The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Controversies galore
Tharoor has some explaining to do

While the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Shashi Tharoor, is no stranger to controversy, the emerging details involving him and the franchise of a cricket team in the Indian Premier League are possibly the most embarrassing in his short political career. His long and laboured explanation of being just a ‘friend, mentor and guide’ to a consortium that bid a whopping Rs 1,500 crore to secure the franchise of the team that would be identified with Mr Tharoor’s home state, Kerala, has not cut much ice. Because, while he himself may not gain financially from the franchise, he is yet to explain how his ‘friend’, some have called her his fiancée, Ms Sunanda Pushkar, came to own a stake in the franchise and that too for ‘free’. Born in Kashmir and based in Dubai, she does not seem to have any known connection to either Kerala or cricket. Yet, she was considered worthy enough to be rewarded with Rs 70 crore worth of ‘free’ equity. One cannot really blame the Bharatiya Janata Party for concluding that the payment was meant for the efforts put in by the minister to secure the franchise.

Nor is it particularly edifying to find the minister’s Officer On Special Duty posting murky details about the past of the Indian Premier League Commissioner, Mr Lalit Modi. While Mr Modi himself is not quite Mother Teresa, the loyal OSD’s desperate ‘tweet’ about Modi being held in his student days for having drugs and for ‘kidnapping’ may have done more damage to the minister than to the IPL’s poster boy. More details about the till-recently-cosy relationship of the minister with Mr Modi are tumbling out by the day and their self-destructive ‘tweets’ hint at many more skeletons in the closet.

The controversy has thrown up uncomfortable questions about the ‘mysterious ownership patterns’ of the IPL franchisees. It does need to be ascertained why some of these franchisees have registered themselves in Mauritius and not in India. One hopes the government and the Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI) will get to the bottom of the controversy. As for Mr Tharoor, he has a lot of explaining to do when the Prime Minister returns from Brazil and may well find his seat in the ministry too hot to retain.

Violence on campus
Get tough with law-breakers

Panjab University and DAV College of Chandigarh, once known as centres of excellence, are gaining notoriety for violent student skirmishes and scuffles. The last few days have seen a spurt in student violence as rival groups settle scores with firearms. It is amazing that a handful of student leaders are allowed to tarnish the image of a premier institute. This could affect student placements. If the university collects hefty charges for various courses, the authorities are duty-bound to provide a peaceful academic environment and banish the anti-social elements masquerading as student leaders with or without police help.

The Vice-Chancellor cannot escape responsibility for the deteriorating law and order situation on the campus. If the VC lets hoodlum flourish, the principals of colleges are not expected to control them. Every time a major incident takes place, the police is called in and cases are registered. But before courts reach the conviction stage, students work out a compromise. It seems so easy to take the university authorities and the police for a ride. The police has failed to disarm them. The parents of the students are either not informed or they too appear helpless. From scuffles students have graduated to the use of firearms because no one has stopped them and given the lesson they so badly need. If not checked at this stage, they could get emboldened to take the law into their own hands whenever things don’t go their way.

Higher education is still a privilege. There is a shortage of good academic institutions. For every student admitted to a university course there are many others rejected for not performing well enough. The students who don’t value the worth of their being in the university and, instead of studying, resort to illegal activities, should be thrown out to accommodate the more deserving.

Thought for the Day

No matter how old a mother is she watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement. — Florida Scott-Maxwell

ARTICLE

Uncertainty over Obama policies
Dark shadow on India-US relations
by G. Parthasarathy

American Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner thrilled corporate audiences in Mumbai by showering praise on the performance of India’s economy and referring to the growing interest of corporate America in the “prospects” for cooperation and investment in India. Earlier, in his State of the Union Address, President Obama had proclaimed: “These nations (India and Germany) are not playing for second place. They are placing more emphasis on maths and science. They are rebuilding their infrastructure”.

In the same speech, however, he reiterated his aversion to outsourcing to India, stating: “It is time to finally slash the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas.” Though the Indian corporate sector has not been too concerned about Mr Obama’s pronouncements, there are naturally queries regarding his mindset about India when President Obama proclaims: “Say no to Bangalore, say yes to Buffalo.”

Mr Geithner’s visit came just after the revelation that President Obama had issued a Presidential directive stating: “India must make resolving its tensions with Pakistan a priority for progress to be made on US goals in the region”. It has also been reported that the Obama wish list includes a number of “do’s and don’ts” for India. We are told that because the Obama Administration requires Pakistan’s help for facilitating a speedy withdrawal from Afghanistan and getting a deal with the Taliban, India is absolutely forbidden from undertaking any effort to train the Afghan National Army. This is because General Kayani wants to train the Afghans, who in turn have little trust and even less affection for the Pakistan Army and the ISI.

India, it is asserted by the worthies in the Pentagon, should be “more transparent” and “cooperate more” about developments along its borders with Pakistan. We are also required to reduce the number of troops in Jammu and Kashmir to enable Pakistan to deploy more forces along its western borders.

New Delhi should realise that it is dealing with an American Administration which just does not know how to deal with the Pakistan Army that trains, arms and provides safe haven to the Haqqani network in North Waziristan and hosts the Mullah Omar-led “Quetta Shura”, which moves around freely, all across Pakistan. Rather than dealing with this issue by turning the squeeze on Pakistan and compelling it to end support for those killing American forces in Afghanistan, the whiz kids in the Pentagon appear to have decided that the easier way out would be to compel a government in New Delhi, which is seen to be “receptive” to American “persuasion”, to fall in line with everything General Kayani demands from India, even as he continues assisting the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Lashkar-e-Toiba against India.

“Kayani appeasement” seems to be the policy being advocated by Generals James Jones, David Petraeus, Stanley McChrystal and Karl Eikenberry and Admiral Mike Mullen. And President Obama appears more than ready to follow the advice of his military brass.

Addressing his troops at the Bagram airbase, near Kabul, on March 30, President Obama proclaimed: “We are going to disrupt, dismantle, defeat and destroy Al-Qaida and its extremist allies and deny Al-Qaida safe haven. We are going to reverse the Taliban’s momentum. We are going to strengthen the capacity of the Afghan security forces and the government”. Strangely, President Obama’s reference of wanting to strengthen the Afghan Government came almost immediately after his National Security Adviser Gen James Jones had reportedly bad-mouthed President Karzai and his government for their alleged inefficiency, corruption, nepotism and incompetence in a briefing for American correspondents.

“Karzai bashing” appears to have become a favourite sport of American officials ranging from General Jones to Special Representative Richard Holbrooke, who show little regard for the fact that the Afghan President is a proud Durrani Pashtun and certainly has more legitimacy that many others the Americans have supported in the past. Turning on those who have allied themselves with the Americans while appeasing those who plot the killing of American soldiers seems to have become a favourite pastime for what appears to be a confused and badly divided American Administration.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have received soothing assurances on American policies when he met President Obama on April 11. New Delhi should realise that in its dealings with China and while handling the situation in the AfPak region, the Obama Administration appears quite prepared to disregard Indian sensitivities and interests either when it finds China useful on issues like Iran’s nuclear programme or Pakistan claims that it will facilitate the American exit strategy. Timothy Geithner may have flattered Indian egos in Mumbai, but his real business was to secure Chinese approval to revalue the yuan, when he went to China immediately after his visit to India. This was reminiscent of Henry Kissinger stopping by in Delhi in 1971 en route to Beijing via Pakistan.

It should also be evident that the White House will continue to play down the Pakistani support for terrorism and the supply of military hardware, including F-16 fighters, missiles and frigates, while endeavouring to marginalise India on emerging developments in Afghanistan. India is now quite appropriately widening its diplomatic options by active participation in forums like IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) and BRICS (Brazil, India, Russia and China). Our effort should be to get full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and work more closely with Russia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on developments in Afghanistan.

Despite these developments, India’s bilateral relationship with the US will remain its most important one for the foreseeable future. The potential for cooperation in areas ranging from agriculture and education to space and high technology transfers is immense. Moreover, the corporate sectors in the two countries have set the stage for rapidly expanding trade, business and investment cooperation. But in a climate of strategic uncertainty brought about by what can only be said to be strange handling of foreign and security policies by the Obama Administration, it would only be appropriate for our political parties and parliamentarians to carefully examine the provisions of the proposed Nuclear Liability Bill.

The Bill should be passed only after wide-ranging consultations and studies about the practices across the world even if such examination takes a year to complete. Similarly, while there are suggestions that defence supplies from the US should get preferential treatment, we need to look at the possibilities of increasingly linking defence purchases to the consideration and sensitivity that suppliers show for our security concerns. Moreover, close consultations with Russia, China and countries like Brazil and Turkey are needed in fashioning our response to American concerns on Iran’s nuclear programme.

MIDDLE

Taste me not
by Jupinderjit Singh

LOVE is “hurt me not” and liquor is “taste me not”. This was an important lesson my mother taught me early in life. Now she takes pride in the fact that she inculcated an anti-liquor spirit in me since I am a teetotaller. And its smell can make me sick and trouble my soul as well.

But don’t try telling this to ardent lovers of Bacchus. Every tippler I have come across goes all out to prove that I have not graduated from soft drinks and thus am not a grown-up man.

Several pass me off as henpecked and others say I am under the thumb of my wife. Well, she has faced many such braggarts who tell her to let me live, as if wine was the elixir of life.

The other day, I was in the august company of tipplers comprising policemen, journalists and sportspersons. “You should take one or two pegs to avoid indigestion, son,” advised a considerate pot-bellied elderly.

“But it is injurious to health,” I tried to argue.

“Rubbish, I am drinking for decades. Even today I can down a bottle,” said another, gulping a Patiala peg while fitting with difficulty in the garden chair.

In walked a frail Uncle holding a drink. “I made my wife respect me a lot today,” he said. All heads turned towards him as if he had won an Olympic medal.

“She started nagging before my rendezvous with my first love (read liquor) began today, called me a drunkard bastard, who ruined her life. Then I told her about you (he pointed at a retired cop) who drinks with the dawn and ends with the dusk. I begin with sunset only,” he said chuckling at his wit.

The ex-cop made a face. “I am not a drunkard. Has anyone found me lying on roadside, unable to reach my house? People found on roads are real drunkards,” he chuckled.

“It’s no big deal,” said a veteran player,”One should not be found in a drain. That means you lost it.”

“I disagree,” butted in another. “If you reach home on your own after falling in a drain, the booze hasn’t overpowered you. It does when you are brought home,” he argued as all knew he fell in a drain a few times but had reached home by himself.

“No, sir,” a journalist chipped in,” It is still OK if you are escorted home. But it is all gone if you are licked by a dog, when you are in the drain,” he said munching a tandoori chicken leg piece brutally.

“I say, if a dog licks you and you know what he is doing, then all is well,” said a sportsman as all broke into guffaws with their pot bellies jumping up and down vigorously.

I sat and blinked unbelievingly at the group of Bacchus lovers. True, as someone said, “Daaru di yaari, sab to waddi te nyari” (No bond is stronger than the one between booze and the boozer).n

OPED

Jawans in jungle
Mindless deployment will not help
by Uttam Sengupta

WE are sending the men to slaughter. If Maoists don’t get them, malaria will. There is no drinking water in the camp and the men are forced to venture out, at great risk, to fetch water from sources which are 4 km away. The mobile towers are too weak and the connections erratic. The roads are bad. There is no electricity. And the people are hostile. “ It is easy to sit in airconditioned rooms and criticise but why don’t the arm-chair critics come and spend a week here,” a jawan is quoted as saying.

The upshot of these reports in the media from Ground Zero, Dantewada in Chattisgarh, is that the men need to be better equipped. Their living conditions must improve so that they are in better health and a better state of mind to fight.

When CRPF battalions first arrive in these areas, they are first forced to set up a rudimentary system of supplies, ration, cooking, water, toilets etc. for themselves. They also fortify the camps and then they wait. Or they go out for ‘area domination’, which involves marching through poor villages with even poorer people, mostly the old and the emaciated as the younger lot would have fled to escape harassment.

The tragedy is that security forces cannot hold or dominate an area by a mere show of firearms or by marching through villages and undertaking LRPs ( Long Range Patrols). They achieve nothing by beating up the rare village youth they come across during the day and then by retreating into their fortified barracks at night.

Mosquitoes and reptiles do not discriminate between villagers, CRPF jawans and Maoists. All of them are equally vulnerable. Scarcity of water, absence of electricity, bad roads, absent doctors and no hospital –complaints voiced by the jawans in Chattisgarh—are again a sad commentary on governance. While CRPF jawans find such conditions unfair and unreasonable, their adversaries and the people , it must be noted, have lived with these handicaps for years.

Recovery of dry fruits from bunkers abandoned by Maoists indicates that some of them do survive in the forests on dry fruits. But most of the Maoists possibly survive on biscuits and water or on rice and salt offered to them by villagers. It is also safe to presume that the Maoists do not move around in armoured vehicles, buses and trucks. They have little or no option but to walk through the forests and hills.

The jawans’ living conditions are difficult no doubt. Maintaining a vigil in the night against an invisible and unpredictable enemy is both stressful and thankless. While the men can fire back and retaliate, they rarely know when they are going to be attacked next, where and from which direction and by whom. The suspense can be killing. The fittest of them can have a nervous breakdown if they are forced to live in the unfamiliar war zones for too long. Most of the urban youth will not last even a week.

The question is, what can the security forces do in these areas and under such grim conditions ? While the experts need to reflect on the question, one possible option is to attach a magistrate and a small police force to every CRPF battalion deployed in Maoist strongholds. Their brief should be to provide a security umbrella to development schemes and to ensure that Maoists do not disrupt development activities, that classes are held, hospitals function, roads get built and the villagers get their due from the public distribution system and the poverty alleviation programmes.

Policing the police can be another area where the para-military forces, assisted by the presence of the magistrate and the detachment of the police, can make their presence felt. The anger against the policemen often borders on hatred in these areas. So the policemen also need to be protected. But once villagers are encouraged to reach out to the magistrate attached to the central forces , in case they have grievances against the policemen and other government functionaries, it will go a long way to win back their confidence in the system.

‘Hunting’ Maoists is always going to be a tough proposition. But that is why the government needs to re-establish its credibility first. Waging a war on corruption in government agencies and delivering justice to the people in the affected areas must be the first steps to win the war.

There is need for a multi-pronged strategy with its focus being on the people rather than the Maoists. Without a clarity of purpose, mindless deployment of more paramilitary forces will only ensure a lull before the storm.

Maoists have an edge

*Security forces are easily identified by their uniform, vehicles etc.

( Maoists also have uniform but often take it off and merge with the people)

Security forces are confined to their barracks except when they go out on patrols

( Maoists move more freely and in smaller or bigger groups)

Security forces are reluctant to operate at night in remote areas, forests etc.

( Maoists have no such inhibition and they are more active at night)

Security forces are largely outsiders with little knowledge of local terrain, people, language etc.

( Maoists are far better conversant with local conditions)

Security forces are forced to blindly trust information furnished by arrested Maoists

( Maoists are known to have received expert advice from ex-servicemen and have access to more credible and accurate information)

Security forces cannot obviously use mines

( Maoists have been using Improvised Explosive Devices, land-mines and pressure mines extensively)

Movement of security forces in Maoist strongholds is a sure give-away because they move in large numbers and use armoured personnel carriers, anti-landmine vehicles etc.

( Maoists flit in and out of the forest, walk or use the bicycle or public buses and go largely undetected )

Police have acquired such a bad name in the countryside that men in uniform rarely enjoy the confidence of the local people.

( While not all Maoists are Robin Hood, they enjoy greater rapport with the villagers)

Cut consumption, be happy
by Bharat Dogra

Recent international negotiations on climate change, particularly on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, have revealed a situation in which reduction of GHGs is being very widely regarded as a huge burden. Hence, attempts to shift the burden on others.

However, it is possible for the rich and prosperous sections and to some extent also the middle class to visualise a future in which the reduction of greenhouse gas emission in their lifestyle instead of being burdensome can be accompanied by increasing happiness. To some extent, the reduction of GHG emissions can be achieved by increasing energy efficiency and improving access to renewable sources of energy. But this will not be adequate and certainly reduction of wasteful and non-essential consumption will also be needed.

This is something which many commentators on this issue avoid stating clearly because they think that this will be very unpopular. But the fact is that the changes in GHG emission reduction and other related changes that are required are so huge that in addition to a significant shift to renewables and increasing energy efficiency, significant reduction in wasteful and non-essential consumption will also be required.

This is all the more important because those who are poor and still do not meet their basic needs will need to increase their consumption. Even if the increase of consumption by them follows a path of more energy efficiency and higher reliance on renewables, keeping in view the increase in consumption some increase in GHG emissions may be unavoidable. This increases the responsibility of the rich and the middle class to reduce their wasteful and non-essential consumption so that the highly justified task of meeting the basic needs of all present-day poor people has adequate carbon space.

While it is essential for the rich and to some extent also the middle class to reduce their non-essential and wasteful consumption, this need not be considered burdensome and actually the time of reducing GHG emissions can also become happier and more purposeful for them.

The existing consumerist lifestyle is not necessarily a happy and contented life. In fact, there are several indications that even those leading highly consumerist lifestyle of excessive consumption and spending are suffering from high levels of depression, insecurity, alienation, loneliness and social disruption not to mention chronic health problems like obesity. To some extent these problems exist due to because of high consumption and income. Links of high and wasteful consumption (for example in the form of overeating) to chronic health problems like obesity are obvious enough. Not so obvious is the fact that high-income levels sometimes create social attitudes of not caring adequately for close family (and other) relationships. Times of economic hardship are sometimes and in some cases better for closer family and social relationships compared to times of affluence.

With a better understanding of these relationships, we can create conducive conditions for the time of reducing GHG emissions to also become a time of more healthy life and closer family/social relationships contributing overall to increasing happiness and purposefulness. The fact that a family is contributing to lowering GHG emissions can itself lead to increasing purposefulness in life.

Jeremy Seabrook writes, “Politicians in the West insist that the one thing that is sure to guarantee electoral defeat is to talk about radical change, about renunciation, about lowering the standard of living. This is, I believe a mistake.... The truth is that human resources are as vital a component of our growth and development as monetary ones; and it is this simple lesson which needs to be relearned by a West which can price everything and know the true value of nothing.”

While voluntarily reducing consupmtion, he argues, people can “rediscover all the things that human beings can make and do and create and invent and give freely to each other - things that have been enclosed, marketed and sold back to us in the West”.

We may add that this applies not just to people in the West but also to rich persons all over the world.

Chennai Diary
nelson ravikumar
Summer campaign

J Jayalalithaa

As mercury rises, people of Tamil Nadu have one major relief. Small sheds beside roads and streets provide cool shade for them. Women clad in AIADMK tri-colour saris welcome people who take shelter under sheds with ice-cold water, buttermilk or lemon juice kept in cold pots. This is done as per the instructions of party supremo J Jayalalithaa.

Immediately after the AIADMK’s poor show in the recent bypoll, Jayalalithaa asked cadres to mitigate the sufferings of people under the scorching sun (The symbol of the DMK is the rising sun).

As a proof of the party’s continuing service to the people, the cadres should set up sheds for people and give water and buttermilk, she said.

Besides water and butter milk, lemon juice and water melon pieces are also provided at some places. People who quench their thirst and relax under these sheds, will not miss the pots painted with AIADMK tri-colours, the party’s flag and the “two leaves” symbol.

Much ado

When the Mumbai Indians arrived at Chennai airport, they were perplexed by the black flags and angry slogans which greeted them. As Sachin’s men tried to know the reasons for the black flag demo, the agitators too were baffled. Because, the target of their agitation, Sanath Jayasuriya, was nowhere on the scene and the whole exercise turned out to be much ado about nothing.

Jayasuriya

Knowing about the protest, Sanath did not accompany the team which arrived at 11.45 am. Instead, he chose to fly from Colombo and arrived at 8.45 am and was escorted through a special exit. Unaware of what has happened, the activists of Puthiya Thamizhagam (PT), a Dalit party, based in South Tamil Nadu had gathered at the airport at the wrong time.

Later, some of the party cadres bought tickets and entered the stadium, expecting to register their protest in front of Jayasuriya. However, to their utter disappointment, the Mumbai Indians did not field the dashing Sri Lankan opener. Despite their disappointment, the PT leaders claimed that their protest was a success since it has forced Jayasuriya to change his plans.

Why protest against Jayasuriya alone, when so many Sri Lankan cricketers are playing in the IPL? He was a staunch supporter of Sri Lankan President Rajapakse and a member of the ruling party, the party cadres explained.

Overdrive

An industrialist has appealled to the state government to give Tamil names to cars manufactured in Tamil Nadu. The industrialist, an ardent supporter of the government’s efforts to promote Tamil in all spheres, ahead of the World Classical Tamil Conference, said most of the Japanese goods were named in their mother-tongue. Most of the Chinese and Swiss manufacturers too give names in their own languages, he said.

The Union government promotes Hindi by giving names to various establishments, missions and space programmes, he noted. Naming commercial products in Tamil would be one way of popularising the language, he reasoned.

Chennai has become Asia’s automobile hub and most of the leading manufacturers have operations in the city. They can be asked to name some of their new products in Tamil. It would be good for them since their companies would earn the love and affection of Tamils all over the globe, he added.