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Judges vs Judges Rape near Raj Bhavan |
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Who is bothered?
Thaw in Myanmar?
The gift
Anatomy of a rescue Bush’s new ‘Africa Command’ Inside Pakistan Women in politics
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Judges vs Judges The Supreme Court has rightly directed the judges not to pass observations irrelevant to the case at hand as that may lead to confusion in the minds of the litigants, the people and the authorities as also disturb the delicate balance between the arms of the government. A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan upheld Justice Markandey Katju’s order clearing the prosecution of Hewlett Packard chief Som Mittal for a woman staffer’s rape and murder in Bangalore. However, it has undone his observations asking the Uttar Pradesh government to restore the provisions of anticipatory bail in the state. By giving such a ruling in an unrelated case, Justice Katju clearly overstepped his limits, the Bench said. Apparently, the larger Bench’s observation is aimed at curbing the judicial over-reach which has become the subject of contention between the judiciary on the one hand and the legislature and the executive on the other. Undoubtedly, the apex court judges shoulder greater responsibility for the simple reason that any interpretation of a law or a judgement by them becomes a law which is binding on all courts and authorities in the country. Thus, they are expected to function with utmost responsibility and circumspection. The Bench ruled, “the wider the power, the more onerous the responsibility to ensure that nothing is stated or directed in excess of what is required or relevant for the case, and to ensure that the court’s orders and decisions do not create any doubt or confusion…and that they do not conflict with any decision or existing law.” This, however, does not prevent a judge from expressing his views on a particular issue in appropriate cases where it is relevant to the subject matter of a case. Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan’s disapproval of Justice Katju’s observations come close on the heels of his reservations about the Mathur-Katju ruling on December 10, 2007 denouncing both judicial activism and overreach. Justice Balakrishnan made it clear that the apex court was not bound by the Mathur-Katju judgement and that the judiciary will continue to play its dutiful role as mandated by the Constitution. He had also clarified that the decision to hear or dismiss a public interest litigation depended on the “specific issues” involved. On the whole, Thursday’s ruling is salutary because it not only puts the judges’ role in proper perspective but also seeks to respect the limits of judicial activism.
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Rape near Raj Bhavan The
sense of insecurity even in a city like Chandigarh could not have been more severe. If a woman returning from work can be raped by two policemen, one of them a commando, attached to Haryana Governor’s security right next to Raj Bhavan, can any place in the country be considered safe? The official agencies may now try to pass this off as a few individuals’ aberration, but the fact is that the men in khaki can often be a law unto themselves. It is no consolation that there are some good cops also. The common man comes into contact with the corrupt and dangerous majority which does not leave an image the police should have. But the molestation by men of the Haryana Armed Police goes far beyond any other instance of wickedness in the past. They could have dared to think of subjecting her to gang-rape only if they were absolutely certain that they could get away with it. That in itself is a comment on the training and attitude of the Haryana constabulary of which the selected few can be appointed at a place like Raj Bhavan. It is for the Haryana government to ensure that the culprits of the beastly crime get the severest punishment that should meet the ends of justice as well as restore public confidence in the force. Hopefully no tricks will be played to shield the guilty. What was done to the wronged woman in Chandigarh is not unknown in the mofussil. Policemen afflicted with arrogance that comes with uniform can get away with murder. The police raj continues to exist even six decades after Independence. The main reason for this unholy state of affairs is that the police has always been used by political masters as an instrument of repression. The third-degree methods they use are not only condoned but also goaded by politicians to get even with their rivals. Since the policemen are encouraged by the system to be at their boorish worst, they think that they also have to the right to be a beast in their personal capacity. What happened near the Haryana Raj Bhavan is the last straw which can shake people’s faith in the government. If this does not trigger the much-needed and much talked-about reforms in the police department, nothing will.
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Who is bothered? How
appalling the state of literacy in Punjab is clear from the reports that more than one lakh children are not enrolled in any school. According to a recent official survey conducted under the Sarv Siksha Abhiyan, Ferozepur district leads with the number of children deprived of primary education at 12,680 followed by Amritsar (8,583) and Ludhiana (8,234). That Punjab occupies the 16th position in literacy in the country is bad enough, but more worrisome is that 100 per cent literacy would remain a distant dream unless, of course, the state authorities are given a rude awakening from their slumber. The plight of children enrolled in schools, particularly in villages, is no better. News reports reveal that 25 per cent of them quit by 5th standard, 76 per cent by 10th standard and 90 per cent at the 12th levels. A concerned Punjab and Haryana High Court has told the careless state to check the disturbing dropout level. The quality of education imparted is such that many children remain virtually illiterate, devoid of technical skills. Besides, higher education and professional courses have become unaffordable for poor and middle class students. This has been confirmed by a recent Punjabi University survey. The inadequate state spending on school education has resulted in an abysmal level of infrastructure and an acute shortage of teachers. About 25,000 posts of teacher and 2,200 posts of Principal are vacant. This has resulted in poor supervision, which, in turn, encourages absenteeism and the sub-letting of jobs. Teachers are frequently deputed on non-teaching jobs. The Agriculture Minister has come out with the bright idea of deploying teachers to root out the mealy bug in cotton. Unsound policies and mismanagement provoke teacher protests, affecting teaching work. The Chief Minister is enthusiastic about education but is spending much of his energy on “adarsh schools”. Policies of appeasement and extravagance leave limited resources for education and health.
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Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little. — Edmund Burke
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Thaw in Myanmar?
AT a time when the world’s gaze turns understandably on Pakistan, it would be prudent, certainly for India, to spare a thought for developments on its eastern flank. Myanmar is an important but troubled neighbour where fugitive signs of possible change are discernible after decades of unyielding military rule. India has joined with others, but through quiet diplomacy rather than loud and often sanctimonious protests and sanctions, in an exercise in persuasion that has prompted the SPDC regime to lay out some kind of a timetable for the slow process of restoration of democracy. Failure of the two principal political parties to ensure a stable government in the early 1960s invited a military takeover by men who had long constituted the uniformed wing of the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League that led the country to independence. The regime was harsh, insular. It practiced the Burmese Way to Socialism that nationalised everything, sought a military solution to ethnic unrest and impoverished the nation. There was hope of a democratic restoration after a popular struggle in the late 1980s that led to elections in which Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD swept the poll to the military’s great discomfiture. This in turn prompted another crackdown, the arrest of the NLD leadership and an exodus abroad of liberal and dissident elements. Ethnic insurgencies were fought to a standstill leading, later, to a series of ceasefire agreements that have essentially entailed something of a live and let live policy. The economy has limped along largely because of Myanmar’s rich natural endowments, including oil, but human development has suffered. All institutions have been undermined, leaving the highly privileged Tatmadaw (or Army) as virtually the only surviving institution with any administrative, managerial or professional capability. Sanctions have impacted on the ordinary people and have not worked as China initially, and subsequently India (after 1995) and ASEAN to some extent have followed a more relaxed policy. The junta has been unable to break Ms Suu Kyi and has gone ahead with constitution-making at glacial speed and with barely any consultation. However, with UN and other international prompting, the regime has now announced a referendum on the new constitution in May to be followed by a general election in 2010 with 25 per cent seat reservation for the military which will have special powers regarding appointments and enjoy a veto. This is a variant of the Turkish, Indonesian and Pakistani model with Myanamarese characteristics. Burmese dissidents and some in the NLD fear the latest announcement is intended to buy time and will deliver little. But Singapore, the current ASEAN chair, sees a positive development. India’s Foreign Secretary has just visited Yangon to advise the junta to release Suu Kyi and other dissident leaders, dialogue with them on the constitution so that there is an agreed and acceptable road map that can promote national reconciliation, and to permit the UN envoy to return to Yangon for further talks. Any dialogue must necessarily include the ethnic minorities who have through the ceasefire attained a degree of de facto autonomy, at least in some areas. These minority groups seek a cooperative federalism with local autonomy as was broadly agreed at the Panglong Conference in 1948 but unfortunately never implemented. The NLD is willing, and India’s example and experience in the Northeast can be instructive. A relaxation of sanctions pari passu with the dialogue and reconciliation process could be considered. In all of this India needs to keep engaged with the Myanmar regime and should consider seeking access to Suu Kyi who needs to hear other voices in charting the way forward after years of isolation. India could also help train a variety of personnel who will be needed to take over from the military. The schools, universities, health services, the administrative service and much else will have to be revived. This may have to be internationally assisted; but as a close friend and neighbour India is well placed to play a leading role. The projects that India has pushed such as the Kaladan corridor and Sitwe port development, oil and gas exploration, the Chndwin hydro cascade and some new road connections should be pursued as they will be of great benefit to Delhi should continue quietly to press the junta to open up so that the path to a democratic restoration for all of Myanmar’s varied people is eased. There is no mistaking where India’s sympathies lie. At the same time it would be wise to assure the Tatmadaw an honourable exit that facilitates a smooth transition to civil governance without danger of breakdown or violence that could provoke alarm and adventurism. India’s interests are closely bound with a stable Myanmar and friendly cooperation with its people and with whatever regime or pattern of federal-ethnic relations emerges at the end of the day. Maybe this is an opportune moment when India should be talking with China, ASEAN, Japan, the US and Britain about aiding Myanmar’s political,economic and social
recovery.
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The gift
These days my mail comprises mostly promotional material. Today it is from a charitable organisation wanting me to adopt a child. I go through the stories of a few children. They are the same sob stories. I smell a rat and dump the pamphlets into the waste paper basket. I am happy that I have had the patience to go through them, my social service over with that gesture. I then turn to the internet to browse through my e-mail. The letter from my friend Mahavir immediately attracts my attention. It is about his Nanaji who felt that only in the distribution of time, God has been very fair. He has given every living person the same number of seconds in a day irrespective of his financial status. One can easily give a part of ones’ wealth and be called a philanthropist. But the greatest gift to someone would be that of your time. But he also led by example. He had adopted a small orphan and the husband-wife team decided to bring him up like their own son. The boy began going to school. With the passage of time, he passed his tenth grade. One day, he disappeared into thin air. There were no farewells and no thank-you-for-all-you-did-for-me note. He was just a boy of 16. The old couple was devastated. Many years later, while shopping in Ambala his grandfather turned around on hearing someone shout, “Pitaji!” “Pitaji, don’t you recognise me? I am Badri!” “Oye Badriya, where were you all this time? You left us without telling us or even giving a clue about your plans.” The old man took him into a bear hug. He took them to his thriving watch showroom. “I always wanted to do business. If I had asked you for your permission, you would have told me to sit tight and study through college and then the university. So I ran away, doing small businesses till I bought this show room.” He presented a watch to Mahavir’s grandfather. “Oye Badriyey! You want to return the time I spent on you? Keep the watch and give your time to some orphan so that he can be educated. Then you would have repaid the time I spent on you.” Badri had tears in his eyes, as the old man left the showroom. Mahavir went on to write that many years later he also gave 6000 rupees to a young man who had asked for a lift on the Delhi highway, so that he could complete his final semester. The promise he extracted from that boy was that he would help some needy man to become an engineer. I had tears in my eyes. I retrieved the papers that I had thrown in the wastepaper bin with such utter disdain and straightened out the wrinkles. With my none-too-clear vision, I went through all the photographs again. I then circled a little girl who looked least impressive and wrote a cheque for her financial adoption. Her name is Tajima Jamsher. She belongs to a nomadic family from the state of Rajasthan. They live in the sand dunes and survive on
hope.
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Anatomy of a rescue V
SUDARSHAN, author of Anatomy of an Abduction*, is a friend. Originally with the Outlook magazine, he was one of the best foreign policy analysts in New Delhi. He heard about the abduction of three Indian truck drivers – two from Himachal Pradesh and one from Punjab – in Iraq while he was covering a SAARC event in Islamabad. As he confesses, he believed that the Government of India would do nothing to save the drivers. Who in Indraprastha would be bothered about three low-paid truck drivers and who would stick his neck out to save them? But he was pleasantly proved wrong when 42 days after Tilak Raj, Antaryami and Sukhdev were kidnapped on July 20, 2004, they were escorted to a hero’s welcome in their native villages. All those days the hardy men who paid substantial sums – one sold half an acre of land to raise the money – to middlemen to get the driver’s job in a Kuwaiti company remained in the conscience of the people of India. This was in the main due to the saturation coverage of the kidnapping by the media. Back home, the incensed villagers in Una district even blocked the highway to protest against the abduction. Such was the outrage that the then Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister visited the family while the President and the Prime Minister personally assured Antaryami’s parents that the nation was with them in their hour of crisis. All the while the three abducted men were being shifted from one building to another in Iraq’s Fallujah district for fear that the eagle-eyed Americans would spot them. The three feared that they would die at the hands of the 'Islamic Secret Army – Holders of the Black Banner', their kidnappers, or fall prey to the indiscriminate bombing by the Americans. Throughout the period, the version put out by the government and dutifully reported by the media was that the employers of the drivers – Kuwait Gulf Link Transport Company (KGL) – were negotiating with the kidnappers. Little did the world outside a select band of diplomats and intelligence sleuths know what went on behind the scenes to rescue them. Sudarshan, who had access to these sources, has put together the fascinating story without resorting much to his imagination or flowery language. If it reads like a good report, it is because of the meticulous research that has gone into it. The hero of Sudarshan’s account is E. Ahamed, the minister of state for external affairs, a greenhorn in diplomacy but a veteran Muslim League parliamentarian. The abduction occurred soon after the UPA government was sworn in. The Khandahar incident in which the previous NDA government negotiated with the hijackers of IC 814 and bought peace at great cost was still fresh in the nation’s collective memory. The Centre did not want to get involved in direct talks with the abductors. The beheading of the three, as was threatened, would have shaken the government in its shoes. With his whole heart and soul, Ahamed began the job of rescue by first putting together a crisis management group at his office that tracked every titbit about KGL, the abductors and their demand. KGL, which had insured each driver for $10,000, believed it had done its duty. The occupying Americans, too, did not have any stake in saving the hostages, who included an Egyptian and three Kenyans also. On the contrary, their beheading would have strengthened the American claim that the Iraqi group was a bunch of criminals out to make money. The government had to tread carefully, for a wrong move could result in three body bags reaching India. Our Ambassador in Iraq Brij Bhushan Tyagi was in New Delhi on holiday when the kidnapping occurred. He took the first flight to Baghdad. On reaching there, he shifted to his office where he stayed day and night watching the hourly news bulletins for leads. Back in New Delhi, Minister Ahamed handpicked Talmiz Ahmed, our Ambassador in Oman, to go to Baghdad and see to it that no harm was done to the hostages. He was chosen because he knew Baghdad well. Zikrur Rehman, a senior deputy secretary in the policy planning division of the external affairs ministry, who spoke Arabic like his mother tongue, and Alok Sharma, an Intelligence Bureau official who specialised in Islamic fundamentalism, were sent to Baghdad to assist Talmiz Ahmed. They all stayed with the Ambassador trying to establish contact with the abductors. They had a difficult brief. They should be discreet; they should not negotiate with the abductors. They should persuade the KGL to negotiate. In no case should they become party to any ransom payment. In other words, they should be the invisible mediators, who would be glossed over if they succeeded but would be hauled over the coals if they failed. Rehman, a polyglot, had reason to suspect that Sheikh Duleimi, who claimed to represent the abductors, was taking everybody for a ride. It seemed the Sheikh wanted to become a permanent negotiator in all abductions and earn millions. Smelling a rat, Rehman went about building his own contacts in Baghdad while our envoy in Kuwait Swashpawan Singh put pressure on KGL to negotiate. In a surreal episode, Rehman used a visit to a barber in Baghdad to spread the word among the resistance groups that an Indian team was in Iraq to ensure the safety of the Indian drivers. It had its effect and soon the Ambassador had a visitor – Abu Wali, an emissary of the abductors. Rehman used all his diplomatic skills to convince him that he should negotiate with KGL, scale down their demand of $3,00,000 per hostage, accept $5,00,000 KGL offered and release the hostages. There were several occasions when the negotiations broke down. Ultimately, they accepted the money, KGL issued a statement they wanted and Rehman got custody of the three drivers. Former RAW chief A.S. Dulat says in his Foreword, “The security of its citizens is ultimately the responsibility of the state. It cannot be outsourced. Left to KGL, the three truck drivers would have been dead ducks”. The government might have gone back on its commitment not to deal with any kidnappers but in the given circumstances there was no alternative. And as the Bard says, all is well that ends well. *Anatomy Of An Abduction by V. Sudarshan, Penguin, PP 217, Rs 295 |
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Bush’s new ‘Africa Command’ The
White House scramble for Africa came to an end this week – symbolically, at least. During his tour of the continent, President Bush seized every opportunity to boast of his innovative approaches to African health and development issues. But he kept strangely silent about what may be his administration’s most enduring legacy for Africa: AFRICOM, the most significant US foreign and military policy innovation you’ve probably never heard of. AFRICOM stands for the US Africa Command, created by presidential order in February 2007. On the surface, AFRICOM doesn’t sound like anything special -- the US already has several military commands organized geographically: PACCOM (Pacific Command), CENTCOM (Central Command) and EUCOM (European Command), so why not AFRICOM? But unlike the others, AFRICOM has the promotion of stability as its primary mission. It’s designed, as the president put it, “to enhance our efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa and to promote the ... development of health, education, democracy and economic growth.” Yes, you read that right: The Defense Department has a new military command dedicated, more or less, to establishing peace, love and understanding in Africa. AFRICOM will bring together military personnel with civilian employees from the State Department, the USAID and other US agencies, and most US humanitarian work in Africa will be coordinated through AFRICOM. Already, US military personnel are delivering supplies to refugees in Chad, training African peacekeeping forces and helping Congolese military officials develop protocols for prosecuting sex crimes. Also under AFRICOM auspices, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be training Africans to monitor their fishing industry, the USAID is delivering meals in Ghana, Navy personnel are painting classrooms in Senegal and Army and Air Force medical personnel are holding exchanges with their counterparts from Djibouti. So what’s not to love about AFRICOM? And on a trip during which he missed no other opportunities to seize a little credit, why wasn’t the president touting AFRICOM? The trouble with AFRICOM is that its very ambition has left many observers queasy, as well as intrigued. Where governance structures are weak and people are desperate, terrorists and criminal networks can easily take root. So too can deadly diseases that, with the help of air travel, can reach our First World enclaves in a few hours. Africa also produces 30 percent of the world’s uranium supply and 20 percent of its total petroleum. If instability disrupts these supplies – or if bad actors seize control of them – we’ll all suffer. AFRICOM takes seriously the interconnected nature of modern security threats and responds by seeking to seamlessly merge both the “hard” and “soft” components of US power. Through AFRICOM, soldiers and diplomats, doctors and teachers, police officers and engineers will work hand in hand to promote the US objective of advancing stability in Africa. But…Innovative though it may be, it also has a familiar ring to it, one that isn’t reassuring to many African ears. It’s a Kipling-esque ring, perhaps: something to do with the White Man’s Burden, something that reminds many Africanists of the bad old days of colonialism, when European imperial powers also seamlessly merged their military, economic, political and diplomatic forces to dominate and exploit Africa’s people and resources. Promoting African peace, democracy and development are all good things, but the US efforts might be more palatable if the velvet glove handing out foreign aid weren’t stretched so obviously over the iron fist of the world’s most lethal war-fighting machine. To skeptics, AFRICOM’s creation suggests that the scramble for Africa isn’t over, it’s just entering a new phase, as the US seeks to keep Africa stable – on US terms. That’s why the White House has found itself playing defense on AFRICOM. Bush was finally forced to address “a controversial subject brewing around that’s not very well understood.” “I want to dispel the notion that all of a sudden America is bringing all kinds of military to Africa,” Bush told an audience in Ghana. “It’s just simply not true.” Of course not. By arrangement with
LA Times-Washington Post
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Inside Pakistan PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, whose party has emerged as the largest group after the February 18 elections, has perhaps read the writing on the wall. That is why he has abandoned the idea of seeking President Pervez Musharraf’s cooperation in government formation in Islamabad as had hinted earlier. Mr Zardari and Mr Nawaz Sharif, whose PML (N) is the second biggest scorer, coming together to set up a government of “national consensus” seems to be in accordance with the wishes of the electorate. As The News commented (Feb 20), “The voters have very wisely and peacefully, almost in a silent revolution, comprehensively rejected the old power structure with all its perversities, and this is the new reality which a bruised and shattered presidency will have to accept.” Mr Zardari must have realised that no government in Islamabad can survive by ignoring the verdict of the people. The voters have clearly expressed their disapproval of President Musharraf’s policies and programmes. Anyone who shakes hands with the former General will be considered as having no respect for people’s aspirations. A Dawn editorial (Feb 22) rightly said: “As government formation talks proceed certain basic truths need to be kept in view, the foremost being the people’s vote, which has rejected religious extremism, autocracy and a strong centre.” Even when the PPP and the PML (N) have agreed to jointly run a government of “national consensus” in the interest of restoration of democracy, fears are being expressed in some quarters that President Musharraf must be looking for an opportunity to rock their boat. However, as The Nation (Feb 22) points out, “As long as the PPP and the PML(N) maintain an understanding, it would be difficult for the presidency to indulge in the type of Byzantine intrigues it frequently resorted to in the past…” If anything that may come in the way of smooth functioning of a PPP-PML (N) government as is being formalised, it is the question of the restoring the status of the judiciary as it existed on November 3, 2007. Mr Zardari has his reservations about allowing former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to come back to the apex court because of some developments in the past whereas in Mr Sharif’s scheme of things, having the status quo ante is the best way to humiliate President Musharraf and prepare the ground to show him the exit door. The issue of judiciary is crucial for Mr Nawaz Sharif as this single factor contributed largely to his re-emergence as the “Lion of Punjab”. His party’s spectacular performance in Punjab is beyond belief. He appears to have agreed to Mr Zardari’s suggestion of leaving it to the wisdom of the National Assembly to decide the fate of the deposed judges with a view to ensuring that nothing comes in the way of change of guard in Islamabad. According to The News, “Deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has announced he will go and resume his work in his office the moment he is set free. He has said he will even set up court outside the Supreme Court building if forcibly stopped to enter the court premises. The issue thus threatens to blow up into the first test of strength between the newly elected and rejuvenated political leadership and what is increasingly being perceived by many as a lame-duck presidency.” An interesting development related to the elections in Pakistan is the overwhelming participation of women in the battle of the ballot even in the tribal areas in the NWFP. According to Dawn, “…there has been a discernible rise in the number of women running for elections to the National Assembly. “If in the 1988 elections, 27 women ran for the general seats, 20 years later the number was more than 60. Four women were elected in 1988 while 13 will take oath in the next National Assembly, one more than in 2002.” This is besides those who will be nominated to Pakistan’s parliament. Acccording to The News: “Whereas the role of women who made up a part of the assembly formed in 2002 has been criticised, the fact is that their presence, at both national and provincial levels, contributed to laws aimed at protecting women being discussed, debated and in some cases ushered in. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, sidelined issues such as domestic violence, sexual abuse of children and harassment of women were discussed within assemblies.”
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