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Passenger is the king World’s new nation |
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Brother’s keeper
Towards new era in Pakistan
Lalu proposes
Pakistan’s complex motives New airport at
Bangalore, but no connectivity Putin’s handover is no charade
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Passenger is the king Mr Lalu Prasad, who knows how to be popular, has kept up his image of being a public-friendly railway minister. He has presented five budgets and has not raised the fares even once. In the last two he has rather lowered the fares. In the fifth one, presented on Tuesday, he cut the AC and second-class fares and the freight rates for petrol, diesel and fly ash apart from giving more concessions to elderly women and girl students. He plans to open welfare cells for the minorities and run a health express to provide medical facilities to mothers and children. The Railways has appointed more SC/ST/OBC candidates than allowed by their quota. He has awarded Bihar maximum possible railway projects. The Railways is even laying a track to link his ancestral village to that of his wife. Despite all this, the Railways, which was declared in July, 2001, to be “on the edge of fatal bankruptcy”, hopes to achieve a profit of Rs 25,000 crore this fiscal with an operating ratio of 76 per cent. The minister is using increasingly more information technology to improve operational efficiency and provide better services to customers. Expect more counters and online booking of tickets. All railway stations will have metal detectors and CCTV sets. All Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains will have new coaches in three years. He will roll out 53 new passenger trains and 10 more Gharib Raths. Elevators will be installed at 50 railway stations for Senior Citizens. Before him, no railway minister has ever spared a thought for porters. How has he achieved all this? His management, based on common sense, is focussed on increasing volumes. The Railways offers discounts in the lean season and levies a surcharge in the busy season. The minister cleverly avoids unpleasant announcements in the budget. Still, the Railways has miles to go before it can achieve global standards of comfort and efficiency. When it comes to security, cleanliness and amenities for passengers, the Railways disappoints. Trains often run late and unmanned crossings are a nightmare. He should spend more on safety and improving facilities in the trains and on railway stations. At least in the election year he seems to be bearing in mind.
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World’s new nation The expected birth of Kosovo as an independent nation has finally come about despite protests from Russia and many European Union members. Those who saw a serious threat to peace and stability in Europe and elsewhere in the world because of the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo, a province of Serbia, failed to stop the addition to the number of countries in Europe as they were pitted against the US and its powerful Western allies. Kosovo has quickly got recognition from the US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and certain other countries not having any separatist problem. The development is being seen as a success of the US foreign policy, now directed at changing the perception of Muslims about the super power. Kosovo’s 2 million population of Albanian descent is predominantly Muslim. The US had another interest to protect: it has a large military base near Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. Kosovo’s declaration of independence without formal UN authorisation has led to uneasiness in many European countries like Spain, besides Russia and China, which have been faced with separatist movements for a long time. The most vulnerable position is that of Russia, which has 20 autonomous ethnic republics like Chechnya and each of these are like Kosovo. The separatist leadership in these Russian republics can cite the “Kosovo precedent” to secede. Of course, Serbia has lost its Kosovo province owing to its own short-sighted policies, which led to the Kosovars suffering untold miseries. But there is also the danger of the Kosovo case opening Pandora’s box. It is bound to encourage separatist tendencies. The message may go out that the US and its Western allies are no longer interested in upholding the time-honoured principle of inviolability of a country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. What they have done clearly shows their preference for ethnic self-determination. These big powers have failed to see the destabilising consequences of their policy option. There was no harm in accepting, at least on a trial basis, the Russian proposal for maximum autonomy to Kosovo within Serbia. Nothing should be done that promotes hatred among people having different ethnicity and religious beliefs.
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Brother’s keeper CUBA seems to be in for some changes with the change of guard in Havana. The newly elected President, Raul Castro, is the one who is believed to have smooth talked his brother and predecessor Fidel Castro to effect some changes in the past like allowing private enterprises in selected sectors and encouraging the tourism industry. Now that the senior Castro will only give advice from time to time, though he has not yet relinquished his post as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, he can bring about more changes in the system with fewer problems. However, a caveat will be in order. Raul Castro and his newly-elected first vice-president Jose Ramon Machado Ventura were among the guerillas who fought alongside Fidel Castro against Batista. In other words, they are of the same flock who have flown together. It is, therefore, too much to expect them to make a radical departure. That Cuba needs changes of a far-reaching nature cannot be overemphasised. While change is a constant everywhere, Cuba under Fidel Castro remained unchanging holding aloft the banner of revolution. While standing up to the threats and bullying from Uncle Sam, Cuba has been paying enormous cost, politically and economically, for its defiant posture. The living conditions of the people are so poor that the government has to treat the whole country as a virtual prison for fear they would run away. The absence of a free Press and other democratic institutions may have helped Castro to rule with an iron fist but this does not detract from the fact that the Cuban system represents an anachronism. Establishment of better diplomatic relations with the US will go a long way in removing much of the tensions under which Cuba has had to plough through all this while. Whatever be the propaganda, nothing will happen to Cuba if the people are given more personal liberty and opportunities to bring the best out of them. Raul Castro has a historic responsibility to ensure that changes that help the Cubans achieve their dreams are in place.
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There is a pleasure sure,/ In being mad, which none but madmen know!
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Towards new era in Pakistan
The
elections in Pakistan on February 18 were held in an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. The polling day was preceded by at least 450 casualties, including of many prominent personalities like Benazir Bhutto. The election campaign was a low key affair in the shadow of gun. The series of actions of the government — including dismissal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, large-scale arrests of advocates, human rights activists and members of civil society, deportation of Mr Nawaz Sharief when he returned to Pakistan for the first time after ending his exile of eight years, promulgation of the emergency and so on — had reduced the credibility of the election machinery and President Pervez Musharraf to the lowest level. The polling percentage was hardly over 40 per cent. Yet the election results reflected the ground reality. Among the main features are the rout of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) which, in spite of official patronage, could not get more than 38 seats out of 269 seats for which polling took place. Most of its stalwarts were defeated . The most outstanding success was that of Benazir’s Pakistan People’s Party which not only emerged as the single largest party with 87 seats but also the only party which got support in all the four provinces of Pakistan. In the provincial assemblies, the PPP won the maximum seats with 65 in Sindh, the home province of the Bhuttos, and was number two in the most populous province of Punjab with 76 seats, next to the Muslim League (N) led by Mr Nawaz Sharief which got 102 seats. Thus, the PPP emerged as the national party which stands for a federal set-up. As far as Mr Nawaz Sharief is concerned, he has hardly any other alternative except to join hands with the PPP to form a coalition government. This will have a sobering influence on the role of Punjab which, with over 60 per cent population of Pakistan, has always dominated the politics there. The election result is expected to create realisation in Punjab that it should be willing to work with other provinces as an equal partner which would be an additional guarantee for democracy and unity of Pakistan. Another welcome feature of the elections is the rout of religious parties, particularly in North-Western Pakistan. The decline of the Muttihida Majlis-e-Amal in the NWFP and defeat of its leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman from one of the two constituencies he contested and re-emergence of Mr Wali Khan’s National Awami Party in the NWFP are significant developments. Mr Musharraf had justified his alliance with the MMA as that, in his view, helped him to fight against terrorism. But the NAP’s past, and the role of its legendary leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan, as one of the closest associates of Mahatma As the PPP, which won 15 seats in the NWFP and seven in Balochistan assemblies , is also committed to be sympathetic to the urges of Pushtoons, Baloch and other ethnic communities, on the border of Afghanistan, it will form a more formidable bulwark against terrorism being exported by Afghanistan to Pakistan than the army had been able to do so far. Of particular significance is the NAP victory in Swat which was virtually ruled by Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. Above all, the message from the elections is the categorical verdict of the people against Army rule and its former chief Pervez Musharraf. Many analysts are still speculating on his various options which could allow him to manoeuvre to remain in power. He himself has offered to function as a father figure to whichever government is installed. But odds are heavily loaded against him. Firstly, the much talked about vested interest of the Army to share power is unlikely to favour him. For, he cannot take its support for granted. He has clearly alienated the Punjabi community which has voted against his party and which comprises bulk of the Pakistan Army. Besides, a number of retired generals, who are supposed to be aware of the Army mood, have advised him to retire from politics. Moreover, unlike former military rulers, he has no ethnic base to count upon. He belongs to the Muhajir community, mainly based in Karachi and Hyderabad cities of Sind. The MQM, which represents this community, has secured 19 seats. But it, too, has offered to work with the PPP. The election result, in fact, raises one hope that President Musharraf may be the last military ruler in Pakistan. If all goes well and unforeseen adverse factors do not intervene, the present election might be a harbinger of positive changes in Pakistan in many respects. It might usher in a more lasting phase in democracy in a country that has been ruled for more than half of its life by military dictators. One hopes its leaders learn from past mistakes and do not repeat them. Its mentors like the US must have also learnt that the Army is not the best and only means to fight against terror and that the people also matter. It will be a disaster for Pakistan as also for its own interest if the US commits the folly of forcing the PPP and Mr Musharraf to join hands. The confidence in democracy that the opportunity of changing the government for the first time through the ballot has created would be shattered. It can revive the faith of the people in violent means to make or unmake the government. For India the emergence of a stable, democratic and secular Pakistan is specially welcome as it can lead to the dawn of a new era of harmony, peace and economic and political cooperation in the subcontinent as also in the rest of South
Asia.
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Lalu proposes
I
WAS an unabashed admirer of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s brilliant idea of filling vacant seats in higher classes in trains. Under his dispensation, the Railways provide automatic upgradation for confirmed passengers if vacancies exist in the next higher class. Every time I travelled by train, I hoped against hope that I would be the beneficiary of Lalu’s brainwave. Lady luck never smiled on me and I did not know how the system worked. A year ago when my wife and I travelled by Dakshin Express from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Vishakapatnam, I understood how the Railways implemented Lalu’s innovation which earned him kudos even from the dons at Harvard. By the time the train left Hazrat Nizamuddin, it was 11 p.m. Among the passengers in AC three-tier were eight Catholic nuns from Guwahati. They were on their way to attend a conference of NGOs at Baba Amte’s headquarters. Apart from their personal luggage, they had several large packets of books. The group leader, a sister from Kerala, told me that one of them had suddenly fallen ill and dropped out of the trip. But because of the extra luggage, they did not cancel her reservation. In other words, they had nine berths against eight passengers. But, surprise of surprise, in the chart pasted on the compartment only seven names appeared. How did this happen? Nobody had a clue and they waited for the TTE to sort out the problem. Half an hour later, the TTE dutifully arrived. The sisters approached him. He checked their tickets and told them he could not do anything, as there was no vacant seat in the compartment. But he did not leave without giving them a bit of saintly advice. Since they were a group of eight people, they could surely adjust one of their own sisters. They thanked him for the unsolicited advice. Ultimately, the skinniest of them shared one lower berth. They muttered among themselves how the Railways could have made this mistake in this computer age. Next morning when I chatted with one of the sisters, she told me about the harrowing time they had the previous night. I checked their tickets and found they were in order. Fortunately, the chart was still intact on the compartment. Suddenly, I remembered Lalu Yadav’s upgradation idea and wondered whether two of the nuns were automatically upgraded to AC two-tier. I went to the higher-class compartment and found that two gentlemen who had greased the palms of the TTE occupied the berths, which should have been that of the sisters. I decided to confront the TTE. But he had completed his duty and disembarked. The new TTE tried to protect his colleague when he refused to divulge his name for fear that I would complain. But he was forced to admit that the TTE had cheated the nuns. To make amends, he offered to adjust them in the two-tier compartment. Even the “illegal occupants” were ready to vacate their berths when they heard about the nuns’ plight. By then, the nuns had adjusted to the situation and forgiven the TTE for his criminal lapse. In any case, they had only a few hours of journey left. The nuns would not have been fooled if the three-tier chart mentioned that they had been upgraded to two-tier. But then how would the TTE have made some extra bucks? Lalu Prasad Yadav proposes, the TTE
disposes.
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Pakistan’s complex motives Why
has America’s counter-terrorism alliance with Pakistan resulted in spiralling Taliban violence in Afghanistan? And what can be done about it? These are the main questions that emerge out of Ashley Tellis’s outstanding study, Pakistan and the War on Terror*, which was published by the Carnegie Endowment in Washington in January. The answer is summed up by the subtitle of his report – ‘Conflicted Goals and Compromised Performance’. Tellis reveals that President Musharraf’s support for the anti-Taliban war in 2001 was less than whole hearted. Musharraf reluctantly cut loose Islamabad’s ties with the Taliban which it had trained for a decade, and even implored Washington to desist from toppling Mullah Mohammad Omar’s regime. After the war Pakistan allowed defeated Taliban militia to cross over into Pakistan for shelter and more sustenance. It is hardly surprising, then, that the Taliban have been able to regroup over the last six years. NATO’s military campaign in Afghanistan has been hobbled by increasing numbers of Taliban fighters, provoking Washington’s frustration that the $ 10 billion aid is has given Pakistan to rout terrorism is far from achieving this aim. That situation is unlikely to change much in the foreseeable future, regardless of the political dispensation in Pakistan. Islamabad’s enduring interest lies in fomenting extremism against Afghanistan and India. No civilian government will be able to exercise ‘comprehensive control’ over the military and inter-services intelligence (ISI), who are not minded to stop supporting the Taliban and other extremist groups. Time has been lost. Even if anti-terrorist operations were expanded today they would not be as effective as they could have been immediately after the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001. Does Pakistan really want to stamp out extremism? The motives of the Pakistani military and ISI are complex. Musharraf regards the talibanisation of Pakistan as a threat but it is unclear whether this translates into a determination to root out the Taliban. Extremists come in handy for Islamabad to embarrass India and Afghanistan, and to counter any prospect of enhanced Indian influence in Afghanistan. Also, many in the ISI remain loyal to the Taliban, while others are at best ambivalent. The top military brass – whether headed by Musharraf or General Kiyani, his successor as C-in-C – have not committed themselves to eradicating extremism. The ISI is accountable to the army chief, so it can’t be undermining policies pursued by the corporate army leadership. But the ISI does have the operational latitude to recruit foot-soldiers from diverse sources for nationalist, ideological or personal reasons, so the military leadership may not be in complete control of its activities. The talibanisation of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) accounts for the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. Post-2001, the bombing of the FATA changed that relationship, alienated the tribes and provoked attacks on the Pakistani military. The lesson? Unless the FATA tribes want to cooperate with Islamabad counter-terrorism will fail. Pakistan’s military doesn’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with Washington. The generals are suspicious of American motives in South Asia. Some feel than they are paying for “Washington’s war”. Some elements in the army and ISI wouldn’t mind seeing the US lose. Musharraf’s recent statement in Europe that the Taliban, not Al Qaeda, must be fought (which was probably made too late for Tellis to include in his work), is at odds with Washington’s stress on quashing Al Qaeda. What makes it hard to rout the Taliban is that they are not a cohesive force but a loose network of affiliated individuals and groups ejected from power in 2001, a congeries of several elements united only by a common religion. It makes one wonder how much the anti-extremist campaign gains by the killing of individual Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders. While the sanctuary enjoyed by the Taliban in Pakistan enables them to obstruct NATO’s campaign in Afghanistan, Tellis opines that what happens in Afghanistan is ‘critically important’ to containing terrorism. The political situation in Afghanistan must improve. Insurgents have gained ground there to some extent because of poor governance, a corrupt administration, a malfunctioning judiciary and poverty. Divisions between NATO countries haven’t helped. In short, neither the Karzai government nor NATO offer ordinary Afghans adequate protection. So locals make deals with the Taliban simply because the government cannot enforce law and order. Also, when American troops win a battle somewhere, they withdraw after victory – leaving the door open for the Taliban to return. The status quo is clearly untenable. What can the US do? The US cannot dispense with Pakistan, but it wants Pakistan to do more. Washington is giving a lot of aid for meagre counter-terrorist successes. This is unacceptable to the American public. So the accounting practices of coalition funds should be reformed Bush must convey a tough message to Musharraf. The US is entrapped in a policy cul-de-sac of its own making . Washington has relied on Musharraf personally rather than as a tool to accelerate political transformation of Pakistan. But Tellis thinks Musharraf is essential to orchestrate counter-terrorist policy and to bring about an orderly transition to democracy in Pakistan. That, in my view, looks less certain after the public mistrust he has earned since Benazir Bhutto’s assassination last November and the recent call made by 100 retired military officers for his resignation. The author does not advocate dumping Pakistan as an ally, but his study does raise the important questions of whether and how the US should reconsider its dependence on Pakistan as an ally in the war on terror. Tellis’s informative and timely account deserves to be widely read. *Ashley J. Tellis, “Pakistan and the war on terror: conflicted goals, compromised performance”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC, 2008
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New airport at
Bangalore, but no connectivity Bangalore
has done it again. It is set to receive an international airport at Devanahalli but is not sure how well it will be connected to the city, being 35 km away from its centre. There is nothing new about poor infrastructure in the city, but what is new is that for once, the city’s administrators are trying to make amends for the follies of the past. However it could be too late for the airport, whose connectivity problems have led to demands to allow the present Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport to function for short haul flights after March 30, when it is to revert to sole military use. Devanahalli was conceived more than a decade back but it is less than three years since work on the airport started in earnest. The government had three years to put its act in place but its politicians were more interested in playing musical chairs than worrying about the airport. This meant two major projects which were conceived to ensure optimum connectivity to the new airport could not come up. The first is an expressway which was to link the airport to the ring road. Bureaucratic delays in identifying and taking over the land have resulted in the project not even starting on the ground. This means the expressway may not come about for at least another two years. The second project – a high speed elevated rail link between the city and the airport has also been delayed because it is still to get various administrative clearances. The project, which was earlier proposed to become operational by April this year, may not come about for another four years now. With Bellary road being the only link to the new airport, the city’s administrators woke up to the need to set things right on this road at least in December last year. To ease traffic congestion and ensure signal free movement of traffic on this stretch, the city came out with a pre-cast underpass design which has been christened as “magic boxes” in Bangalore. The design which involves installation of pre-cast materials was to ensure concrete erections in 72 hours. However the first underpass took 34 days to complete. This was mainly because of poor planning which resulted in rapture of water lines during digging which flooded the site. The Bangalore City Corporation now has the task of completing five more underpasses along the route to the international airport in a little more than a month, with commercial operations slated to commence at the airport on March 30. The second underpass, work on which is yet to start due to an ongoing truckers’ strike, is likely to take at least 45 days as the Corporation has done away with its earlier 72 hour deadline. All the underpasses will take at least four months to come up by optimistic estimates. The BIAL has been so short of any bounties from the State government that even this late initiative has been welcomed. BIAL CEO Albert Brunner when questioned on this said “it may be late but at least they have woken up. Work is being done which will help the smooth movement of traffic”. However the fact that the BIAL has taken over construction of the trumpeted flyover which provides access to the airport from the main road after the private contractor who had never constructed a flyover was given the job by the State government, speaks volumes of the “cooperation” it has received. With things being as they are a number of corporate houses have demanded the HAL airport, which is six kilometers from the city centre, be allowed to function for such time till the connectivity issues get resolved. A PIL has also been admitted on this issue in the High Court urging short haul domestic flights are allowed from the HAL airport. However as this is against the Union government agreement with the international consortium promoting the airport, it is being opposed by BIAL which says the agreement clearly states no airport will be allowed to function within a 150 km radius after its airport starts commercial operations. BIAL CEO Brunner says with Rs 2,530 crores already invested in the airport, there is no way his Board will allow the HAL airport to function. He says moreover it is for the benefit of the airlines that both domestic and international flights run from the same airport as the domestic flights are the feeders for the long hauls. With BIAL set to start a further expansion of the airport to meet the projected 14 million passenger traffic in two to three years time, the solution to the issue could be the quintessential Kannada one – “Swalpa adust maadi” (kindly adjust). After all this is what the city has been doing all these years.
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Putin’s handover is no charade The
late February temperature in Moscow hovers around zero, and something similar could be said of popular interest in the presidential election. With only five days to go, there are posters everywhere: at the metro stations, in the bus shelters and on banners across the streets. Proudly formal, they have the eagle crest and the simple fact of the 2 March election against the background of the red, white and blue Russian flag. But the unfortunate reality is that duty rather than interest will take Russians to the polling stations this Sunday. They voted in parliamentary elections in December; they don’t have much inclination to do so again. And they know who is going to be their next president, because he has already been approved and recommended by the hugely popular incumbent, Vladimir Putin. There is a broad consensus that with Dmitry Medvedev, who is currently first deputy prime minister, they will be in good hands. Just to reassure anyone who might have any doubts, Putin has repeatedly made clear that he would be delighted to serve as prime minister, if – if, he is careful to say – Medvedev is elected on Sunday. Nothing has been left to chance. Yet it is a pity that neither Russians nor those outside Russia are paying more attention. For this is the first time in Russian history that power will have changed hands as the result of the ballot box. It is the first time, too, that a Russian head of state will voluntarily surrender his position in accordance with a constitutional requirement to do so. Those are both positive and epoch-making, developments. The election can certainly be criticised. This is not a competitive election as we might understand it, because any candidate recommended by Putin would be guaranteed a sweeping majority. It could also be said that, if Putin becomes prime minister, real power is not changing hands. At his end-of-term press conference two weeks ago, he fudged a question about whether the new president’s portrait would hang in his office if he became prime minister – and such symbols matter. To conclude that the whole process is a charade, however, would be wrong. There will be an election, and someone who is not Putin will be elected in his place. Putin chose to observe the letter of Russia’s post-communist constitution, which sets a maximum of two consecutive four-year terms. Nor should the potential for positive, democratic change under a new president be dismissed too readily. Returning stability to Russia after 20 years of tumultuous change has been the overriding theme of Putin’s eight years in the Kremlin. Nor should the prospect of serious change be dismissed, once the transition has been completed smoothly. The language being used by Medvedev – about such concepts as freedom, the middle class, and private property – already sounds fresher and more modern than that of Putin. But he has to be careful. The outside world may hope that a new president brings change, but the message most battered Russians want to hear before their election is quite the opposite. By arrangement with
The Independent
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