The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Europe in distress
Shrinking economies ring alarm bells

IT is official now. The 15 European countries that constitute the Euro Zone are in the grip of recession as a result of the international financial crisis. Their economies have contracted by .2 per cent in two consecutive quarters, second and third, which is essential to confirm the economic slowdown. The Euro Zone includes Germany, Europe’s industrial powerhouse, whose economy shrank by .5 per cent in the third quarter, according to the statistics released by Eurostat. These countries experienced a major recession in 1993, but they are facing the crisis for the first time after the creation of the zone with the euro as its official currency. Both companies and consumers are worried. They are being reminded of the Great Depression of the 1930s, which took about five years to come to an end.

Shrinking demand for goods and services and increasing job cuts -- the most dreaded effect of recession -- in the European Union are alarming for India too. A large number of Indians work in the EU countries. The EU’s contribution to the world’s GDP is the second highest — 24.7 per cent — after the US’s 30 per cent. There is the possibility of the European Central Bank lowering its interest rate to increase liquidity in the financial system. But many experts believe that this alone may not help at this stage, as the problem is related to the people’s expectations. Governments will have to initiate other measures to stimulate demand.

Resorting to trade protectionism that led to the crisis of the thirties is unthinkable today because of the presence of the WTO. Europe is slightly better placed to handle the crisis because of the well-knit EU system. Obviously, it must be waiting for the outcome of the G-20 summit in Washington. There is the possibility of the EU going in for direct expenditures by the governments of its member-countries to stimulate demand. What the EU does will be watched with considerable interest by the world community because of its image of being the most successful grouping of 27 nations.

Education as priority
South Korea shows the way

AS speculation over the timing of the general election persists, there is gathering anxiety whether and how it will affect the schedules of the many Class X and XII board examinations, usually held in March. In a country where elections and electoral politics take precedence over education this is only to be expected. Education is the single biggest reason for the social and economic emancipation of vast sections in India. It accounts for the human resources on which is founded much of our post-Independence development. Yet, education is rarely the top priority at critical times when it should be so in the interest of the students.

This has been brought home by reports from Seoul, on how the whole of South Korea was put on hold when half a million students appeared for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). The CSAT is a threshold exam for entrance to colleges and universities. On the day of the test, workplaces, including the stock market, opened later to ensure that the rush hour did not delay students. Airlines, military exercises and activities that could cause disturbances, especially during the audio exams, were suspended for the period. The only national concern was to ensure that the students were assured of smooth passage, and all necessary support, for taking the exams without the least distraction.

This brings to mind how, a few years ago, some students trapped in traffic snarls in East Delhi -- because of a high-profile politician’s visit to the area -- were unable to appear for their board exam. The South Korean practice is worthy of emulation. To begin with, during the exam period, there should be a bar on VIP movements so that students are not affected by traffic jams. Similarly, all political and other activities — including cricket matches — should be suspended to help students from being distracted. No elections, protests, rallies or anything that disrupts the routine should be permitted. Facilitating the conduct of the exams and creating stress-free conditions for the students and their parents should be the one and only national priority during the period.

Thought for the Day

He wrapped himself in quotations — as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of emperors. — Rudyard Kipling

ARTICLE

Perverse patriotism
Time to fight jingoistic nationalism
by B.G. Verghese

One must beware of perverse patriotism, disturbing signs of which have been recently manifest. The arrest of an Army officer on suspicion of having assisted alleged Hindu right extremist terror bombings in Malegaon and possibly elsewhere appears sinister. At the moment here are only allegations that must be thoroughly investigated before definitive conclusions are reached. Nevertheless, enough has been established to cause deep concern that the armed forces may have been penetrated by dangerous, ideologically driven groups.

The civil and, especially, uniformed services are non-political servants of the people acting under the directions of the government of the day, owning allegiance to the Constitution and not to any extraneous ideology or group. The Defence Minister has taken note of whatever has happened and intends to get to the root of the matter so that incipient mischief is nipped in the bud. Meanwhile, the single incident come to light should not be considered a trend but an aberration.

What is surprising, however, is the response of spokesmen of the Parivar. They disown any association with Sadhvi Prayaga and other civil suspects held for the Malegaon bombing. Yet they take the line that Hindus cannot be terrorists and that the armed forces are a part of Indian society which has been horrified by the pusillanimous and apologetic approach of the UPA government to terror attacks and cannot, therefore, be blamed for patriotic reactions.

This apologia comes close to showing sympathy for and indirectly condoning what is undoubtedly grave dereliction of duty and rank indiscipline. It echoes the chorus from across the border in praise of “freedom fighters” as opposed to terrorists, “our” boys versus the dreadful “other”. Such pernicious double talk is scarcely in keeping with the Parivar’s insistent demand for “strong” action against terror.

The same attitude of “patriotic anger” was revealed in the disgraceful conduct of young ABVP hoodlums who broke up a Delhi University meeting on “Democracy and Fascism” last week and spat on one of the invited speakers, S.A.R Geelani, who was discharged by the Supreme Court in the Parliament bombing case. What was witnessed was fascism in action, made worse by two comments by the saffron fraternity.

ABVP President Nupur Sharma said that the offenders were not AVBP members but “outsiders” but went on to state in a TV discussion that she would have done much the same thing in patriotic anger against the government’s poor record in fighting terror. BJP spokesman Ravi Pratap Rudy’s comment was that the protest against Mr Geelani could have been “more hygienic” but was nevertheless an expression of “patriotic emotion” on the part of students with regard to what was perceived as Mr Geelani’s mistrial.

The VHP’s Pravin Togadia repeated the same mantra as senior RSS spokesmen and other saffronites that a Hindu by definition cannot be a terrorist. He warned that persisting with such “false charges” against a Sadhvi and Army personnel would evoke a “political backlash”.

In another episode last August, BJP-backed protestors in Jammu rioted and vandalised property during the Amarnath Yatra Board land agitation. Here again the commentary extolled demonstrations by “patriotic Indians” holding aloft the Tricolour, as against Valley separatists brazenly marching to Muzaffarabad. The national flag must be honoured but cannot be used as a shield against the riot police.

Perverse patriotism feeding on false notions of jingoistic nationalism must be squarely fought as it manifests a malignant fascism. Terrorism is terrorism, irrespective of community, and can find no place in a democratic society that offers many avenues for grievance redressal. Even if poor or partisan governance, political bias in policing and a creaking criminal justice system have closed many doors, wrong means cannot be justified in the name of seeking right ends.

The Delhi High Court has sternly admonished police officials to stop rushing to hold Press conferences to leak premature and fallible “leads” that disclose their line of investigation and instead to get on with their job of bringing criminals to justice. Warped notions of “public interest” and “press freedom” have made nonsense of good reporting and a growingly irresponsible section of the media is becoming a social menace rather than performing its proper role of “mediation”.

Two other straws merit comment. Though Chaat Puja passed off peacefully, one must be wary of the tendency to use festivals for political and electoral mobilisation and to overawe “the other” whosoever that other might be.

The second relates to a Parliamentary Committee recommendation that would make a non-official chairman of the Central Wakf Board rather than a Joint Secretary as at present. But why on earth should the government enter this constitutionally forbidden territory and, likewise, fund Haj, Kailash-Mansarovar and other pilgrimages at the taxpayers’ expense? This is to dilute secularism, court trouble and invite competitive religiosity to garner votes.

Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind clerics have just met in Hyderabad to reinforce their previous Deoband fatwa denouncing terror masquerading as jihad. This is a positive move and should be the starting point for further efforts in the direction of national integration. Bhutan and the Maldives are happily marching towards democracy and Mr Barack Obama has set an inspiring example by going beyond narrow identity politics to set himself larger and higher goals for the United States and the world. These are beacon lights to follow.

MIDDLE

Name games
by Sai R. Vaidyanathan

Every time V.V.S. Laxman plays a splendid innings, the first thing that crops up in my mind is Very Very Special Laxman. This is how the English media, which cannot remember or pronounce Laxman’s full name, has re-christened him.

There is no doubt that South Indian names are long. This arduous task begins by putting the name of one’s native place in the beginning, followed by one’s father’s name, then one’s own name and, finally, one’s surname.

All this was fine until when, historically speaking, the tag of a Brahmin became a burden to carry in Tamil Nadu due to anti-Brahminical and quota policies. Many in my grandfather’s generation dropped Iyers and Iyengars from their names. Anyway, that step didn’t reduce the weight of our names by much.

Then began our exodus to Western countries. In the process of making our complicated names be as simple as John and Sam, the White man got stuck with a queer problem: Many of us ended up with the name Thiru.

As our first name bears the name of our native place and many of my uncles and cousins come from Thiruvilwamala, Tiruchendur, Tirunelveli, Thiruvananthapuram, “Thiru-something” made up the initial ‘T’ in our names. Simplifying a South Indian name isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

As our ilk spread out of our native places, the first initial made little sense and many Madrasis dropped the first part of their name. Instead of ending our problems, a new one arose.

When my father-in-law went to get his daughter admitted to school, the name column in the form mandatorily asked for the first name, middle name and last name. This upset my father-in-law’s plans as he had planned to give his daughter’s name simply as Durga Parameshwaran.

There and then, he re-christened his daughter Parvathy, which is another name for goddess Durga, put his name Parameshwaran as the middle name and made the name of Durga, their family goddess, as the family name.

But the nickname Durga remained stuck to her and from that day, everyone in the family and the neighbourhood has called the little girl by the family surname Durga!

The South Indian spread continued and we reached the North. A friend here asked me why we put a silent ‘h’ in our names. Why does Sangeeta become Sangeetha, Saraswati become Saraswathy and Revati become Revathy? Maybe it was the need of the hour (Hour too has a silent h).

How can we miss the Punjabi contribution? The riddle to how the spelling of my grandfather’s name changed in a certificate was solved when I heard our domestic help calling my son Arjun as Arjan. Grandfather Purushothama became Parshotam as there was a Punjabi at the desk!

OPED

US in control
Iraqis know who funds their secret police
by Patrick Cockburn

If it ever comes to court it should be one of the more interesting libel cases of the decade. The Iraqi National Intelligence Service is threatening to sue Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi politician, for asking who pays for it.

“It is somewhat curious,” says Mr Chalabi, “that the intelligence service of a country which is sovereign – that no one really knows who is funding it.”

In fact, there are very few Iraqis who do not believe they have a very clear idea of who funds Iraq’s secret police.

Its director is General Mohammed Abdullah Shahwani, who once led a failed coup against Saddam Hussein, and was handpicked by the CIA to run the new security organisation soon after the invasion of 2003. He is believed to have been answering to them ever since.

The history of the Iraqi intelligence service is important because it shows the real distribution of power in Iraq rather than the spurious picture presented by President Bush.

It explains why so many Iraqis are suspicious of the security accord, or Status of Forces Agreement, that the White House has been pushing the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Malki to sign.

It reveals the real political landscape where President-elect Barack Obama will soon have to find his bearings.

For all Mr Bush’s pious declarations about respecting Iraqi sovereignty, General Shahwani is reported to work primarily for American intelligence.

The intelligence service is “not working for the Iraqi government – it’s working for the CIA,” Hadi al-Ameri, a powerful Shia lawmaker, was quoted as saying three years ago. “I prefer to call it the American Intelligence of Iraq, not the Iraqi Intelligence Service.”

It seems that not much has changed since then. The intelligence service does now appear in the Iraqi budget as being in receipt of $150 million, though this seems somewhat measly given the extent of its operations, which includes running paramilitary units.

One of its main missions is to spy on Iranians on behalf of the US, employing much the same cadre of intelligence officers who carried out this task for Saddam Hussein.

Fear of covert US control is one of the reasons why the Iraqi government has been so intent on insisting that all US forces be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

The latest draft of the security accord has dropped mention of US troops staying behind for training, or making the US withdrawal conditional on improved security in Iraq being maintained.

The American position in Iraq has always been undermined by the fear that, whatever they claimed to be doing in Iraq, their long-term objective was to rule the country.

The overthrow of Saddam Hussein, one of the world’s more disastrous leaders, was generally popular in Iraq. But the occupation was disliked by the majority of Iraqis from the beginning.

The result of this is that over the last five and a half years America has always been politically weak in Iraq. Put simply, it has very few friends among Iraqis outside Kurdistan.

The Shia and Sunni communities have, for their own ends, made tactical alliances with the occupier, but never wanted a permanent presence.

Once Iraqis and their neighbours no longer fear that the US intends to rule Iraq directly or indirectly through local nominees then America’s position becomes much stronger.

This should be good news for Barack Obama. He wants US combat troops out in 16 months. The Iraqi government largely agrees.

But if the presidential election proved anything it was that neither candidate knew much about what was happening Iraq.

John McCain claimed absurdly that the US was on the verge of victory, and during his visits to the Green Zone his staffers annoyed US embassy officials by requesting them not to wear helmets and body armour when standing next the candidate.

McCain’s people feared this might undermine in the eyes of American television viewers their candidate’s claim that US prospects in Iraq were rosier than had been reported.

The key to the US conducting an orderly retreat from Iraq is that this retreat should be real and the US should not try to control essential Iraqi state institutions like the intelligence service.

It is also crucial that Obama seriously negotiate with the Iranians. So long as the Iranian leadership thinks that Iraq might be the launching pad for an attack on Iran it will never be in Iranian interests for Iraq to be stabilised.

The same is true of Syria. A problem for Obama is that McCain’s quite false claim that America’s position in Iraq has become stronger has been largely accepted by the US media so any compromise with Iran can be portrayed as a sell-out.

— By arrangement with The Independent

Chatterati
Congress heritage
by Devi Cherian

Recently at a wedding function in Delhi a lot of young Congressmen were huddled in a corner. On enquiry, one of them said that they had gathered to watch the “heritage property” of the Congress. The heritage property in question turned out to be a stalwart Congressman, a senior Union minister who spends more time in hospital than at work and is permanently on a wheelchair.

The young Congressmen, some of whom had won elections twice in the BJP territory, wondered aloud when their chance would come.

The BJP’s PM-in-waiting may be 82 and Vijay Malhotra 77, much older to Shiela Dixit, but 52 is the average age of BJP candidates in the fray this time. This is keeping in mind that Delhi itself has 46 lakh voters aged 18 to 23.

Race for ticket

The busiest place these days with lots of commotion is the Congress office. The BJP, Samajwadi Party and BSP offices in comparison are quiet. This is because while these parties have completed their ticket distribution work well in advance, Congressmen have a lot of time-wasting formal rounds to go through. Each seat is discussed in four or five rounds and inputs from state PCC chiefs, CM candidates and general secretaries in charge of states are taken.

If it’s a regional party the chief can change the candidate at the spur of the moment without having to take anyone’s consent. Like Farooq Abdullah just did so in Kashmir when he found that a certain candidate he had named earlier was not as popular as he thought when he reached the village. So he asked the constituents who they wanted and announced the name immediately.

So while other party chiefs were out there campaigning, the Congress chiefs who are supposed to lead the party to victory were huddled in the Capital fighting for their winning candidates, thus losing out precious campaigning time.

Poor politicians!

After Delhi politicians filed their nomination papers, Delhiites were feeling quite sorry for them. They suddenly realised how poor their politicians were. Only a couple of politicians were crorepatis. Dr Harsh Vadhan has assets of Rs 74 lakh and an eight-year-old Honda car. The Education Minister only has Rs 25 lakh and a small Maruti car.

The BJP’s CM candidate has wealth four times that of Shiela Dixit. As a true practical lady, she has invested in several saving instruments. Her investment is in mutual funds and silver, gemstones and post office and senior citizens saving schemes and PPF. The richest is young BJP candidate Nakul Bharadwaj with Rs 2.13 crore. Interestingly, the wives of these politicians are much richer than them but amazingly our politicians don’t own houses or flats.

State institutions losing credibility
By Sarbjit Dhaliwal

The biggest tragedy of our times is the failure of our bureaucrats and politicians in power, especially in states, to create trustworthy public institutions. What is ironic is that politicians, who have remained chief ministers in their respective states for a long period, have been either rejecting their own institutions or doubting their credibility.

Take the instance of Punjab. The Badal government had recently approached the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for the recruitment of officers to the PCS and allied cadres because it had lost faith in the credibility of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), an authorised constitutional institution.

And the reason for expressing distrust in the PPSC was that most of its members, including the Chairman, were appointed by Capt Amarinder Singh.

As the UPSC refused to take a call from the Punjab Government on this issue, the Badal government had to revert to the PPSC to get the PCS officers recruited.

Earlier, Capt Amarinder Singh, as Chief Minister as well as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, had not only declared the PPSC as a “den of corruption” but had also got arrested then Chairman in what later became popular as the “cash-for-jobs” scam in 2002.

As the PPSC had remained under a cloud for the past several years, there has been no fresh recruitment to the PCS and allied cadres for the past 10 years. Many youth have become overage waiting for the PPSC to resume recruitment for the PCS posts during the past one decade.

In fact, the “cash-for-jobs” and “sifarish” business in the PPSC had been going on for the past several decades but it is another matter that it was exposed only a few years ago. Recently, a big scandal came to light in the recruitment made in Haryana. The situation is no better in other states except a few.

There had been PPSC members and chairpersons who preferred to recruit their own kith and kin in the PCS to resume allied cadres without being ashamed even slightly of their conduct.

Many PPSC members in the past have been following the policy — you scratch my back and I will scratch yours — meaning that I will recruit your kin and you recruit mine.

There is a sizeable number of PCS and other officers who have been selected on merit by the PPSC during the past 40-50 years. In case of many, it is not difficult to guess how they have become officers.

Interestingly, the Badal government had a faith in the credibility of the UPSC and that it is why it is approached it. At least the Union Government has been successful in running one institution — UPSC —the credibility of which is rarely doubted. Unfortunately, most of the states have been unable to develop a single institution that can be considered above board by people.

Instead of approaching the UPSC, the Badal government should have taken measures to restore the credibility of the PPSC and to make the recruitment system transparent.

Even Capt Amarinder Singh, who took all the credit for unearthing the cash-for- job scam, did not make any major effort to make the recruitment system fully transparent and above board in the PPSC.

In fact, politicians, if not all, most of them, strongly believe in discrediting institutions and then using them to serve their own ends. Actually, most of the politicians reject institutions only when these fail to meet their ends.

The PPSC’s functioning should be made totally transparent and opened to public scrutiny. Only people of high integrity should be appointed as members of the commission. That is the only way to strengthen the faith of youth in public institutions.

Another important institution the credibility of which is often questioned is the police. Politicians, especially when they are in opposition, often seek a CBI probe in major cases of corruption, scams, violence etc in their respective states. They outrightly reject the probe by the state police and other state agencies declaring them as “politically motivated”.

Now politicians have started demanding a CBI inquiry even in routine cases in states though the CBI has also faced the allegation of its misuse by the ruling political alliances in the Centre to settle political scores or to armtwist politicians not falling in line.

If the Union Government can establish an institution such as the CBI, why cannot state governments do the same? Making the police just and impartial is an important aspect of a democratic system. The use of the police force to please the rulers is a dangerous phenomenon in various states in the country. When people doubt the fairness and justness of institutions, their reactions against such institutions become often severe and violent.