 |
|
General has his way Guaranteed jobs |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wrong target
60 years of accession
Nuisance called name-dropping
60 years of Panjab University Bhagat Singh belongs to the nation Chatterati
|
General has his way THE Pakistan Supreme Court delivered a surprising verdict on Friday, allowing Gen Pervez Musharraf to contest the October 6 presidential election without resigning as army chief. The petitions challenging his eligibility were rejected by the court as non-maintainable. Those singing hymns in praise of the judiciary for asserting its independence are in a state of shock. They fail to understand how the technical ground of non-maintainability was discovered after several hearings beginning on September 17. In the case relating to the sacking of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, hearing started only after the court decided its maintainability. Perhaps, the so-called independent judiciary succumbed to pressures from the General, destroying its new-found image in the process. One minister had declared that people should prepare for the worst —meaning a state of emergency or the martial law — if the judgement went against the General. This indicates the infamous Doctrine of Necessity continues to remain a major deciding factor for the judiciary. The court could do little when the government ignored its ruling and sent former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif back into exile in Saudi Arabia after he landed in Islamabad because of the apex court upholding his right to live in his country. Thus, General Musharraf’s re-election as President is almost certain. His nomination papers have been cleared by the Election Commission despite the objections raised by his opponents. The Opposition’s threat to resign from the national and provincial assemblies is unlikely to come in the way. The wily General has weakened the Opposition by offering a deal to PPP leader Benazir Bhutto. She refuses to admit that the deal has been clinched, but the way she has been distancing herself from the rest of the Opposition strengthens the belief that she will facilitate the General’s victory. Once he becomes President and sheds his uniform, as promised, it will be easier for him to engineer a victory for his party, the PML (Q), and its allies in the coming general election. He is believed to have already made up his mind about his successor as Chief of Army Staff. This will help him perpetuate his rule till the new army chief sets his own agenda. Pakistan’s history is full of instances to prove that the army chief does not hesitate in overthrowing even a ruler who gave him that coveted position. |
|
Guaranteed jobs THE Centre’s decision to extend the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to all the districts from April is welcome. It is the United Progressive Alliance Government’s most important decision to change the face of rural India. No doubt, it comes as a pleasant surprise because when the Rural Development Ministry had proposed to add 223 districts to the first phase list of 200, the Finance Ministry had pruned the number to 130, citing “resource crunch”. Anyway, it is good that the programme, which assures 100 days’ employment to each rural household in a financial year, will now be implemented in each of the country’s 595 districts. The need to progressively harness the power of the unemployed in rural reconstruction has never been in doubt. Significantly, the country has a fairly good track record of employment schemes — from the Food for Work Programme to the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana. The NREGA draws its inspiration from the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) in Maharashtra. Just like the latter, the former, too, has helped ameliorate extreme levels of deprivation among the poorest sections in many states. It checked the migration of rural workers in search of work and, thus, supplemented their incomes. It also acted as an insurance mechanism by stabilising employment in the off-peak season. For example, Dungarpur in Rajasthan and Villupuram in Tamil Nadu — the pioneer districts — show how the NREGA has substantially changed the condition of the poor rural folk. Similarly, in Surguja and Koriya districts of Chhattisgarh, there has been a massive employment generation. If these success stories are replicated elsewhere, the NREGA will break new grounds. True, like all other previous schemes, the NREGA, too, is not free from drawbacks. Shortage of staff and poor worksite facilities like lack of water are some of the problems faced by the workers. More serious are reports of corruption through manipulation and improper maintenance of job cards and measurement of work. These could be tackled effectively if the district collectors step up vigilance, ensure a fair revision of schedule of rates and enforce strict implementation of the transparency safeguards. On their part, the people can fix accountability on the erring staff through measures like social audit and the Right to Information Act. |
|
Wrong target THE Research and Analysis Wing has been in an unseemly flap ever since its former secretary, Major-General (retd) V.K. Singh, wrote a book critical of the agency. Titled India’s External Intelligence: Secrets of RAW, Singh criticised the agency for its many administrative and operational lapses. He sees a lack of leadership, commitment and accountability in the agency, and political interference in its functioning. Though, clearly, Singh has not let out any sensitive secrets, RAW’s head Ashok Chaturvedi wrote to the Cabinet Secretary — under whom RAW functions — asking for a ban on the book. As if that weren’t bad enough, RAW has now got the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to raid his house, and even register a case against him under the Official Secrets Act. The book rightly set off a debate on RAW’s role and functioning. In particular, it analysed irregularities in the procurement of communications sets for the Special Protection Group (SPG) and other equipment and the Rabinder Singh episode. It also questions certain decisions, like the one to make public the taped conversation between Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf and General Mohammed Aziz, during the Kargil war. The conversation made it clear that Musharraf was in the know, and that those fighting included regular Pakistani army personnel. The Pakistanis were denying both. Singh feels that the benefits of exposing them to the international community had to be weighed against exposing a critical source, which has since, predictably enough, dried up. Discussion of such issues can by no means hurt the security of the country. If anything, such an airing can only spur an agency with a role as critical as that of RAW to cleaning up its act. But the entrenched bureaucracy of any agency is quick to be stung by criticism. They believe that they are above scrutiny. And they take recourse to the outdated Official Secrets Act in a form which even the British, its original authors, have repudiated. The government must immediately stop harassing Singh and, instead, devote its efforts to correcting whatever is wrong. |
|
You furnish the pictures and I will furnish the war.—William Randolf Hearst |
60 years of accession October 26
will mark the 60th anniversary of Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India following the self-confessed invasion of the state by Pakistan and later its annexation of the Northern Areas. This is part of the UN record. A plebiscite could never be held as Pakistan, already a Western “frontline state” that could do no wrong, defied the operative UN Resolutions. The 1949 ceasefire effectively partitioned the state, declamatory poetry to the contrary notwithstanding. The Line of Control was so designated after the Simla Agreement, with adjustments made for territorial gains registered during the 1971 war and, thereafter, in 1984 after foiling Pakistan’s gratuitous redrawing of it with American connivance beyond the agreed grid reference NJ 9842 not “thence north to the glaciers” but northeast to a point just short of the Karakoram Pass in a bid to grab Siachen. This capsule of the J&K “dispute” is well documented and beyond challenge, punctuated by the 1965 war, Kargil, bloody Pakistan-aided insurgency and extraneous jihadi intervention. Alongside, there has been blatant nuclear-missile proliferation to Pakistan by China and North Korea, the Pakistan-led Talibanisation of Afghanistan and its fallout in J&K and within Pakistan itself, and Islamabad’s nuclear proliferation to all and sundry under the benign gaze of the US. The purpose of this narration is not to wallow in self-pity or recrimination but to rebut in advance of October 26 some of the folklore and lamentations that will be recited by critics. The anniversary should, instead, be a time for introspection and to move ahead. The status quo is not a state of bliss. Changing it by force is not a viable option. Equally, to freeze it for another 60 years would be to mortgage both J&K and India’s future since the issue has obvious internal and external socio-political and security linkages. The Prime Minister’s envisioning of the peace process and its larger goals is the road that we must travel. Pakistan is currently not ready to negotiate even with itself, let alone India. The present charade being played out in Islamabad is Pakistan’s affair, though India’s sympathies are with the incipient democratic forces struggling to assert themselves against military-feudal bondage. Therefore, even if the composite dialogue is unlikely to move forward until Pakistan comes to terms with itself, this is an opportune moment to press forward with the internal dialogue and constructive initiatives that must underpin any settlement. More so at a time when even the blind will contrast what is and what is proposed in the Indian part of J&K with the colonial reality of what obtains in PAK and the Northern Areas. Pakistan’s pretensions to champion self-determination, democracy, human rights and Islamic values have never rung more hollow than when it invites a foreign power to abduct a former prime minister and its President-General once again subverts the constitution and says he will only fight an election in uniform, that is, with the Army as his election agent. What then should India do this October 26? The Army is against a ceasefire such as the Hizbul Mujahideen wanted through the holy month of Ramzan, which it fears could be utilised by jihadis to regroup and infiltrate men and warlike supplies. This apprehension is borne out by the jihadi call to intensify the “struggle” in J&K in order to “strengthen Pakistan” at a time when General Musharraf’s leadership is weak and wayward. Nevertheless, a unilateral “suspension of operations” by Indian security forces under clearly specified terms, even if initially limited to designated areas and subject to periodic review, could be announced. The onset of winter by October 26 normally marks a winding down of jihadi operations and cross-border movements in J&K until April. Simultaneously, a political amnesty might be announced for those detained or under trial for other than heinous offences and steps taken to expedite and implement seriatim aspects of the autonomy package on which agreement may be quickly forthcoming: restoration of the designations Sadr-i-Riyasat and Wazir-e-Azam, upgrading the State Human Rights Commission with a wider remit, appointment of a credible J&K regional election commissioner to assist the CEC, the location of a special circuit bench of the Supreme Court in J&K, with an additional local judge, and further empowerment of local bodies. Licensing a trekking expedition to Siachen, against Pakistan’s hollow protest, could mark the beginning of converting the NJ 9842- Baltoro-Siachen triangle (or a wider arc extending to K2 in the northwest and the Pakistan “claim line” in the northeast) into a jointly controlled, demilitarised Peace Park. India could propose joint exploration of dam sites and climate change studies (glacial and hydrological research, monitoring and forecasting) on both sides of the Upper Indus basin. Finally, with work in progress on all-weather rail and road links to the Valley, Srinagar international airport, augmentation of power and broadband capacities, this is the time to announce a J&K Vision-2015 to regenerate the economy, attract significant investments and stimulate employment and tourism (with a regional airline) and facilitate the return of Pandits to secure growth/IT centres leveraging the new transport corridors. The accession of J&K to India was a promise. It is time to fulfil those promises.
|
Nuisance called name-dropping
Name-dropping
is a practice of knowingly inserting references of famous people or institutions into a conversation in order to seem more important to the listener. Though it is considered a negative or even an offensive quality, many people see it to be an interesting art. All of us in our lives have met such persons who at the slightest pretext punctuate their talk by putting big names or high connections irrespective of the need and context. But for unknown reasons, the practice of name-dropping is fast catching up with more and more people, and no wonder we Indians may soon be recognised as champions of this art. One of my doctor-friends is so habitual of throwing big names that anybody who meets him for the first time is overawed by his aura of ostentatious life. Most of my professional colleagues are aware of his habit and often avoid him. I am told that nowadays his hapless patients bear the brunt of his skill. Stories of him telling his patients that Dr Deepak Chopra and Dr Naresh Trehan are his cousins, some ambassadors are his brothers-in-law and a few top bureaucrats and renowned corporate personalities are his bosom friends always remain rife in the social circles of our city. The bug of name-dropping also seems to have bitten most of the lower and middle-level politicians in our country. While many Congressmen are never tired of telling their proximity to 10 Janpath, many BJP men often say that they have special blessings of Atal Ji and Advani Ji. Not to be left behind, many village-level workers of the Akali Dal nowadays don’t forget to use the name of Sukhbir Singh Badal telling people that they are very close to him. I know a small- time Congressman who only a few months back used to respond to any discussion by saying, “I will talk about it to the Raja, obviously referring to Capt Amarinder Singh”. The worst kind of name-dropping is seen in the literary circles. Knowing my soft corner for literary geniuses, many of the writers and poets of my city often visit me. Well aware of their reputation, which has never crossed the municipal limits, a few of them always remain bent upon boring us to tears by dropping names of national celebrities as their admirers. When they depart, I never forget to wish peace to them as I seek forgiveness and forbearance from my wife for keeping such a bad company. Psychologists view name-dropping as a behavioral disorder arising out of hidden inferiority complex. Many times name-dropping becomes a compulsive habit where a man by sheer luck achieves something which he doesn’t deserve. As a doctor, I wonder if any system of medicine has got some cure for it. I was told that regular yoga and meditation can help control the psychological problem. But my hopes were shattered when the other day I heard a spiritual guru on TV bragging and dropping some big names to his chelas. |
60 years of Panjab University
Panjab University
Chandigarh completes sixty years of its eventful existence on October 1, 2007. The occasion provides a convenient opportunity for taking stock of the past, understanding the present and planning for the future. It is no coincidence that the University’s diamond jubilee closely follows that of India’s independence. Indeed, one of the very first acts of independent India was the establishment of a University as a successor to and in continuation of the University of the Punjab at Lahore (established 14 October 1882) which fell into Pakistan’s lap, even as most students and teachers crossed to India. By a coincidence, the golden jubilee of Panjab University coincides to the month with the 125th anniversary of its Lahore precursor. It was naively expected that the Lahore University would conduct the examinations for both parts of the Punjab even after partition, but that was not to be. East Panjab University, as it was then called, had to be “hustled into an unceremonious birth” through the promulgation of an ordinance, without even a Vice-Chancellor, leave aside any infrastructure. (Panjab was advisedly spelt with an initial “a” to distinguish the new University from the old. The appellation East was dropped by both the state and the University in 1956.) The University began with a part-time Vice-Chancellor, Justice Teja Singh (February 9, 1948 – March 31 1949), whose successor Mr G.C. Chatterjee served for merely four months (April 1 – July 31 1949). The appointment now went to Dewan Anand Kumar (1894-1981) who remained at the helm of affairs for eight long and crucial years (August 1, 1949 – June 30, 1957) through four terms of two years each. Kumar joined at Lahore in 1920 as a Reader in zoology and was appointed Dean of University Instruction in 1946, a post he continued to hold in the new University. He was also, since 1924, a member of Dyal Singh College Trust Society as well as Dyal Singh Public Library Trust, Lahore. It was left to him to administer both these after partition. Extremely wealthy in his Lahore days through his inheritance of a 6000 acre landed estate, aristocratic, benevolent, imbued with a strong sense of noblesse oblige, well-connected, related to the Nehrus through ties of marriage (Brij Kumar Nehru was his sister’s son),and committed to high academic and ethical standards, the Cambridge – educated Kumar (affectionately and reverentially known as the Dewan Sahib in his time) is the true builder of the University as we know it today. “Over some difference of opinion with the Chief Minister [Pratap Singh Kairon], Kumar retired from the Vice-Chancellorship in 1957.” While the administrative offices moved to Chandigarh in 1956, teaching department assembling in Chandigarh 1958 onwards. The honour of leading the University from its elegant new home thus befell Dr Amar Chand Joshi whose tenure extended from 1 July 1957 to 30 July 1965. After a brief sojourn in a cramped Simla, the University offices shifted to hill-top military barracks spread over an area of about eight kilometers in Solan. Kumar functioned from here till 1953 when he shifted to Delhi because of a heart problem. To meet educational aspirations of the large number of Punjabi refugees now in Delhi, East Panjab University was permitted to intrude into Delhi University’s jurisdiction and start an evening Camp College, with tents serving as a hostel. It is here that the journalism department was restarted in 1948, which borrowed the services of eminent journalists as faculty. (It shifted to Chandigarh in June 1962.) The Camp College itself was acquired by the Dyal Singh College Trust in 1959. As early as October 1947, physics and chemistry classes were started under the auspices of Delhi University on an initiative by students like Prof. Yash Pal, while chemical engineering was accommodated in Delhi Polytechnic. For the rest, the University had to depend on the reluctant charity of colleges and schools within its own territory. For full 11 years the University Punjabi department within Khalsa College Amritsar prepared students for the lower-level Gyani and Vidvan examinations only while the M.A. classes remained under the control of the College, as before. Commerce classes were shifted from Bakrota in Dalhousie after two years to an evacuee property in Jullundur when it was realised that because of the high cost of living in Dalhousie, “only the rich people could afford to send their children there”. Concern for the under-privileged which was so typical of those days seems to have been forsaken by its erstwhile beneficiaries. In October 1948 Kapurthala, then in Pepsu, offered to host all science departments, but the East Punjab Chief Minister Gopi Chand Bhargava was adamant that the University would not go out of the state. Finally, early 1949, the Government College Hoshiarpur was placed at the disposal of the University. Under the name University College, it became the dominant, but not the sole, seat of the University. The dual control did cause some problems but the arrangement generally worked well. Prof. Ram Prakash Bambah, who later became the Vice-Chancellor, joined at Hoshiarpur as a Reader in mathematics. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was an economics student and then a research scholar at Hoshiarpur. (Later he served in Chandigarh also.) Interestingly, in 1956, on the eve of merger of Pepsu with East Punjab, it was belatedly suggested that the University be housed in the former’s capital Patiala to “maintain the prestige of that town”. The University however rejected the suggestion, one of the recorded argument being that “Patiala still had a feudal atmosphere while Chandigarh was free from any such thing”. Chronologically, a product of the mid 20th century, Panjab University is culturally anchored in the 19th century, because the Lahore University’s extant rules and regulations were simply re – validated in 1947. Unlike Bengal where the British were dealing with a social class they themselves had created and enriched, in Punjab they had to come to terms with pre-existing social elites which were duly represented in the University’s governing body, the Senate. Increasingly worried about the growing Indian nationalism, the colonial government wanted to exercise control over the universities. For the native leadership, Senate was a forum for articulating nationalist aspirations. With passage of time after independence, the Senates seem to have generally lost much of their original focus. The University was amply compensated for its early travails by the provision of a beautiful campus in the new city of Chandigarh. The University does not carry any scars from its early days, which is a good thing. But memories of the heroism of those days can serve as an inspiration.
The writer, a former lecturer in Panjab University, is currently a professor in the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Mohali |
|
Bhagat Singh belongs to the nation As
a young man he rode fearlessly to certain death when he first shot dead Saunders and then bombed the Central Legislative Assembly on April 8, 1929. Born in 1907 in Chakk No 105 of Banga village in Lyalpur district, now in Pakistan, he travels at a young 16 to Kanpur and networks the senior revolutionaries who were active in that region at the time. Three years later he moves to Lahore and forms the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and rejuvenates the Hindustan Socialist Republication Association, does what he has to do in the following year or two as a revolutionary who was not just a pistol wielder but had a mind of his own, and then, as if it were all just normal business, he kisses the gallows on March 23,1931 and departs as suddenly as he had erupted on the national scene. That was Bhagat Singh for you and me, but in essence he was much more than all that. Daring, selfless and a socialist to the core, he symbolised a beacon of eternal flame that has made him the role model of much of India’s youth and the resurgence of power and self confidence that goes with it. Sadly today, many have not only hijacked him bodily but also his message and what he actually stood for. Does it really matter, is the first question that I ask myself, whether his native village is Chakk 105, Khatkar Kalan or Narli, with many suddenly pitching in the last name very recently. Is Bhagat Singh to be sanitisised and confined to just one small place, or is he the property of the entire nation? Did he wear a turban or a hat, did he initially not want to throw a bomb in the Assembly but was coaxed into the act by his colleague Sukhdev, thereby implying that Bhagat Singh was weak of mind? Or whether he had recited the Gayatri Mantra as a child and died an atheist? These are all matters of little consequence if his high and well deserved pedestal of a thinking revolutionary, well ahead of the century he lived in, and unconcerned with the small gain seekers of his time who did not mind to sup with the British, is to be immortalised. Politicians of all hues have as usual gone about their business of reading their long and laborious speeches, and many a village and man has claimed him with a wrestler’s hug. The Pakistan government would soon initiate the process of installing a memorial at Banga village in Faisalbad in Bhagat Singh’s memory, and it remains to be seen whether the Indian government will act similarly in speeding up the installation of his statue in Parliament. Hussainawalla and Khatkar Kalan will no doubt get a facelift, but it is important that national heroes are displayed and idolised at New Delhi by the Central government and not only the State governments, with their meager resources. Go to any world capital and there you will witness in all their glory and splendour the icons of that nation, be they politicians, soldiers, mighty thinkers or firebrand revolutionaries. Just mere seminars on the man where the usual suspects on the circuit are eternally present and who shed little light, are of little use. Bhagat Singh believed in and practiced the art of service before self (he died so young having seen so little of the world). He believed in taking drastic revolutionary measures when others dithered and faltered and when a stern message had to be sent out to the rulers. He possibly knew in his mind that no one else would offer the supreme sacrifice that he could. He certainly did not believe in Gandhi’s non-violence and thank God for that, or otherwise we might still have been getting a beating from the British. He inculcated a spirit of patriotism and selfless giving in our youth, and most importantly, left a message for our 1.1 billion people as to how much one dedicated and fearless man could do for his country. Today India does not need the fumbling and the aged who can hardly stand straight, and are more worried about their jobs and posts. Neither is it necessary to try and quantify Bhagat Singh’s philosophy or creed. His message for everyone and especially the youth of India is to be patriotic, mission centric and to remain disciplined right till the end. After all, it is kind of difficult to mount the gallows and know no fear, without possessing that last requisite. |
|
Chatterati September
24 will be remembered in history as the day when the Generation-Next took over. The cricket team after 24 years brought home the world cup – credit goes to the young, fresh players. In the Congress, Rahul Gandhi and his team of youngsters had more or less captured 24 Akbar Road on that very day. It was not only Sonia Gandhi as mother who beamed with pride when her son walked into his new office. Mrs Jatindra Prasad was as proud of her son Jitin Prasad becoming Secretary. Mrs Rajesh Pilot smiled too by her son Sachin Pilot, elevated into several committees. So did Milind Deora’s and Alka Lamba’s and many other old Congress men’s wives as their sons were taking over from where their husbands had grown into being national leaders. On the other hand, the BJP President’s son becoming the head of the BJP youth wing in UP raised many eye brows. The sangh has always shouted about the Congress’Dynasty rule. But what about this now? Poor guy Rajnath Singh’s son had to give in his resignation which has not been accepted till now. But the message is clear: young blood has to get going and show their worth. Well, the difference here is that Dhoni’s team won respect all around by their spectacular performance while the Congress’ young brigade has come about due to their inherited legacies. And as we are today run by coalition governments, why would senior politicians play second fiddle to young boys? These youngsters have a tough job and a long way to go . Rahul Gandhi made his first call on the Prime Minister with a list of things for the “Aam Aadmi”. Then, amidst tight security, he held his first brain-storming meeting with Jairam Ramesh, Scindia, Sachin Pilot and company. They may be all working soon in Gujarat. But Rahul having a long meeting with the youth Congress President means that he is going to concentrate on youth matters. This young brigade of the Congress will have to let go off the cocktail scene in Delhi and head to villages, to woo the youth who now are associated with other parties, where they are recognised and rewarded for their efforts.
On hold One man has literally put so many government decisions on hold. Be it power, petroleum, finance or agriculture, officials in the central government ministries are eagerly awaiting external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee’s return to India. After all, he is heading dozens of Groups of Ministers (GoMs) and every ministry has some proposal or other pending with a GoM. Those checking about pending issues like the civil aviation policy get a stock reply these days: “Everything is in limbo now. Wait for minsiter’s return.” Given the situation, Mr Mukherjee is sure to run into a busy schedule on his return from the US, where he is doing his bit to showcase India, besides soothing frayed diplomatic nerves. The Congress President Sonia and Rahul Gandhi will be traveling separately to join him in the states for the UN meeting on October 2. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
