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Towards a flashpoint Growing intolerance |
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Gift of life
Back to disarmament
Now, the litter-ati
India should aim to be a model for human rights Europe struggles to keep the idea of EU alive Chatterati
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Towards a flashpoint POLITICS in Pakistan seems to be in a dangerous phase. The possibility of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League and the Pakistan People’s Party coming to terms with President Pervez Musharraf to provide a stable government seems to be remote. Both sides seem to be itching for a confrontation. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s suggestion that the General could be hanged is the most provocative statement a politician has made since elections were held. His allusion was to the hanging of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto during the regime of General Zia-ul-Haq. His suggestion was lapped up by the advocates who have been the most vociferous against the President. On his part, Musharraf had also reminded the nation that he would not remain a vegetable in the President’s house and he knew how to protect his interests. Under the existing statute, the President enjoys power to the extent that he can even dismiss an elected government. That Musharraf is not a stickler for constitutional niceties is well known. The sacking of the Supreme Court and the suspension of all democratic rights merely to protect his turf showed that he had little faith in democracy. It was out of compulsion that he allowed holding of elections and transfer of power. He had no legitimacy when he usurped power by dismissing an elected government. In fact, he did not pay any heed to the Nawaz Sharif government, which was kept in the dark when he surreptitiously captured the Kargil heights creating a war-like situation in the subcontinent. Given the antagonistic feelings of the people towards Musharraf, he should have, ideally, quit and let democracy flourish in the country. But to expect such a conduct is not to understand him at all. Pakistan is in a state of flux with the writ of the government not running in the tribal regions in the Northwest. Religious extremists are on the prowl. Against such a backdrop it would be disastrous if the President and the government pit themselves against each other. A confrontation would have its ramifications on the whole of South Asia, nay the world, as Pakistan is a nuclear power. There are dark elements in Pakistan who would like to have their hands on the nuclear arsenal. All peace-loving people cannot but sit up and agonise over the goings-on in Pakistan.
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Growing intolerance FRIDAY’S attack on the office of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna in Pune is a sign of growing intolerance and lawlessness in Maharashtra. What is all the more despicable is that the attack was carried out allegedly by supporters of rebel-turned Congress leader and Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane, enraged over the publication of a cartoon of Mr Rane in Saamna. It showed him as a coy newly wed confused bride, stepping into the threshold of the Congress party. They attacked the offices of the publication in many places, damaging the premises and assaulting journalists. Mr Rane has been a Shiv Sainik himself and his followers did an equally thorough job of targeting the publication. While they smashed the Pune office, they flung stones at newspaper offices at other places. In headquarters Mumbai, the presence of police personnel and Shiv Sena activists prevented any serious incident. While the Congress has condemned the attack, it has tried to question whether the attackers were supporters of Mr Rane at all. Unacceptable that the attack is, it should hold a mirror to the Shiv Sena also which has a long history of damaging newspaper offices and attacking journalists. So, Mr Rane’s men were only repaying them in the same coin. Perhaps the Shiv Sainiks would now realise that terror tactics and street justice are not the way to settle any matter. Ironically, Saamna justified the publication saying that it was true to the daily’s tradition of parody and caricature. Pray, why was this tradition not respected when other publications carried something against Bal Thackeray or other Shiv Sainiks? The ugly incident also points to the bitter struggle for supremacy in the Congress between Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Mr Narayan Rane. The controversial cartoon was based on a light-hearted remark by Mr Deshmukh that when a bride comes to her new home, she wants to rule it before settling down to domesticity. Well, this “bride” has been protesting for far too long and the sooner this battle for one-upmanship is settled one way or the other, the better it would be for the Congress.
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Gift of life JUNE 14, the birthday of Karl Landsteiner, the Nobel prize winner who discovered the basis for the modern ABO blood group system, is celebrated as World Blood Donor Day. India is among the countries facing a severe shortage of blood. Worldwide, 80 million units of blood are donated every year, but less than 40 per cent is collected from the developing world, where more than 80 per cent of the world’s population lives. It has been reported that India faces a gap of more than 2.4 million units annually, with a demand of about 8.5 million units country-wide. Demand shoots up at the time of natural disasters. The bulk of the blood is used up by metros and other big cities. This is also of concern, even allowing for the fact that major medical facilities are located in such urban centres. The government is now planning to set up high-volume blood banks in the four metros to cater to the high demand. It must ensure that the best practices of the world are followed in all respects. The blood must first be tested for safety, and then preserved for the longest time possible. ‘Professional’ donors driven by poverty or drug addiction should be discouraged. It must also think about setting up more trauma care centres along major roads and highways, and support them with mobile blood banks. Accident victims are often in need of blood at short notice, and many die both due to lack of timely medical attention and blood. Most important of all, a culture of donating blood must be created across the country. This region, Chandigarh and Punjab in particular, can be proud of the fact that such a culture exists here. Many people are willing and frequent donors, and their voluntary acts of donation have saved countless lives. Other regions can follow too, if the government, health authorities and NGOs work towards spreading awareness and increasing opportunities for donation.
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To be poor and independent is very nearly an impossibility. — William Cobbett
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Back to disarmament
THE Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Delhi, and the Indian Council of World Affairs held a joint conference to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the ‘Action Plan on Disarmament’ presented by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to the UN General Assembly's Special Session on Disarmament on June 9, 1988. In launching their initiative for a “world free of nuclear weapons” the four US statesmen, former Secretaries of State, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger and former US Secretary of Defence William Perry and former Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee Sam Nunn, have referred to Rajiv Gandhi's appeal. Rajiv Gandhi said, "Nuclear war will not mean the death of a hundred million people. Or even a thousand million. It will mean the extinction of four thousand million, the end of life as we know it on our planet, earth. We come to the United Nations to seek your support. We seek your support to put a stop to this madness." The fact that the four US statesmen quote Rajiv Gandhi 19 years after his plea in the UN highlights that his appeal and Action Plan are still valid. Rajiv Gandhi presented his plan as a world statesman and did not adopt a parochial Indian view. He called on the international community to adopt his phased plan for disarmament and offered that India would not cross the nuclear threshold if his plan was adopted. He also warned them that if it was not adopted there was not much leeway left for India in view of proliferation carried out by great powers (meaning thereby Chinese proliferation to Pakistan). That was a clear warning that India would be compelled to acquire nuclear weapons if the international community continued in its traditional ways. Unfortunately it did and Rajiv Gandhi after another eight months of agonising, decided to acquire nuclear weapons for India. In the last 20 years there have been both positive and negative developments in the international security scenario. The Cold War has ended and no longer two major adversaries confront each other with monstrous arsenals on hair-trigger alert. The nuclear arsenals of the world which had 60,000 weapons have now come down to 20,000. US and Russia are partners in peace. There are no risks of major powers of the world — US, Russia, China and the European Union — resorting to nuclear exchange. But there have been very serious negative developments too. The nuclear weapons, which were considered a temporary necessity to maintain deterrence against each other during the bipolar confrontation have now been made permanent legitimate weapons for five nations (US, Russia, UK, France and China) through the indefinite and unconditional extension of the Nonproliferation Treaty in 1995. A temporary arms control treaty of 25 years duration with promises of elimination of nuclear weapons has been converted into an iniquitous and unstable regime through this step, imprudently adopted by the NPT community. Secondly, large-scale proliferation of nuclear weapon technology, nuclear equipment and materials have been taking place for decades from China and Western European countries with permissiveness of other major powers and the NPT community. Thirdly, there is a surge of international terrorism and there are consequent fears that nuclear weapons, nuclear materials and technology may fall into the hands of terrorists. Lastly some non-democratic nations have sought to acquire nuclear weapons to deter aggressive major powers from carrying out externally induced forcible regime change. There are fears that some of them may support terrorist organisations. Fears of terrorist strike using nuclear weapons on the model of 9/11 attacks are driving the Western nations to rethink their past policies and hence the initiative by the four US statesmen. But the thinking of the US statesmen and other ‘non-proliferationists’ is still within the arms control framework they devised in the sixties and managed to sustain relatively successfully. Consequently, the four US statesmen propose a whole host of arms control measures - reduction in arsenals, comprehensive test ban treaty, fissile materials production cut-off, measures to increase the safety of weapons and materials and preventing new countries acquiring nuclear weapons. While they recognise that in order to achieve progress on these steps, the nations have to commit themselves to a nuclear weapon-free world. For them the goal is like the top of a very high mountain which they are unable to see. The want to chart a course to a high ground from which they will be able to see the goal of a nuclear weapon-free world. In other words, this goal is very much like Article VI of the non-proliferation treaty which committed the members to nuclear disarmament but on which there has been no progress over the last 40 years. While the world will wish success for the initiative of the four US statesmen, the past history does not hold out much hope that the present proposals are any more meaningful than what was proposed in the NPT and various arms control measures, in taking the world towards genuine disarmament. The Indian approach now advanced in the conference on disarmament in President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev declared in 1985 in Geneva that a nuclear war could not be won. Many military men who have commanded nuclear forces have questioned whether a war using nuclear weapons can be meaningfully fought and a military decision obtained. It was the realisation after the First World War that chemical weapons could not be used meaningfully to win battles that led to the Geneva Convention and their non-use till 1993 except in cases where the aggressor had the weapon and the victim did not and the international community callously took no action. Therefore, to advance towards a nuclear weapon-free world, besides the arms control measures proposed by the four US statesmen there should be a drive to delegitimise the nuclear weapons, highlighting the non-fightability and non-winnability of nuclear wars and by adopting a no-first use doctrine as happened for the chemical weapons in Geneva Protocol 1925 and which ended in the treaty for the elimination of chemical weapons in 1993. In the Delhi seminar there was significant focus on going beyond arms control and emphasis on `no first use' doctrine. A suggestion was also made that there should be an independent commission of retired Strategic Force Commanders from the nine nuclear weapon countries to examine the fightability and winnability of nuclear wars. One hopes these views will have some influence on the campaigns now launched in the Western
world.
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Now, the litter-ati The British systems were hard put to deal with The Great Indian Trash-ing. Staff at the British High Commission in Delhi found their PCs clogged with e-mail. They were at a loss about whether to forward it all to the UK or refuse it. For, it had got everything to do with refuse. Press statements were flying in thick and fast, trashing Brit councillor Lucy Ivimy’s verbal discharge on the Indian immigrants’ attitude to rubbish. Even post-apology, the mess refused to clear up. The fallout spilled far and wide. A sample of some celebrity outpourings: From the stable of the Shettys. One woman’s slur is another’s spur. Ivimy’s racist remarks spur actor Shilpa Shetty to don the directorial cap. In a statement to the BHC, Shetty declared her intent to portray the prejudice to colour in technicolour. Filth had given her food for thought. From thence flowed the inspiration for a celluloid sequel to the reality show in which she’d herself starred: Film: Big Sister. Female lead: Jane Goody in the role of Ivimy. Male lead: Richard Gere to silence with a smooch the mouth that slights. From the House of Tatas. The flawed British perception of the Indian rubbish conduct instantly drove that famous maker of cars, Ratan Tata, to another scientific innovation: Nano sensors. Gadgets to track garbage disbursers. These sensors could be installed in every window of Ivimy’s estate to furnish a profile of the hand that litters. They’d be particularly programmed to detect the three Rs of rubbish raisers: race, regularity and reach. After a test drive in Ivimy’s Hammersmith and Fulham council, the Tatas would take the road to its mass production for use among muck-rakers on Indian soil. From the publishers of Amartya Sen. The Indian penchant to rubbish would now come under the pen. Leading publisher Penguin issued a Press release stating it had offered a handsome advance to renowned economist Amartya Sen to give literary expression to litter. Seeing the success of “The Argumentative Indian”, Sen had now been roped in to pen a treatise on the anthropological roots of rubbish throwing under the title: “The litter-ate
Indian.”
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India should aim to be a model for human rights India
was a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948, just a year after Independence. It signified the new republic’s resolve to follow the path of democracy, which would ensure human rights to its citizens, despite doubts expressed by leading statesmen of developed democracies about the success of such an experiment in India. India’s venture was unique in many respects. Democracy was adopted in many countries after completing the phase of industrialisation. India embarked on a course of industrialisation with the launching of the first Five Year Plan in 1951, and soon after held a general election on the basis of adult franchise, to all citizens. Many advanced western countries introduced women suffrage and voting rights to all citizens (like to blacks in America) much after India did. Again, India has the most diversity in the world – religious, linguistic and racial – united under a democratic set up. Yet, threats to individual freedom are formidable. Religious intolerance, caste tensions, regional chauvinism, terror threats, detentions without trial, poverty amidst plenty, crime against women, custodial deaths, corruption in public life and attendant evils constantly violate human rights. Though the judiciary is independent, litigation is too costly and time-consuming to be within the reach of a person of humble means. Communal riots like those in Gujarat show how insecure minorities are despite our loud protestations of secularism. Inter-communal and inter-caste marriages often result in killing of the couple. In some cases even the parents are involved in what are called honour killings. The brute form that regional chauvinism can take was demonstrated by recent attacks on North Indians in Mumbai organised by Raj Thackery’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Drastic laws have not been able to curb the menace of terrorism which also need radical socio-economic and political measures. Out of 77,000 persons arrested under TADA alone, only 800 were put on trial and out of them a mere 725 were convicted (The Hindu, May 28, 2008). There are other drastic laws like AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) under which courts have no jurisdiction over wrongful acts of the armed forces. Detentions under such laws may be even more arbitrary. The most glaring cases of unjust detentions include those of human rights activists. Lynching of suspected criminals by the mob is becoming very common as the people are losing faith in police and justice system. Tens of thousands of poor farmers have committed suicide. Uncontrolled inflation is increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. While legally, socially and politically, women have taken many strides forward, there has also been a rise in crime against them. The promise that India had initially showed in the field of human rights and the type of democratic institutions it has evolved, has won it international recognition. For these reasons, it was elected a member of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, which had replaced the Commission on Human Rights on 19 June 2006, by securing 173 out of 191 votes of the United Nations General Assembly, the maximum number of votes. All the member states are to be covered within the four year Universal Periodic Review (UPR). In the first session of the council in April 2008, the UPR listed both the positive and negative record of India. Among the positive points it noted “widespread international appreciation and admiration for the sweeping proactive legal and administrative provisions for the promotion and protection of the full range of human rights, whether in terms of outlawing egregious forms of caste discrimination, or affirmative action programmes in favour of historically disadvantaged parts of the population and vulnerable sections such as women, children and the disabled.” On the negative side, India’s non-conformity with international human rights benchmarks received more concentrated exposure during the UPR than it ever had in the past. It raised pointed questions about India not ratifying the convention against torture, not being party to the convention on the rights of migrant workers and their families, on refugees and stateless persons, the ILO convention on the abolition of child labour, on the rights of indigenous and tribal people, and the government’s persistent refusal to cooperate with the council’s special procedures with respect to torture, treatment of human rights defenders, summary and arbitrary executions, sale of children, arbitrary detentions, child prostitution, and child pornography. Most persistent were questions about the lack of implementation of India’s comprehensive constitutional and legal framework for protecting human rights. In a similar vein, Human Rights Watch (HRW), the leading human rights organisation of the USA, concedes that India is a vibrant electoral democracy and takes note of the various measures for the protection of human rights. But, according to them, “India urgently needs to reform its policing system. Junior police officials operate in abysmal working conditions which make them more likely to succumb to corruption and brutality. Senior officers, on the other hand, complain of interference from politicians.” It needs to be realised that a higher standard of human rights is in the best national interest. To be a world power, India cannot depend on its hard power – economic, industrial, technological and armed strength – alone. The role of soft power, which depends on cultural, moral and political values, including democratic and human rights of the people, is being universally recognised. India need not search for a model elsewhere. It should aspire to be a model for others. The writer is Director, Institute of Jammu and Kashmir Affairs, Jammu
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Europe struggles to keep the idea of EU alive Political
leaders across Europe were trying desperately to keep EU reform plans on track after Irish voters overwhelmingly rejected the Lisbon Treaty last week. The French and German governments led calls for the other 26 EU nations to push ahead regardless with the ratification of the treaty. But senior officials in Brussels accepted that – unless Ireland could be persuaded to stage a second referendum next year – seven years of painful negotiations to simplify and streamline the governance of the EU had come to nothing. The European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, called on the Irish government to suggest possible “solutions” at an EU summit in Brussels this week. He said: “I believe the treaty is alive. Eighteen member states have already approved the treaty and the European Commission believes that the remaining ratifications should continue.” However, another senior European commissioner, speaking off the record, said: “There will be no repeat vote in Ireland. That means the treaty is dead. It’s part of a general disenchantment with the EU. We would have had similar results if there had been referendums in other EU states.” A group of countries, led by France, which assumes the EU presidency next month, is expected to try to minimise the importance of the Irish “no” vote. If other countries ratify the treaty, they argue privately, Ireland will be obliged to have a second vote. Other countries could agree on declarations, they say, guaranteeing respect for Irish neutrality, or on Ireland’s low business tax status. The Irish electorate might then in a second referendum vote “yes” as they did with the Nice Treaty in October 2002. And if Ireland refuses? Legally, the new treaty must be ratified by all 27 member states to come into force. Officials in some capitals, notably Berlin, argue that Ireland, with 4 million people, is too small to be allowed to hold up the plans of governments representing almost 500 million people. Dublin would have to be bullied into accepting some kind of semi-detached European status, like that of Norway. Officials in Brussels said they doubted whether that could work. In any case, they said, why should Ireland be menaced with de facto expulsion when France and the Netherlands escaped any threat after their popular “no” votes in 2005? Besides, the officials said, it would be dangerous to ride rough-shod over a popular vote. EU capitals are confronted with a depressing conundrum. The peoples of the European Union – even those who have manifestly benefited from the enterprise such as the French and the Dutch and now the Irish – feel threatened, rather than inspired or protected, by their membership of the enlarged EU. The Lisbon Treaty is not, as sometimes claimed, a blueprint for a federal united states of Europe. In some respects, it buried that idea for ever. The treaty is an absurdly complex attempt to try to make an absurdly complex system, designed for six countries, work better – or simply work – with 27 countries. In truth, officials recognised, EU governments have only four options. First, they can agree to renegotiate the treaty (again) to take account of the Irish electorate’s disparate objections. This is a non-runner. Second, they can press ahead with their own ratification processes. When 26 countries have signed up, they can turn to Ireland and ask for a second referendum. A few rhetorical concessions could be made to Dublin. Third, Ireland, as the only non-signatory, can be asked to leave the EU. Fourth, the EU can forget the whole thing (for now) and continue with its existing rules. There will be some voices – maybe including British ones – suggesting that the EU should now concentrate on practical problems which directly concern its citizens – climate, globalisation, immigration, terrorism – rather than continue to argue about itself. This may be the de facto outcome, whatever governments say in the next days and weeks. Whether the old EU rules will permit any progress to be made on practical issues is open to doubt. By arrangement with
The Independent
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Chatterati Political
bigwigs’ supporters go the whole hog in celebrating their leaders’ birthdays. At Lalu’s birthday, supporters arrived with bouquets, garlands and loads of gifts. Shyam Rajak stole the show as he came with a 32-pound cake that resembled Lalu’s dream train, ‘Garib Rath’. With it was a huge garland made of 732 roses, one for each month of Lalu’s life, and 61 baskets of mangoes, with each mango having a Lalu photo pasted on it. Sonia Gandhi called to wish “Happy Birthday” and the birthday boy promised her that he will get litchis for her when he arrives in Delhi. A host of political leaders from across the country, including PM Manmohan Singh, called Lalu to greet him. But, surprisingly, his neighbour and Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar, forgot to wish Laluji. Cup of joy The state of Tamil Nadu is having month-long celebrations of its CM’s birthday. Eighty-five of his literary works – Karunanidhi turned 85 – were released on the occasion. A cricket tournament, the Kalaignar Gold Cup, has started and has 50 matches every day, played under lights from 6.30 p.m. till early morning, at five different grounds, with 1,285 teams participating. Just in case anyone misses the point, members of all teams have received T-shirts with Karunanidhi’s photograph. Other games like football, volleyball and kabaddi are also there. There is no let-up in the festivities in villages either, though the form is different. Earlier this week, about 100 bullock carts took part in a race in Madurai. Meanwhile, Bharathiar University has announced the translation of as many as 100 literary works by the Chief Minister, from Tamil to English. Woman power Agatha Kongkal, daughter of former Lok Sabha speaker Purno Sangma, got this distinction in the Tura Lok Sabha bypoll – she is the youngest woman to be elected MP. Empowering women is the best way to improve their status in society. This young MP feels financial independence is a must for all women. The former Lok Sabha Speaker Sangma had represented the seat over nine consecutive terms, before leaving it for his daughter. Agatha as usual wants to improve the environment and make good use of the traditional skills of women. With an eye on the next general elections, she is going to spend a lot of time in the Garo Hills, to focus on the problems of the rural people. In Parliament, she wants to talk about infrastructure development in Meghalaya. It is time political parties gave more tickets to women. Our politicians must change their attitude and encourage women to join electoral politics. It is important to make sure that the women’s reservation Bill goes through.
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