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Dreamy alternative Quota in private sector |
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Hurried visit If Bush’s wishes were horses US President George W. Bush seems to have suddenly realised the importance of settling the Palestinian question. During his visit to Israel as part of his just-concluded West Asia tour, he expressed the confidence that a sovereign Palestinian state would be born before the end of his second term in January next.
Growing Naxalite threat
For whom the bell tolls
Musharraf regime will try to
rig polls: Zardari Delhi Durbar
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Dreamy alternative THE draft political resolution prepared by the CPM for the Party Congress at Coimbatore from March 29 to April 3 can only be described as over-ambitious. It has floated the idea of a third alternative, which will keep the “enemy No. 1” BJP and the “secular, bourgeois” Congress out of power. It is an open admission that the CPM is not happy with providing outside support to the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre. During the last two and a half years, the CPM has succeeded in influencing government decisions like no other outside supporter has ever done. While it takes credit for some of the “progressive decisions”, it wants to put the UPA in the dock for its “anti-people” policies. Logically, it has no basis in supporting the government. But to withdraw support is to invite elections, which the Left is not prepared to face at this juncture. The strategy is, therefore, aimed at the next general election whenever it is held. The CPM is strong in only Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura and in these states its main rival is the Congress. It will, therefore, be suicidal to have an alliance with the Congress. The influence it enjoys in the corridors of power in Delhi is on account of the UPA’s dependence on the Left. Having tasted power without responsibility - stalling the nuclear deal with the US and labour reforms, for instance - it does not want to be sulking on the national political sidelines after the next elections. By aligning with small parties, it thinks it will be able to provide a third alternative. Over-optimism will not lead a party anywhere. The CPM is not in a position to even draw up a list of political parties, which will be enthused by such an idea. The AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa developing cold feet soon after announcing her intention to field a third candidate to fight the presidential elections is too recent to be forgotten. The potential allies of the CPM like the DMK, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party have their own caste and regional agenda, which preclude them from becoming an adjunct of the Left. To assume that these parties will support the Left in fighting globalisation and sabotaging the India-US nuclear deal is tantamount to believing that the political agenda of the CPM would help it play a pivotal role in Indian politics.
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Quota in private sector AT a time when the rationale of giving reservations even in the public sector is being stoutly questioned, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has upped the ante by indirectly introducing the quota system in the private sector too. Private sector firms carrying out projects in association with the state government will now have to recruit workers in accordance with the government’s policy. In other words, 30 per cent of the jobs will have to be set aside for the Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Castes, religious minorities and the economically weak among the upper castes. Uttar Pradesh has thus become the first state in the country to introduce this provision. This is populism at its worst, which may bring in many votes, although how many jobs it will bring to the really downtrodden remains to be seen. So far, the experience is that most of these are cornered by those who have already been riding on the gravy train of reservations for long, at the cost of the most deserving. The so-called “creamy layer” knows the art of running an exclusive club. Any supposed benefits to the poor and the needy will have to be seen against the backdrop of the impact of the decision on the industrial sentiment. Private entrepreneurs prefer to hire persons on the basis of merit and not caste. As it is, Uttar Pradesh is badly lagging in industrialisation. The new move may be seen in many quarters as the thin edge of a decision to introduce reservation in the entire private sector. That can further hasten the flight of money. The best way to help the oppressed classes would be to provide the best of facilities so that they can compete with all the others on an equal footing. Giving them jobs as a favour will not only perpetuate the caste divide but will also be a blow to their self-respect. There are numerous persons who have reached the top without the crutch of reservation. Others too are capable of doing that, if only the vote bank politics does not demean their intelligence and potential. |
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Hurried visit US President George W. Bush seems to have suddenly realised the importance of settling the Palestinian question. During his visit to Israel as part of his just-concluded West Asia tour, he expressed the confidence that a sovereign Palestinian state would be born before the end of his second term in January next. He jolted Israeli leaders by expressing the view that the occupation of Palestinian territories must come to an end. After his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Mr Bush had discussions with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and declared that both sides should be ready to make sacrifices for the cause of peace. But how far President Bush is sincere in what he says remains to be seen. His West Asian visit came after he brokered a failed meeting between Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas at Annapolis, Marryland (US), last November. Mr Bush is not deterred by the fruitless dialogue at Annapolis. Perhaps, he has prepared a new roadmap for peace whose contours may be known by the time Israel celebrates 60 years of its birth in May when Mr Bush is likely to be in Tel Aviv. For the moment he has only created confusion in the minds of both the Israelis and the Palestinians. His emphasis on the future Palestinian homeland as being a “viable, contiguous, sovereign and independent” state contrasts with the Israeli plan to have some control over it to ensure the security of Israel. The Israelis may also feel upset because some of their settlements on the West Bank may have to be dismantled if Mr Bush has his way. The Palestinians are unlikely to take his words seriously because of the image of the Bush administration as the most pro-Israeli government in Washington. His opposition to the Arab refugees’ right to return to their homes in Israel and his deliberate silence on the status of Jerusalem are bound to be criticised by Palestinians and others. The issues involved are too complicated to be resolved in a hurry. |
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You shall judge of a man by his foes as well as by his friends. — Joseph Conrad
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Growing Naxalite threat
THE Prime Minister’s clarion call on December 20 last year at a high-level conference on internal security to crush the Naxalites, now up in arms in several states, brought to mind a line from Zafar Gorakhpuri’s popular qawwali in the form of a competitive duet between Yusuf Azad and Rashida Khatun featured in a 1972 movie, Putli Bai. It runs: “Inki kalai dekho to chudiyan uthane ke qabil nahin, phir bhi talwar uthane ki dhamki…” Here the reference is to the worn-out sinews of the State that are hardly capable of quelling any armed assault upon it, let alone handling the causes that force people to resort to violence. Having travelled several times through the “affected” areas in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, MP and Maharashtra, this writer has little hesitation in testifying that the insurgency has much popular support. The khaki-wearing personnel of the police, forest and excise departments are truly hated, and this is true about all the governments the common people encounter. The Prime Minister has a typical bureaucratic response to this major crisis gripping the adivasi homelands in six states. The government will now raise 25 more armed police battalions to tackle the situation. It is indeed unfortunate that the Prime Minister is seeing this as a law and order problem. More coercion by the State will make the problem more complicated. It seems the Prime Minister’s idea of having more police battalions for the purpose found favour with all the participants of the conference, including Congress, CPM and BJP Chief Ministers. In his closing remarks, Dr Manmohan Singh said conferences of this nature sent a strong message that the “political leadership of the country can rise above our political and party affiliations when it comes to facing national challenges, particularly those concerning internal security.” It appeared that the entire national political spectrum was not just speaking but thinking as one. Group-think is a serious psychological disorder and means that when all are thinking alike then nobody is really thinking. Signs of it among the nation’s top leaders are an ominous portent of things to come. The spread of naxalism is an indication of a sense of desperation and alienation among large sections of the nation. They have been not only systematically marginalised but also cruelly exploited and dispossessed of their last homelands. In the vast central Indian highlands an occasional visit of an official invariably means extraction by coercion of whatever little the poor people have. It doesn’t just end with a chicken or a goat or a bottle of mahua; it often includes all these and the modesty of the womenfolk. Most tribal villages and settlements have no access to schools and medical care. Very few are connected with all-weather roads. They have no electricity supply though all the coalmines and most of the hydel projects to generate power are in the tribal regions. The forests have been pillaged, and the virgin forests thick with giant teak and sal trees are things of the past. Whatever little the Central government apportions for the welfare and development of indigenous people gets absorbed in the porous layers of our government. A typical instance of this is in the eight tribal majority KBK (Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput) districts of Orissa where over Rs 2000 crore cumulatively spent ostensibly on social welfare and rural development schemes during the past three years has just vanished. The armed police first went into Bastar, now in Chhattisgarh, in 1966. The Gond people in Bastar revolted against the corrupt and exploitative ways of the then Madhya Pradesh Congress government of DP Mishra. Pandit Mishra, a Sanskrit scholar of some repute, had no qualms in unleashing the police on the adivasis who congregated in Jagdalpur to pay the customary Dasehra homage to their Raja, Pravinchandra Bhanjdeo. Not only did the MP police kill scores of adivasis, but they also shot down the Raja in cold blood. Soon after this incident Central forces were deployed in Bastar and they wrought havoc there. The military only repeated what they had done in the Naga Hills. In those days the armed forces used Lee Enfield .303 rifles and the adivasis used bows and arrows and the occasional muzzle-loading gun. With the advent of the AK-47, capable of delivering over 650 rounds per minute, combined with an intimate knowledge of the terrain, the Naxalites, mostly adivasi volunteers, are not as disadvantaged as before. In recent months the police have been at the receiving end and the Prime Minister is a worried man. During a visit to Bastar, driving down from Narayangarh to Chota Dongar, deep in the jungles, the only signs of the government one could see were the pockmarked buildings that once housed government offices. At the village haat at Chota Dongar, as we stood watching cockfights, a naxalite patrol quietly came along and took talashi of our vehicle. They had a few good laughs over the cartons of mineral water we were carrying but refused to pose for pictures. Two days prior to this the vehicle was stopped and searched in AP’s Warangal district by an armed police patrol. The sub-inspector leading the team was drunk, as were most of his men. The first question they asked was whether we were carrying firearms? Then they wanted to know how much cash we were carrying. Then things got a bit hairy. They wanted to know as to how we had entered the forest area without “permission”. One got the distinct feeling that only our ability to communicate in English and the Delhi licence plates prevented an encounter. And now Dr Manmohan Singh is going to raise more battalions of such fine fighting men to defend our democratic way of life and to uphold the Constitution? Quite clearly the solutions lie elsewhere. There are several paradoxes that must be dealt with. The most important of these is how to provide good governance in the worst of law and order environments. A better civil administration structure must come up in place of the one sent packing by the violence and by popular sanction. The instruments of the government dealing with education, health, irrigation, roads and land records must be handed over to the local authorities. The police must also be made answerable to the local elected officials and not be a law unto themselves. The local community must get all the royalties for the minerals extracted from their areas. We cannot have any more episodes like that in Kalinganagar where the Tatas got adivasi land at a fraction of its market value. The Tatas and others want to exploit Bastar’s iron ore. They must pay the full value of this to the local community.
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For whom the bell tolls
IT was past midnight. Feeling restless, I came out of the operations room. What could be happening hundred-odd km away made me perspire. The moment of reckoning was nearing. It was the culmination of 16 months of a relentless offensive to clear South Manipur of insurgents. After four days, all the teams closed in on to the designated areas. The main blow was to be delivered by the teams of Dogra led by Lt-Col Rajiv Bakshi, the Officiating Commanding Officer. In fact, success of the operation was largely dependent upon this column. For past 24 hours, there was not contact with Rajiv’s column as they were to cut through thick jungle. At last, the radioset came alive. Rajiv told me that he was in close proximity of the target and going to strike at first light. Stretched out on the sofa in the operation room I awaited the dawn to set in. I was shaken out of slumber by the Duty Officer. He apprised me of the fierce encounter that was on in the Parbung area, and added that Rajiv had been critically wounded. A helicopter was on the way to evacuate him. Within minutes, I was able to get through to Lieutenant Pant who was now leading the operations. He told me that Church Hill had been effectively surrounded and an intense encounter was on. I sat back, leaving it to the staff to monitor progress of other teams. The brief lull was broken when Military Hospital at Masimpur communicated the news of Rajiv’s demise. Was the worst unfolding? As I was wondering over the option of moving in some reinforcements, some good news started pouring in. Pant’s team had stormed Church Hill and took a heavy toll of the militants, eliminating half a dozen, including the area commander. Simultaneously, all the other teams stuck at their respective targets and by mid-day over a dozen militants had been eliminated. What seemed to be a fiasco in the morning, turned out to be one of the most successful counter-insurgency operations conducted in the area. In the evening, with a heavy heart and deep sense of loss, I spoke to Colonel JML Bakshi, Rajiv’s father, to personally share the grief as also to narrate the heroic performances. In a composed tone, after listening to me Colonel Bakshi responded: “General Dwivedi – I am proud of Rajiv on two counts, firstly as a father, for he has done the family proud and secondly as ex-commanding officer, because Rajiv has maintained the legacy of the battalion”. All I could manage to say was that the “sacrifice made by Rajiv will not go in vain”. “God bless you all,” said Colonel Bakshi and hung up. Next day when I landed at Parbung, it was a bright morning. The residents had turned up in large numbers to share their sentiments and express gratitude for the supreme sacrifice made by Rajiv and the contribution of his valiant team for ushering in a new era for the community. The militants had been meted natural justice as they had run their writ for almost 10 years. To immortalise Rajiv and as mark of gratitude to the Army a memorial has been constructed on Church Hill which will always remind the posterity of the historic event. On January 20 every year, special service is solemnised by the locals. On this day, when sound of gong echoes in the Parbung valley, thousands of miles away, some of us would stand in silence, reckoning “for whom the bell tolls”. |
Musharraf regime will try to rig polls: Zardari Excerpts: Q: You have refused to allow investigating authorities to exhume Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s body. How can the controversy surrounding her death be laid to rest without this being done? A: How can we trust the regime to handle this investigation? All of us know that Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. The doctors who first tried to revive her had clearly stated that they saw bullet wounds, entry and exit. The doctors were then threatened and hushed up. The authorities have all along been trying to cover up and changed their versions. In medico-legal cases it is the responsibility of the government to carry out a postmortem. I came from Dubai six hours after the event when the body had already been sealed in the casket. Within no time the crime scene was hosed down. Three different versions of her death were given in three days by the highest officials in the country. Most Pakistanis believe that elements within the government machinery, in cahoots with the intelligence agencies, were directly responsible for this attack. So under such circumstances, how can we expect Pakistani authorities to conduct a fair and honest investigation, even after exhuming the body? What good would be done by desecrating the last remains of my wife when the entire investigation is being controlled and manipulated by the regime and a massive cover up is quite obvious? The question of exhumation of the body is a diversion from the real issue. Why were the doctors’ statements not formally recorded and their findings altered, if there was even the slightest doubt about the cause of death? There was no doubt whatsoever, which is why the police also did not seek an autopsy and the doctors and police officers are being pressured to keep quiet or change their statements. This is why we are asking for a U.N. investigation into the assassination. Had the regime investigated the October 18th massacre that targeted Mohtarma Benazir, she may be alive today. Instead of hunting down the assailants, the regime covered up that probe as well, providing impunity to terrorists that struck the first night she landed in Pakistan. Q: The Bush Administration continues to see President Musharraf as a steadfast ally. Are you concerned that this relationship may undermine the growth of democracy in Pakistan? A: Yes. As long as even remnants of the dictatorship receive international support, democracy in Pakistan will be undermined. Since 9/11, Pakistan has received over $10 billion in overt and covert assistance. No one knows how it has been spent. Many think that this assistance has propped up the dictatorship rather than the people of the country. Musharraf rigged the 2002 elections, but the international community seems to acquiesce it. The regime has harassed political opponents, removed and detained Supreme Court judges and lawyers; changed the constitution to suit one man; imposed emergency; and curbed media freedom. Hundreds of ordinary citizens have disappeared under the garb of “war on terror”. Q: Musharraf has accused Bhutto of shifting the goal posts. What did she think of him? A: Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto rightly thought of Musharraf as untrustworthy and that view of him is shared by millions of Pakistanis and people all over the world. Over the years, the regime offered several “packages” wanting her stay out of the country and politics, which she refused. Shaheed Mohtarma Bhutto wanted a transition to democracy and she was promised it. Musharraf did not want a transition to democracy. He declared virtual Martial Law. It eroded the basis of talks and negotiations. The regime is wrong in asserting that Mohtarma Bhutto shifted the goal posts. As a matter of fact Musharraf went back on his word. He has been running with the hare and hunting with the hound. And I think Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s assassination is the ultimate in deception. Q: Are you confident that the elections of Feb. 18 will be free and fair? A: In the current state the elections cannot be free and fair. Indeed, international bodies like the International Crisis Group (ICG) have already catalogued how the dice has been loaded against the democratic parties, particularly the Pakistan People’s Party. Pre-poll rigging began several months ago. Shaheed Mohtarma Bhutto planned to give a consolidated report of complaints of rigging from across the country to the two US Congressmen later on the day she was martyred. The report shows how far the Musharraf regime has gone and is planning to go to rig the election. The electoral rolls are flawed. The Election Commission is far from independent. The media and judiciary are not free. The district governments and intelligence agencies are openly engaged in electoral fraud and then there are the plans for Election Day. For example: Where an opposing candidate is strong in an area, they have planned to create a conflict at the polling station, even killing people if necessary, to stop polls for at least 3-4 hours. The polling stations will be granted extended opening of thirty minutes which will not be made up for the time lost. Ninety percent of the equipment that the USA gave the government of Pakistan to fight terrorism is being used to monitor and to keep a check on their political opponents especially the PPP. The regime has asked government sponsored candidates to give names of their security guards and local thugs to enroll into the police for three days on election duty. These also include ex-Army personnel. They will be used to fire at voter’s stations and drive voters away so that ballots can be stuffed. Where they collect and secure the ballot box at the end of the polling day, the place will be broken into and ballots will be not be stolen but thrown on the floor so they will have solid basis to call for a recount during which process they will add the votes for their candidates. A new wave of arrests of PPP activists have begun. Over 1200 PPP members have been arrested since Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s martyrdom, some of who include many possible witnesses of the assassination at the site of the PPP rally. Several thousands more have been implicated in false cases with the threat of arrest hanging over their heads. So unless the international community forcefully engages and makes it clear that there will be a price paid for rigged elections, the regime will go ahead with rigging the polls, if indeed they are held on the announced date. Q: The US had worked behind the scenes to try and cobble a power -sharing agreement between Ms. Bhutto and Musharraf. Would the PPP consider such power-sharing should the need arise? A: Musharraf has shown that he does not respect the constitution and considers his own word above that of the law. Coalitions and power sharing are concepts under normal politics and constitutional rule. We are open to all options to ensure restoration of democracy but we will not become part of any excuse to maintain dictatorship. Q: Is the PPP open to the idea of sharing power with Nawaz Sharif’s party under similar circumstances? Zardari: The PPP and Mr. Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) are signatories to the Charter for Democracy. We have been allies in the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD). We have a common cause in opposing the dictatorship. All questions about sharing power are premature. Q: If the PPP comes to power would it seek to impeach Musharraf? A: The PPP has just lost its leader. I have just lost my wife. My children have lost their mother. Our party is facing massive repression and threats to our security. Pakistanis are engaged in a struggle for the restoration of democracy. I think these are the realities we face. This question is hypothetical. For now, we are focused on the elections. Q: Some critics have voiced concern that the leadership of the PPP is being handed down like a “family heirloom.” How do you react to this? A: Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto let her wishes about the party leadership be known in her will. The decision to elect me and our son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as co-Chairmen of the PPP was made by the party’s Central Executive Committee. Even if it was in accordance with the late leader’s will, it is wrong to say this is the transfer of a family heirloom or anything like that. The Party leadership felt that in the current chaotic condition in the country and in the Party, I could effectively hold the Party together and lead them into elections. It was the party’s decision, which was fully backed by the rank and file. The party surely has a right to choose its own leadership. This is not the same as passing down leadership like furniture. The chair we now occupy is a bloody one. It is not one that everyone wants. Q: Does the PPP intend to field Amin Fahim as its prime ministerial candidate? A: Mr. Fahim is one of the most experienced and respected members of the Party. The issue of the Prime Minister will be decided only after elections in the light of our strength in the Parliament. It is pre-mature to talk of the Prime Minister even as elections have not been held and we do not know which Party gets how many parliamentary seats. Q: You have been a controversial figure in the past. Do you believe you can unite the PPP? A: Pakistanis know their history and they know who was made controversial for what reason and by whom. The PPP stands united. I hope to keep things that way. As for the controversy, I have spent eleven years in prison, three years on one occasion and eight and a half years on another, without ever being convicted of any crime. This was the price I had to pay for being the spouse of the Pakistan’s symbol of democracy and I paid it willingly because I shared my wife’s commitment. The forces of dictatorship have done everything possible to stay in power; including slander against anyone that opposes them. As for how the allegations and accusations are hurled against opponents for political reasons I would like to remind that even the Chief Justice was accused of corruption and unceremoniously thrown out when the regime found him inconvenient. He was reinstated under public pressure only to be sacked again through imposition of martial law and emergency. Fortunately the people of Pakistan and the Party members are not easily misled. The support for the PPP’s new leadership has been phenomenal.
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Delhi Durbar THE Second Delimitation Commission has completed its work and we are told that the Commission is not sure if the next Lok Sabha elections, scheduled to be held in the first half of 2009, will be on the basis on the redrawn constituencies. This assumes importance as most of the current Members of Parliament will have to put on thinking caps in selecting new seats. A sizeable number of Congressmen are against it.
There are many in the BJP who believe that their party is making a comeback at the Centre and the existing arrangement will facilitate the saffron brigade. The Commission, after having put in so much of effort, is somewhat cagey considering that if the Congress and the BJP join hands to oppose the recommendations, the move might have to be brushed under the carpet. Media world Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy, former spokesman of the united Janata Dal and the Congress, invited mediapersons for lunch with a commitment from his friends that it was going to be an informal gathering and nothing would go on record. But the moment the news of the Indian victory over Australia in Perth broke, TV correspondents became restless and succeeded in persuading Culture Minister Ambika Soni to react to the country's victory. TV camerapersons rushed in and Reddy went on shouting at his staff asking, "how did it happen", even as Soni continued her parleys with the audio-visual media. Raje’s
efforts With the assembly elections at the end of the year likely to pose a tough challenge, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is making all possible efforts to project a positive image of her government. Her efforts to get reservation for nomadic tribes in the state is being seen as a move to cast the complicated caste matrix in the state in BJP's favour. During her meeting with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the state's annual Plan was finalised which saw a 19.5 per cent increase over last year's allocation. She also submitted more proposals for additional central and special assistance. The Raje government has already announced plans to recruit more teachers and restore some service benefits to its employees. Defending NREGA Rural Development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh is not one to take criticism of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) lightly. The minister, who has been passionately working for the success of the NREGA, joined issue with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who had said that the programme had been launched in a hurry without adequate preparation. Prasad stressed that there was a contradiction in the Chief Minister's utterances. He observed that while Kumar was complaining of haste in launching the programme, his own government was working on similar lines.
Contributed by S. Satyanarayanan, Satish Misra and Prashant Sood |
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IN a freewheeling interview with The Tribune’s Washington correspondent Ashish Kumar Sen, Asif Ali Zardari, the new co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party discusses the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto, his concerns about Pakistan’s ability to hold free elections, and his plans for the PPP.