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Despair is counter-productive
More heat than light |
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Some relief in the air
Sino-Pak nuclear nexus
Ilu, Ilu
Facing the odds, alone
Left in the lurch
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Despair is counter-productive
A
bare two months before India’s biggest-ever sporting event, there is defeatism and skepticism over how the Commonwealth Games will play themselves out in New Delhi from October 3 to 14. The media is working overtime to unravel horrendous corruption scandals and fears over the state of preparedness have led to widespread despair. An event that should have been seen as an opportunity to showcase the country as an emerging power is increasingly being perceived as one that would bring disgrace to the nation. It is indeed time we stopped predicting Doom’s Day and pulled up our socks to fight the inadequacies on a war footing. Yes, we have erred in leaving so much for the last minute. But this is hardly the time to raise bickering and politicking to a level that affects the morale of the country as a whole. Clearly, those who have bled the country white through corrupt deals or those that are responsible for shoddy construction material that has led to leaking roofs and cracking walls need to be brought to book and deterrent punishment meted out to them, but right now all concentration should be on upholding the country’s dignity and pride. It is nauseating to see the Union Sports Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association at loggerheads, a former sports minister going so far as to say that he would be very unhappy if the Games were to be a success, and the whole edifice of the IOA beset by factionalism. It is disconcerting that, worried about how its money will be used by the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, the Indian Railways — a key sponsor for the big event — has hinted that it may back out of its Rs 100 crore commitment. The railways’ objection could lead to a string of similar rigid approaches from other public sector sponsors, including the Central Bank of India, Air India and the National Thermal Power Corporation, who have promised to pay Rs 50 crore each for the Games. It is imperative that the Central government steps in to bolster confidence in the conduct of the Games. A firm message must go out that all infighting must stop forthwith. Be it the finishing touches to the stadia, the provision of fool-proof security and the positioning of vital equipment and facilities, there must be a huge thrust to retrieve lost ground and streamline things.
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More heat than light
AFTER wasting much of Parliament’s time on insisting on a discussion on price rise to be followed by a vote, the Opposition finally relented but it hardly had anything substantive to say on the subject. Playing with public sentiments on the emotive issue of price rise is one thing, tackling the vexed issue quite another. All that Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj had to offer was the suggestion that the government should charge a flat rate of Customs duty on imported oil. She, however, needs to be better informed about the financial condition of the government oil-marketing firms as well as the global oil price, which now rules at $81.78 a barrel (Tuesday). The rollback of the oil prices may not be in order as the global prices are high and still rising. There is merit in the proposal about charging a flat tax rate, which the Centre should consider seriously. What about the state taxes on oil? Why can’t the Opposition-ruled states cut the taxes and show the way? On Wednesday Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee sought Opposition cooperation in rolling out the goods and services tax (GST), which he felt could help in price control. Opposition MPs, however, justifiably took the government to task over food rotting in granaries. According to reports, 7 per cent of food grains procured go waste due to mishandling and poor storage facilities. A quarter of fruits and vegetables are lost before these reach consumers. It is reported that the government spends Rs 7 to make a benefit of Re 1 available to the poor. Such massive waste and misappropriation of subsidies have to stop. A rise in the population and middle-class incomes is driving up prices. High growth would result in price rise unless agricultural and industrial production keeps pace. The RBI is trying to squeeze money supply to suppress demand. Food prices are declining as the monsoon proceeds on expected lines. In the long run agricultural productivity has to be raised if India is to register double-digit growth without being bogged down by inflationary worries. |
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Some relief in the air
TO those who cannot afford it, air travel is a big luxury. But ask a frequent flier and he will tell you that it is anything but that. Indeed, air travel is often an ordeal. There are long delays, sudden cancellations and wrongful denial of boarding. In short, passengers are taken for a ride. This situation may change for the better soon because the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is coming up with rules under which airlines will have to compensate passengers for such harassment. Powerful airlines put up stiff resistance, but the DGCA got the draft civil aviation rules (CAR) issued last month for public comments, which proposed three slabs of compensation (along with a full refund) in cases of forcible denial of boarding to passengers who have confirmed tickets and report to airport in time. Compensation will also be given for sudden cancellations without prior intimation. The other option for the passenger would be to opt for alternate transport arrangements. The DGCA will have to be on guard that the airlines do not circumvent the passenger-friendly move by quibbling about what caused the delays and thus trying to pass the buck. If the scheme is sincerely enforced, it will keep the airlines on good behaviour. Another equally positive development is that the Supreme Court has expressed concern over the frequent loss of baggage of air passengers and has said that carrier companies must pay for such losses. Air travellers deserve a good deal not only from airlines but also from airports. There should be a mechanism in place under which they can get compensation in case the service they get is deficient. After all, they are making a hefty payment for certain facilities, which they cannot be denied. The paying passenger has been treated badly for far too long. It is high time he was made to feel somewhat like the king. |
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Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance ... poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music. — Ezra Pound
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Sino-Pak nuclear nexus
WHILE much is being said of China’s decision to supply two more nuclear power reactors to Pakistan, one has to look at this development as a continuation of the long-standing nuclear nexus between our northern and western neighbours. The Director of the Wisconsin Project of Arms Control, Gary Milhollin, has aptly commented: “If you subtract China’s help from the Pakistani nuclear programme, there is no Pakistani nuclear programme.” It is now acknowledged that by 1983 China supplied Pakistan with enough enriched uranium for assembling two weapons, together with the designs for a 25-kiloton bomb. China thereafter provided Pakistan with ring magnets and reengineered, more efficient inverters for uranium enrichment. More significantly, this cooperation continued even after China signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT). During the past two decades, China has collaborated with Pakistan in the construction of plutonium reactors and reprocessing plants in Khushab for manufacturing lighter and more lethal nuclear weapons. These weapons are designed for delivery by ballistic and cruise missiles of Chinese origin, capable of targeting population centres all across India. There is evidence to establish that with the passage of time, China has supplied Pakistan with a range of nuclear weapons designs. We are all asked to believe by the Americans that Dr A.Q. Khan single-handed transferred nuclear weapons designs and knowhow on centrifuge uranium enrichment technology to North Korea, Libya and Iran. This happened despite the fact that not even a pin could be moved out of Pakistan’s nuclear facilities without the approval of its army establishment. To, therefore, claim that Dr Khan ran a “rogue” proliferation network, selling nuclear secrets without the knowledge of the army top brass, is about as credible as Pakistani assertions that the 26/11 Mumbai outrage was entirely the work of “non-state actors,” executed without the knowledge of its military establishment. It has now been revealed by American nuclear scientists Thomas Reed and Danny Stillman, after elaborate deliberations with Chinese nuclear scientists and others, that the 35th nuclear test carried out at China’s nuclear test site at Lop Nor on May 26, 1990, was, in fact, a Pakistan-assembled Chinese-designed fission weapon. The design of this weapon corresponded to the nuclear weapons design given by Dr Khan in the shopping bag of his Rawalpindi tailor to the Libyans! China’s strategic relationship with Pakistan has not only included supplies and knowhow for enabling Pakistan to build weapons of mass destruction, but also their means of delivery. China supplied Pakistan with M-11 missiles by 1990 which, it was claimed, had a range of less than 300 kilometres. This was followed by assistance to Pakistan to build DF-15/M-9 missiles (Christened as Shaheen-1 by Pakistan) capable of carrying nuclear warheads up to an estimated range of 800 kilometres. The Shaheen-2 missile, with a range of around 1800 kilometres, is a replica of the two-stage solid-fuelled Chinese DF-21 missile. More recently, China again violated the provisions of the Missile Technology Control Regime by supplying Pakistan with cruise missiles, with a range of around 500 kilometres. When will this Chinese game end? It will end only when the Agni-5 missile capable of targeting Chinese urban centres and a small fleet of nuclear submarines armed with nuclear missiles are developed and deployed by India. With its own heartland vulnerable, there will be little purpose in China using its “all- weather friend” Pakistan for nuclear containment of India. China’s international credibility has been seriously undermined by its efforts to bypass the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in its anxiety to sell nuclear power reactors to Pakistan. When China joined the NSG in 2004, it declared that it had only one pending commitment contracted before its admission to the NSG. This was to build a second 300 MW nuclear power reactor at Chashma in Pakistan. This reactor has since been commissioned. China’s claim that it had “grandfathered” its proposal to sell two more reactors in 1991 lacked credibility, as no mention was made of this so-called deal when China sought and obtained membership of the NSG. Moreover, it has now been revealed by American academic Ashley Tellis that during the Bush Administration China was repeatedly warned that nuclear sales to Pakistan did evoke concerns about possible diversion of Chinese technology and material to Islamabad’s nuclear weapons programme while cautioning China not to violate NSG guidelines. Not surprisingly, when the NSG met in New Zealand on June 24-25, China declined to answer critical questions on whether there was, in fact, a binding contract in place for the reactor sales it was proposing when precisely this contract was finalised. As the links with Pakistan’s military establishment come more and more under international scrutiny, there is going to be little international support, or even tolerance, for China’s efforts to build up its nuclear and conventional military ties with a country that has provided nuclear weapons designs and knowhow to Libya, Iran and North Korea. It is not just Pakistan’s military establishment but also its nuclear scientists who are known to harbour extremist Islamist leanings. Pakistan’s nuclear scientist Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood was, along with his colleague Chaudhri Abdul Majeed, detained shortly after the terrorist strikes of 9/11. They were both charged with helping Al-Qaeda to acquire nuclear and biological weapons capabilities. Mehmood, a close associate of Dr A.Q. Khan, openly voiced support for the Taliban and publicly advocated the transfer of nuclear weapons to other Islamic nations. He described Pakistan’s nuclear capability as the property of the whole “ummah” (Muslim community). Two other Pakistani scientists, Suleiman Asad and Al-Mukhtar, wanted for questioning about suspected links with Osama bin Laden, disappeared after it was claimed that they had gone to Myanmar, bordering China. Mehmood and Majeed are reported to have acknowledged that they had long discussions with Al-Qaeda and Taliban officials. A “Fact Sheet” put out by the White House stated that both scientists had meetings with Osama and Mullah Omar during their many visits to Kandahar, with Al-Qaeda seeking their assistance to make radiological dispersal devices. Documents recovered by coalition forces in Afghanistan also reportedly establish that the two scientists were active members of a radical Islamic organisation, Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN), which was engaged in securing information on biological weapons. What is, however, really shocking is the pusillanimity of successive governments in India in taking up the dangerous Sino-Pakistan nuclear relationship with Chinese interlocutors at the highest level and the absence of any serious parliamentary debate on the
issue.
The writer is a former Ambassador of India to Pakistan.
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Ilu, Ilu
SHIMLA is the place of my genesis, graduation, growth and graying. So I sing “Ilu, Ilu, Shimla, Ilu, Ilu”. I was joyous when I saw a Palika Bazaar type of market developing in Shimla. Fruit and vegetable, clothes and cloth, shoes and socks, home decorations and CDs — all are available under one roof. I wish the Food and Supplies Department starts a ration depot there and lo! Palika Bazaar of the Queen of Hills is full and complete. Don’t tell me that you are not aware of such bazaar. It is the cross-ventilated Rivoli-Lower Bazaar Tunnel. Ilu, Ilu. I go for morning walks; the road passes through the villages Dudhli and Kamyana that fall in Bhont Panchayat that has recently received an award for being nirmal, i.e. Open Defecation Free Panchayat. But during early hours when I see dozens of people, each carrying a bottle of water in hand, going towards the jungle, I believe that they were not going for purpose other than Deodar tree worshipping. Increasing tribe of nature adulators pleases me and I start whistling merrily — “Ilu, Ilu”. We have heritage and heritage buildings of the British times in Shimla. I am proud of these buildings and so is the electricity board. The board shows, by deeds, how a century merges with the other and presents a fusion of past and present. The two attractive buildings on the Mall representing the 19th century architecture are the Town Hall and The Gaiety. The board has saved money on the poles and fixed the 21st century LED lighting on the walls of these two buildings — the cheapest available meeting point of the two centuries. Some say it is like fraternity without absorption, union without fusion but I say, “Worry not, centuries do not matter; these are government buildings and the lights are also of the government, a (con)fusion of the public properties, so sing heartily — “Ilu, Ilu”. I am happy that a cinema hall here got burnt and the other has been declared unsafe and locked. After all, what do they show in cinemas — Indian heroes almost licking the gori mems and gory violence! But kudos to the government, it has declared Rivoli, without a crack, as unsafe and Bantony, with cracks on cracks, safe for the police department. The government architects call these as ‘sympathetic cracks’ that are likened to wrinkles on the face of an old but ‘safe’ man. All men are equal here but some are more equal than others and so I croon “Ilu, Ilu, Shimla, Ilu, Ilu”.
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Facing the odds, alone THE 'single' woman has always existed in our society. In Hindu mythology there are a host of single women headed perhaps by none other than Sita. In fact the story of Sita mirrors the lot of the Indian woman starting with an attempt at infanticide, then being a pawn in the war between Rama and Ravana. Accused of infidelity she is made to undergo the ordeal by fire and yet deserted and left alone to bring up her two children.
Although the emergence of the single woman as a socio-political group to be reckoned with is very recent and Punjab, where the well being of women is far below acceptable levels, is yet to rise up to organising single women as has been done in Rajasthan or Himachal Pradesh. I glance at my childhood and there in the midst of Punjabi households I can recount many a story of courage by single women. My nani, my mother's stepmother, was the daughter of wealthy landlords and my nana was equally well-off. However, he died a few years before the Partition of the country. One unfortunate circumstance followed the other and at the time of the Partition she crossed the border with two small sons and just what they were wearing. She reached Shimla where my parents were and was allotted a big room and kitchen in evacuee property called Fay Lodge: There began her story of resilience. She had studied only up to Class V. She used the little education that she had to become a teacher in a literacy project run in Shimla's Ladies' park for adult women learners. She knitted sweaters and brought up her two sons and one of them became the Vice-President of a leading media group. Poet Sylvia Plath says: 'Widow. The word consumes itself.' But my experience of widows is not one of consumption but of nurturing and amazing courage. My mother was left a widow without a penny and five children. I was seven when my father died. She got some help from the older children but I have seen her endeavour. When the fees would be difficult to pay, I would tell her: "Send me to a government school." But no, it had to be the best convent. She would sell something, borrow or even earn by knitting or stitching to fulfil our needs. I recall her selling the brass parat in which she kneaded flour to get me the girl guide's uniform and send me to a camp in the hills. This was the courage that I found in the many Kaurs in the cotton belt of Punjab, where men had buckled under pressure and ended their lives. But the women could not indulge in the luxury of suicide because they had children to bring up. The way they have kept the kitchen pot boiling and their children in school is a tremendous feat. Let me share a story of a farmer's wife who not only educated her children but also brought her family out of other economic crises. Kuldip Kaur of Kot Shameer village in Bathinda block was devastated nine years ago when her husband Sukhminder Singh, owning four acres of land, could not pay back his mounting debts and committed suicide by drinking pesticide spray at the age of 36. Kuldip never thought that she would be able to educate her nine-year-old daughter Mandeep or her six-year-old son Amandeep. Some quick decisions had to be taken to sell the tractor as well as two acres of land to pay off a chunk of the loan. The remaining two acres were rented out and Kuldip started with spinning yarn and rearing cattle. Next she learnt to weave and her daughter has now completed Plus II and her son Class X. However, to every success story there are hundreds of abject misery. When we say single woman, the reference is broad and it includes, widows, abandoned, divorced and unmarried women. Often social and political disasters bring attention to such marginalised groups. In the eighties some 3000 women were left widowed in Delhi alone. Women groups involved in the rehabilitation took special care that in the difficult times it was essential for these women to have their communal identity protected. However, one had to address also the oppression that they were facing within their own families and society. Two years later when Shah Bano, a Muslim woman, demanded maintenance from her husband, communal leaders and the government twisted the case in such a manner that legal maintenance to Muslim women was denied for all times. In September 1987, 18-year-old Roop Kanwar, was burnt on her husband's pyre as a practice of the long-abolished sati. All single women these. Back home in Punjab, the apathy of the government and social welfare organisations hurts one so much. Punjab, being a man's world because it is a macho agrarian state, has been very unfair to its daughters. What is required are empowerment programmes for women, a honing of skills and income-generating projects. Sadly, the people of the state are busy eliminating daughters in the wombs and making it a state with the lowest sex ratio. Punjab too must follow states like Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh to organise single women, help them to get what is rightfully theirs, if nothing else, a widows' pension of Rs 200 a month. Many are without even that. Society must facilitate a Shanti Devi teaching in the Ladies' Park, a Kusum who felt flour can be kneaded even in a plastic plate because a girl guide's camp is more important or the resilience shown by Kulip Kaur in a remote village in Punjab. The writer is a freelance journalist and editor TSI Punjab
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Left in the lurch WHEN you think of a 'single woman', chances are you imagine an empowered, educated alpha female who has chosen to remain single. No doubt, a fair percentage of single women would include those who have consciously decided to edge out men from their domain.
Yes, there is a tribe of single women even in rural India who stand out by virtue of their own grit. The 36 million single women in India (according to the 2001census) represent those who are legally divorced, separated and widowed. If women are the marginalised sections of society, single women are doubly so. At a huge disadvantage, they are vulnerable in so many ways and need, pressure groups to fight their cause and active support from the government. Realising the unenviable plight of single women, in 2000, Dr Ginny Srivastava, a social activist from Rajasthan, started Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan. The base widened when single women from Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bihar formed similar organisations. More than eight months ago National Forum for Single Women’s Rights was formed. While Rajasthan has taken the lead in picking up cudgels on the behalf of these women who have nowhere to look to, closer home in Himachal Pradesh also commendable work has been done to help the cause of single women. Subhash Mendhapurkar, Director SUTRA, that has been providing pivotal support to Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan, HP, formed in 2005, takes pride in the fact that he is in the business of gender and governance. They have managed to convince the government to concede on two fronts, namely ration cards for single women and Rs 2000 allowance for education of children of single women of BPL families. Kishwar Ahmed Shirali, consultant Nishtha, an NGO based in Kangra district, punctures the notion that single women are alone. She points out that not only do most single women have children but they often have their maternal families to look after. The NGOs in Himachal Pradesh are pressing, among other things, for universalisation of social security pension for women above 60 years, and medical cover for OPD expenses. Mendhapurkar is particularly worried about single women above the age of 60. Land rights which single women, especially divorcee and widows, are often denied is another aspect that he is working on. But is the government listening to their pleas? Soffs Shirali, "After all the efforts and the hullabaloo over the march that we led, the state government has increased the social security pension by a meagre Rs 30 per month." Interestingly, when the Centre doubled up its share from Rs 100 to 200, the state government instead of matching it, increased the pension only by Rs 30. Whether the onus rests with the Centre or the state government, Mendhapurakar feels that both must come forward. Says he, “A nation that can spend billions of dollars on defence purchase can certainly shell out money for these women." He argues that if sending children to school is government's business, so are the issues of single women. Gender-just governance, he reiterates, is guaranteed in the preamble of the Constitution. Of course, ensuring it, he and Shirali know, would be a long haul, especially in times when "Society has become dysfunctional and consideration for collective well-being lost in the race to ensure individual's rights." But the NGOs have kick-started the process and are trying to focus attention on a section that has not only been ignored but denied a voice so far. Now, many such women are finding a voice. That there is light at the end of the tunnel is evident in examples like that of Nirmal Chandel, state co-ordinator Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan, HP. Nearly 20 years ago when her husband passed away, she thought life had come to a dead end. Today she offers support and strength to others caught in a similar predicament. At the state-level meeting recently held in Shimla, issues like linking of ration-card provisions with the size of single women's family were deliberated upon. In Dharmshala, Kangra district, Nistha that lays emphasis on self-reliance and self-esteem, is also offering among other things training in self-defence through workshops. While sexual exploitation of single women is an area of concern, Shirali is equally perturbed over denial of their sexual needs. Says she, "We have turned a blind eye to this ticklish issue without realising that suppression of body's natural desires causes many psychosomatic illness." Brushing aside studies that suggest single women in India are happier than in the US, she questions, “Who are they talking about?” Indeed, it's about time we stopped romanticising and deifying the image of single women and redressed the genuine concerns of a sizeable percentage of population that outnumbers the population of Canada.
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