 |
|
Bandh by default Manufacturing news |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Undisputed king
Myanmar on the boil
Papa’s moustache
The lazy and the greedy Sulabh toilets popular in Kabul Delhi Durbar
|
Bandh by default THE Supreme Court has rightly pulled up the Karunanidhi Government for having failed to comply with its order on a bandh call given by the DMK and its allies in Tamil Nadu on Monday on the implementation of the Sethusamudram project. The court warned the state government of initiating contempt of court proceedings and has asked the Union government why President’s Rule should not be imposed on the state due to the breakdown of the constitutional machinery. Clearly, the manner in which the ruling parties in Tamil Nadu have conducted themselves in support of their demand amounts to a flagrant defiance of the law. On Sunday, the Supreme Court, in a special hearing, had ruled that the call for bandh was illegal and unconstitutional. It ruled that the Madras High Court had committed a mistake in not restraining the parties concerned from going ahead with the bandh plan. It also took the High Court to task for having issued certain directions on the bandh in addition to those given by the Chief Secretary “as if to facilitate the holding of a bandh”. No doubt, Mr Karunanidhi and his allies had stated that they would observe only a day’s hunger strike in view of the court’s order. This was a legitimate mode of protest, but things didn’t seem to have worked that way. The question is whether a state government has the power to trample upon the rights and liberties of the citizens and violate the apex court’s orders even by default. There were no buses and autorickshaws on the roads and no schools, colleges and government offices functioned on Monday. Food supplies to the hospitals, too, were inadequate. All this caused immense hardship to the people and strengthened the impression that the government failed to protect the rights of ordinary citizens. Mr Karunanidhi, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Das Munsi are all entitled to have their views on the virtues of the Mahatma’s non-violence and peaceful methods of democratic protest like hunger strike. However, they have no right to hold people to ransom and circumvent the apex court’s orders. The DMK and its allies — the Congress, the PMK, the CPM and the CPI — owe an explanation why normal life was paralysed in the state in contravention of the court’s directive. |
|
Manufacturing news JOURNALISTS are supposed to report news. But not all seem to conform to this standard. Some would rather manufacture it, that too in a most bizarre and gory manner. When a Ludhiana photo-journalist was requested by a distraught family for help, he advised them to commit suicide in order to attract the district administration’s attention. The family might very well have consumed poison in front of the SSP’s house, but for the timely intervention of some police officers. The so-called journalist would have got his exclusive footage, even if that meant the death of several poor persons. This certainly is not journalism. The pity is that this is not an isolated incident. It reminds one of a similar happening in Varanasi in July this year where 11 disabled owners of makeshift kiosks were instigated by reporters of two TV channels to commit suicide. Five of them actually died. That only shows that the rat race for the TRP ratings has entered a no-holds-barred phase where people are only seen as cannon fodder. Such happenings cannot be dismissed as the wrongdoing of a few misguided youth. It is the media houses which have to answer for these acts of extreme irresponsibility. Just remember how the life of a Delhi school teacher was ruined when a TV journalist entered into a conspiracy with another budding journalist to record a fake interview that alleged that the teacher pushed her students into prostitution. Worse, the channel which telecast the fake interview tried to wash its hands of the entire controversy. The consequences of such irresponsible behaviour are going to be debilitating. The profession will lose its credibility. In fact, sting operations are already a bad word. Since self-discipline is not working, the government may be tempted to intervene. Needless to say, such an intervention can be dangerous for the media. There is still time to redeem the situation by coming down heavily on such persons. Any leniency would make it appear as if the lone rangers had the backing of the channels for which they worked in committing these criminal frauds. |
|
Undisputed king THERE is a delicious pugnacity to the word “undisputed” being prefixed to the title of World Chess Champion, that Viswanathan Anand has now acquired for the second time. It makes him sound more like a heavy-weight boxer than a grandmaster, but it may well be appropriate for the ‘Tiger of Madras.’ Anand is a mild-mannered, bespectacled young man, who can be transformed on the chess board into a tenacious predator zeroing in on his kill, with surprising speed and accuracy. The ‘undisputed’ monicker, however, is better understood from the fact that Anand’s first title, in 2000, was a tad blemished - the chess community had split, and there were rival championships. That is not the case this time. While by no means taking away from the richly-deserved title he won seven years ago, there is no doubt that his triumph in Mexico City would be doubly sweet. What is more, FIDE has also released the Elo ratings, which retains him firmly on top of the chess world at No. 1. He has, in fact, cracked the 2800 rating figure, standing at a towering 2801, the only man to do so in the current list. He finished the tournament without losing a single game, and clearly ahead of the others, including reigning champion from Russia, Vladimir Kramnik. Anand became world number one after winning the Linares tournament earlier this year. Anand was reported to have jokingly wondered about the reception he was going to get in India after his triumph. These are times when people are questioning the shower of money and over-the-top adulation the Indian cricketers are getting after their T-20 triumph. While chess is not a team spectator sport, and its cerebral nature makes it seem elitist and distanced from the ‘common man’, there can be no dispute that Anand’s achievement is on par with the best of sporting accomplishments. The nation should cherish and celebrate Anand’s achievement and he deserves more than just a fitting ‘reception.’ |
|
The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, even to murder, for the truth.
— Alfred Adler |
Myanmar on the boil WHEN I turned up at the quaint little bungalow that once belonged to the Nawabs on the Bhopal-Bairagarh Road to meet the deposed Prime Minister of what was then called Burma, U Nu, the policemen guarding the gate refused to let me in. My protestations that I had an appointment with him did not have any effect on them. They did not even allow me to speak to the lady, probably his daughter, whom I had spoken to earlier on the phone. Since there was no mobile phone those days, I had to go all the way back to the office to call the lady again. While appreciating my difficulty, she expressed her helplessness in fixing an appointment. Instead, she asked me to attend the farewell for U Nu at the Rotary Club building the next day and try my luck for a tête-à-tête with the leader on exile. At that time most people in Bhopal did not even know that the playwright-story-teller-turned first Prime Minister of Burma lived in the city of lakes and hills. How could they, as his telephone number was not even listed in the directory? Security and intelligence personnel guarded him day and night. Only a few people, including an editor, were allowed to meet him. U Nu was a disillusioned man by the time he sought asylum in India after his deposition in 1962 and futile attempts to resist General Ne Win’s military regime. He devoted the years in Bhopal to contemplation and to the study of Buddhist literature of which he was a master. His return to Burma in July 1980 was made possible by the amnesty the General granted to U Nu. The wily ruler, perhaps, thought that U Nu had become a spent force. Such an assumption was not wide of the mark. U Nu came to the first and the last function at the Rotary Club building wearing a silken ochre robe in the style of a Buddhist monk. He did not say a word about Burma or what he proposed to do. Instead, he spoke, predictably though, about the hospitality extended to him by the Indian government and the people of Bhopal. U Nu ended his short speech with the sloka, Buddham sharanam gachhami, sangham sharanam gachhami, dhammam sharanam gachhami. The next day he left for Rangoon, now Yangon, where he became a rallying point for all who stood for democracy. Though his tormentor Ne Win had to flee, restoration of democracy remained a far cry. Eight years after U Nu’s return to Burma, cataclysmic ‘8888’ happened in which nearly 3,000 demonstrators suffered the fate that befell those who protested at Tiananmen Square in Beijing a few years earlier. It was called ‘8888’ as it happened on August 8, 1988. The hope that the massacre would lead to democracy was kindled when the military junta that came to power after General Ne Win held elections in 1990 in which Aung San Suu Kyi’s party spectacularly won the polls. Instead of handing over power to the lady, the junta pounced on her like a ferocious tiger. She has been kept in detention since then much to the chagrin of her followers and supporters the world over. Even when her husband died of cancer in Britain, she was not allowed to meet him. She was not allowed to go to Oslo to receive the Nobel she had won. Thanks to such machinations of the junta, her two children also remain separated from Aung San Suu Kyi. It was against this backdrop that a fortnight ago, Buddhist monks came out on the streets in Yangon to protest against the sudden increase in the prices of petroleum products. The junta came down heavily on the monks, whose protest has now assumed the proportions of a movement for democracy and regime change. The military junta, which has been consolidating its power through a policy of patronage and clanship, has ruined the country, which at one time enjoyed considerable prosperity owing to its large rice production. Today Myanmar is one of the poorest countries despite its abundant natural resources. That so many young people find a vocation as Buddhist monks speaks volumes for the lack of opportunities in Myanmar, which could be subjugated by the British only in their third attempt. But this has not affected the junta, which has built a brand new capital near Yangon to which the ordinary people are not given access. China has been its strongest ally as the land of the dragon is assured of oil and natural gas. Given China’s own record of human rights violations, it cannot be expected to come to the aid of those who clamour for democracy in the landlocked country. What is surprising is that India has also been following in the footsteps of China. It is no surprise that when people in thousands demonstrated in town after town in Myanmar, India issued one of the most inane and, therefore, laughable statements on the situation in the Buddhist nation, which is India’s port of entry to Southeast Asia. For many it reminded them of Chamberlain’s attempt to be friendly with the Third Reich. It is a tragedy that the largest democracy in the world, whose democratic instincts can be traced back to the debates and discussions that took place in Buddhist councils following Buddha’s death, should suck up to the military dictators ruling the roost in Myanmar. The reasons advanced are that India stands to gain by befriending them. India needs oil and natural gas for its industry growing at a frenetic rate of over 9 per cent and Myanmar can provide them in plenty. Another astounding argument is that Myanmar helps India in fighting insurgency in the Northeast. Former Petroleum Minister and now Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar knows only too well how all his efforts to clinch an oil deal with Myanmar went up in smoke when the Chinese “came, saw and conquered”. Of course, some crumbs are available for India and that is what forced Petroleum Minister Murli Deora to make virtually a secret visit to Myanmar to ink a deal when the junta was unleashing brute force against people protesting for democracy. As for Myanmar’s help in fighting insurgency in our own country, it is a pity that India requires the help of a dictatorial regime to deal with its own people. In the process, India has disappointed the Myanmarese who, like U Nu, have always looked up to India for moral support in their struggle for democracy. It is not because Myanmar was once part of India during the British period. In fact, India’s independent movement greatly influenced leaders like General Aung San, who was assassinated in 1948, the very year Burma got independence and whose status is virtually like that of the Mahatma in India. Small wonder that when Aung San’s wife was given a diplomatic assignment, she chose to come to New Delhi as her country’s Ambassador. And it was in Lady Shriram College in New Delhi that her daughter and Prisoner of Conscience Aung San Suu Kyi did her graduation. The Burmese language bulletins from All India Radio provided the people of Myanmar their staple daily diet of news and commentary. All this is past. Today we assume that the junta is there to stay forever and the best option for the country is to deal with the rulers in uniform. This presupposes that any help to the movement for democracy will not be in India’s strategic long-term interest. This is how big powers, perhaps, behave. Since our ambitions are also set on becoming a big power in the near future, why should we bother about democracy in
Myanmar?
|
Papa’s moustache
Moustaches
have long been considered to embody machismo and fixation for moustaches in some men never ceases to amaze. A case in point was our classfellow in college called K2. Son of a Rajasthan IPS officer, he possessed a set of thick and long moustaches ensconced on an otherwise small, slender frame. His constant idolisation of his father earned him the sobriquet of Papa in the college. However, it was the love affair with his moustache that still remains the most abiding memory of our five-year-long association. Some of those who had not been liberally endowed with this bounty were obviously enamoured and envious of Papa’s moustaches. Soon, bewilderment gave way to dismay as we witnessed the efflorescence of our friend’s enrapturement. A wag adapted the lines from Silsila’s famous song for Papa as “Main aur meri moochh aksar ye baaten karte hain”. As we moved into final year, K2’s fascination with his father (who was a good, honest cop and DGP by then) and the tender loving care of his moustache were getting too trite to stomach. Many an evening and night were spent trying to convince him of the merits of erasing this undesirable tuft of hair and that matinee idols had never sported moustaches. Girls of the class also tried to wheedle him into shaving them off averring how he would look more metrosexual sans them. But K2, like a Rock of Gibraltar, remained resolute, twirling his moustache “till death do them apart”. Finally, it was planned to launch a midnight operation to get rid of Papa’s famed moustache. The plan entailed inviting him to another friend’s room for a late night coffee which was to be laced with 2-3 crushed antihistamine tablets for a non-toxic, soporific effect. In the meantime, a volunteer would enter Papa’s room and hide under his bed armed with a bottle of hair remover only to spring to action as and when Papa had been fully “knocked out”. But like they say, for the brave Prithvi Rajs there have always been the proverbial Jai Chands. Papa’s circle of friends included one such “loyalist” who while egging us on was relaying every part of the plan methodically to Papa. A true chip of the old block, K2 played the game clinically, taking a few sips of coffee and carefully dispensing with the rest. Our “tryst with destiny” ended disastrously with a sound thrashing to the first year volunteer as he crawled from under Papa’s bed for the ill-fated application of hair remover. The poor, enthusiastic fresher had been goaded into playing kamikaze on the lure of a free dinner in Oberoi Maidens! Papa graduated with honours and returned for post-graduation, as moustachioed as ever. Last heard, he was still the proud owner of the same, old moustache rubbing shoulders with the Banaa Sahibs of Jaipur. For him, it continues to be “neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride”. |
The lazy and the greedy
It
is now a couple of weeks since Union Minister Shankarsingh Vaghela and Maharashtra Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh made the comment that the despondency among the Vidharbha farmers, leading them to commit suicide, was because “they are lazy and greedy.” An instant reaction to these “observations” is to recall Mary Antoniette’s infamous observation that if the people did not have bread, they must eat cake. And it is possible then to also proceed with a comment that the Congress (I) is certain to meet the same fate as the French rulers. We now live in a “mature” democracy and hence Vaghela and Deshmukh will just end up losing power in the next elections, unlike the French aristocracy whose heads were placed on the guillotine. We do not live in that age where the struggle to establish democracy witnessed such systematic execution of those who belonged to the old order. But then, the fact that the “observations” did not kick up a row, along with a demand that Vaghela and Deshmukh resign for being so insensitive, is indeed a cause for concern. The silence is deafening! It is, however, possible to look at the issue a little dispassionately and even agree with the two Congress (I) luminaries on a limited point – that the farmers led themselves to this situation because they were keen on earning more than what they were getting and hence adopted capital intensive farming methods. This began in the mid-sixties with the stress on using fertilisers and such other “advanced” farm practices. The explicit purpose behind that shift in policies – to promote use of fertilisers and other “advanced” farming methods – was essentially a reaction to the famines and food-shortages that hit most parts of the country due to the monsoons failing for two years (1963-64). That was also the time when use of technology was seen as a means to the liberation of the human race in all walks of life. And that was also the time when the developed nations were desperate to make money out of selling such technology to the developing countries. “Science helps build a new India” screamed a Union carbide advertisement in National Geographic, in April 1962. That particular advertisement also had this sub-text: “Oxen working in the fields… the eternal river Ganges… jeweled elephants Today these symbols of ancient India exist side by side with a new sight – modern industry. India has developed bold new plans to build its economy and bring the promise of a bright future to its more than 400,000,000 people. But India needs the technical knowledge of the western world…”. The Bhopal plant of this MNC giant was a product of this celebration of technology masquerading as science. And on December 3, 1984, this fertiliser plant was the cause for the death of several hundred people, the incapacitation of a few thousands and the killing of many in the mothers’ womb for a long time after the “accident”. This new culture of celebrating technology also brought such men as Ottavio Quattrocchi into India. Quattrocchi, we know, was the India representative of Snam Progethi, an Italian MNC engaged in erecting fertiliser plants. And it was this culture that looked at chemical fertilisers and pesticides as the liberators of the Indian people that is ultimately responsible for the incidence of suicides in large numbers in Andhra Pradesh, Vidharbha, Wayanad and many other parts of India in the past decade. This celebration of technology as the liberating force guided our own policy makers to push this idea among the farmers. All that ended up in the “green” revolution. Farm production increased several times and this included a rise in the production and availability of food grains too. There were voices of dissent against this indiscriminate use of fertilisers even at that time. These, however, were drowned in the euphoria of India having achieved food security and that the tragedies of the Sixties were, for once, a thing of the past. The most active voice in favour of this technology-driven-farming came from Sharad Joshi. With his un-qualified celebration of this culture in the farm sector, Joshi was able to mobilise the farmers to agitate and demand access to the most recent “technology” in the farm sector. Joshi teamed up with the MNC giants, now engaged in Genetically Modified (GM) seeds and other such “advanced” technologies and succeeded in convincing the farmer in the Vidharbha region towards “progress”. The easy access to loans, as long as they were intended to promote the synthetic fertiliser industry and the GM seeds, gave the impetus to the farmer to give up his conventional wisdom. The effect of all this is now there for everyone to see. Yes, the farmers in the region were driven by “greed” and Vaghela and Deshmukh were right in that limited sense. But then, they were pushed into that state by the policy makers of the Sixties, the Seventies and the Eighties. And this happened not only because the policy makers believed in what they formulated but also because they benefited immensely by way of letting these MNCs into India. Like the carpet-baggers, the political leadership, a large section in the bureaucracy, academia and others who help mould public opinion, all got together to manufacture a consent for a shift in the farm practices. They all gained, in all senses of the term, by promoting the business interests of the MNCs as well as the domestic industrial conglomerates. And they did this to satiate their greed to become rich and remain powerful. The farmer too was driven by greed to get rich faster. And has landed himself into a situation where he is forced to take his own life. There is another dimension to this crisis. And that is the fate of the hundreds of agricultural workers, with small patches of land or without even that, who are being evicted from the villages every day in Vidharbha, Andhra Pradesh and Wayanad, driven to the cities to eke out a living constructing roads for the IT corridors and the National Quadrilateral or driven to prostitution. Their parents and their children are left behind in the villages to starve and die. The Vaghelas and Deshmukhs are spared of this fate despite being greedy and lazy. And when they lose an election, they are replaced by men with similar attributes; greedy and lazy and equally cynical about the poor and the hapless. |
|
Sulabh toilets popular in Kabul
With
urban infrastructure facilities like water supply, sanitation and solid waste management being practically non-existent in most urban centres of Afghanistan, the war-ravaged nation has been seeking help from India in this regard. With India extending help of over $250 million to Afghanistan, a number of projects in wide-ranging sectors, including power, road construction, telecommunication, health, education, agriculture and industry are being undertaken by Indian agencies. India is the fifth largest bilateral donor in a country where 37 nations are engaged in the rebuilding process. One such project, which was formally launched here, is the much-needed sanitation-cum-community toilet project executed by Sulabh International and funded by the Indian government at a cost of $1 million. The Mayor of Kabul, Rohullah Aman, and India’s Ambassador in Afghanistan, Rakesh Sood, inaugurated the facility in the presence of the founder of Sulabh International, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak. Five public toilet complexes have been built at Sarai Shymalie, Char Rahee Khote Sangi, Deh-e-Afghanan, Froshgah and Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health. These have shower facilities, a separate section for nursing mothers, and use eco-friendly bio-gas digester technology. Incidentally, it is the first time ever in Afghanistan that bio-gas has been produced and for the common Afghanis it is like
a miracle. The Afghanistan minister for Urban Development, Dr Q. Dajallalzada, said public sanitation facilities were non-existent in the country and the coming of the five public toilet complexes in Kabul was a big help from India. “The facility would be of great use to women and it is very eco-friendly and suited for the country,” he said. The Mayor said that with more than two decades of war all the civic facilities have been completely destroyed and India could play a major role in their reconstruction. “With a population of over 4.5 million, only 20 per cent of Kabul is linked with a partially functional sewerage system. So we expect the Indian government to construct some more such complexes within Kabul and later in other urban centres like Kandahar, Herat, Jalalabad, Kunduz, Baghlan and Balkh,” he said. Referring to India as a ‘great country’, he said Afghanistan was looking for more aid and assistance for building of more public toilet complexes, as they were keen to have such facilities at all the
urban centres. The Indian Ambassador appealed to the international community to come forward and undertake sanitation and public health projects as this was a very important component of the rebuilding process. Dr Bindeshwar Pathak said special care had been taken to ensure that the plant works even in sub-zero temperatures in the harsh winters. “A total of 34 Afghanis have been trained at Sulabh centres in India so that they can run and maintain these complexes and replicate them in other parts of the country,” he said. With nominal charges of two and five Afghanis, the complexes would be self-sustaining as about 5,000 people are using them in Kabul daily. |
|
Delhi Durbar Samajwadi Party
General Secretary and architect of the recently formed United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) Amar Singh is a worried man these days. With the arrest, by the CBI, of Akhand Pratap Singh, his confidant and partner in many ambitious ventures, Amar Singh is understood to be concerned about the other members of his ‘eleven.’ He is working overtime to save them and that is why he has initiated moves to reach an understanding with the Congress. He has sent feelers to his Congress friends who enjoy Madam Sonia Gandhi’s confidence. He is understood to have conveyed that he would work for a rapproachment between the Congress and the SP. The aim is to facilitate the two parties coming together to contest the next Lok Sabha elections and defeat the BSP supremo Mayawati, who is trying to finish off the Congress in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Unshirted cops There was a sour note for the Congress on the day Rahul Gandhi was coronated as the General Secretary at the All India Congress Committee. A group of men and women started raising slogans in the AICC lawns minutes after the media briefing on Rahul’s induction ended. The men in the group had removed their shirts and were mouthing criticisms over the failure of the Hooda government in Haryana to restore their services in the police after they were removed in 2001. The men claimed that the services of 1600 policemen, who were recruited in 1995, were terminated due to some “technical flaw” in the selection procedure. They said that Haryana Congress leaders, including the Chief Minister, had promised to redress their grievances upon coming to power and they had worked for the party in the last assembly polls.
Evil of trafficking Actress Mita Vasisht is presently busy working on a book for German publisher Vitasta based on her three-year long experience of interacting with trafficked minors at a remand house in Mumbai. A postgraduate from Punjab University, Chandigarh and an alumnus of the prestigious National School of Drama in New Delhi, Mita is also working on the pre-production of a Hindi film which she has scripted. She hopes to get it out of her head by the end of this year. The highly talented, modest actress was in Delhi recently and read out passages from Nalini Jameela’s An autobiography of a sex worker at a panel discussion at the Indian Women’s Press Corps.
Tender loving care Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury won the hearts of nurses while delivering the inaugural address of the sixth international neonatal nursing conference recently. The quick-witted and charming minister said “I have great respect and regard for doctors but, God forbid, if I need hospitalisation any day, let God send me a nurse.” Contributed by Satish Misra, Prashant Sood and Tripti Nath |
| 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 | |
