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Somnath’s lament Remember, Musharraf |
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Tribals show the way
Bizarre US election scene
Port and Lavender
Strong laws needed to protect minorities Imran Khan fears for his life Delhi Durbar
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Somnath’s lament LOK SABHA Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has expressed concern about the manner in which some members have been disrupting the smooth functioning of Parliament and state legislatures on one pretext or another. Delivering the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture at Jawaharlal Nehru University on Wednesday, he said the members must conduct themselves with utmost responsibility and allow legislatures to function in accordance with the rules of procedure. Over the years, Parliament’s image has been eroded because of the members’ failure to make best use of it as a forum for debate and discussion. If the members disrupt Parliament’s work with impunity, how can it tackle issues of concern and help people? Ultimately, the people are the worst sufferers. According to a recent study, while the Lok Sabha worked 124 hours in the monsoon session of 2006, it worked only 65 hours in the last session. This shows members of the world’s largest democracy in a poor light. More disturbingly, Parliament is not being allowed to even debate the budget of one billion people properly. Questions are being raised about its utility and significance if members don’t allow Parliament to manage the government’s financial business, including a thorough discussion of the budgetary proposals, the demand for grants and others. If things don’t improve, it is feared that the concept of executive accountability to Parliament will be compromised. As it is, the committee system is affected because of the members’ conduct. Parliamentary committees do play an important role in ensuring accountability in governance and hence, there should be no disruption of their work. The position is no better in state legislatures. Consider how Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy “walked out” of the House on Wednesday following the unruly behaviour of the Telugu Desam Party legislators. If the legislatures’ authority needs to be protected, members should learn to behave and act accordingly. This is all the more important because Parliament’s winter session has started on Thursday. The members of the UPA and the NDA may have differences over issues like the Indo-US nuclear deal or Nandigram. Let them avail themselves of the opportunity to debate these issues threadbare on the floor of the House, instead of resorting to walkouts and disruptions. Parliament should be allowed to do its job. |
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Remember, Musharraf THE emergency imposed on November 3 by General Pervez Musharraf has come under sharp criticism not only from those fighting against his dictatorial regime inside Pakistan but also from many world leaders feeling concerned about the suppression of the people’s democratic urges. Among the latter are even his well-wishers like US President George W. Bush, who has asked the General to withdraw the emergency and doff his army uniform to enable the holding of free and fair elections. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated what President Bush said earlier, but the General has refused to listen. He has even questioned the Commonwealth’s understanding of the ground reality in his country as it has given him 10 days to restore the status quo ante or face expulsion of Pakistan from the organisation. The General argues that it would not be possible to hold the polls if there is no emergency rule because of the threat posed by terrorists and extremists. “The emergency is to ensure elections go in an undisturbed manner”, as he told The New York Times in the course of his latest media interview. This is a strange logic. There is no freedom for any kind of political activity. He has suspended the constitution and put behind bars nearly 2500 political activists and others and then has the audacity to say that this is aimed at ensuring free and fair elections. The truth is that all his doings are to perpetuate his own rule. The state of emergency is aimed at enabling his PML (Q) to win the coming polls. The caretaker government, too, will do everything possible to protect the General’s interests. The imposition of the emergency is part of a well-calculated plan. The PML (Q) chief, Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain, had been persuading him for a long time to go in for this course of action so that the so-called King’s Party succeeds in retaining power. The coming elections will lack credibility if the General is not forced to revoke the emergency forthwith. |
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Tribals show the way BRISK voting in the three tribal constituencies of Himachal Pradesh which went to the polls on Wednesday is a good augury and proves that even people in far-flung areas take keen interest in the functioning of the democracy. In fact, voting percentage was higher in the interior areas than in the towns. What increased the voters’ enthusiasm was the fact that this was the first time the election was taking place in Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Bharmour before the rest of the state and as such, the elected representatives would be able to have a say in the formation of the government. Normally, elections are held there in the month of June way after the results are out elsewhere and even the government has been formed. In the new set-up, some voters had to stir out to the polling booths in fairly cold weather — despite the welcome sunshine on the polling day — but they exercised their franchise with enthusiasm. The results will remain locked in the electronic voting machines for a fairly long time, because the counting is to take place only on December 28. The voters will have the satisfaction of being in sync with the rest of the state. Perhaps that is also the reason why the main political parties, the Congress and the BJP, campaigned with greater enthusiasm this time. Voters were also ferried from Kulu, Manali and Rampur etc. Whatever be the outcome, the healthy sign is that there was no election-related violence anywhere. To that extent, the tribal areas have set an example for the whole country. Elections in the rest of Himachal Pradesh are also, by and large, incident-free. But that just cannot be said about the rest of the country. How one wishes the voters everywhere were as enthusiastic and peace-loving as in Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and
Bharmour! |
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If one cannot catch the bird of paradise, better take a wet hen. |
Bizarre US election scene SINCE America’s highly contentious, often bitter, campaign for the White House began, the earth has gone round the sun once, and it would have done so a second time before the voting in November next. The race to succeed President George W. Bush is turning out to be the longest in decades. It is also fiercely combative and equally confusing. For almost all contestants, most of all Mrs Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate, prevaricate. A striking example of this is that Iraq is not the main issue of contention although it should have been, given that the thoroughly unpopular war there is grinding on, without any viable end in sight.
Among the various reasons for this the main one is the Democratic Party’s utter inability to offer a coherent alterative Iraq policy that would be workable. This should explain some glaring contradictions. It was exactly a year ago that the Democratic Party wrested the control of both Houses of Congress, but it has shied away from having even a single full-dress debate on Iraq for fear of a filibuster by the Republicans. It still does not have enough votes in the legislature to block a filibuster, leave alone overriding a Presidential veto. Secondly, and in some ways more importantly, while there is no doubt that a vast majority of the Americans is opposed to the Iraq war and wants it ended, there persists a sufficient volume of opinion, driven by “patriotic” sentiment, which does not want America to “cut and run”, giving the impression of having been defeated. No wonder then that of the six seekers of the Democratic nomination, only Mr Barack Obama is categorical about quick American withdrawal from the Iraqi quagmire. All others are hedging their bets. Mrs Clinton was the first to do so. When asked whether she could assure the country that the last American soldier would be out of Iraq by the end of her first term in 2012, she had blandly replied that she could not because “I don’t know what we would be inheriting.” This has relieved the Republican leaders scrambling for their party’s nomination of worry on this major score. Incidentally, it needs explaining that the aspirants of both parties currently contesting one another are doing so only for the primaries where the present line-up can change. The gap between Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama is narrowing, and no on can foresee what will follow. She is confident of being the next US President, however. Thirdly, the worries about the consequences of the continuing war in Iraq were overtaken last week by sweeping fears of an economic recession. The crippling crisis caused by the fiasco of housing mortgages - more than a million sales of houses have been foreclosed - has been followed by a sharp decline in the dollar’s external value, a steady slump on the stock exchange and soaring oil prices jut before the onset of winter. In all honesty, it must be reported that all these are matters that stir only the practising politicians, the super rich who are being pampered by the Bush administration anyway, and the chattering classes. The issues that really move the masses and make the candidates nervous are, as back home, surprisingly different and seemingly irrelevant. In the US the really burning issues are abortion, gay marriages, and illegal immigration, especially the move by the New York governor to issue licences to drive taxis to “undocumented” immigrants. These emotive questions take precedence, in the eyes of the highly powerful and influential religious right over even healthcare. Thanks to the clout of the pharmaceutical industry and its allies, in the world’s richest country 47 million households cannot afford health insurance. Yet, President Bush could veto a Congressional law directing the White House to use federal funds compulsorily to insure the children of poor parents without any insurance cover, and was none the worse for it. Against this complex backdrop, a recent twist to electoral politics in the course of 24 hours, which has caused both amusement and alarm, might bring home to outsiders what the state of the play is. The front-runner in the quest for the Republican nomination is Mr Rudy Giuliani, a former mayor of New York whose entire campaign is based on his brave and firm response to 9/11. Mr Pat Robertson is a prominent Christian crusader on radio and television who has never made a secret of his belief that the outrage is there only because of “divine retribution” for “permissiveness towards homosexuality, abortion and birth control”. As it happens, he is a supporter of gay and abortion rights, apart from having gone through three marriages. He and Mr Giuliani are, therefore, on different sides of the barricades. The Christian Church has been threatening that it would ditch the Republicans should their party be seen to be in support of abortion and homosexuality. On November 7, however, the whole of the US was stunned when Mr Robertson and Mr Giuliani appeared on the TV together and Mr Robertson gave fulsome endorsement to Mr Giuliani, declaring that the former mayor of New York would now be “the Mayor of America”. Opinions differ on the extent to which Mr Giuliani’s campaign has got a boost. But there is consensus that the hostility of a lot of voters to him would be overcome or reduced. No sooner had the cheers for Mr Giuliani subsided than jeers began. A grand jury indicted a protégé of Mr Giuliani, whom he had appointed the chief of the New York police and later recommended to President Bush for the critical cabinet post of Secretary for Homeland Security. Charges against the man are serious and include fraud, corruption and links with the underworld. Mr Giuliani blandly states that he “made a mistake” in not checking the protégé’s antecedents with due care. Remarkably, there is agreement among commentators that neither Mr Giuliani’s Republican rivals nor his Democratic enemies would be able to exploit the embarrassment he has suffered because “everyone else also has skeletons in his or her cupboard”. Finally, a brief word about election fund collection. The need is gargantuan. Whoever was unable to collect $30 million has opted out of the race. Compared with India’s, the fund collection system in the US is clean and above board. Sharp practices or violations of the laws are usually detected and deterred. For instance, a twice convicted criminal, Norman Hsu, fraudulently brought a “bundle” of $850, 000, ostensibly from small donors to Mrs Hillary Clinton. He is in jail and she has had to return the big amount. |
Port and Lavender SHE was the only one in the family who knew Bengali, both my parents having been born and bred in Punjab, I in Delhi.
The old lady, my widowed grandmother, divided her time between her three sons, my father in Delhi and his two younger brothers in Kanpur and Lahore, respectively. She had had a conservative upbringing but was surprisingly broadminded in regard to her daughters-in-law driving cars, playing bridge and tennis and enjoying themselves at parties where they mingled freely with members of the opposite sex.
One of the many things I remember about her was the faint fragrance of lavender she exuded. It came from the sachets which she kept on the shelves of her clothes cupboard. She opened the cupboard every day after lunch to give me and herself a peppermint which, in those days, bore the legend, “extra strong.” In the same cupboard she also kept a bottle of invalid port which the doctor had prescribed for her. Occasionally, she would give me a taste of her “lal dawai”, which is what she called it lest I got the impression that she was addicted to alcohol. She was soft-spoken and gentle in her ways and she invariably came to my rescue whenever I was being administered a well-deserved caning by my father. Apart from any other consideration, I was her favourite grandchild being the first-born of her eldest son. I recall the several unsuccessful attempts she made to teach me Bengali. It was the language of Tagore, she would say and, therefore, the sweetest language in the world. I wish, now, that I had heeded her advice. I have had to live through many awkward moments when people, on being introduced to me, address me in Bengali. When I tell them that I can’t speak a word of it they stare at me in shocked surprise. To them, a Bengali ignorant of his own language is a freak — or worse. In 1936 I went to England to continue my studies. While giving me her blessings she made me promise that I would drink nothing stronger than beer and that I wouldn’t marry a foreigner. I kept the second promise but the first, I regret to say, I broke as soon as I stepped on on board. She lived to the ripe, old age of eighty-five. A few months before she died her dearest wish was fulfilled. She had seen her first great-grand child. If she was disappointed that it wasn’t a boy, she did not show it. Anything belonging to me was precious to
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Strong laws needed to protect minorities IT is a well accepted maxim in law that not only must justice be done but it must appear to be done. It is in that context that the (Sachar) Committee recommends that an Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) should be constituted by the government to look into the grievances of the deprived groups. An example of such a policy tool is the UK Race Relations Act, 1976. While providing a redressal mechanism for different types of discrimination, this will give a further re-assurance to the minorities that any unfair action against them will invite the vigilance of the law.” It was against the backdrop of this very specific recommendation of the Sachar Commission that Professor Kay Hampton, Commissioner, Equality and Human Rights Commission of UK and the last chairperson for the UK Commission for Racial Equality, spent two weeks in India meeting a cross section of people across five cities from October 26 to November 11. Excerpts from an interview with The Tribune: Q: How is the Commission for Racial Equality different from the Commissions that we have in India like the National Human Rights Commission or the National Minority Commission? A: There are many differences. For instance the Indian commissions can give recommendations to the government that it may or may not act upon. Ours is an action-taking body. The Race Relations Act 1976 established the CRE with wide-ranging powers. It can go directly to the courts to take action, it has its own law enforcement powers; it can conduct formal investigations of organizations. And if evidence is discovered of unlawful racial discrimination the CRE can issue a legally enforceable non-discrimination notice. CRE is independent of the government even though it gets a 20 million pound annual fund. A CEO and a team of directors run it on corporate lines. All of them are professionals appointed through placing of advertisements in newspapers. None are political appointees. In fact, being associated with any political party is a disqualification. No one is a full time employee and they give certain days to the Commission for which they are paid. For the remaining time they all earn their living doing whatever they are qualified for. I teach at the university. Q: How did such a strong law come about? And what was the response of the majority community to the law? A: The law came out of a long history of anti-colonial and anti-racial struggle. Post WW II Britain faced a huge task of reconstruction for which it looked towards its former colonies for manpower. Around a million immigrants came from the Caribbean, the Indian sub-continent, Africa and the Far East. The scale of migration at this stage was perceived by many to be a source of social tension, with right wing groups complaining of the new immigrants taking their jobs, houses and hospital beds. If we remove all Indian doctors, our National Health Service would just collapse. One fourth of medical doctors are of Indian origin. They were, in fact, a significant group that played a major role in highlighting the inequalities within the health system that finally was addressed by the Race Relations Act of 1976. I would not for a minute claim that the majority community welcomed the Act or the Commission that followed, or, for that matter, that we have been able to eliminate racial discrimination altogether. It has been a long struggle in the last 30 years. But today no one would dare to display notices like “No Dogs, No Irishmen and No Blacks” This sort of direct racism has become a thing of the past due to the fear of litigation, if not a change of heart. Q: Do you mean to say that people have not changed fundamentally but have become more politically correct? A: I believe that we cannot really change attitudes and belief patterns as they are deeply embedded in culture and religion and are too complex. All we can aim at are effective laws that disallow discrimination on racial grounds in the public sphere in institutions like education, health, police, employment, housing and other areas that touch people’s lives on a day-to-day basis. Gradually, they will learn to appreciate and respect diversities. That is what we aim at – zero-tolerance for discrimination in all spheres of public life. Let me give an example. In 1993, Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, was murdered in south London in a racial attack. In 1999, the report of an enquiry by Sir William Macpherson was heavily critical of the way the Metropolitan Police had carried out their investigation. It condemned the “institutional racism” in policing generally and made 70 recommendations for change that ultimately led to an amendment of the 1976 Act, in which now it is the duty of most authorities not only to check but also to promote racial equality and good race relations. Although the Act does not directly cover religion it has worked in various ways to protect it. The most famous being the change in law as a result of the ruling in cases such as Madla vs Dowell Lee that decided that a Sikh pupil at an independent school could be allowed to wear a turban. The school had maintained that a cap was part of the uniform for which there would be no exceptions. The case went up to the House of Lords and it was decided that the rule discriminated directly against the Sikhs. Although religion is not covered by the Act, law has determined that Sikhs and Jews qualify as racial groups. Q: What was your experience in India? A: Besides meeting a delegation of parliamentarians headed by the Deputy Speaker I also meet members of the Sachar committee that had advocated the need to set up an ‘Equal Opportunity Commission’ on the lines of the one in UK. What I consider the most important part of the trip was the series of workshops and informal interactions, through which I tried sharing our experience with a cross section of people, in different cities and different walks of life. I think that individual and community involvement is a must to make any legislation work – more so a legislation like this. Q: Do you feel such a Commission can work in India? A: One should not be skeptical. When we started thirty years ago not many believed that we would reach anywhere. So things don’t happen on their own; committed people make it happen through sheer hard work and dedication. India is definitely not wanting in any respect. However, the challenge is getting the right kind of people to run the Commission so that it is able to deliver. I am sure India will find its own way to do it. |
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Imran Khan fears for his life But the urbane Mr Khan had not anticipated that he would grabbed by a group of religious students at the University of Punjab in Lahore before being allowed to speak a word, bundled into a van and then promptly handed over to the waiting police. Mr Khan had emerged after 11 days in hiding, having gone on the run to escape arrest in the aftermath of General Musharraf’s declaration of emergency on 3 November. Until he was detained by police yesterday lunchtime he was the last major political opponent of the general still not arrested or under detention. He was charged under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act, which includes penalties that can carry the death sentence or life imprisonment. However, Mr Khan had earlier expressed his grave concern for his security in a text message sent to his lawyer in the UK in which he warned that failure by British authorities to prosecute a key London-based ally of General Musharraf, Altaf Hussain, could lead to lethal repercussions. His message to his lawyer, also named Imran Khan, suggested another possible cause for his arrest. Mr Hussain, the leader of the MQM party, has been accused of a range of criminal acts including soliciting murder and inciting violence. A dossier compiled by Mr Khan, the London solicitor and human rights campaigner, on behalf of his namesake has been handed over to Scotland Yard and an investigation is now under way into allegations of money laundering. In the text message, seen by seen by The Independent, Imran Khan says: “Once MQM [Mr Hussain] thinks he is safe then my Karachi workers and my own life will be at great risk.” Members of the MQM are said to work alongside the security forces and friends and colleagues of Mr Khan the politician say they fear for his safety because of his campaign against Altaf Hussein. Mr Khan travelled to London in the summer to press for the prosecution of Altaf Hussain under the UK’s anti-terror laws after gunmen opened fire on supporters of Pakistan’s sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, sparking a day of violence in May in which 42 people were killed. Members of the security forces are said to have stood by allowing MQM members to open fire. Mr Khan n along with opposition parties, lawyers, and human rights activists and journalists n accused Mr Hussain of orchestrating the violence from London. The MQM denied the accusations. Mr Hussain claimed at the time “it was a completely peaceful gathering by MQM supporters that was targeted by a collaboration of three other parties”. Mr Hussain, 53, left Pakistan for Britain in 1992 after an arrest warrant was issued in connection with a murder. The chief justice is reported to have said that he would pursue the murder charge against Mr Hussain if he ever returned to Pakistan. Following General Musharraf’s announcement that the state of emergency will not be lifted prior to elections being held, Mr Hussain said in a statement from his offices in north-west London that all parties “should support the present government and President General Pervez Musharraf so that the emergency can be lifted, constitution could be restored and elections could be held on schedule. I pay tributes to President General Pervez Musharraf on making courageous and positive announcements.” Just before his arrest, Imran Khan criticised British authorities for being slow in investigating Mr Hussain and maintained this may have been due to government interference. The Independent revealed that the British Government had liaised with Mr Hussain in an attempt to ensure the safety of Benazir Bhutto when she returned to Pakistan from exile to take part in elections which the general says will proceed on schedule in January, but under the state of emergency. In a statement he said: “My legal team presented evidence to Scotland Yard in September 2007 regarding Altaf Hussain’s criminal activities ... I am very disappointed that over six weeks have gone by and although my lawyers have been keeping in contact with Scotland Yard, a decision has still not been arrived at... “I sincerely hope that the British government does not unduly influence Scotland yard ... Altaf Hussain happens to be someone that President Musharraf regards as an ally in his dictatorship in Pakistan.” Imran Khan, the solicitor, said: “There is genuine worry about the safety of my client and he is in real fear. The MQM people knows of his campaign and the information which has been passed on to the police and we know that MQM are allies of General Musharraf ... Failure to prosecute Altaf Hussain means that MQM members in Pakistan will think that he is untouchable and that will give them more confidence to act against their opponents like Imran Khan and other opposition leaders.” By arrangement with
The Independent
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Delhi Durbar WHEN superstar Shahrukh Khan was invited to ‘Sahara City’ near Lucknow earlier this week, along with the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams, the event created ripples in Delhi’s hyperactive political circles. It was immediately being seen as a rapproachment bid by the Sahara group chief Subroto Roy, whose proximity to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayum Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and cinestar Amitabh Bachchan, are all too well-known. Given the troubles he has been facing with the UPA government, the Sahara group boss probably thought it prudent to dump his old friends and latch on to the Big B’s bete noire, Shahrukh Khan who, in turn, is close to the Congress thanks to his mentor, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Shukla. The buzz is that Shukla, who masterminded this entire operation, almost persuaded Congress scion Rahul Gandhi to join in the celebrations. But wiser counsel prevailed and the latter ultimatelyd decided to stay away from the much-talked about party.
No Amarinder The Congress in Himachal Pradesh does not appear keen on inviting movie stars to canvass in next month’s assembly polls and is instead interested in building a grassroots campaign. Predictably, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will address major public rallies in the state. The party’s state unit has sent a list of leaders to the Congress headquarters who, they feel, will prove to be effective crowd-pullers in the hill state. Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who had played a key role in the Congress victory in the last assembly polls, has surprisingly has not been included in this list. Amarinder Singh had raised a series of corruption charges against then Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in his campaign; but now that the Captain is facing similar charges himself, the party must have thought it best to keep him away from electioneering this time.
Glamour buddies The controversial Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, it seems, has a habit of landing up uninvited at parties. He had gatecrashed the party hosted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi for the leaders of the newly-formed United Progressive Alliance (UPA) soon after the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Although not in the same league, more recently, the SP leader again walked in uninvited at a typical Page 3 party hosted on the opening of a designer store in the Capital. Singh told the bewildered hosts that he had something urgent to discuss with the much-talked about new Bollywood find Deepika Padukone, who was inaugurating the store. Always seen in the company of Amitabh Bachchan and family as well as the beautiful filmstar-turned politician Jayaprada, Delhi’s grapevine is abuzz with talk that the SP leader is looking to add to his list of “glamorous friends.” Contributed by Satish Misra, Prashant Sood and Anita Katyal |
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LAHORE: Imran Khan, the Pakistani opposition leader and former cricketer, was arrested yesterday, less than 48 hours after sending a desperate text message to his solicitor saying that he was in fear of his life. The politician had been expecting to be arrested when he came out of hiding to try and rally students against President Pervez Musharraf’s imposition of a state of emergency.