The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Taliban’s outrageous act
Beheading of Sikhs must be decried by all

Taliban activists have done it again. In a display of their beastly behaviour, they have behaded two Sikhs, who along with a few others had been kidnapped over a month ago in the Bara tribal area in the Khyber Agency in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province. Despite the recent military action by Islamabad in Swat and South Waziristan and the continuing US drone attacks targeting those associated with the Taliban, most areas in Pakistan’s tribal belt bordering Afghanistan continue to be controlled by the extremists. The Taliban, as one report has it, kidnapped a few Sikhs and then demanded Rs 30 million as ransom for their release. They reportedly killed two of their captives, Jaspal Singh and Mahal Singh, after the expiry of the deadline for the ransom payment they had given. Another report said the innocent Sikhs were done to death after their refusal to change their religion.

Whatever the truth, the fact remains that the minorities in Pakistan are as unsafe today as they were ever. The killing of the Sikhs is bound to figure during the coming India-Pakistan talks, as External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishan said while condemning the gruesome incident. The Sikhs in particular have been victimised by the Taliban ever since the militant movement came into being at the behest of the ISI. In April last year, the Taliban razed the houses of 11 Sikh families in the Aurakzai tribal region following their refusal to pay “jizia” (the kind of tax Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb imposed on non-Muslims) in time. The Taliban had imposed “jizia” on the Sikhs in Afghanistan, too, during its brief rule in the war-ravaged country in the late nineties.

The outrageous behaviour of the Taliban in Pakistan’s tribal area must be condemned by the international community as India has forcefully done. But condemnation alone is not enough. The Sikhs who are still in the Taliban’s custody must not be allowed to meet the fate of their two unfortunate brethren. The Pakistan government must be made to ensure that the persecution of the Sikhs comes to an end. Targeting of defenceless people cannot be justified on any ground.

Telangana tangle
Help Srikrishna panel resolve the problem

The entry of the Central Reserve Police Force personnel into the Osmania University campus in Hyderabad — the epicentre of the pro-Telangana agitation in Andhra Pradesh — has expectedly drawn criticism from students and teachers of the university. Though pro-Telangana activists decided to lay siege to the State Assembly on Friday, the situation was brought under control following heavy deployment of the CRPF. One cannot normally support the entry of the police and/or paramilitary forces into educational institutions. However, if state government sources are to be believed, the Maoist cadres have allegedly infiltrated into the Osmania University students’ hostels and are creating trouble on the Telangana issue. Indeed, it was on this ground that the Supreme Court had allowed the CRPF to guard the campus under the supervision of the state Home Secretary up to February 23, overruling the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s order to the contrary.

Osmania University Vice-Chancellor Tirupathi Rao may have refuted the charge of the Naxalites’ presence in the hostels. However, there is merit in the state government’s contention that the very nature and size of the agitation suggested that it was not entirely student-driven and that it is only the CRPF personnel — and not an ill-equipped police force — who would be able to handle the hardened elements like the Naxalites. In any case, as the apex court has ruled, the state government should take care to ensure that the CRPF men tread with caution and do not exceed their brief.

Political parties — the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in particular — should play a constructive role on the issue. They should not instigate students to take to the streets for narrow partisan ends. Students should also refrain from indulging in acts like self-immolation. All political parties, students and other stakeholders would do well to extend their full cooperation and support to the Justice Srikrishna Committee appointed by the Centre to look into the problem of Telangana as well as the demand for a unified Andhra Pradesh. In a democracy, there is no problem that cannot be resolved peacefully through debate and discussion.

Thought for the Day

There is at bottom only one genuinely scientific treatment for all diseases, and that is to stimulate the phagocytes. — George Bernard Shaw

ARTICLE

Afghan strategy of the US
India must protect its interests
by Rajendra Abhyankar

There are many commonalities between the tragic terror strike of 26/11 in Mumbai and the German Bakery attack in Pune, but, apart from scale, there are stark differences as well. Two are noteworthy. First, the Mumbai attack galvanised the people across the country to determinedly fight cross-border sponsored terror, but we did not notice a similar outburst of public sentiment this time. Second, after 26/11 there was a clear voice both from the people and the government that there would be no talks with Pakistan till it dismantled the terrorist infrastructure and brought its perpetrators to book, but this time public opinion is divided while the government has decided to break the link. It is going ahead with talks on February 25.

Does the change in public attitude demonstrate an apathy and resignation with the government’s inability to stem the terror waves and bring about any kind of pressure on Pakistan? The 87 per cent of those who participated in a polling on February 17 in Maharashtra held by a major TV channel were still against any talks with Pakistan; this could be the sentiment nation-wide. The government’s decision was presumably dictated not only by the commitment in the Sharm-al-Sheikh statement, although Pakistan is sure to raise Balochistan at the February 25 meeting. This is the crux of the matter and the way India has found itself out-manoeuvred.

India had to acquiesce in the London Conference’s decision to talk to and re-integrate the so-called “good” Taliban notwithstanding our experience when they were last in power. Obviously, India’s reiteration of its position that there was no good and bad Taliban had no effect on the US and NATO. It was championed by none other than President Karzai whom we have supported since he took office. India was also excluded, at Pakistan’s behest, from the preliminary Istanbul conference of Afghanistan’s neighbours which charted the future political course for Afghanistan. Once again Pakistan has become the fulcrum for the US strategy in Afghanistan and in Pakistan itself.

Senator Johan Kerry, the powerful Chair of US Foreign Relations Committee, on his February 16 New Delhi visit, made no bones that the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan was critical to the overall US strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He has even given up the Af-Pak nomenclature. We can expect to see all US efforts geared towards securing Pakistan’s compliance and cooperation in its on-going military operation in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, the nerve-centre of the Taliban. Its border with Pakistan makes such cooperation indispensable to the US strategy. This is where India comes in.

The 30,000 troop surge ordered by President Obama did not prevent the Afghan Taliban from laying siege to parts of Kabul, exposing the vulnerability of the government and ineffectiveness of the military operation to stem the Taliban tide. With the time-line being dictated by the forthcoming US state elections and the withdrawal date in early 2011 announced by President Obama, the US Administration saw no alternative to scaling down the goal of securing a military victory to a limited one of getting the “amenable” or “purchasable” Taliban inside an Afghan government. Considerable funds have been allocated at the London conference for this purpose.

Given the strong and negative Taliban reaction to the new US strategy, it was also realised that the Taliban would have to be softened to secure their compliance. This is what the major on-going military operation in Marjah intended to achieve. For the operation to succeed, Pakistan’s cooperation in sealing its border with Helmand becomes crucial. The US cannot afford a repeat of General Musharraf’s action in withdrawing his troops allowing for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban to escape the US Tora Bora operation in the early days of the Afghan war. It still remains uncertain whether the Marjah operation will bring the Taliban to the table, and if so, the price that would have to be paid. Pakistan’s cooperation and, more importantly, India’s presumed role in making it possible now dictate US policy.

It was not long ago when the US and its allies were singing India’s praises for the way in which we had committed large resources to successfully building up Afghanistan. The change of US strategy on dealing with the Afghan Taliban puts pressure on India and its role in Afghanistan:

Accepting Pakistan’s contention that it needs a lessening of tensions on its eastern border (with India) for it to effectively seal its border with Helmand (Afghanistan) it has put us under pressure to resume the India-Pakistan dialogue regardless of repeated terror attacks in locations in India. On February 5 in Muzaffarabad the LeT had already mentioned Kanpur and New Delhi apart from Pune. And Ilyas Kashmiri has openly threatened attacks at the World Hockey Games and the Commonwealth Games later in the year.

By accepting that sections of the Afghan Taliban can be brought into the government, it opens the possibility for an eventual Taliban takeover which has always been an anathema, given its implacable hostility to India. The Kandahar IA hijack case cannot be forgotten so easily.

By making Pakistan again the fulcrum of this strategy, ignoring that it is the epi-centre of terror world-wide and committing billions of dollars to beefing up Pakistan’s military capacity, it provides the unquestioned possibility for that country to guard its strategic interests in Afghanistan and launch proxy attacks on India’s interests there, and on India itself.

It is time we faced up to the challenge of making our cooperation with the US in the successful outcome of its strategy count. As its global strategic partner, India must negotiate the “deliverables” if it decides to go ahead with the India-Pakistan dialogue in the present circumstances. Recognising and bargaining with the US on our core interests is unavoidable now.

We need our interests in Afghanistan safeguarded, Pakistan to hand over the perpetrators of the Mumbai and Pune attacks and disband the terror groups it nurtures, and secure the LoC and the international boundary and get US support for our permanent membership of the UN Security Council. That is what a strategic partnership means and as an emerging global player, it behoves us to put our cards on the table and not hedge as is our wont. Furthermore, there is an equal need to inform the Indian public by holding an all-party conference of the political formations represented in Parliament. India needs to speak with one voice now.n

The writer, a former diplomat, is Chairman, Kunzru Centre for Defence Studies and Research, Pune.

MIDDLE

Passwords and other words
by Vivek Atray

Passwords are as much a part of life today as are mobile phones, multiplexes, reality shows, T-20 matches and SMS promos. One needs them for almost everything; to log on to the computer, to e-mail, to use an ATM, for internet-banking and even to pick up movie tickets.

The result is that either one tends to select a single uncomplicated password or one tries to think up exotic and multiple ones for different outlets. The drawback of the former is that when one uses one’s date-of-birth or the name of the wife’s preferred hand-lotion, while both are easy to remember, they are also easy for a hacker or mischief-monger to detect!

On the other hand, the adventurous option could lead to uneasy and even unpleasant situations. For if one tries to innovate too often with passwords, in order to make each one unique and thus difficult to hack, one tends to forget the magic words when they’re really needed.

I for one keep landing up in situations wherein I’m not able to recollect whether my bank balance can be checked by typing in ‘Federer-is-the-best’ or if ‘Mulligatawny-soup’ was the correct password. On other occasions I may end up staring at an ATM machine, and also swearing at it, while wondering why triple ‘8’ does not work and neither does quadruple ‘6’. The result being that the queue of people outside the ATM booth transforms itself into a horde of unpleasant persons, as I spend ages inside the box, but still end up penniless and looking very sheepish as I exit with my ears firmly shut!

Creative passwords can also land one into trouble at times as I discovered when my wife called me one day and asked for my password in order to check an urgent email (I don’t know why she never uses her own email ID!). As luck would have it, I had changed that password very recently and had used the name of a beautiful young heroine for it. Imagine my plight as I came out with it! Quite predictably my wife’s tone changed dramatically on hearing it and she slammed the phone down.

The worst-case scenario came true, however, on the day when I had to make a presentation before a high-level committee. As my turn came, and I switched on my laptop, I realised to my horror that I’d forgotten my new password. I tried ‘Tendulkar-is-supreme’ and ‘Kareena-Katrina’ but they did not work. Still clueless after trying out many other fancy ones, I looked up at my select audience and noticed some of them whispering into each other’s ears while others began to snigger.

“Not good!” was my only thought.

Gritting my teeth and summoning up reserves of memory hitherto undiscovered, I finally hit upon it and typed it in frantically.

‘Rocket-Singh-is-King’ clearly saved the day for me.

OPED

Budget 2010-11 must push fiscal reforms
by Janak Raj Gupta

The Union Budget 2010-11 is confronted with conflicting tasks of sustaining economic recovery and reining in inflation, particularly the rising food prices. Besides, the budget has also to initiate vital structural fiscal reforms, both in direct and indirect taxes, viz. the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) with effect from April 1, 2010, and pave the way for passing the new Direct Taxes Code (DTC) unveiled by the Union Finance Minister in August, 2009. These tax reforms will have far-reaching implications for the states’ financial health.

Coming first to sustaining economic recovery vis-à-vis raising inflation. When the country was confronted with a worldwide slowdown, the Central Government, in order to stimulate domestic demand, introduced various fiscal stimuli in the form of reduction in the Union excise duty by 4-6 per cent and the service tax by 2 per cent from 12 per cent to 10 per cent.

Public expenditure on flagship programmes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme was also enhanced from Rs. 30,100 crore (interim Budget 2009-10) to Rs. 39,000 crore. However, these measures had adverse effects on government finances.

The revenue deficit, which was pegged at 4.0 per cent and 4.8 per cent in the interim and regular budgets, 2009-10, respectively, is expected to increase further compared with the zero per cent target set in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003.

Similarly, the fiscal deficit is expected to exceed 6.8 per cent against the target of 3.0 per cent. Coupled with supply constraints, this has led to an all-round increase in prices, particularly, the ballooning food prices, which increased by nearly 20 per cent during December, 2009. Even for the week ending January 16, 2010, food inflation was 17.4 per cent.

Of course, there is no sanctity to restrict the fiscal deficit to the 3.0 per cent level, depending upon the current economic situation the government can exceed this limit. Yet fiscal propriety demands that revenue deficit should always be zero, i.e., the government should meet its current expenditure needs from the current tax and non-tax receipts. It should not pay salaries and distribute subsidies by resorting to borrowings, raising in the process both the revenue deficit and the fiscal deficit.

In a country, where there is no evidence of poverty reduction, the government should continue to mobilise resources through the direct taxes, which are more equitable because their burden falls mostly on the rich. It is with great efforts that the ratio of direct taxes was increased to 56 per cent in 2008-09 compared with just 20 per cent in the early nineties.

Even in the current fiscal despite the adverse impact of drought and floods in different parts of the country, direct tax collections have jumped by 8.5 per cent during April-December 2009. Therefore, the new DTC’s suggestion to impose a 10 per cent tax rate on the income slab of Rs. 1.6 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh, 20 per cent on Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh and 30 per cent on above Rs. 25 lakh, compared with the present slabs of Rs. 1.6 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh, Rs. 3 lakh to 5 lakh and above Rs. 5 lakh respectively would be retrogressive.

Similarly, the suggestion to raise the exemption limit on savings from the present Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh, once for all, needs to be debated as richer sections of society have a very high propensity to save.

Besides, it is the right time to lower the interest rate on the tax-exempted schemes, which will help containing revenue deficit in future. As tax-saving instruments are purchased mostly by the upper classes, lowering interest rates may also help checking inequalities.

Another debatable issue is the switchover to the EET (exempt exempt tax) mode from the present EEE (exempt exempt exempt) mode in case of all savings and social security investments. Given the precariousness of our social security structure and mandatory savings in such schemes as GPF, CPF, etc. the blind shift to the EET mode would mean taxing the forced savings.

Also more thought needs to be given to ensuring the economic security of senior citizens. No doubt the new DTC is a welcome step because the existing Income Tax Act 1961 with over 3,300 amendments has become outdated.

Therefore, in order to ensure simplicity and transparency some fundamental changes are urgently required in our direct tax structure. However, as altering the existing tax rates and exemption limits would have profound effects on states’ finances, the states must be consulted before passing the new DTC law.

For the smooth functioning of federal financial relations, there should be a continuous dialogue between the Centre and states, particularly when fundamental alterations in the tax structure are envisaged.

Take the case of VAT, its smooth transition was made possible because of the active participation and interaction of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers with the Central Government.

Now, since 2005 this committee has held many meetings under the chairmanship of Asim Dasgupta to thrash out the GST, which the Centre wants to introduce from April 1, 2010. It is heartening to note that the empowered committee did not agree with the recommendations of the Kelkar Committee (July 2004) that there should be three GST rates-floor, standard and high. For the Centre suggested rates were 6, 12 and 20 per cent and for the states 4,8, 14 per cent respectively.

The empowered committee has rightly rejected the preferential rates for the centre. It is now considering to impose a simple two-rate system, 5 per cent for the Centre and 7 per cent for the states. In a revenue-starved federation, where all the elastic sources of revenue, particularly direct taxes like income tax, corporation tax, capital grains tax, etc. are with the Centre, states should not be deprived of their legitimate rights.

The writer is a former Professor of Economics and UGC Emeritus Fellow, Punjabi University, Patiala

Growing anti-migrant bitterness
by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

I have long had this fantasy. With millions of true-born Brits reviling immigrants and blaming incomers for everything – unemployment, poor public services, crime, violence, social unease, widespread rape even – why not have an annual day called "Immigrants Out".

We who are thus pilloried, and our progeny, previous arrivals and their descendents too, should put down tools, shut up shop and march in our best clothes to show the many unappreciative citizens just what we do. We could pick the birthday of Mary Seacole, the Jamaican who nursed our soldiers in the Crimean War.

Mayor Boris Johnson should fund this carnival. It would make better sense than his proposed day to suck up to America. After all he supports an amnesty for migrants.

In all the hysterical, anti-immigration debates a question hangs like an
eagle looking down from the clouds above. What would happen if the
immigrants left?

At long last a media experiment tries to tease out some answers and you can watch the results at 9pm this Wednesday on BBC1. The presenter is Evan Davis, one of the interrogators on the Today programme.

The programme is set in Wisbech near Peterborough, once a prosperous English town which has attracted over 9,000 workers from central and eastern Europe who do factory and field jobs.

Over 2,000 locals are unemployed. They are none too happy. The place they say is "overrun with the buggers" and "they're pushing the English person to one side". Meanwhile employers claim they had to turn to migrant labour because they couldn't get good indigenous employees.

So the BBC took out a dozen foreign workers and replaced them with unemployed Brits looking for a fair chance. Jobs were made available in a factory, an asparagus farm, a building company and an Indian restaurant.

Half the British workers either failed to show up or turned up late on the first day. Thereafter, the tasks proved to be beyond the endurance of most of them. I sympathised with them initially – especially with Terry and Paul, mates who used to repair water mains, and Terry's wife who wept as she described how she feared they could lose their home. Paul, a single father, was learning maths from his 11-year-old daughter. It didn't seem fair, their suffering.

I wanted them to do well but couldn't stand the self-pity and anti-migrant bitterness. Paul refused to call his co-worker by his Portuguese name, he wouldn't respect a "foreign" supervisor. In the end they did shape up thanks to a feisty, young female English manager who didn't put up with their rubbish.

A resentful builder also started off badly but came right. But most of the rest failed miserably even with kind bosses. A chef at the Indian restaurant given the job of taking orders didn't survive a single morning.

The owner graciously invited him to have a meal before leaving. The youngest lads were the most useless. My English husband couldn't bear to see what the working classes had become – his own class in fact.

All the businessmen said they would like to provide jobs for the community – it just wasn't possible. They denied they were trying to keep wages down.

Pressure on services was also explored. It is indisputable that the new populations are adding demand to hard-pressed authorities. Yet one school head insisted: "Nobody suffers, everybody gains", possibly overstating the good news.

But witnessing "British jobs for British workers" in one small part of the country you understood how the services too would collapse without migrants.

Political parties now battling it out over the needs of the old will never be able to provide quality care for an ageing population using only home-bred staff. There are, no doubt, hardworking Brits across the land – like the manager at the potato factory – but too many who will not get out of bed for love or money or a job.

I know a number of lazy good for nothing migrants too. However, most of us immigrants feel insecure and vulnerable and can never take anything for granted. The survival instinct makes us push the work ethic into our kids.

I have been helping out occasionally at the café in the crypt of Marylebone parish church run by a chef, David Rowles, with whom I am trying to set up a small cookery business. I wash up and serve customers at the table.

When I get things wrong Rowles gets mad. That's fine; I am learning. One customer recognised me and was shocked. How could someone like me be doing this? I'm an immigrant I explained. We never think we are too posh for any job. She smiled and left a good tip.

— By arrangement with The Independent

Delhi Durbar
PC performance close to zero?

Home Minister P Chidambaram was at his witty best during a meeting with women journalists at the Indian Women Press Corps in the capital the other day. So much so he chose to downplay his performance as in charge of India's internal security.

When asked how he would rate his faring as the Home Minister of the country, Chidambaram humbly stated: "Pretty close to zero".

To a question whether he was expecting a bigger role in the ministry, PC said: “I am actually expecting a much smaller role for myself.”

At the end of the day, everyone just laughed off the comments. However, the women journalists could not laugh off what PC wrote on the women club's register. He described them as a "persistent precocious lot", considering he had faced more than 40 questions!

Uncomfortable in tents

The idea of roughing it out in tents at the three-day BJP jamboree in Indore, behaving like some boy or girl scouts, obviously did not appeal to the prima donnas and celebrities of the BJP. Vasundhara Raje gave it a complete miss. Her son Dushyant Singh and sister Yashodhara Raje were also not seen anywhere around, though the organisers made some lame excuses on Vasundhara's behalf.

Maneka and Varun Gandhi came, looked around disdainfully and left the same evening. Former MP Sangeeta Singhdeo was also conspicuous by her absence. Shatrughan Sinha and Hema Malini did present themselves for photos. But that's it.

Sinha at least was honest enough to say bluntly that he wasn't going to sleep in any of those tents. Hema Malini was smarter. She made no public announcements but preferred more comfortable accommodation. Actually very few known faces spent the whole night there. And it's not fair to blame them either considering the dismal toilet facilities in that sprawling complex.

Ambika Soni’s lunch

It was with good intention that I & B Minister Ambika Soni hosted a lunch for journalists as well as officials connected with her ministry on Friday for a free-wheeling interaction. The venue was the Parliament Annexe.

Despite a tempting menu consisting of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian culinaries, many journos and officials left the Parliament Annexe quite peeved. The reason was the irritating security apparatus that has been put in place at the venue.

Security personnel would not allow anyone to go in without the invitation card from the minister even if he/she has a valid Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha press gallery card. They would not allow mobile phones inside.

Prasar Bharati Chairperson Mrinal Pande wanted to carry her mobile phone inside but was politely refused permission to do so. "We have grown reading her (Mrinal Pande's) articles but we have to follow the drill," one woman security personnel was heard saying. Many journalists were wondering how so many officials were allowed to bring in their mobile phones inside. After all, if a journalist's mobile is a security hazard, so is the mobile carried by an official.

Contributed by Aditi Tandon, Faraz Ahmad and Ashok Tuteja

Corrections and clarifications

It should have been ‘High Court’ and not ‘Hight Court’ in the headline ( Page 7, February 20).

In the report on ‘Clashes in Srinagar…’ ( Page 6, February 22), it was mentioned that twelve young men were taken into custody for ‘indulging in stone throwing’ whereas ‘stone throwing’ would have sufficed.

There was avoidable duplication of the report ‘…hockey heroes refuse to take field’ ( Page 1, February 21) by another report on the sports page where the headline stated, ‘…Indian hockey players refuse to play charity match’.

The word ‘equipment’ is used both in the singular and in the plural. There is no need to add an ‘s’ as has been done (Page 22, February 21) in the interview, “ Healing Touch”

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