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A thought for Muslims Dalit anger |
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Nuclear renaissance Deal with US will enable India to play its role Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is right when he says that India needs to generate as much energy as possible and by using all the available resources so that the economy continues to grow at a fast pace. And the energy generated has to be “affordable” in terms of its cost and the impact on the environment.
Walking the peace track
The pawnbroker’s watch
Helpless in Afghanistan Fighting for the world’s children Chatterati
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A thought for Muslims Forget
for a moment selfish reasons that drive some to shed crocodile tears for Muslims. Also ignore the political calculations that normally go into taking up their cause. The fact remains that in social, economic or educational spheres, they lag behind hopelessly. The Rajinder Sachar Committee report has brought out this glaring inequality in telling terms. As a follow-up, the steps the government has now promised to take are much needed as well as enabling and can ameliorate to some extent their lot. They have many grievances regarding discrimination which need to be addressed. The equal opportunities commission that is sought to be set up should make sure that they don’t suffer because of any prejudices related to their religion. They have plenty of talent. All that they need is equal opportunities. It may not be denied to them as a state policy but there are instances where they suffer because of certain individuals’ or organisations’ unfairness based on prejudice. It is this tendency which is sought to be addressed. The positive action proposed to be taken can lead to their all-round upliftment. This includes more schools, loans, basic amenities, special coaching and scholarship schemes for minority students. All this will not only be in the interest of the Muslims but also of the country because India cannot progress if such a large chunk of its population is left behind, wallowing in ignorance and misery. What is noticeable is that all this is sought to be done through affirmative action and not through any reservation. The latter can be, in fact, counterproductive, considering that the experiment has not succeeded in removing social inequalities in the case of dalits who have been given this facility for decades now. Reservations cause societal disquiet to boot. The new deal being offered to them, if it is implemented in the right spirit by the Centre and the states, can make some real difference without ruffling any feathers. |
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Dalit anger THE murder of a Dalit youth in Gohana provoked a violent reaction from the community in the region. Nowadays any attack on Dalits or anything that represents their identity like the statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar is immediately followed by mob violence. Defacement of such a statue in Kanpur sometime back resulted in riotous situations all over Uttar Pradesh. In Maharashtra, where Dalits are the most organised, they never allow any act of injustice against them pass without protest. There is a definite pattern in these protests. Dalits are no longer the meek, faceless people who would suffer any indignity. Growing consciousness about their rights and privileges strengthens them to stand up against injustice. No doubt, the Indian state has done its bit to improve the conditions of the Dalits who constitute about 15 per cent of the population. Reservation in government jobs and educational institutions was introduced as a short-term measure but today it has become their inalienable right. Most of the time, it is for their social rights that they take up arms. Unfortunately, social deprivation is not something that can be wished away even 60 years after Independence. For instance, when in Jhajjar in Haryana, five Dalits are killed for the sake of a cow, they feel they are not given their due as citizens of India. Or, take the case of the murder of a Dalit family at Kharilanji, which provoked violent protests in Maharashtra. In all these cases, violence would not have erupted if the police had taken prompt action against those who committed the atrocities. The reality that Dalits in many parts of the country are kept on the margins of society cannot be denied. They are often at the receiving end of societal prejudices. Small wonder that they do not feel they are part of a “Shining India”, which boasts of 9.3 per cent economic growth. What’s worse, promises made to ameliorate their conditions as in the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA government remain just promises even after three years of its regime. Thus, it is their pent-up anger that bursts out when atrocities are committed against them by either the state, the upper castes or the landed gentry. What is required is greater sensitivity by the administration and the people of other castes to the feelings of Dalits for whom social justice is as vital as economic justice.
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Nuclear renaissance Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh is right when he says that India needs to generate as much energy as possible and by using all the available resources so that the economy continues to grow at a fast pace. And the energy generated has to be “affordable” in terms of its cost and the impact on the environment. India cannot fulfil the ever-growing requirement of the economy by depending on coal, oil, gas and hydropower alone. India has to increase its nuclear energy-generation capacity, which is not possible unless the restrictions imposed on it get lifted. The nuclear deal with the US provides the best opportunity to end India’s nuclear isolation at the international level. As the Prime Minister says, under no circumstances can India “afford to miss the bus” when the world is working for a “nuclear renaissance”. No far-sighted person can differ with him when he says that India must join the global nuclear mainstream to play its rightful role. India has to acquire the latest technology and enough fuel supplies for sufficient nuclear power generation. It cannot achieve the target of 40,000 MWe by 2020 — double than what the country produces today — unless it is in a position to go in for nuclear commerce. India has to get dismantled the obstructionist nuclear regime that came about in the wake of the country acquiring the capacity to produce nuclear weapons. The sceptics of the Indo-US nuclear deal, both the Left parties and the BJP, should realise how crucial it is for India’s long-term interests. At least now particularly the Leftist supporters of the UPA government, who are allergic to anything associated with the US, should give up their resistance to the deal. They would be doing a great service to the country by not coming in the way of the government’s efforts for getting the deal cleared by the Nuclear Suppliers Group and signing an India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The deal has to cross these remaining hurdles for the final approval of the US Congress. There is no reason to feel uneasy when even top nuclear scientists have assured the nation that India’s strategic weapon programme remains unaffected by the 123 Agreement. |
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It’s a maxim not to be despised, ‘Though peace be made, yet it’s interest that keeps peace.’
— Oliver Cromwell |
Walking the peace track
Once
again peace-seekers, former diplomats, ex-generals, sundry editors and frequent Track II travellers from India and Pakistan were in a huddle in Singapore last week to find ways to abolish war from the subcontinent. Desire for peace filled the air; acrimony was absent; and the usual bonhomie that has lately informed India-Pakistan interactions prevailed in a large measure. Some of the participants were new; but there were quite a few who have been involved with what has come to be known as Track II diplomacy. The two-day deliberations were earnest. At times, concern was expressed why the two countries were walking slow on the peace track. Some participants felt that lately the peace process had got stalled and needed a big thrust by the two governments. At times, the two governments were blamed; and at other times, men in uniform were accused of throwing a spanner on crucial occasions. Bureaucrats on both sides were the object of sneer for being text-bookish while the subcontinental peace required a forward-looking approach and a big push that only statesmanship of a high order can muster. There seemed to be a silent competition between the Track I and Track II travellers and for a change the Track II people in Singapore got a surprise of sorts when told by one of the wise men that they themselves were travelling far behind those moving on Track I. The seasoned participant, who was apparently speaking with a sense of responsibility, claimed he was one of the few who broadly knew what was happening between Satinder Lamba and Tariq Aziz — the two high representatives Dr Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf had assigned to work out the basis of a possible settlement between the two countries. He cautioned that the situation and language of the dialogue between the two countries had changed considerably. The secret talks Messrs Lamba and Tariq Aziz were having in Dubai and other undisclosed places indeed had broken new ground. They have been given the mandate, which perhaps goes far beyond what the Track II people had fancied for themselves. The Singapore participants were in for a surprise of sorts when they learnt that the two interlocutors had thrown new possibilities, although they were still to cover a vast distance. Despite secrecy, some of what Messrs Satinder Lamba and Tariq Aziz have achieved has been floating around vaguely in the public domain but what has come to be known are the following five points on which a structure of peace is sought to be built. Loosely, the new ideas they have worked out are:
Reduction of forces on both sides of Jammu and Kashmir — a sort of demilitarisation. Apparently, those participants who rubbed in the Simla Agreement found it was no longer a reference point in the Lamba-Aziz dialogue. Pakistan is no longer insisting on a third party mediation on Kashmir. There is not much mention of terrorism either. The peace process on Track I is moving on the presumption that terrorism and peace cannot go together. Also, the international context has immensely changed the entire tenor of the dialogue between the two nations. Even seasoned participants from Pakistan conceded that India with its emerging economic strength was being taken more seriously by the world. And 9/11 had avoidably diminished Pakistan’s importance in the eyes of the general public in many western countries. And the two countries, having become nuclear powers, are no longer afraid of each other and have come to the conclusion that war as a means of settling the real estate and other disputes had to be ruled out in the subcontinent where one-fifth of humanity lives. Messrs Satinder Lamba and Tariq Aziz have travelled some distance, but are still far from completing their task. Essentially, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf have to do quite a few things at their level before they can say they have established peace when they are in office — an intrinsic desire both of them harbour. Both leaders have hurdles to cross, however. Both are facing situations at home which may not permit them to take bold steps that peace- making requires. President Musharraf is badly caught in the serious troubles at home with the recent lawyers’ agitation having changed the political landscape he cannot be feeling comfortable with. Fundamentalists have abundant dislike for him for becoming an easy prey for American affection. Opposition parties, after the Supreme Court’s reinstatement of its Chief Justice and in the past week its allowing Nawaz Sharif to return to Pakistan have become strident. The beleaguered General has been having more than proxy talks with Benazir Bhutto, but the twice-sacked Prime Minister is raising her price for a deal with Pervez Musharraf who, essentially, wants to retain his uniform and contest for another term as President. Under these circumstances, President Musharraf cannot find it easy to go far in India in a meaningful dialogue aimed at a give-and-take settlement. His hands are getting increasingly too tied to permit embracing a neighbour. On the Indian side, Dr Manmohan Singh, who also wants to usher in peace with Pakistan while in office, is caught in a situation that is heading for a mid-term poll. No Prime Minister can be bold in an election year. Dr Manmohan Singh, who is also prone to excessive caution, could be living under the fear that any deal with Pakistan now might make the BJP accuse him of a sell-out, an accusation that comes easy to make while in opposition. Most participants felt that under these circumstances it would not be easy to build more on the broad principles the Satinder Lamba — Tariq Aziz team had worked out. The consensus at the Singapore dialogue — which was organised by a German foundation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung — was that having come thus far it will not be difficult for India and Pakistan to pick up the thread again, whatever the dispensation that may emerge in the two countries in the near future. In any case, there is more optimism on both sides of the divide now than ever before. At least, the constituency of peace has expanded in the two countries. It is bound to resist any reversal of the peace process even if it remains in slow motion for some time. While wars are easy to switch on, building peace on the subcontinent would require patient, but a clear and focussed effort. Hopefully, the two nations will not grudge making
it.
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The pawnbroker’s watch
It
was straight out of O’ Henry’s story: “Simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meritorious ornamentation.” But I did not know how really valuable it was when I accepted it as a present from my friend Kuldeep. It drew attention from all quarters — attention that stood somewhere between admiration and envy. The climax came when Mr Purewal, who knows everything there is to know about watches, clasped my wrist and said: “Harish, what a beautiful watch!” It was then that I learnt that “My watch” was worth a fortune. I reverted immediately to my old Titan and when Kuldeep came to visit me again I attempted to return his present. He smiled and pushed my hand away. “It cost me only five pounds.” He had been at the ticket counter, at Victoria station when he noticed a scrap of paper on the floor. The floor is usually spotlessly clean and he bent down and picked up the paper. It was a pawnbroker’s ticket for five pounds. He put the ticket in his pocket and forgot about it. A few days later, while coming out of Harrods, he caught sight of the same shop sign in the adjoining street. Fortunately he was wearing the same jacket. He went into the shop wondering what fate would bring him - it brought him the watch. “The moment I saw it — I knew it was your watch — it speaks of everything you speak of, it stands for everything that you stand for; I had to give it to you.” I was touched by my friend’s opinion of me and reassured that he hadn’t spent a fortune. I wore it now without any discomfort. The years went by and I began to take the pawnbroker’s watch for granted though it still drew glances of admiration from strangers. Then, by one of those strange quirks of fortune, I found myself in Knightsbridge. I remembered the pawnbroker and, on an impulse, decided to visit the shop. I located Harrods and then spent the major part of the morning, looking for “J Rubinstein and Son.” I found it finally — a fairly big establishment. The sign read “J Rubinstein and Son - Haberdashers Founded 1875. By appointment to the Duke of Edinburgh.” I forced myself to go in and made an utter fool of myself. With true upper lip British disdain, I was put firmly in my place. No, they had never been pawnbrokers. No, they were not aware of another shop with the same name in the vicinity, and then they drove the final nail home: they were not aware of any pawnbroker within five miles of their establishment. I have not confronted my friend with the truth. In fact, I’ve learnt to love and respect him more for the telling of this story and whenever anyone comments on the pawnbroker’s watch, I now repeat the story, garnishing it with enough details to make myself believe it is the
truth. |
Helpless in Afghanistan
The
tragic killings and partial release of the South Koreans taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan brings to the centrestage the endemic issue of hostage taking by radical rebel groups who have always been averse to the rule of law and state authority. That hostages can be taken right in the heart of major towns and cities and not only on highways spanning the countryside became clear to us years back. When posted at Kabul, Afghan splinter groups kidnapped in broad daylight US Ambassador Dubbs as he was driving down to his embassy and hours later in a shootout between the security forces and the rebel Mujahideen holed up at the downtown Kabul Hotel, Afghanistan heard of its first fatal casualty of a very high-ranking diplomat. A little later, when the Soviet army came into Afghanistan and ruled with a heavy hand, kidnappings of locals or foreigners were not heard of again for quite some time. It is quite clear that the stage is first set for a likely kidnapping when state authority loses its grip over large swathes of the countryside through which perforce pass the major highways. Many tribal warlords, who control large areas like the one around Ghazni, where the South Koreans were waylaid, more often than not do not recognise any government in Kabul or at best just suffer it as long as it suits their purpose. Hostages are taken in Afghanistan for the purpose of taking “badla” or revenge where a particular tribe or group perceives a slight to its honour or dignity,for the purpose of a large ransom, to teach a particular faction a lesson when it has joined up or has cooperated with the government in Kabul, when it is perceived that somebody had defied the religious code, or often when a direct clash of interests takes place on the volatile Afghan-Pakistan Durand Line, in gun-running and lucrative heroin trade operations. Often it has been seen that in all this melee ,many smaller tribal chiefs also take over to settle local scores and to gain political clout in the region. In the present case,it is a Christian workers’ group that the Taliban do not want in their land. A weak police force that has been infiltrated and the lack of a political will to go after tribal warlords, who could later on prove useful allies in Loya Jirgha, have often left the average citizen defenceless in his own land. However, the kidnapping of foreigners occurs for different reasons. It is ironical that more and more foreigners are being kidnapped as progress and creation of adequate infrastructure takes place in Afghanistan.The opening up of a road network entails working for months in the countryside where state police protection is virtually non-existent and security guards hired by the firm undertaking the project unable to cope up with the 24x7 duty. In recent years a new phenomenon has sprung up where dissident groups have started taking foreign hostages so as to pressurise the state government into releasing in lieu a few special prisoners held in their charge. The aim also often is to embarrass the
central government in Kabul and exhibit the power and clout of the tribal warlord
concerned. The state and foreign governments participating in reconstruction programmes in Afghanistan have to beef up their security arrangements, specially when the US and UN forces operating there consider this to be a minor subsidiary task. It is also one thing President Karzai not giving in to terrorism, but the humanitarian factor cannot be overlooked altogether and neither the collective political fallout with foreign powers. In the IC 814 episode on Afghan soil the Indian government did bend for an overall common cause of a large number taken hostage. Better coordination between the UN-US troops and the Afghan police, a careful clearance of all foreign aid or social or humanitarian assistance agencies permitted to work in the country, and an internal political drive to cut to size a few of the dissident tribal chiefs could go a long way in bringing about stability to Afghanistan. The litmus test, however, will always be whether Kabul is strong enough to manage its own internal security when the foreign troops leave for good. |
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Fighting for the world’s children Globally, pneumonia is responsible for the deaths of two million children each year, more than one-third of whom live in South Asia. In a recent large-scale study, more than 68,000 children in Dhaka were given the Hib vaccine. It was shown to prevent one-third of life-threatening pneumonia cases in children under the age of two. Last week in Athens, Greece, pediatricians from around the world came together at the International Pediatric Association meeting to discuss the best ways to reduce the staggering number of infant deaths in poor countries. It is heartbreaking that millions of children die every year of diseases that are entirely curable and preventable. Diseases which hardly occur in rich countries take a terrible toll in the developing world, robbing nations of adults who can contribute to economies, care for the infirm and elderly, and assume vital leadership positions. Two of the most devastating and under-recognised diseases facing our children are pneumonia and meningitis. Pneumonia kills two million children a year and causes more infant deaths than AIDS and malaria combined. Worldwide, more than 1 million people suffer from bacterial meningitis each year. Among children in developing countries, meningitis kills 20 percent of those infected, while up to 35 percent may go on to develop lifelong disabilities such as mental retardation or hearing loss. While these statistics are mind boggling, the real tragedy is that hundreds of thousands of pneumonia and meningitis cases can be prevented by current medicines and vaccines. Many of these technologies are already available to children in poor countries. But more governments must commit to using these existing tools that are proven to be effective. One of the most powerful tools we have to prevent childhood disease is vaccination. When vaccines are made available to children in all corners of the world they provide additional reassurance against disease. Vaccines are particularly effective when access to regular healthcare is not available – one shot may prevent illness and years of necessary treatment. Pneumonia and meningitis are two diseases where vaccines can have a large impact. Life-threatening pneumonia and meningitis are caused mainly by two types of bacteria: Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and Streptococcus pneumoniae, (pneumococcus). Effective vaccines exist for both, and international organisations are making them available to developing countries at affordable prices. For instance, GAVI, an international public private partnership, has made a vaccine that protects against Hib and other diseases available to 72 poor countries for only a small percentage of the ordinary price. GAVI also helps governments purchase vaccines against other major child killers, including pneumococcus and rotavirus. Money is not the main roadblock to making vaccines more widely available. What is needed now is the increased awareness of these life-saving vaccines, and a call to action for governments to take advantage of these opportunities. The case for universal access to the Hib vaccine is clear. It has been almost 18 years since the first routine infant immunization program against Hib was implemented; since then Hib pneumonia and meningitis have been virtually eliminated in the United States and most other developed countries. The problem is that today, 74 percent of the world’s children still do not have access to this life-saving vaccine. We should finish providing universal Hib vaccination to all children around the world. We could then save even more lives with vaccines for diseases such as pneumococcus and rotavirus. In 2000, every member of the United Nations pledged to halve child deaths by 2015. Yet we are not on track to meet this goal and cannot meet it unless we address childhood pneumonia and meningitis. To achieve this, we must make vaccines for deadly diseases available to all children who need them. Governments and donors can no longer drag their feet in implementing policies to get children medicines and vaccines. Civil society and the media must also play a key role – mobilizing parents and children to get vaccinated and to call for global access. We pediatricians are meeting this week to discuss our collective passion: the health and well being of children. By working together to stop pneumonia and meningitis through existing, cost-effective health technologies, we hope to make our passion a reality. The writer is the Minister of Health of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and President of the International Pediatric
Association. |
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Chatterati Simple Himachalis are a bit wary of outsiders trying to woo them. But former Prime Minister Vajpayee has won them over the years by being one of them. Atal has been visiting Pirni, a small village near Kulu-Manali, for decades every summer. Even when he was Prime Minister, he took time off to relax there. Recently he donated computers supporting infrastructure to the local school there along with books for the library. Vajpayee runs a small trust in the name of his father who incidentally was a school teacher. His ancestral modest house in Gwalior runs a computer education facility for economically poor children. Much to the dismay of the Himachalis, many new opportunity seekers are making inroads to intrude into their territory. The ski village has caused distress to locals because of the anxiety of ecological damage. Locals are also worried about the influx of large numbers of “well-healed” foreigners with all that it implies. But the latest interesting duo who have arrived are Omar Abdullah and his wife. They have set up a mineral water bottling plant near Manali and seem quite settled in their newly built cottage there. Well, maybe Kashmir water was not sweet enough for them. Foreigners have set up small dhabas as their own “addas” which obviously give rise to crime as the lure of local substantial quantities of marijuana is too good to resist as it is easily available.
VIP criminals Both Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt were convicted for their stupidity in trying to live their macho reel image in real life. None of them is a criminal but both are foolish enough to commit crimes like possessing a weapon and hunting innocent animals. It was simple, however, for the police to investigate both cases — Sanjay actually possessed a weapon which was recovered and Salman really shot an animal whose carcass was also found. There were witnesses in both cases. Shibu Soren walked free from jail after a lower court’s conviction was set aside by the high court. The CBI was put on the mat for not marshalling enough evidence against the accused. There are many types of cases against politicians pending in courts and in almost all of them investigations would appear to be routinely below par. Look at the cases of corruption against politicians in various states — rarely is a politician convicted. Is it possible for a government agency to work impartially against its own bosses in a corruption or criminal case? Can it be expected from an Inspector working in a state to act against his own ministers or MLAs? Similarly, can the CBI be expected to investigate cases against the high and mighty, placed as it is under the watchful eyes of any government in power? The government would be turning a blind eye against the appalling low rate of conviction in courts if it believes that the investigating agencies are playing foul knowingly. |
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