The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Karzai the gainer
Abdullah’s tactic to be in power fails

WITH the Afghanistan Independent Election Commission declaring President Hamid Karzai on Monday as the winner in the presidential poll, the political uncertainty in Kabul has come to an end. The commission cancelled the election run-off, scheduled for November 7, following the withdrawal of his candidature by Dr Abdullah Abdullah, a formidable challenger to Mr Karzai, on Sunday. The former Foreign Minister’s decision had put a big question mark over the credibility of the election machinery in Afghanistan. Dr Abdullah had expressed the view that the poll run-off would have no meaning with the commission remaining unchanged despite the charges of massive fraud levelled against it. He wanted the commission to have new faces with many other changes in the administration for a free and fair poll.

However, the Election Commission felt that a second round of the poll was not justifiable under the circumstances. Though it was a major challenge to bring the poll process to its logical conclusion with no one in the fray to oppose Mr Karzai, the incumbent President’s performance in the August 20 elections went in his favour. He had won a little less than 50 per cent of the votes cast in the first round. This had led to the poll run-off as Afghanistan and the world community could not afford to have a government in Kabul whose legitimacy would remain questionable from day one. It was feared that there could be massive opposition to Mr Karzai’s authority if he was allowed to form his government again when he was not the clear winner. But the situation changed with Dr Abdullah’s otherwise expected decision.

Dr Abdullah’s withdrawal from the contest was being interpreted as his last tactic to force the constitution of a “national unity government”. After all, he has emerged as the most prominent representative of the non-Pashtun segment of Afghanistan’s population. But there was the danger of the two leaders pulling in opposite directions, endangering the fight against the Taliban. This might have been one of the factors that led to the failure of Dr Abdullah’s last-ditch efforts. Let us hope what has happened helps in establishing peace in the war-ravaged country.

Safety up in flames
Lapses led to inferno

THE Pink City became black when the Indian Oil Corporation depot in Jaipur was engulfed in flames that led to several deaths, caused thousands of people to be displaced, and a loss of over Rs 500 crore. Around 200 small and big industries located near the depot were damaged by the fire. Ideally, they should not have been there in the first place. But all this could have been avoided if the prescribed safety norms had been adhered to and immediate and effective steps taken to prevent the flames from spreading.

While a formal inquiry would be needed to ascertain the cause of the fire, there is unanimity among experts that prompt and adequate action at the very onset of the fire was the only effective way of tackling the situation, since once the fire spread, given the combustible nature of oil, there was nothing that could be done other than to allow the fuel to burn itself out. The response from the fire department and the state government was also tardy and uncoordinated. This is hardly surprising since fire safety in India as a whole has never been given the importance it deserves. As a result, firemen — who are often underpaid, lack training and equipment — seldom have the wherewithal to handle anything other than minor fires.

The Oil Industry Safety Directorate has since 1986 laid down norms and standardised the design and procedures at various oil depots, but since the Rajbandh oil depot fire in 2004, it has been felt that it needs to update its norms. Potential fire hazards should not be located near populated areas. In fact, they are not, but often cities grow and people start living around hazardous places. The depot in Jaipur is in a populated place, as are those in many other cities in India, including the nation’s Capital. Ideally, they should be shifted out. Ensuring safety is a difficult task that needs proper planning, implementation and adequate resources. Lack of any of these prerequisites allows mishaps to turn into disasters, just as the Jaipur fire has become.

Thought for the Day

If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. — John F. Kennedy

ARTICLE

Indira Gandhi: A product of her time
How she influenced the polity
by S. Nihal Singh

Indira Gandhi’s death anniversary brought much praise and some criticism of her tempestuous political career, but few have dwelled on how much she influenced Indian polity — for the better and worse. It was she who introduced a centralised form of government — the feint of a periodical debate on the presidential form of government notwithstanding.

Indira also introduced the bane of a “committed” bureaucracy, which became a loaded term to denote that a civil servant must not only be loyal to constitutional norms but must play the games of his or her political master. As the bureaucracy went, so did the police force and we are all of us familiar with the sad spectacle of wholesale transfers of police officers on a new chief minister taking charge.

A centralised polity was a recognition of the fact that modern governance has become simply too complex to be tackled piecemeal and must have a centralised structure staffed with experts to function effectively. In practice, this meant a radical expansion of the Prime Minister’s Office to coordinate the work of various ministries and organisations. Indira was, in effect, following a worldwide trend.

But in changing the basis of the functioning of the bureaucracy inherited from the British, Indira was serving her own short-term interests, initially in the intra-party struggle she won, and later to restructure the Congress party. Instead of nurturing the grassroot worker who had stood the party in good stead in election after election, she built up conglomerates of achievers, usually of the wheeler-dealer variety, who could deliver quick results. In any event, in promoting her younger son Sanjay to assume the country’s leadership, she needed short-cuts, instead of relying on the slower moving party bureaucracy. We are, as a consequence, facing the ill effects of a demoralised bureaucracy, with Ms Mayawati and Mr Narendra Modi now being some of Indira’s avid followers in suborning civilian and police officers.

The Congress as the party of Indian independence was the trendsetter, and in politics “Congress culture” became the national culture. It was amazing how the Janata Party conglomerate, the first opposition outfit to rule the country, duplicated the terminology of the Congress in designating its party tiers of authority. And the Jan Sangh, which morphed into the Bharatiya Janata Party, also followed the essential Congress party nomenclature for all its differences from the Congress.

Perhaps some of the transformations in the country’s political life were inevitable, given the transition from the urbane, highly educated men and women of the Independence generation to their more representative, mostly rural and more parochial successors. The ken of today’s legislators is more limited and more prone to take cognisance of ethnic and religious differences. But Indira’s methods remain a ready reference point for them in how to govern.

It can be argued whether the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty came first or it was in reality an expression of the Indian concept of obligation to one’s kinsmen and kinswomen. For the Congress party, it served to fill a void. Not being a cadre-based party, it had to rely on identifiable leaders’ image to win elections. A compact was thus formed, of leaders who won elections and exercised untrammelled power thereafter.

In is ironical that the BJP, formed in opposition to Congress policies and ideology and proclaiming it to be a party with a difference, should now be veering towards the concept of hereditary politics in their ranks in the states. Even the pull of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, tied to the BJP by an umbilical cord, has not been strong enough to withstand the attraction of following hereditary politics. And it seems a matter of time for the Left parties to catch the contagion.

There is a contradiction here between the demands of modern governance requiring centralisation and the need for decentralisation in reaching the fruits of government policies to the last man and woman. This can be resolved by strengthening local institutions and, as the landmark rural guarantee scheme has shown, it can be made to work, the degree of efficiency and effectiveness depending upon the calibre and integrity of local and regional officials.

Overall, a partisan bureaucracy and police force have had serious consequences for the country. The spread of the Maoist movement has proved how ineffective or venal governance has lit the fires of rebellion. Vested interests have traditionally frustrated land reforms and the plight of the tribal population in particular has been accentuated by the land requirements of an industrialising country, often carried out over their heads.

On the positive side, Indira did give patronage to the arts. Some work on heritage preservation continues, but the aesthetic sense of the bulk of our politicians remains woeful. And we continue to install carbon copy statues of the good and the great, which are blots on the landscape. Making the journey from delectable folk art in the villages to an urban environment, we have lost our sense of aesthetics and revel in kitsch.

Since Indira Gandhi’s time, we have graduated into a consumer society, which has accelerated the process of ends justifying means, set in motion by Indira for short-term political advantage. In a sense, it is a worldwide trend; look at the inequities in a China having enthusiastically embraced capitalism. But in India’s case, the example set at the top is particularly harmful, given the scale of poverty and deprivation that exists.

Indira was, of course, a child of her time. India was seeking to consolidate its statehood and move ahead in a difficult environment. The Nehru era, which set the country on an even course, was over. With intra-party struggles coming to the surface in the party of Independence, Indira felt she had to use any means she could to throw her figurative hat in the ring and prevail against party veterans adept at managing politics. Bank nationalisation, a committed bureaucracy and modern propaganda warfare were instruments of victory in her armoury. We must now surmount the hurdles they have become.

MIDDLE

Death of a son
by Sarvjit Singh

“Kaun aakhe sahib nu,

injj nahin injj kar;

Ikna de ghar putt,

puttan ghar potre;

Iknan de ghar ikk,

te oh vee jae marr;

Kaun aakhe sahib nu inj nahin inj karr.”

“Who can tell the Lord this be done,

and that not be done;

Some are blessed with sons,

and the sons are blessed with grandsons;

Some have only one,

and he is snatched, with a jerk sudden;

Who can tell the Lord this be done,

And that not be done.”

By nature’s design wind blows and snaps some mangoes prematurely before they can spread sweetness. By nature’s design some rivers dry up before meeting the sea. It is in the script, when the time for exit comes, the dark energy casts spell on mind and drives one to the mouth of the black hole that renders a palpable reality into a void.

He knew he had to stand valiantly carrying the stab, “…your son, Ram, is no more” in the chest that had been the wellspring of unconditional love in the rocky expanse of business-like world. He knew lightning had struck him and he had to stand still and bear it. He knew he alone, like the Atlas, will have to shoulder the unbearable weight of a son’s coffin. Everyone stood clutching on thin air, today, no one could help the man who had tried to help everyone who had knocked at his door.

Her eyes widened and did not blink for the next 48 hours for she saw her son in the emptiness, others were unable to. How could she believe that the tree she had watered religiously and seen grow each day of the past 22 years had disappeared overnight? Others saw it had been stolen, she saw it very much there. She challenged everyone, including her husband, whom she loved, that her limb had not been chopped off by an invisible hand. Men cried but she didn’t when the boy’s head was placed in her lap. How could the boy leave the world without her permission who had always asked her before leaving the house?

It was only when their other son arrived and the pyre was lit in the gaze of hundreds that the dam of her denial gave in to the weight of grief, that erupted then and flooded the vastness.

Faced with a dear one who was alive a moment before, one is forced to look for the ‘aspect’ that gives life and upon departing renders a body lifeless. The ritual of congregating at cremations is important, for man needs to be reminded of frailty of life from time to time and the need to ponder on ‘that aspect’.

Einstein’s thought “God is not malicious, he is subtle” is perhaps the only feeble ray of hope one can hold on to, in the times dark clouds descend and a tornado uproots everything that was there a minute before.

OPED

Hamid Karzai appears to win by default
by Alexandra Zavis

THE withdrawal on Sunday of President Hamid Karzai's only rival in an election runoff effectively handed the incumbent another five-year term but without the clear mandate which would have nade him an effective partner in the struggle to stabilise Afghanistan.

Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said he decided not to take part in the Nov. 7 poll because Karzai had refused his demands for changes to the country's election infrastructure to prevent the type of rampant ballot-box stuffing and other irregularities that marred the first round of voting in August.

The announcement plunged the country into uncharted legal and political territory, with no consensus on whether the runoff should still be held. Western officials, who leaned heavily on Karzai to accept a runoff election after the tainted first round, are pressing the president and Afghan electoral officials to find a legally acceptable way to cancel the poll and declare Karzai the winner. Neither the U.S. nor the United Nations is prepared to risk more lives for an election with only one candidate, said a Western official familiar with the talks.

American officials hope to help restore legitimacy to Karzai's government by encouraging him to build a reform-minded government that is ethnically representative and includes Abdullah's followers, the Western official said.

"He knows as well as anyone else does, even if he is crowned president, he cannot govern without Abdullah," said the official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

The election imbroglio has taken place as President Barack Obama deliberates whether to deepen U.S. involvement in the war, including deploying tens of thousands of additional troops. A weak and discredited government in Kabul would make it more difficult to persuade a disillusioned American public and Congress to up the ante on a life-and-death commitment.

Although Abdullah's withdrawal was a blow to U.S. hopes for a legitimate Afghan government, U.S. officials Sunday sought to play down the importance of the move and held out hope that Afghans would have confidence in a regime that still might include officials from Abdullah's camp.

U.S officials were relieved that Abdullah, in his announcement, did not urge followers to boycott the election or "go to the streets."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton released a statement that hinted at the Americans' hopes that Abdullah's group would have some voice in the government.

She praised Abdullah for running a "dignified and constructive campaign that drew the support of Afghan people across the nation. We hope that he will continue to stay engaged in the national dialogue and work on behalf of the security and prosperity of the people of Afghanistan."

American military officials emphasized that the command in Afghanistan and the Pentagon were working hard not to involve themselves in the politics -- remaining neutral on who should be elected.

"We were doing back flips to stay out of the political arena of the election," said one Defense Department official.

Still, many members of the military continue to hold out hope that Karzai will cut a deal with Abdullah, to embrace some of his reforms, bring him into a government position or both. Such a negotiated settlement would bolster the legitimacy of the government, they agreed.

White House officials have debated whether to make the final decision on troop levels before or after the Afghan voting. If the election does not proceed, reasons for delay might seem flimsier.

"If anything, it will speed the debate up," a Defense official said. "Karzai is the guy. ... There is nothing we can do about it."

Other military officials believe the White House has settled on a timetable for making decisions and that Abdullah's withdrawal will have little effect on the timing. But how the events of the next few days play out could have a major effect on the substance of the strategy debate.

Senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said in a TV news talk show appearance Sunday, "I expect the president will make a decision within weeks."

"As you know," Axelrod said, " he has gone through a very rigorous process because the goal here is not just to make an arithmetic judgment about the number of troops, but to make sure that we have the right strategy."

Karzai's campaign, after initially resisting a runoff, focused last week on mobilizing a strong turnout for the president, particularly in the south, which is dominated by his fellow Pashtuns.

Campaign spokesman Waheed Omar said their "preferred scenario" was to go ahead with the vote, but the campaign would abide by the decision of the Independent Election Commission.

Azizullah Lodin, who heads the panel appointed by Karzai, said it would convene Monday to reach a decision in consultation with legal experts.

U.N.-backed auditors threw out more than 1 million votes cast Aug. 20, including nearly one-third of Karzai's tally. That left the president just short of the 50 percent threshold required for an outright win and forced him into a runoff against Abdullah, his main challenger.

Last week, Abdullah announced a list of demands he said would help prevent a repeat of the fraud, including the removal of Lodin and two deputies. Karzai maintained that he did not have the authority to dismiss commission members, who can be removed only through the judicial system.

Abdullah announced his decision at a gathering of thousands of supporters from around the country, who met in a giant tent used for traditional gatherings of tribal elders known as loya jirgas. But he stopped short of calling for a boycott of the runoff, which some of his top supporters had pressed him to do.

"The reason that I decided not to participate is that I have strong feelings and reservations about the credibility of the process," Abdullah told journalists after the gathering.

He said it was a "tough" and "painful" choice but that his decision was final.

Abdullah played down fears that his withdrawal could trigger a violent backlash from his supporters and urged them "not to go to the streets, not to demonstrate."n

— By arrangement with LA Times-Washington Post

Mega projects threaten Himachal’s climate
by Manshi Asher

SINCE the BJP came to power in Himachal Pradesh, it has paid lip service to climate change issues — be it the distribution of CFL bulbs or a ban on plastics.

That mega-project centred development focussing on building more hydropower projects, more cement plants and limestone mines, more thermal power projects and rapid industrialisation is highly resource-intensive is un-debatable.

There is little doubt also that such a model will only exacerbate the impact of climate change, be it flash floods, drought, unpredictable monsoon or receding glaciers. The brunt of these phenomena is borne by the communities depending heavily on the resources around them.

Spontaneous agitations have emerged at several locations against large projects in Himachal. The most prominent of these have been in Sundernagar against the Harish Cement Project, in Mandi district against the Lafarge cement green field plant on the Renuka dam in Sirmaur district; the Karchham Wangtoo hydropower project in Kinnaur and Jaypee's thermal plant in Nalagarh.

Let it be known that each of these projects is going to cause irreversible damage to the environment.

The proposed Harish Cement plant will be located right next to the Trambri Nature Conservation Park. The entire Bal valley, which is Himachal's food bowl, will be impacted by pollution from the mining and cement factory.

The Renuka Project will submerge more than 700 hectares of mixed Sal forests, including 49 hectares of the Renuka Wildlife Sanctuary. Lafarge's limetone mines will involve the destruction of 800 hectares of forests and grass slopes in Karsog tehsil.

The area is prominent for its wild pomegranate production which is the main source of livelihood for the local people. Jaypee's Karchham Wangtoo project has been surrounded by controversy ever since it was proposed.

Its tunnel construction has disturbed the water acquifers of the villages in the area causing a drinking water crisis. The project is one of the 20-odd cascade of projects planned for the entire Sutlej river basin.

Local groups have been crying hoarse about the permanent damage to the landscape and climatic conditions in years to come as much of the Sutlej river will flow in the tunnels instead of the valley.

As per the Himachal Forest Department's own data between 1980 and 2009, 8528 hectares of forests have been diverted to various projects in the state. Fifty per cent of the land was diverted for mining and hydropower projects.

Each of the agitations is resisting the destruction of natural resources but the government has in turn responded by restricting the issue to compensation and offering private benefits to divert attention from common properties and the larger environment-development debate.

Despite the passing of the Forest Rights Act 2006, which provides for recognition of rights of forest-dwelling communities to use and conserve forests, Himachal Pradesh, where 67 per cent of the area is under forests, is lagging behind in the implementation.

A recent report by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs on the status of implementation of the Forest Rights Act reveals that not a single claim has been recognised in the state under this project.

The State Pollution Control Board, which is the only regulatory authority to ensure compliance, has failed to ensure that clearance norms are complied with by companies.

A recent report by the Kalpavriksh environment action group on the state of environment compliance mentions "In the case of the Parbati II Hydroelectric Project in district Kullu of Himachal Pradesh, there has been continued dumping of muck/debris in rivers and down the hill slopes ever since the project construction work was initiated in the year 2000. While these observations were made in the monitoring reports and site visits from September 2003 to April 2007, they were regularly denied in the compliance reports submitted by the project proponent". The project continues to operate and has met with almost no action.

Civil society and community-based organisations in Himachal are demanding a moratorium on mega projects; scientific studies of river basins to understand the impact of hydropower projects; declaration of areas above 3000 feet as eco-sensitive zones where development activity is strictly controlled.

They have put down an alternative vision for formulation of a Himalayan Development Policy that is based upon the sustainable utilisation of natural resources for the creation of livelihoods and ecosystem services.

Global diplomacy and scientific mitigation have dominated the climate change discourse in India like elsewhere, sidelining resource exploitation and equity issues which should be at the centre of the debate.

If the government of Himachal is seriously committed to addressing the climate change issue, it is high time it should relook at its misplaced development agenda and lead the way for the other states as well as the government at the Centre.

The writer is a researcher-activist based in Himachal Pradesh

Delhi Durbar
When Law Minister feels helpless

Law Minister M Veerappa Moily has a peculiar problem. His office on the fourth floor of Shastri Bhavan has no attached toilet or washroom.

Every time he feels the urge, he has to go out of his office to use the washroom on the corridor. But even this is not easy as TV journalists hang around his room most of the time, waiting to catch him for a byte even before he could take a leak.

"Sometimes, I take the nature's call as late as two hours," he bemoaned. Why can't he order the construction of an attached bathroom, he was asked. "The Law Minister's writ doesn't run in his own office as the building is maintained by the Urban Development Ministry," he said, feeling helplessness.

The next question was how did his predecessor manage? Perhaps, that was the reason why the previous incumbent spent not more than two hours in the office, he reasoned.

Mismanaging information

At the recent ASEAN Summit at the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin, the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao hogged the attention of the world media. Journalists virtually ignored what was going on at the ASEAN Summit and rushed to the Dusit Thani Hotel where the meeting between the two PMs was on.

However, Indian officials parted with very little information on what transpired at the meeting. But they were quite categorical in informing the media that neither the Arunachal Pradesh issue nor the proposed visit to the state by the Dalai Lama figured during the meeting.

The next day the same officials cut a sorry figure when Manmohan Singh himself told the media that the Dalai Lama and Arunachal issues did come up during his talks with Wen. Now can you trust the Indian bureaucracy?

Media from Himachal ignored

Journalists belonging to the print media from Himachal Pradesh are upset with Commerce Minister Anand Sharma. The reason: the high-flying minister chose to ignore them while taking a media party with him on his visit to Nepal and Egypt.

The minister's entourage included representatives of select national dailies, but not those from his home state.

Recently, the minister faced some embarrassing moments at the PM's press conference in Thailand. Asked about the negative list in the free trade agreement with ASEAN, Sharma gave a long reply which hardly made sense.

When the PM noticed that journalists were quite confused, he intervened to say: "To sum it up, the FTA negative list is in place.''

Contributed by R Sedhuraman, Ashok Tuteja and Bhagyashree Pande

Corrections and clarifications

n In the “Profile’ column ( Oped page, November 1) it should read ‘Ramanujan School of Mathematics’ in the last sentence and not Ramanujam. Srinivasa Ramanujan is acknowledged as one of the greatest mathematical geniuses.

n In the report, “ Seminar on folklore studies ends” (Chandigarh Plus, Nov.2), the correct name of the institution should have been spelt as ‘Sahitya Akademi’ and not Sahit Academy.

n The front page headline, “ 40 drips a day !...” (Nov 2) is misleading. What was meant was 40 bottles a day. Intravenous drip is a procedure to inject one drop of solution at a time.

n In the report, ‘Denied job, man attempts suicide’ ( Page 7, November 2), it should read “Panipat refinery”.

n The headline, “ Punjab gets HC bashing” ( Page 3, October 30) was inappropriate. The High Court reprimands or censures.

Despite our earnest endeavour to keep The Tribune error-free, some errors do creep in at times. We are always eager to correct them.

This column appears twice a week — every Tuesday and Friday. We request our readers to write or e-mail to us whenever they find any error.

Readers in such cases can write to Mr Kamlendra Kanwar, Senior Associate Editor, The Tribune, Chandigarh, with the word “Corrections” on the envelope. His e-mail ID is kanwar@tribunemail.com.

H.K. Dua,
Editor-in-Chief