|
|
Limits of power
A matter of concern
Highly corrupt |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Price rise is alarming
Cycling in Chicago
Left parties must correct their mistakes, says Bardhan
Cooperate to combat terrorism
|
Limits of power THE Supreme Court has a ticklish issue on its plate. Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly of the Supreme Court have ruled that a Constitution Bench should examine whether courts can frame laws to address pressing social problems. While hearing a petition of students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, who questioned a September 2006 apex court order for implementation of the J.M. Lyngdoh Committee recommendations on reforming students’ union elections, the judges raised three questions of vital constitutional importance. These are, the separation of powers of the different organs of the state under the Indian Constitution; the validity of judicial legislation and, if it is at all permissible, its limits; and the validity of and limits of judicial activism and the need for judicial restraint. These issues have in the past divided the highest court as brought out by a Tribune debate — Judges vs Judges — last year. Over the years, the courts have issued directions on important issues ranging from introducing CNG buses in New Delhi to tackling sexual harassment at workplaces. In Visakha vs State of Rajasthan (1997), the apex court has issued various directives and ruled that these will be treated as a law under Article 141 of the Constitution until Parliament enacts a law on the subject. Though this remains a law today and Parliament is yet to act, the question remains: whether the court can convert itself into an “interim Parliament” and make law until Parliament enacts a law on the subject. Significantly, the doctrine of separation of powers is integral to the Constitution. It is a concept that is fundamental to the idea of a popular democracy which functions on the basis of this doctrine among the three organs of the state — the legislature, the executive and the judiciary with their respective fields clearly delineated. Problems arise if any one organ oversteps its limits. As Parliament (or the state legislatures) is the chief repository of people’s will, its members alone can enact laws to govern the nation (or the state). While the judiciary can punish those violating these laws and even quash bad laws, the question has arisen whether it can also frame laws. If the legislature and the executive have failed in their areas of operation, an over-powering judiciary is not the solution as this would erode the principle of the separation of powers. Many judgements of the Supreme Court have in the past, particularly on economic and social questions, have extended the reach of the judiciary, making things uncomfortable for the politicians who constitute the legislature. Often Parliament vs judiciary issues have marked their relationship over the years. Since many questions have come to the fore, let the Constitution Bench examine them and interpret the Constitution.
|
|
A matter of concern
India
has reason to be angry and disappointed by US President Barack Obama’s outrageous granting of a monitoring role to China in South Asia, particularly between India and Pakistan, during his official visit to Beijing. If, as is being speculated, it was Chinese concessions on North Korean and Iranian nuclear issues that impelled the US to give China a role in the region, it nevertheless goes against Indian interests which necessitated a strong New Delhi reaction. India has consistently opposed any third-party intervention in Indo-Pakistan relations and it is appropriate that the official spokesperson has reiterated that a third-country role cannot be envisaged. The joint statement issued by President Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao also provides for a bigger role for China in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This too cannot but rankle India considering that this country has been at the receiving end of a dangerous China-Pak nexus for long. If the Chinese are allowed to have their way they would undermine the authority of the Karzai regime in Kabul and could be more in tune with Pakistani interests. It is difficult to imagine that the US would be so gullible as to overturn its own well-thought-out position. President Obama’s new stand on an enhanced Chinese role in the South Asian region flies in the face of the views that US foreign policy experts have held for long that the US would not acquiesce in a future Chinese hegemony in the region. The edifice of a strong Indo-US strategic relationship in a way has somewhat got undermined by the outcome of the Obama visit to Beijing. It is yet too early to surmise that the US has abandoned its time-tested policy but the signs emerging from the Beijing summit are hardly reassuring for India. With the forthcoming Obama-Manmohan Singh meeting in Washington, it is to be hoped that the US would allay Indian concerns against a greater role for China in South Asia which could prove dangerous for the region and the world.
|
|
|
Highly corrupt IT is a matter of shame for India that it still continues to be perceived as “highly corrupt” by global experts and business surveys. Transparency International has ranked it 84th among the 180 countries surveyed on a composite index drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys. Its score is a lowly 3.4, below other developing economies like Brazil (3.7) and China (3.6). If it tries to draw solace from the fact that Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka have fared even worse, it should do a reality check and remember that the neighbouring Bhutan has a much better image with a score of 5.0. Nor is it any consolation that in the previous year, its score was 3.5. It should have improved much faster. So, what is the reason behind this stigma? Simple. Corruption is indeed the order of the day. Its public officials and politicians have worked hard to spoil the image of the country. The malady has seeped so far upwards that the agencies supposed to keep a check on corruption seem to have thrown up their hands in despair out of sheer helplessness. With big fish having a free run, even the small fries feel encouraged to devise means to escape the net and the country continues to go in the direction of those like Haiti, Iraq, Myanmar and Somalia instead of clean states like New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore. Some think that since the foreign direct investment is still pouring in, one should not be too bothered about what the rest of the world thinks about us. What is totally forgotten is that the money comes in only because India is perceived as a developing country from where good returns on the investment can be obtained. The inflow would have been far higher if only it did not have such a unsavoury reputation. An emerging economic power of the 21st century India cannot afford to carry the baggage of this kind of reputation.
|
|
|
What a good thing Adam had. When he said a good thing he knew nobody had said it before. — Mark Twain
|
Price rise is alarming FOOD prices are going up sharply as anyone doing daily shopping for the household must know. All agricultural goods and allied semi-processed food items have shot up by 20 per cent in the last one month. Apparently, there is going to be no relief from the situation in the near future, and the government is awaiting the rabi crop which it expects to be good. More supply will be ensured by three to four months. Meanwhile, the price rise may continue. Clearly, the rise in food prices, especially those of wheat, rice and sugar, shows that agricultural growth has been lower than expected. It is now well established that there has been a marked shortfall in the kharif crop and there has been a fall in the production of rice, wheat and sugarcane. In foodgrains alone, the shortfall has been 18 per cent. There has also been a lack of contingency planning regarding rice imports to cushion the price rise, especially for the vulnerable sections. Support prices were raised in the last season and the Centre also fixed higher open market price for wheat and that is why the market prices are up so much today. Even if imports had been timely, there would still have been a rise in foodgrain prices, but since there has not been a substantial increase in the supply of wheat, rice and other essential food items, prices are climbing up every week. With food prices being so high, it is not only hard on the average household budget but it also means that the average household will be spending less on other consumer items. It would mean that the demand for industrial goods would stagnate or decline. The recent spurt in industrial growth in September may be good news, but consumer demand has to grow to sustain it. Industrial growth would also depend on export growth, which for the 12th consecutive month, has been falling. There has been hope among exporters that garments and textile exports would pick up but the latest news of corporate bankruptcies in the US has dampened that expectation because it is likely to affect the demand for Indian consumer goods. Even China is facing slack domestic demand because people, after having lost their jobs due to the global crisis, have started saving more when they have got back their jobs and spend less on consumer goods. The rise in the savings rate is not considered a good omen for the continuation of high industrial growth even in China. All over the world people are saving more and spending less, especially in the western countries. In India, many companies are sitting on mountains of cash and are withholding investment because they are not sure whether to invest in capacity expansion or not. And due to the global crisis there are fewer opportunities for investing abroad. In addition, they are neither sure about future export trends nor of domestic demand expansion. Credit offtake from banks has dropped to single digit levels after 12 years and is a sure sign that demand is not picking up. Inflation will make people hold back their spending on non-food items of expenditure like white goods and other consumer durables. Private investment, which is extremely important for high GDP growth, is thus likely to stagnate for sometime. The present crisis will come to a head if to control inflation the Reserve Bank of India raises interest rates which would result in a sudden shrinkage in investment prospects of private industry. The growth rate is bound to suffer as the investment pace slows down and if we add to it the slowdown in agricultural growth by as much as 6 per cent, it would be more realistic to hope for 5 per cent GDP growth rate for India. The “aam admi” or the ordinary person, meanwhile, will have to live on the hope that the inflationary spiral of food prices would come down within three or four months. Some emergency measures that would assure the supply of essential food items at reasonable prices to low income groups would have to be taken by the government. This would add to the government’s expenditure, which has been bloated after the stimulus package. The world is now depending on various stimulus packages to prevent economies from collapsing. It will be quite a disaster to withdraw the Indian stimulus package. In fact, it would have to be enhanced in areas where armed conflict is taking place, especially in job creation and social infrastructure. In this context, the extension of NREGA in the Naxalite-infested areas would yield high dividends. The government has pledged austerity and is trying hard to reduce the fiscal deficit because a long-term rise in fiscal deficit is unsustainable and will lead to an inflationary spiral. It is contemplating withdrawal of some subsidies which again may lead to a price rise in the case of cooking gas and petrol. In any case, the government will have to keep up the spending and create infrastructure and give jobs to people who have been affected by the global crisis. For continuing industrialisation in the countryside, investment in infrastructure is badly needed. This is because the driver of high growth in the past has been the service sector, which has been adversely affected by the global financial crisis. Not only has the outsourcing industry been affected but also the hospitality, airlines, media and transport sectors. Idle capacity, unemployment and huge losses are a regular feature of the service sector industries. To catch up with China, the industrial sector has to be nurtured and for it to be able to produce in a competitive manner, infrastructure has to be improved. The government also has little policy option regarding looking after the welfare of the lower income groups of the population. And even though the Indian population, which is below the poverty line, has been decreasing over the years, in terms of absolute numbers it is huge and much higher than China’s. For increasing the welfare of the common man and woman, the main item of concern should be food prices as their nutrition depends upon it. Most importantly, children should not be malnourished. How can an average income earner, say of Rs 3000 a month feed his children in urban India? Even dal is beyond the reach of many. The children who are malnourished will grow up deformed and deficient in many ways and would not be able to reach their full brain potential. They will grow to be a fatigued and diseased labour force, which will again put India at a huge disadvantage against China’s well-fed and well-trained labour force. All other things can wait but not food, which again poses an important question about priority. Shouldn’t the government act immediately and bring about relief in the lives of the low-income
people?
|
||
Cycling in Chicago THE last time I rode a bicycle was about 35 years ago as a college student. That is not counting the occasional, impulsive jaunts on the dhobi’s or the mali’s rickety, old bike. Those sturdy work horses in black steel of those times hardly ever underwent any changes in their basic design in the days of my youth. And now while holidaying in Chicago the cycle of life seems to have caught up. On my evening strolls to the nearby bike trail along Lake Michigan, is the place where the whole of Chicago seems to be descending on. Far from the automobile corrupted nation; it looks more like a nation on bike and roll! Bikes are easily available on hire with different deals, and they come in all shapes and models ranging from the basic stuff for the shaky beginner like me to mountain bikes with an array of confusing gears to ‘quadruped’ bikes for two or four. There are even special bikes for parents who want to tag a baby carriage to their paddle machines. The bikers in varied groups whiz past you, like birds on a flight or glide gently like the sail boats that dot the expanse of blue waters of the lake — savouring the joy of wind-whipped movement, with the forces of nature in complete freedom and abandon. Then finally one day I get sucked in. “How much do you charge for an hour?” I ask the young student on a summer job managing the bike rental kiosk. “Only $10 an hour Sir, feels great … why don’t you try one?” Why don’t I, haven’t done it in 30 years, I hesitatingly think to myself. “But you never forget it ...there, try our ‘comfort’ bike!” And there I am, shakily perched atop a bike which has paddle breaks instead of the hand ones to which I’m used to, but the bike girl won’t take a no, and just launches me on with a big push. And seconds later, I’m on a roll, windswept, speeding and slowing with the undulations of the bike trail, turning and manoeuvring my way through other bikers with a tinkle! Memories of an era gone by come racing. A time when I was at school and we would race back on the cycles to reach home fast after school or battle the wind to reach in time for the first bell. But there was always time to stop to help out a classmate — especially a pretty girl — if there was a puncture or the chain got derailed, which was not such a coincidence, always! And now I hear a tinkle again. Thank you
Chicago
|
||
Left parties must correct their mistakes, says Bardhan
Q: Let me start with a simple question: how devastating a blow have the left parties suffered in Bengal as a result of the Lok Sabha elections in May and the recent by-elections earlier this month? A: They had a very serious setback, in fact the entire left movement suffered a set back. The CPI-M in the meanwhile had become the leading partner of the left front and in fact the defeat was a grim reminder of what went wrong with the left front. What started as something against the left front government has now become generally an anti-left and anti-communist movement. That is I think a very dangerous trend. Q: How do you interpret what happened? Is this a vote for Mamata Banerjee or as you have suggested a moment ago is this a vote against the left? A: I don’t think that is an endorsement of Mamata Banerjee’s policies or programs because what they are is not known to the people as yet and I am not sure she knows that herself. It is a vote against the left, against the performance of the left front, against what they should not have done or what they have done. Q: Many people are today commenting that it looks increasingly unlikely that the left parties can win in 2011. A: No I don’t want to be a prophet of doom; I think you will see that when the left front turns around, if mistakes are corrected, if there is a realisation that what was wrong needs to be corrected, if one realises that one’s lifestyle, one’s behaviour with people, one’s arrogance is to be given up, people will still be behind the left because the left had a programme and the left had done a lot of good things in West Bengal. So that is the reason they were there for three decades. Q: Let’s then talk about what has brought the left parties to this dismal situation. One of the ministers has publicly talked about nepotism and corruption. Has that played a role? A: Yes it has, indeed, played a role and that cannot be denied but then one must be clear about the dimensions of the corruption. Corruption that is there for you to see in Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh or that you see in the Centre, that is not the type of corruption which is there. (In Bengal) the corruption has become more widespread, particularly among the lower ranks and the middle ranks. Q: But those very top leaders of the CPM in whom you say you have faith are the ones who have been blind to their local and middle level leaders increasingly being corrupt? A: Why should I (only) blame their blindness? I am saying that we also should have brought it to their notice. Q: To what extent, in addition to corruption and nepotism, has arrogance become a problem, both the arrogance of Power as well as overconfidence? A: It is arrogance which is more important rather than corruption. Corruption, as you say, or as I am saying, is retail and not wholesale. You can’t put it you see in hundreds or thousands of crore. Q: People may be fed up and it may be too late to even correct? A: It is never too late to correct. You see I have been in democratic politics, politics where in six months things can change. Let me give you an instance because people are talking too much about it. In one seat in Kerala we lost by 16,000 votes in the assembly elections. During the parliament election it went up to 19,000 but this time there was a by-election there and it came down to 4,500. Q: Except that the difference is in Kerala the Left has a history of winning and losing and the corruption and the arrogance are missing. In Bengal, after 32 years, there is no challenge of defeat that you ever faced before. A: That is what I think went into everyone’s head. Those at the top may have been able to resist it but it is very difficult for people at the lower levels. Q: After the May general election, when the left parties did very badly in Bengal and you were actually surprised by the extent to which your seats had fallen, the CPI formally suggested to the CPM that the left front government should resign and seek a fresh mandate. Today many others are saying the same thing. But in May when you proposed this what response did you get? A: Formally I did not propose any such thing. I do not think you can say that I formally proposed it… I did suggest but then, you see, that was not the same thing…I didn’t insist on that and I don’t insist on it now. Q: In May this was an informal suggestion that the Left front government should resign and seek a mandate. Not a formal suggestion. Today many people, ministers of the same government, are saying it publicly. What is your view today? A: You are emphasizing too much on that suggestion and by repeating it you are making it as a fact. It is not so. So many things are spoken like that. Accha hoga aagar badal dhe. That does not mean that it is a very serious suggestion. I do not think I have made it (that way). Today I do not make it at all because I think now, for instance, to prepone the elections, now to resign, that would mean like running away from the battlefield and I do not want to resign now. Now I will face it. Now I want to battle it out. I might have lost but please note that there are constituencies in which I have got 50,000, 60,000, 80,000 votes. Those are not negligible votes. I hope to increase them. Q: So today to call an early election would be like running away from the battlefield? A: Yes. That is the next heading that will be given in the papers and that is the next thing that you will be speaking in the media. Q: So, in other words, the position of the left parties in Bengal is a bit like an athlete who knows that he may not win the race, chances are that he won’t win the race, but he has to continue to the finish otherwise it will be like cutting and running. A: But you know many times such athletes succeed. And they succeed many times. Q: Those are golden stories but most of the time those athletes don’t win but they get respect for finishing. A: I am not talking about only the respect. But they also sometimes win and I want to tell you communists are capable of that. Q: That capability depends entirely upon large sections of the CPM, not just the leadership, realising what has gone wrong and acting to put it right. A big if is there. A: Yes that is what is meant by a party. I might be good but if my party and my party ranks are not good then there is no point in me being good. Q: I want to try and understand what you have said. In May it was an informal suggestion said as a way of speaking. But today you are against an early election because as you said it will look like running away. A: And I want to fight. Q: You want to fight? A: Yes. I want to retrieve the situation and I want to fight. Q: Let me then end by asking you a simple question: what do you believe will be the future that faces the left front government in Bengal between today and 2011 when the elections have to happen. In the next 18 months what do you think is going to happen? A: We will establish closer links with the people, we will try to regain their confidence, we will take up their problems, we will try to put up certain issues which have been neglected. Q: Give me an example of the sort of issues that have been neglected which you will now take up? A: People might think that we have become wiser after the event, but I always say it is better to become wiser after the event then not to become wise at all. Q: So in a sense, the future of the left parties and whatever chance or hope they have of re-winning power in 2011, depends very largely on this? A: It does depend, not only on the general behaviour and approach towards the people, but also the way you reforge the links with you people again. Q: And Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has to make sure that his government does it? A: Don’t write off the
government.
|
|
Cooperate to combat terrorism SOUTH
ASIA has probably suffered more than any other region in the world from the dreadful scourge of terrorism. People, whose lives and those of their friends and relatives, are irrevocably changed in an instant when a suicide bomber blows up a vehicle in a crowded market place or bus station, struggle to understand why there are groups that want to bring so much pain to innocent civilians. There are too many examples to recall them all. A year ago the world witnessed the horrific attacks in Mumbai, watching helplessly as gunmen rampaged through hotels and the city’s train station. Sri Lanka has suffered for decades from acts of terrorism, and time will tell if the government’s military response and its implementation of necessary confidence-building measures will be adequate to finally put an end to violence. And the international community living in the region is not immune to terror either. Just last month the offices of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Islamabad were hit by a suicide bomber while in Afghanistan five UN staffers were killed in a guesthouse and again we in the UN family were forced to mourn colleagues who were simply in these places to do their job. These are just the spectacular examples of violence that has permeated the region. And yet, law enforcement personnel in South Asia, who serve on the frontlines in implementing counter-terrorism measures, have very limited opportunities to interact at an operational level with their counterparts in the region. Funding, explosives and technical know-how, all critical elements of a terrorist attack, flow too easily across borders. Those who fight terrorism in the region need to be able to collaborate with their counterparts in other countries if they are to have any hope of disrupting an attack and capturing those who plan it. There is also lack of a common vision in the region for confronting terrorism in a manner that fully incorporates respect for the rule of law, human rights and human dignity, thereby increasing the chance for success in the long term. In an effort to remedy these shortfalls, the United Nations, in association with the Government of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), organised a meeting (8-10 November) that brought together working-level law enforcement experts of the region. Police officers and prosecutors from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – along with observers from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) – met for three days in Dhaka, sharing their experiences and lessons they learnt in fighting the very real threat of terrorism. The regional workshop gave them an opportunity to enhance their counter-terrorism capacities by discussing the role of the police and prosecution services in combating terrorism and the challenges they face in leading effective investigations and prosecutions. Part of the discussion focussed on the way in which a counter-terrorism approach based on sound legal procedures and respect for the rule of law can strengthen international cooperation, making it more likely that terrorists will be properly brought to justice. Of course one meeting, even a successful one like this, achieves little on its own. What will truly drive progress in combating terrorism is a sustained commitment on the part of governments to enact legislation, to build institutional structures and operational mechanisms that can make front-line law enforcement officers and prosecutors effective. What is also critical is an effort by all governments to overcome mutual distrust and political difference sufficiently to allow their agencies to cooperate so they can all better address the common enemy – the terrorist
groups. Courtesy: UN Information Centre, New Delhi
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
How do senior communist leaders view the serious reversal their parties have suffered in West Bengal and beyond that how do they view the future the left parties now face? Those are the twin issues
Karan Thapar discussed with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India A.B.
Bardhan. Excerpts from the interview: