The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Khaps beware!
Voices of protest are getting louder

While the Haryana Government has submitted before the Punjab and High Court that the khap panchayats cannot be prosecuted under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act, 1967, the positive sign is that the revulsion against their tyranny has reached the stage where the public as well as politicians has started speaking out. The first banner was raised by 22-year-old Kavita, who was told by one such kangaroo court in Meham Kheri village to start treating her husband as her brother. Unequivocal support has now been provided by eminent leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala. Mr Surjewala is a Jat himself and has yet asked the basic question: who gave the khaps the right to decide how people should live? These panchayats have been holding society to ransom only because politicians did not catch them by the horns for the fear that they would lose votes. One hopes the initiative of Mr Surjewala would gather momentum.

The issue goes deeper than protecting the lives of the defiant couples. Even if the police can provide them security, nobody wants to live like an outcaste because once a khap panchayat issues a diktat, the family members of the victims become persona non grata. And with murders having been committed in the past, even the lives and limbs of the defiant people are not secure. Only the fear of seven-year jail under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act can keep the self-styled keepers of public morality in leash.

Kavita has not dared to name the persons who issued the fatwa against her. Under such circumstances, the only hope is that all right-thinking people would rise as one against the oppression. The youth have to be in the forefront of such a drive. Khap panchayats can hustle only one or two persons into submission. If thousands of persons rise against them, they would not know where to run. They are bringing a bad name to Haryana in general and the Jat community in particular. It is every right-thinking person’s duty to confront them.

Cyber attacks
Need for greater vigilance

Computers are widely used in government and private organisations, and most of them are networked to maximise their efficiency and increase their reach. Networked computers are, by their very nature, vulnerable to cyber attacks, and often have to face them. Various important Indian government computers have been attacked by foreign-based hackers from time to time, including as recently as January 28. Under attack were the computers used by the National Security Council Secretariat and the National Security Advisory Board.

This is not the first time, and the government of India has entrusted cyber security to the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), which has been effective, to varying degrees, in fighting off cyber attacks and in tracing the source of these attacks. In the recent episode, the finger of suspicion points at hackers in China. Google too announced not too long ago that it had come under a “highly sophisticated” attack from hackers seeking access to email accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Originally, the term hacker had a sort of roguish swashbuckling connotation as it was associated with a person who gained access to administrative controls of computers. It started with defacing websites, and demonstrating technical skills, but now hacking is a sophisticated operation that also involves cyber attacks, espionage and attempts to explore network vulnerabilities as well as exploit them. Hackers could be organised crime gangs, terrorists or nation-states. The US, Russia, Israel, China and North Korea are believed to have extensive capabilities.

Since 2003, the US has faced cyber attacks from Chinese hackers, and has defended itself effectively. According to a report by the web security firm McAfee, India, Saudi Arabia and Mexico are least confident in their preparedness against cyber attacks. Thus, the NTRO faces a major challenge in securing the nation’s networks, and generating confidence among computer users, who should also remain alert while using their computers and downloading files. Only vigilance and responsible behaviour can ensure security.

Thought for the Day

The happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except that they are so. — William Ralph Inge

ARTICLE

Imperatives of growth
Need to address Manipur’s woes
by B.G. Verghese

It is often with a resigned “Oh, Manipur” and a shrug that observers refer to what is widely perceived to be the Northeast’s most difficult problem area. The record of violence, alienation, multiple insurgencies, human rights violations, ethnic conflict, extortion, corruption, missed development opportunities, stand-offs, protest and despair is certainly worrying.

However, the picture can be overdrawn as a recent visit to Imphal suggests. Behind the turmoil and seeming sense of helplessness is a perhaps fugitive yet discernible feeling that a turnaround is possible, and in fairly short measure.

Some background. Manipur is one of the oldest principalities in India with a proud and unbroken history of nearly 2000 years. It was invested during the Second World War by the Japanese who were finally turned back from the gates of Imphal as of Kohima. This churning sparked revolutionary fervour throughout the region.

On August 11, 1947, the Manipur Maharaja signed an instrument of accession ceding defence, foreign affairs and communications to the Indian Union but adopted a new state constitution under which elections were held with adult franchise to install a popular government. The Manipur Congress won 24 seats in the 53-member Assembly, the Hill areas returned 18 representatives and the left leaning Krishak
Sabha, headed by the Communist Irobot Singh, five.

A non-Congress coalition was formed but its left leanings caused the Manipur Congress to seek merger with the Union. This was effected on October 15, 1949, the Maharaja allegedly signing under duress.

Many Manipuris still resent what they perceive to be a forced merger that denied them the autonomous political space they sought. Other aggravating factors are recounted as part of the historical imagination underlying and continuing Meitei protest. An ancient kingdom was brought under a chief commissioner and not granted the statehood until much later. The Meitei language was not given VIII Schedule status until still later.

Burma’s de facto sovereignty over the Kubaw Valley, was made de jure in 1953. The Valley Meiteis lost out to the Scheduled Tribe Hill people in terms of land purchase rights and reservations. And Kangla Fort, the symbol of Meitei pride, was occupied by the Assam Rifles until a few years ago.

Hurt pride rankled and provided the emotional basis for Meitei separatism even as sharpening and, sometimes, competing identity formation in the Hills led to further polarization. The numerous insurgent groups in Manipur, mostly Meitei, made up of the United National Liberation Front, the People’s Liberation Army, the Kangliepak Communist Party, the Kangliepak Young Communist League and PrePak are ideologically left-oriented, with varying undertones of pre-Vaishnavite Metei revivalism and native “nationalism”.

The Nagas are divided between the NSCN (IM) and NSCN (K) who, like a clutch of southern Kuki groups, have entered into ceasefire or suspension of operation agreements with the government. Insurrectionary violence is, therefore, mainly limited to the Valley though internecine conflicts, extortion and kidnappings are rampant. The almost open Myanmar border allows various underground groups to find sanctuary on the other side and engage in smuggling narcotics, arms and other goods.

The NSCN (IM) has probably come to realise that integration of all Naga inhabited areas or Nagalim is not on the cards. Manipur, for one, cannot be divided. The social, cultural and even political objective of Naga togtherness can, however, be largely attained through a variety of non-territorial adjustments that do not undermine existing state boundaries with various Naga ho-hos (tribal assemblies) providing a certain bonding even with the so-called Eastern Nagas in Myanmar from where Muivah hails.

Nephi Rio, former Nagaland Chief Minister, has interestingly registered his Nagaland People’s Party as the Naga People’s Party in Manipur, Arunachal and Assam.

Many issues have been resolved over time. The outstanding grievance relates to continuance of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which has lately been withdrawn from the Greater Imphal municipal area and is largely inoperative in the Hill areas that are under suspension of operation arrangements. Yet it looms large as a huge political affront and psychological hurt, with Irom Sharmila on hunger fast for a decade and Meitei women disrobing before security forces to demonstrate their indignation.

The Jeevan Reddy Committee in 2005 recommended the AFSPA’s repeal and incorporation of certain of its provisions in the existing Unlawful Activities Act, something endorsed by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission’s report on Pubic Order. The Centre has promised action but must act expeditiously. This one gesture will be a balm, enable Irmila to break her fast and transform Metei sentiment. With arms resolving nothing, the newly-formed association of Senior Citizens for Society has called for a political settlement through unconditional dialogue with Meitei groups.

Various grievances need to be addressed, together with the imperative of development to generate productive jobs for the rising tide of educated unemployed in this highly literate state. Development is not a panacea but can be a solvent for many ills. The Tipaiamukh project, regarding which residual objections appear more ideological and nominal than real on account of inadequate communication, purposeful implementation of the Look East policy and speedy upgradation of the Silchar-Imphal Highway could provide a welcome development thrust.

Talks with the NSCN (IM) must be carried forward on the basis of the proposals exchanged. Kuki groups must also come to the negotiating table and should not be too difficult to satisfy. Hardliners on all sides are likely to be isolated by a groundswell in favour of peace and progress. The old hurt about “forced merger” could hopefully be removed should the Assembly adopt a resolution ‘reaffirming’ Manipur’s merger in 1949 simultaneously with the announcement of the proposed political and economic package for the state.

With concerted action, the hope that Manipur might turn the corner within the next three to four years may not be just a pipe dream given the benign spell of President’s rule followed by general elections.

MIDDLE

Early bird
by Anjali Mehta

We have been hearing since childhood about the early bird catching the worm. It conjures up images of gaining a great deal of advantage by entering a situation early, having a pick of things.

Recently, I reflected on the times I had been the early bird.

Early one morning, I was the first customer buying medicines and I was in a bit of a hurry as my sick son was waiting in the car. After trying to expedite the process by actively scanning the medicine shelves to help the shop assistants find the requisite syrups, we soon came to the stage of payment. There an unexpected delay occurred. As I was the first at the customer, the cashier was apparently not ready.

Totally ignoring my proffered hand holding the money, he first bent and touched the account ledgers with his forehead. He then systematically kissed the cash till and some other books and papers nearby and then said a prayer.

I was half fascinated and half impatient and was wondering how many more things this courtesy would be extended to. I started musing about those who kiss objects — winners like Federer, Martina et al certainly kissed their trophies — and wondered whether this man too was a champ among chemists. I also thought of my OPD and surgical instruments and how (in comparison) they were a neglected lot, never having had the benefit of my lips planted upon them.

I kept musing (and he kept kissing). Suddenly, I was startled out of my reverie by the rupee notes being pulled from my hand. I was glad to be able to finally pay and leave. I realised that though I did not get a discount or other tangible early bird benefits I was privy to an interesting opening ceremony.

I thought about other times I had been early. The one time I had dragged myself terribly early to a medical conference and been a lucky recipient of an “early bird prize”. Though I had a shiny new suitcase to accessorise my travels, I remember sleeping through most of the later part of the conference. Clearly, my ageing body had not fully been able to tackle the challenge of jumping out of bed so much earlier than normal.

Or the time when being a stickler for being on time at airports we arrived so early (at my insistence) that even the check-in counters were not open. I can’t either define or forget the strange look that my husband (who had tumbled out of bed at 4 am) kept giving me in a sustained fashion till the counters finally opened. At least the early (lady) bird got some pure undivided attention from the better half even though she was not keen to interpret the accompanying sentiment!

Or the times when one has actually gone to a Delhi reception at the exact time specified only to find that one is earlier than the host/hostess and is mistaken for the bride’s (underdressed) parents (no guest could possibly be that early!). At such times one can give useful tips on the final touches to the décor as the event managers have only you for an opinion!

Or you reach a dinner on time, patting yourself on your back for your punctuality only to find your dinner host opening the front doorbell with his tie yet untied around his neck . At that time you are not able to fathom whether he is cross at being caught in a half dressed fashion or delighted at seeing his first party guest…

I decided eventually that all that the early bird picks up are some intangible lessons and it should not really hope for any tangible worms!

OPED

An avoidable folly
India should not land in Pakistani trap
by Abhijit Bhattacharyya

Even in the “best of times” a proposal for “love Pakistan” can be fraught with grave consequences. The spontaneous question in the mind of an Indian (refugee or non-refugee of 1947) is likely to be: “Pakistan” and “love”! Can those two words gel and match vis-a-vis India?

“Enlightened” social scientists, sociologists, erudite “secular” scholars, workers and society birds may find “light” and discover “reason” in such thought to begin with, but to those who are at the helm of the state and the soldiers on the border along with the teeming millions of the vast hinterland, “love Pakistan” has a meaning with consequential methodology.

“Love Pakistan” can definitely result in a “get-lost-forever” scenario for those who may not even have the time to rectify the past mistake or express regret for an avoidable folly. To this author, “Love Pakistan” is neither possible nor feasible.

It would be a sure shot death knell to get into this love business with an enemy of congenital hatred owing to its failure to look into the world without its self-glorified and self-created religious-prism on which is based its foundation, policy, ethos and action.

It is indeed surprising and shocking that when the entire world has identified Pakistan as the terror epicentre a hot bed of fundamentalism and a nursery of suicide jihadis, some Indians are keen on New Delhi getting into the trap of a the hidden agenda of a neighbour with a psychic religious disorder. What is their interest? To see India being broken! A repetition of 1947?

It has ironically been suggested while proposing “Love Pakistan” that “Yes, we are being naive here”. Hence, a naive Indian starts the project “Love Pakistan” despite the price being paid by Indians since time immemorial for being naive! By repeating the past mistake in broad daylight, therefore, we will deliberately ignore to learn the bitter lessons of the battered past of our forefathers. Thus the eternal foolhardiness of some Indians will once again eclipse our collective (monstrous) amnesia.

Having said that, one wonders as to whose brilliant brain wave is this at this juncture when virtually every terrorist outfit like Al-Qaeda and Taliban, Lashkars and Ghazis, Fidayeens and Mujahideens are born, nurtured, trained, equipped and operated from the very nation for whom a proposal has come to we Indians to “love” and enter the divine kingdom of eternity owing to its being the “land of the pure”!

Again, why should India suo motu start “love Pakistan” out of the blue after having been bruised, battered and bloodied since 1989 by a proxy war originating from across the border? Why must India be so myopic and malleable when Indians (civilian citizens and soldiers alike) are getting killed? It indeed comes as a totally unacceptable idea to “love Pakistan”.

“Love Pakistan” implies love Pakistanis. Which Pakistanis do Indians love! The army, religious or political parties, fundamentalists, Lashkars, Fidayeens, Ghazis, Punjabi feudal lords, Bhutto tribe, Pashtuns, or the wild warriors of the wild wasteland of western part of Pakistan! Again, which Indians should go to break the ice?

The short of the long enterprise of Pakistani story’s quest for equality and parity with India follows its inherent “psyche of superiority” of everything. Pick up the Pakistani published history, social science or political science books, or for that matter on topics of “Pakistan’s freedom struggle” or the present Afghan war, one will come across the psyche of a nation the name of which is “Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”

One must, however, give the devil its due. The Pakistani textbooks are remarkably frank, forthright and ferocious in their aims, objects, actions and the outcome of future result. They wanted to have an Islamic state. They had it. They claim their food, religion, culture, virility, prowess, bravery to be superior and, unlike us Indians, they do not keep the problem under the carpet. They do not tolerate the prosperity, nay existence, of the minorities like Christians, Sikhs and Hindus.

And they do what they mean and say. They want Kashmir. And they will fight with every possible or impossible device at their command to have Kashmir. Zulfi Bhutto had thundered a 1,000-year-war against India in the 1960s. And now his son-in-law makes an identical declaration in the 21st century. Kashmir is the “jugular vein of Pakistan... We pledge to wage a 1,000-year-war because this is a war of ideology that will be continued by coming generations”.

It, therefore, amounts to being myopic and suicidal to propound and follow “love Pakistan.” India aside, can the USA, the “strategic friend” of Pakistan; “love its heart-throb in the Afghan war? Hear Obama’s emphatic call - “The Af-Pak border remains an al-Qaeda epicentre.”

The notifications banning the Daily Jang still stand valid and yet the same publication is penetrating deep into the “soft” Indian psyche as a harbinger of anything but “Aman ki Asha” and “love Pakistan”. This author does not want war. But, he also does not “love Pakistan”.

Compulsory voting not enough
by Dharam Vir

The closing fortnight of the preceding year witnessed two important events: the passage of the Gujarat Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill and the declaration of results to the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly.

The Gujarat Bill that makes voting mandatory in the local body polls in the state is undoubtedly a landmark piece of legislation. A voter failing to exercise his franchise, except for reasons other than those specified in the rules to be framed under the amended law, may be declared a ‘defaulter voter’ and invite penal consequences.

The voter has also the option not to vote in favour of any of the contesting candidates and he may just specify ‘none of the candidates’. The idea is that the voter makes a deliberate choice and does not stay away from the polling booth on the ground that he is not satisfied with any of the candidates and that none of the candidates is worthy of his vote. It might also minimise the prevailing cynicism with the political process and the system.

This is for the first time that compulsory voting has been prescribed anywhere in the country. According to media reports, more than 30 countries have similar laws; these are also enforced in about 20 countries.

Suggestions have been made for the enactment of a similar law at the national level although in a cautious reaction the Election Commission has described such a law at the national level law as “not practical” mainly because of the numbers involved. But there is a basic issue that has been thrown up in a heightened manner by the results of the Jharkhand elections.

According to the media reports, a large number of the newly elected MLAs of the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly are reported to be facing criminal cases. While criminal cases are reported to be pending against 17 out of 18 of the MLAs of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, including the Chief Minister, the other parties have performed equally “well”: cases are reported to be pending against 11 MLAs of the Congress, 8 MLAs of the BJP and 4 MLAs of the All Jharkhand Students Union. A couple of MLAs are reported to have been elected even as they are serving prison terms. The charges include murder, dacoity, rape and abduction.

Political parties make no secret that an important, if not the sole, criterion for the selection of candidates is winnability. The tendency to vote one’s caste rather than to cast one’s vote also facilitates the election of candidates with dubious antecedents. The inclusion of tainted legislators in the government is sought to be justified on grounds of “compulsions of coalition” (UPA-I) or for the sake of providing a “stable popular government to the people” (Jharkhand).

In such circumstances compulsory voting would seem to be a cruel joke on the electorate. Even the “none-of-the-candidates” option in mandatory voting has little meaning. After allowing candidates with dubious antecedents to contest, there is hardly any point in calling the voter all the way to the polling booth merely for knowing that none of the candidates is worthy of his vote.

Also imagine the public anguish and disgust at the sight of persons facing criminal charges driving to courts escorted by cavalcades of security persons paid from taxpayers’ money.

The Constitution merely prescribes the criteria related to nationality, allegiance to the Constitution and age for election to the legislatures and has left other requirements to be laid down by law. There is no provision in the Representation of People Act under which a person facing criminal charges in a court of law can be disqualified from contesting elections.

The “all-or-nothing” approach needs to be abandoned for finding a minimum common ground. A list of types of crimes that the requisite majority of legislators agree constitute heinous crimes, which would disqualify a person from contesting elections, should be prepared and the Representation of People Act should be amended accordingly.

The current political configuration in Parliament is uniquely placed to enable such an amendment. And the country is fortunate in having a Prime Minister whose integrity and commitment to clean and good governance are indisputable.

The disqualification of tainted candidates from contesting the elections will provide real meaning to compulsory voting.

The writer is a former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General of India

How to make government work again
by Andreas Whittam Smith

An unexamined assumption is a dangerous thing. There is one of these lurking beneath the surface of the general election campaign: the belief that governments can actually deliver on their manifesto promises. For the evidence accumulates, almost on a daily basis, that they cannot do so. Indeed I am finding it hard to think of any organisation that is as badly managed and inefficient as central government.

I always thought, for instance, that Britain was a country where taxes are collected more or less in full. We are surely not like Italy or Greece, half ruined by tax avoidance and evasion. But consider a recent report into Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC). There we learn that "£11.2bn of the £27.7bn of tax debt at the end of March 2009 is unlikely to be collected". Then comes a dismaying comment: "The Department has deferred its plan to invest in a new debt management system." Collecting taxes isn't going to improve any time soon.

Could this be connected with the HMRC's inability to perform even the simplest tasks, such as answering the telephone? Another enquiry found that in its Customer Contact Directorate only 57 per cent of 103 million call attempts made last year were answered. That means that a staggering total of 44 million calls to HMRC rang and rang until the exasperated caller put down the phone.

I select at random from recent news items. If you are going to be involved in a major traffic accident and have to be rushed into hospital, a report published last week suggested that you would fare much better in the US.

There have been other reports recently on the deterioration in the health of under five-year-olds in spite of a £10bn investment, on the severe lack of helicopters in Afghanistan, and confirmation that in 2010 the asylum and immigration operations of the Home Office remain every bit as "unfit for purpose" as a previous home secretary, John Reid, had described them in 2006. They are still losing files by the tens of thousands.

Appalled by this situation, I promoted the idea some time ago that former senior civil servants should use their experience to analyse what had gone wrong and propose reforms. This grouping became the "Better Government Initiative" led by Sir Christopher Foster. Last month it published a well received report entitled Good Government: Reforming Parliament and the Executive. It made 39 recommendations.

I start by looking at the quality of the people in charge, government ministers. In the British system, where ministers are exclusively selected from among members of parliament, that is from a restricted pool of talent, only rarely will the secretaries of state in charge of departments have the skills required for running their complex organisations. Until the 1960s, however, the deficiencies of ministers were counter-balanced by the strength of the Civil Service. But from that time onwards politicians became increasingly dissatisfied with the "old" relationship – later caricatured in the very amusing Yes, Minister series on television – and began to make changes.

Mrs Thatcher narrowed the scope within which civil servants could challenge ministers, but they were still seen as partners. Mr Blair treated them as subordinates and excluded them from central policy making unless ready to be politicised. Yet 40 years on, despite numerous experiments, no better system has been found.

Having weakened the machinery of government, successive administrations then proceeded to subject it to enormous strains. Departments have been broken up and merged together in new groupings. And then unmerged again. Ministers rarely stay in post for long. Tony Blair carried out 10 major reshuffles during his 10 years in office.

Moreover there are two forces that strongly influence the behaviour of ministers as a group. They are terrified of losing the next election because they believe that when a governing party falls from power, it will do so for more than one parliament. So they embrace non-stop campaigning from one election to the next.

But here a second pressure beats upon ministers – the sheer speed of the news cycle. News items with pictures and words tumble after each other in a non-stop, 24/7 chain reaction. Confronted with this, ministers believe that if they fail to respond instantaneously, they will be seen as incompetent or as hiding something.

The consequence is that they try to make the entire government machine move at the same lightening speed as the news cycle. That is why, for example, the Labour Government has felt the need to create more than 4,200 new criminal offences since it came to power in 1997. This is a rate of approximately one new criminal offence for every day ministers have been in office.

— By arrangement with The Independent