 1 million tonne of assured oil supply and better relations with the nations involved in the crucial talks. It received the first consignment of the promised fuel on Saturday coinciding with the arrival of the IAEA inspectors in Pyongyong. The process for ending North Korea’s international isolation is already on. The success with the North Koreans shows that diplomacy can pay off. But the negotiators must have enough patience to keep the talks going. The Iranian nuclear crisis can also be tackled to the satisfaction of the international community by shifting focus to dialogue again. If the US can forget about its regime change policy in North Korea, it can also do so in the case of Iran. Coercive tactics like the imposition of UN sanctions can lead to disastrous consequences, which the world can no longer afford. |
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The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.
— Maximilien Robespierre |
Regrouping of Al-Qaida
After
the overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the US administration confidently claimed that Al-Qaida was on the run and Osama bin Laden’s capacity to organise major attacks from his hideouts in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area was very limited. The US National Commission investigating the 9/11 attacks said Al-Qaida now represented an ideological movement. However, this old assessment of Al-Qaida is fast changing. There are worrying signs of its revival. According to John Negroponte, the US outgoing intelligence chief, Al-Qaida is not on the run but on the march. Its core leadership is resilient, its hiding places in Pakistan are secure and it is cultivating stronger operational connections and relationships with affiliated groups in West Asia, North Africa and Europe. Indeed, the global terrorist franchise of Al-Qaida is doing well. Its branch in Iraq is playing a devastating role in creating terror and turmoil in that country. In Algeria, a new front of Al-Qaida recently caused a bomb blast in Algiers, killing 33 people. Al-Qaida’s Taliban allies in Afghanistan are making things really difficult for the US and NATO troops. Al-Qaida has now more cells in many countries than it had five years ago. The network is facing no difficulty in attracting new recruits. In Pakistan, the peace agreement with the tribal leaders in Waziristan, announced by President Musharraf because of domestic political compulsions and the growing anti-US sentiment, has eased the pressure on Al-Qaida. Jihadis, having taken part in the insurgency in Iraq, come to Pakistan and then proceed to join the Al-Qaida camps in Waziristan. They are now in a position to play the next generation leadership role in the organisation. The deal also marked a temporary halt in the hunt for foreign militants in the tribal areas. The Pakistani authorities seek to justify their reconciliation, saying that it was aimed at weaning the tribesmen away from the foreign militants and Al-Qaida. But in reality this did not happen. In many cases, the government bribed the militants to buy peace. Pakistan’s military authorities have confirmed having paid more than half a million dollars to four militant leaders in the wake of the botched military operations. The policy of appeasement has not worked as the militants continue to use the territory as an effective base for their operations. They killed all those tribal chiefs who collaborated with the Pakistani military. Recently, the Saudi authorities declared that seven Al-Qaida cells in Saudi Arabia had been busted, huge quantities of arms and cash recovered and 172 suspected Al-Qaida operatives arrested. This was indeed a striking development because Saudi Arabia has been a fertile source of recruitment and finance for Al-Qaida in Iraq. They launched a campaign to decry the jihadis and re-educate its extremist detainees. They fear that the return of radicalised jihadis from Iraq with training and experience in terrorist operations would further stoke the fire of militancy. They admit that the jihadis returning from Iraq are regarded as heroes by the country’s disgruntled youth. Al-Qaida is also successfully seeking to exploit diaspora links — Algerians in France, Morrocans in Spain and Italy, and Turks in Germany. In Algeria, the radical Salafi group for Prevention and Combat has re-branded itself as Al-Qaeda’s branch in Maghreb. Their plan is to train and indoctrinate Muslim youths in sub-Saharan Africa and send them back to Europe. In Britain, Operation Crevice launched by MI5 has revealed the terrorists’ plan to launch heavy bombing attacks. According to Peter Clarke, Head, Counter-Terrorism, Metropolitan Police, London, there are “networks within networks, and connections within connections and links that cross local and international boundaries”. He fears that terrorists may attack Britain again because of its close nexus with the US in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Al-Qaida’s core leadership based in Pakistan’s frontier region has easy access to many Muslim British citizens who visit their ancestral country every year. Now militant preachers and proliferating jihadi websites have created a climate in which many Muslims accept the unifying message of Al-Qaida that Muslims across the world are being attacked and they must rise against the US and its fellow Christian “crusaders”. The investigation also revealed close links of jihadis with Pakistan, where many of them go for indoctrination and training. Thus, despite its eviction from Afghanistan and elimination and arrest of several key figures, Al-Qaida has been able to regenerate itself. Its networks remain large, fluid and incredibly resilient. According to top intelligence officials, Al-Qaida’s command base in Pakistan is increasingly being lubricated by Iraqi cash. In Iraq, terrorists are raising huge sums from donations to the anti-American insurgency and by kidnapping and other criminal activities. The inflow of funds has bolstered the Al-Qaida ranks at a time when it is regrouping and asserting its influence with its far-flung networks. A US counter-terrorism expert says, “Iraq has been a big money maker for them”. Undoubtedly, Pakistan’s safe havens have helped the resurgence of Al-Qaida and the Taliban. The propaganda video recently distributed by Al-Qaida shows Arabic-speaking volunteers training in a landscape which looks very much like the tribal areas of North or South Waziristan. The video’s message is that Al-Qaida training camps are open for business again and looking for recruits from all over the Muslim world. It is in these border areas that Afghanistan’s Mullah Dadullah was recruiting and training suicide bombers. Al-Qaida has threatened to launch more deadly attacks on the US and its allies. According to Mike McConnell, Director, National Intelligence (his deposition before the Senate Arms Committee), the next Al-Qaida attack on the US would be the handiwork of the terrorist network’s leadership based in Pakistan. Walter Lacquer, a perceptive analyst of terrorism, has said that though the Al-Qaida brand of terror has not run its course, its present fanatical fervour will not last forever. Religious fervour does not constantly burn with the same intensity. According to him, like all other movements in history, messianic groups are subject to routinisation and to gradual change in the intensity of religious belief. Radical Islam has passed its peak and its downfall is a question of time. It is too early to say how far this assessment is correct, but terrorist attacks will continue in the foreseeable
future.
The writer, a former IPS officer, is Senior Fellow, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi.
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Those coat-watchers Ian
Chappel recounted an excellent story of how the game of cricket was run. Of course he attributed the story to Bill “Tiger”. O’Reilly was a fast leg-spinner in the Bradman era but he must have been a very clever man for his analyses of the game. He said when youngsters played on the village green two captains tossed for first choice. They picked their respective elevens, the left-overs were called the coat-watchers, their job being to look after the belongings of the 22 players. O’Reilly said it was the coat-watchers who were now administering the game of cricket, the guys who never played. Hence, Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar and Co will be doing that job while the cricketers will be dancing to their tune. But isn’t that applicable in all walks of life. The Golden Rule being those who have the gold make the rules. Take for example Indian business houses. One generation builds, the second may or may not consolidate the business, but the third is almost sure to destroy it, because it comes to them too easily. But even in the earlier generations it is the family that calls the shots. They may hire professionals but it is the family that rules. Take journalism too. If 20 new magazines come out each year at least 10 of them fold up. Because the ones with initiative and dynamism (plus the money bags) are bold enough to take the risk . What they lack is the know-how or the professionalism. So they hire some retired journalists (they come cheap) as advisers. But they decide the policies and the agenda - money. Why new mags only, don’t we see this happen in the newspaper industry too? The proprietor becomes the editor-in-chief though he may not know a jot of journalism. They may have advisers but is the advice always taken ? The same goes on in most fields, even in the arts. In films the producer is king because he deals with the financial side of things. So he is close to the accountant but he must see that the accountant doesn’t take major decisions. That should be done by the artistes, otherwise the budget will be the only factor and the quality and aesthetics of the film will go out of the window. For this very reason filmmakers themselves are becoming producers. Hence it is a constant fight between the money bags and the professionals. It was so since time immemorial and the battle goes on as probably so many others go on. But that’s life and as a friend once said “if you don’t fight, you die,” to which I countered. “Even if you fight you die eventually”, but he surely has a
point. |
Condemned to misery Overcrowding, unexplained deaths, corruption, riots and gang wars have become synonymous with Indian prisons. Rather than reforming the prisoners, the condition in jails are contributing to petty thieves turning into hardened criminals. The condition of prisons in the country is so deplorable that the money spent on prison reforms and the development of their basic amenities is negligible. Widespread indifference to improving jail infrastructure is often attributed to lack of resources with the government. It is common to find convicts and pre-trial prisoners held together in crowded cells without proper facilities for basic human existence like fresh air, moving space, decent food, clothing, medical attention and communication. Riots and gang wars among criminals or the undertrials within the fortified walls are posing a big challenge to prison administrators. The recent violence in Basti, Muzaffarnagar and Agra district jails speaks volumes about the disorder and maladministration that exists in the jails. There have been reports of inmates being murdered, tortured and subjected to other abuse at the hands of fellow detainees and the authorities. Particularly worrisome is the condition of women and juvenile prisoners. Despite legislation protecting juvenile and women prisoners, both these category of inmates committed to prisons in India experience extreme cruelty and neglect. Several human rights groups have been raising voices from time to time against incidents where juvenile prisoners are put together with hardened criminals. They are often sexually abused and compelled to do hard labour. Older detainees make them do the heavy work allotted to them, usually in connivance with jail officials. The irony is that all this takes place in spite of a Supreme Court ruling stating that care be taken to ensure such practices do not occur. However, underneath this apathy is the highly questionable but unstated conviction, both among politicians and other community leaders, that prisons should not be too comfortable and a term should be made as unpleasant as possible so that it acts as a deterrent against a prisoner lapsing back to crime. While there has been no organised effort on the part of the leaders to bring pressure on law-makers to make the prisons more humane, there have been several reports about corrupt jail officials giving preferential treatment to prisoners with connections to crime bosses. Such treatment may be the provision of entertainment, unrestricted movement inside the jail, uninterrupted visitor sessions and according of “five-star treatment”, often at the expense of another inmate’s liberty. As the debate on jail reforms has resurfaced with the submission of a report on “Public Order” by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Veerappa Moily recently, it would be worthwhile to note that overcrowding has become the major cause of problems in the country’s prisons. Whether it is the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Report in 1996 or the report of the All India Committee on Jail Reforms (1980-83) chaired by Justice A N Mulla, major emphasis has been laid on addressing the problem of overcrowding in prisons and prolonged detention of undertrial prisoners. According to government data, India’s prison population stood at 331,391 as on December 31, 2004 reflecting a jail population of 30 per hundred thousand Indians and jail occupancy levels which stood at 139 per cent of capacity with the proportion of undertrial prisoners standing at 65.5 per cent. Jharkhand had the highest overcrowding in its prisons (300.9 per cent) followed by Delhi with 249.7 per cent. The number of jail establishments in India stood at 1147 which were categorised as Central Jails, District Jails, Sub-Jails, Juvenile and Women Jails as well as open Jails/Camps. In comparison to the United States, which had a prison population of 2,193,798 (and a prison rate of 724 per 100,000 population) or China, which had a prison population of 1,548,498 in the same period, India’s jail population is quite low, both as a proportion of the population and in absolute terms. Despite this, our jails suffer from serious overcrowding with the bulk of the inmates comprising undertrial prisoners, who are often people from disadvantaged backgrounds involved in minor and technical violations of the law who are incarcerated due to their inability to pay for bail or for good legal assistance. While prison reforms has been a neglected area for the administration, the only major all-Indian prison reform ever implemented dates back to the Indian Jails committee of 1919-1920. Courts have intervened to lay down specific rules and guidelines in regard to matters like the right to physical protection, restrictions on handcuffing and fetters, solitary confinement, the right to speedy trial, freedom of expression, etc. In this context, it is worth mentioning that a ray of hope has emerged for the undertrials languishing in Tihar Jail in the national Capital with the Delhi High Court asking the jail authorities to submit a list of inmates facing trail for crimes inviting a maximum punishment of seven years. The move is aimed at decongesting Asia’s largest jail that saw six deaths in a week last month. Against a capacity of 6,000, Tihar jail is housing about 13,000 inmates and about 80 per cent of them are undertrials. The figure is next only to the Bihar jails, where the percentage of undertrials is 82 per cent. One can only hope that the present government takes serious note of the Moily Commission’s assertion that giving better facilities to inmates and promoting a professional and reformative approach in prison administration should be possible and is certainly within the country’s resources.
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Turkey still a test case for a Muslim democracy This
month’s elections in Turkey have been described as a battle for the soul of the nation. But far from being a battle between secularism and Islam, as some would have us believe, this is really a conflict between the forces of freedom and democracy on the one hand and authoritarianism on the other. The outcome will decide whether Turkey continues down the modernising path it was set on some five years ago by the government of the ruling Justice and Development Party or backtracks onto the path where might is right and power is achieved through the barrel of a gun. Will there be a resolution to forge a new consensus between state and citizen that is at ease with Turkey’s Muslim heritage and its secular political culture, or will the forces of the military usurp the people’s right to choose their government and undermine the government’s mandate to serve the people? Demonstrations in Ankara in April and May raised the specter of radical Islam as reason to circumvent the democratic process. But to label this government with the attributes of radical Islam is to fly in the face of reality. This is a government clearly committed to the process of preserving democracy at great costs while taking concrete steps to dispel the misperceptions about parties with an Islamic tag. Whereas the secular underpinnings of the Turkish state have in the past always been secured by military force, today we finally see a secular government that is democratically elected and that has no need to demonise religion. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s courageous steps toward European Union membership, particularly in the area of legal reform, should also dispel any doubts about Turkish convictions regarding democracy. Since the early 1980s, Turkish politics have been characterized by a strong state and a weak civil society in which individual rights were tolerated only if they conformed with the centrist vision. Elections throughout this period were overshadowed by draconian measures taken to stifle and subvert opposition groups across the political spectrum. But with the landmark parliamentary elections of 2002, these undemocratic practices seemed, until recent developments, to have been relegated to history. Commitment to the democratic process represents a paradigm shift in Turkish politics through which the will of the people has been translated into sound economic policies, enhanced social welfare and greater integration with Europe. In stark contrast to the military’s threats of intervention, Turkey’s leaders have demonstrated clear resolve and commitment to reform. The implications of a military intervention would be far-reaching and grave. One need not resurrect the sins of commission in Algeria. While constitutional provisions in Turkey mitigate against the possibility of a hijacked electoral process, the Turkish people would be unlikely to take such a move lightly if it did occur. We could expect negotiations with the European Union to immediately dissolve, much to the satisfaction of those governments in Europe that from the start have been bent on seeing Turkey excluded. The unprecedented growth that the Turkish economy is experiencing would undoubtedly slow. Ultimately, we could witness the collapse of the civilisational bridge being forged in Istanbul between East and West. Also troubling would be the betrayed aspirations of Muslim democrats in Turkey and across the Muslim world. Turkey, like Indonesia, is widely regarded as a test case demonstrating harmony between Muslim politics and democracy. It is an expression of peace and development that has riveted Muslim interest and sparked pride internationally. Radicals would be sure to use a coup as evidence of the West’s duplicity in calling for freedom and democracy in the Muslim world while turning a blind eye to authoritarian rule. Moderates would lose ground in a region beset by radicalism that is fueled by the deteriorating situation in Iraq and the failure to resolve the Arab-Israeli crisis. Turkey may legitimately expect that the West will lend no support, overtly or otherwise, to any attempts to derail democracy. Sure, those who claim to represent the aspirations of the modern Turkish state may well succeed in toppling the current government, especially when they are buttressed by sheer military force. But this would be a Pyrrhic victory, for the price would be freedom and democracy
themselves. The writer is a former deputy prime minister of Malaysia By arrangement with LA Times-Washington Post |
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Chatterati There
is no doubt that cricket is a religion in our country. The once prestigious BCCI is now ruled by politicians, industrialists and brokers. No cricket icon who has sweated for the game, to bring it to some level of international acclaim, has been given any role or importance in running the administration for the last 75 years. The layman just cannot understand why the BCCI is making such a fuss over Kapil Dev, a superstar acclaimed all over the world. After all, he has only joined hands with a top industrial house which is providing him the opportunity to bring in fresh talent from all over the country. We have seen the performance of the BCCI and the players of its team recently. Unfortunately for the BCCI everything this year seems to have boomeranged on it badly – whether it is TV rights, sponsorship, coach selection, or some other issue. Never has the public felt so let down. Why is the BCCI scared of competition? Why did they not utilise the experience of the cricketing legend Kapil Dev for so long? We all know cricket is his passion. Kapil has a stature that is superior to anyone in the BCCI. Kapil has joined hands with the Indian Cricket League founded by Subhash Chandra, Chairperson of Zee TV, and one does not understand what is wrong about that. Well, even the cricketers who are involved in the BCCI are there only on a honorary basis and are usually dominated by the influential men around them. Politicians should stick to mainstream politics instead of running sports with a political approach.
Early campaign Preparations for the General Election 2009 have already started in the capital. There are whisper campaigns, quiet dinners in different camps, and promises old and new. Many expect the third front to emerge as a front-runner. A question already being discussed – even if somewhat prematurely – is: who will be the Prime Minister? Sharad Pawar may have his men already ahead, trying to talk to different allies. It is said that his announcement of not standing for the Lok Sabha next time is because he is aiming for the Rajya Sabha, while his daughter will fight for a Lok Sabha seat. As a Rajya Sabha member he will have more time to campaign for his supporters and allies. Mayawati on the other hand has sent her MPs and MLAs on a broad, grassroots study of caste equations in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan. She has already made a dent in Delhi. Lalu Prasad Yadav in the meantime has his support from the Congress. After all, he single-handedly fought the Sonia foreign issue vocally. In all this the BJP and the Congress still have to set their house in order. Congress Chief Ministers are a disillusioned lot. They are like puppets in the hands of the Centre and the so-called leaders there; they are losing their states rapidly. Some political pundits also suggest that the General Elections may take place in 2008 itself, and that may be the reason why aspiring future PMs are starting their campaign so early. |
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