The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Gaddafi’s poll offer
There’s no harm in trying it

Realisation seems to have dawned on Libyan ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi that he can no longer hold on to power with brute force. That is the reason why he has offered again that he would leave the scene if people voted for his ouster. The offer was earlier made by his son Saif-al-Islam in the course of a media interview. It was then described as a ploy by the Libyan opposition as well as the international community, including the US, to cause a wedge in NATO, showing signs of weariness in its efforts to force Colonel Gaddafi to step down. There are divisions within the NATO member-countries even now, but a way has to be found to end the unrest in the oil-producing North African country. If the chaos continues for a longer period, it will lead to the oil prices going up considerably.

The Libyan government has agreed for a national dialogue and an election that can be overseen by the United Nations and the African Union. The idea needs to be worked out to ensure that the polls are held in a free and fair manner with the Gaddafi regime unable to influence this exercise in any manner. Colonel Gaddafi also must make it clear that he is ready for a democratic set-up in Libya irrespective of who wins the battle of the ballot, and that he himself will not be a candidate. It would be better if he agrees for an interim administration having representatives from his side and the opposition. The international community can play its role through the UN.

Plans have already been chalked out to rebuild Libya after the 41-year-long dictatorship comes to an end. The international community and the Libyan opposition have prepared a blueprint for the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces once a truce is declared, for reviving the oil industry and integrating the officials of the present regime in the interim administration. But these measures will have a meaning only after the present regime ceases to exist.

Bollywood awards
Most are embroiled in controversies

Dabaang’ and ‘My Name is Khan’ won top honours at the 12th IIFA ( International Indian Film Academy) awards at Toronto recently. Karan Johar was adjudged the best director, while Shah Rukh Khan won the best actor’s award for ‘My Name is Khan’. New-comer Anushka Sharma won the best actress award for her debut role in ‘Band Baja Baraa’. Bollywood awards are about visibility, glitz, high adrenaline song and dance ensembles and rise in TRPs with cross- continental satellite coverage of the event. So, the daring (Dabaang) get it!

One wonders how one can become the best actress after doing just one film! Would that mean Anushka cannot be ‘Best’ after this ‘Best’. Many established actors are accused of buying the awards. Some well-established awards are known for favouring a certain camp in Bollywood. Aamir Khan has come on record, saying that he refuses to go to the prestigious Filmfare awards, because “That award has no value.” No award in Bollywood is free of controversy. There are more controversies attached to each award than the trophies it offers. Shah Rukh Khan was alleged to have bought Apsara Award for ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, in 2010. Manikchand, the Gutkha makers who sponsored Filmfare awards since 1999, were hauled up by the Mumbai Police for their alleged underworld links in 2005. Other awards like Global Indian Film Awards, Stardust awards, Screen awards, Zee Cine awards, Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Award, and Critics award have each had their share of controversy.

It is not only the private awards whose credibility is suspect, even the national awards are not free of controversy. Adoor Gopalakrishnan rightly observed, “A wrong film getting a national award is as bad as promoting bad cinema and bad craft nationally,” referring to National Film Awards.

Thought for the Day

By all means use sometimes to be alone. — George Herbert

ARTICLE

Unending Lokpal debate
Is there a hidden agenda?
by T.V. Rajeswar

THE Lok Pal Bill debate has led to the emergence of an amorphous group called civil society after Anna Hazare came on the scene and sat at Jantar Mantar announcing satyagraha in April this year. Anna Hazare’s main demand was the enactment of a Jan Lokpal Bill. The moral pressure was such that the government agreed to discuss with Anna and his team members the modalities of enactment of the proposed Bill. A 10-member committee presided over by Mr Pranab Mukherjee with an equal number of representatives from the government and civil society was constituted. Apart from Mr Mukherjee, the government representatives included Mr P. Chidambaram, Mr Kapil Sibal, Mr Salman Khurshid and Mr Veerappa Moily. The civil society representatives consisted of the well-known father and son duo, Mr Shanti Bhushan and Mr Prashant Bhushan, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, Lok Ayukta of Karnataka Justice Santosh Hegde and Anna Hazare himself.

After nine meetings, beginning on April 8, the joint committee of the government representatives and civil society members concluded the deliberations on June 21. They were unable to arrive at a unanimous draft Lokpal Bill. The differences were basic since there was no agreement on critical issues such as the inclusion of the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary within the ambit of the Lokpal.

The government representatives announced on June 21 that the joint committee succeeded in writing a stronger and better version of the Lokpal Bill and that they had agreed on about 34 of the 40 basic principles set out. Some of the important issues agreed upon were that the investigation and prosecution measure would be independent under the Bill.

The next stage would be when the draft Lokpal Bill with separate versions of both groups would go to an all-party meeting on July 3, if at all this happens. After taking into account the views expressed by the all-party meeting, a single draft would go to the Cabinet and then, after due deliberations and changes or amendments, it would reach Parliament in the first week of August.

The monsoon session of Parliament begins on August 1 and it has been announced that it may continue up to mid-September. During the debate in Parliament, political parties are likely to suggest amendments to the draft Lokpal Bill. There is also the possibility of the entire Bill, after such amendments as may be suggested, may go before the Select Committee which would take its own time. Only when the Select Committee returns the Bill to Parliament would it be further discussed and voted upon before it could be passed into an Act. Hopefully, it would be passed in the monsoon session before it concludes sometime in September-October.

Anna Hazare had stated that if the Jan Lokpal Bill, as he prefers to call it, is not passed by August 15, he would go on a fast on August 16 “to teach the government a lesson”. Anna’s colleague and team member Santosh Hegde had asked Anna to reconsider his announcement of going on fast on August 16. He had suggested that Anna should instead go on a national tour, apparently to tell the people about his movement.

Anna Hazare had, at one stage, asked for video-taping of the proceedings of the committee and apparently broadcasting the same on the national TV channel to keep the people informed. This was not agreed to by the government which suggested keeping a complete record through audio-tapes. Anna also wants to take into account the views expressed by a large number of people by e-mail and letters. He would perhaps even opt for a referendum on the various provisions of the Bill if only government would agree.

During his deliberations with the joint committee, Anna team member Shanti Bhushan, who had been a Law Minister himself and a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, reportedly said that the committee was redrafting the Constitution. He was told that this was not the function of the joint committee and that the prerogative rested with Parliament. In fact, the utterances of the team members on various issues indicate that they would like nothing short of redrafting the Constitution if permitted.

In an article under the headline, “Is the government serious about dealing with corruption?”, team member Prashant Bhushan, writing under the name of Team Anna, on June 20 had stated that the Lokpal was designed to be a comprehensive anti-corruption institution independent of the government, empowered to effectively investigate corruption cases involving all public servants, but most of the critical elements in this vision have been rejected. The article states that high-level corruption is plundering the public exchequer, distorting government policies and creating a criminal mafia which has come to dominate all institutions of power. It goes on to say that a major reason for this rampant, widespread corruption is the lack of an independent, empowered and accountable anti-corruption institution that can be trusted to credibly investigate complaints of corruption and prosecute the guilty. The CBI is controlled by the very people who are the fountainheads of this corruption and is required to seek the permission of those who need to be investigated and prosecuted.

The Central Vigilance Commissioner of India is selected by the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, and the Leader of Opposition who have a vested interest in ensuring that a weak bureaucrat gets selected. Moreover, the CVC has only recommendatory powers and most of his or her recommendations are disregarded by the government, which wants to protect corrupt public servants. The courts take years to conclude trials and there is also considerable corruption in the judiciary because of the lack of accountability of the higher judiciary. That is why we have been demanding the constitution of an independent Lokpal, completely independent of the government, empowered to effectively investigate corruption charges against all public servants of the Central Government, including the Prime Minister, the judiciary and the Lok Ayuktas from the states.

At the conclusion of the last meeting of the joint panel on June 21, Anna and two of his colleagues, Mr Arvind Kejriwal and Ms Kiran Bedi, were forthright in condemning the Union Government and accusing it of indulging in a misinformation campaign and playing hoax in the name of the Lokpal Bill.

Anna has spoken about resuming his ‘Andolan’ on August 16 at Jantar Mantar.

After having dealt with Anna’s Jantar Mantar “andolan” earlier in April and having witnessed the Baba Ramdeo episode, the Central Government may take a serious view of the proposed “andolan” and go in for preventive measures to ensure that Anna’s August “andolan” does not materialise.

This reinforces the view that Anna would be unwilling to accept the Lokpal Act after it is passed in Parliament unless some of the crucial features such as the inclusion of the Prime Minister and the senior judiciary are brought under the ambit of the Act. This will be known only around September/October 2011 when the Act might emerge from Parliament.

Some observers believe after closely watching the activities of Anna Hazare and his civil society team that it is nothing short of the beginning of a political movement for changing the government at the Centre. Only time will tell whether such thinking is right or wrong.

The writer is a former Governor of UP and West Bengal.

MIDDLE

From ‘Sabbatical’ to School of Life
by Suparna-Saraswati Puri

The recent months have provided one with a worthwhile opportunity to ponder over the word ' Sabbatical ' that seems to have been inappropriately used in common parlance. One's existing state of unidentifiable engagment in terms of preoccupation has compelled many to indulge in varied forms of enquiry. From polite conversations such as, “So, what is new with you these days?" , to a more definite form of questioning, " What are you planning to do eventually?"

Choosing to bypass the dictionary meaning of the word, Sabbatical for many has come to adopt a somewhat blanket interpretation: one that is devoid of any monetary relevance to one that amply signifies a laidback existence pegged hugely on indulging in leisurely pursuits. Personally, a suitable answer to societal PCs as in presurrised conversations would perhaps then be — “One's current status is that of being purposefully unemployed!”

After all, in the mortal madness of being Someone, by Sometime or of Some Value when does one actually live wholeheartedly and happily? Subject to individualistic comprehension of the terms "live" and "happily", simple pleasures in small things would be a personal favourite . Therefore, each day would offer an array of unimaginable yet curious set of challenges coupled with delightful surprises about one's own disposition towards viewing the mundane.

As a thorough city bred, over a period of time, one relies largely on adaptive approaches while addressing daily issues and concerns as well as solving complex situations. For instance, successfully retaining a deliverable combo pack of domestic help ( maid/ man friday & driver) without losing a single shred of one's sanity for as short a span as a week.

During one's so-called/popularly viewed 'Sabbatical' , one gives in to recollecting old order statuetes such as — “Be a minimalist”, “Keep expectations to level zero”, “Speak less and Do more”, “Be tolerant of another's presence and be patient towards one and all” to mention a few.

In addition, maintaining an actively stimulated intellect in the absence of being economically engaged appears to many around you an act of remarkable feat! Reactions such as “Wow! You are really busy and enjoying a No-Job 24x 7 scenario.” An affirmative nod and an ear-to-ear beaming suffices for the evolved Homoe Sapien whose sense of endurance has finally seen light of the day!

This and much more comes your way when one is full-time enrolled in the School of Life that is certainly by no means a Sabbatical, wouldn't you say.

OPED-DOCUMENT

The not-so-shining India
Doctor and human rights activist Binayak Sen, charged with sedition by the Chhattisgarh government, recently travelled to South Korea to receive an award. Excerpts from his thought-provoking acceptance speech are reproduced here.
Dr Binayak Sen

TODAY, India is considered around the world as a rapidly developing country posting economic growth rates of around 8-9 percent consistently over the last several years. Along with China, which is much further ahead, India is seen as a powerhouse of the global economy in the decades to come and already it is home to a very large number of dollar billionaires, perhaps the largest such number in Asia.

Villagers sit along the entry point to prevent policemen and officials from entering their land at Jagatsinghpur district, about 140 kilometres east of Bhubaneswar — AFP

In our own times, as we look around this vast and populated country though, the picture that one sees is not as rosy as it is made out to be. India is also home to the world’s largest number of people living in absolute poverty. In 2007 a study on the unorganised sector in India, based on government data for the period between 1993-94 and 2004-05, found that an overwhelming 836 million people in India live on a per capita consumption of less than Rs 20 or O.50 US cents a day.

In 2010 a UNDP/Oxford University study, using a new Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI), said that eight Indian provinces alone have more poor than 26 African nations put together. The report said that acute poverty prevails in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal which together account for 421 million people, 11 million more “MPI poor” than in the 26 poorest African countries.

Areas of darkness

As a physician and a pediatrician in particular, what concerns me is that such absolute poverty among such large numbers of people really translates into a major health disaster the proportions of which can only be called genocidal. I have a specific technical reason for using the word genocide and do not wield it in a rhetorical manner.

The Indian National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB) tells us that over 33% of the adult population of India has a Body Mass Index of less than 18.5, and can be considered as suffering from chronic under nutrition. If we disaggregate the data, we find that over 50% of the scheduled tribes (Adivasis), and over 60% of the scheduled castes (dalits) have a BMI below 18.5.The WHO says that any community with more than 40% of its members with a BMI below 18.5 may be regarded as being in a state of famine. By this criterion there are various subsets of the population of India-the scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, – which may be regarded as being permanently in a state of famine.

So it is not any general population that is suffering the consequences of poverty-induced malnutrition but specific ethnic groups and hence my use of the term ‘genocide’ as per the United Nations definition. All this is, of course, in addition to the mundane reality, to which we have become inured, of 43% of children under 5 in India being malnourished by weight for age criteria. India has the world’s largest number of malnourished children and according to the UNICEF over 2 million Indian children die every year due to malnutrition related diseases.

Poor adivasis

I want to bring to your and indeed the attention of the world that it is precisely this section of the population, that is stricken by famine, that is today the principal target of a widespread policy of expropriation of natural and common property resources, in a concerted and often militarised programme run by the Indian state. For a long time, despite their cash poverty, the Adivasis of central India, living in extreme poverty, nevertheless survived through their access to common property resources- the forests, the rivers, and land- all of which are now under a renewed threat of sequestration and privatisation as global finance capital embarks on its latest phase of expansion. The doctrine of eminent domain vests ultimate ownership of all land and natural resources in the state. Under cover of eminent domain, vast tracts of land, forest and water reserves are being handed over to the Indian affiliates of international finance capital.

Land acquired from ordinary people in Chhattisgarh, as also in other parts of India, has been handed over to industrial houses for the purpose of mining or building large steel and power plants. With a few honourable exceptions, the personnel articulating the agency of state power have almost uniformly possessed a colonial mindset. It is not as if the people have not resisted. The forced takeover of indigenous land is being met with resistance that is multi hued , yet the state has chosen to brand it under the single category of Maoist, and has met it with brutality and human rights violations. The social fabric in many of these regions is today polarised beyond immediate rectification, and the deep fissures in our society will take time to heal

In the times we live, while oppression is most acutely manifested in remote and local places like Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, the truth is that the forces behind such oppression are often global in nature. It is well recognised now that the tsunami-like flow of capital around the world is a source of tremendous tragedy for many communities around the world which do not fit into the ideologically straitjacketed confines of the ‘market economy’.

Countries like South Korea that have suffered the ravages of colonialism in the past and risen from the ashes of the Second World War to become one of the industrially and economically leading nations of the world have a special responsibility today. It is the responsibility of ensuring that they do not do the kind of violence and exploitation to the people of the Third World what they themselves were subjected to in the past by others.

POSCO

I want to bring up the specific case of the South Korean steel giant POSCO which has embarked on a USD 12 billion dollar project in the Indian state of Orissa, which at USD 12 billion to mine iron ore, build a port and a mega-steel plant.

Indian activists have pointed out repeatedly that from a national point of view the MoU signed by the Orissa government with POSCO to give it the rights to mine over 600 million tonnes of high grade iron ore is a scam of immense proportions.

According to the original MoU, the royalty that POSCO will pay for the iron ore is around Rs. 24 per tonne whereas the selling price in the international market is around Rs. 5000 today. Besides all this POSCO and its investors from around the world are to be illegally given nearly 5000 acres of land that was originally forest land and cannot be used for any other purpose under Indian law without the consent of forest dwelling people.

For more than five years now, the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samity (PPSS), a local people’s movement in Jagatsingpur district, has been bravely resisting the POSCO project which threatens the livelihood of thousands of agriculturists, workers and small businesses in the area besides devastating the local environment and ecology. Over 30,000 people, mostly farmers and fisherfolk are expected to be displaced.

Even as we speak here today, large contingents of the Orissa police are moving into the villages settled on the targeted land for the POSCO project to uproot local communities using brute force. I would like to appeal to the South Korean people and the people of Gwangju in particular to strongly oppose the POSCO project in solidarity with the brave farmers and fishermen of Jagatsingpur. POSCO should withdraw its investment in this project immediately and an inquiry launched in both South Korea and India into the circumstances under which such a project was considered and cleared.

The spirit of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights calls upon all of us to continue to oppose violations of human rights in every form, wherever it occurs and whatsoever the costs of such opposition. We remain committed to Peace, but realise that there cannot be any peace without equity and social justice. I am confident that my appeal to you will be heard and responded to and the solidarity of the South Korean people will forever remain with the oppressed people of India and other parts of Asia and the world.

POSCO protests cast a shadow on industry
Matthias Williams

For eight-year-old Rakesh Bardhan, it is protest time. Decked out in a black T-shirt and a matching handkerchief wrapped around his head, he is off to join hundreds of farmers, labourers and fishermen standing between a generations-old way of life and India’s biggest single foreign direct investment. Local people are protesting against the planned construction of a $12 billion steel mill by South Korea’s POSCO in Orisssa.

“If the company wants to set up its project, let them first kill us,” Bardhan shouts over the speeches and slogans blaring out from loudspeakers to rows of protesters behind him. “If our land goes, everything will go. We will not get food, clothes or education.”

The POSCO protests are yet another storm brewing in an environment growing increasingly hostile to what many Indians see as a nexus of corrupt politicians and businessmen profiting from kickbacks and forced land acquisition as foreign firms vie for a place in the Indian market. How the stand-off plays out will be closely watched at home and abroad for signs of how relations are changing between investors, the government, and Indians affected by big projects.

Farmers accuse the Orissa government of being in cahoots with big business to trick them out of land their families have held for generations. They believe their best shot at a decent life is holding on to their farm incomes, and accuse police of beating up villagers and burning crops to force them to leave.

Many say India urgently needs more POSCOs — foreign companies pouring cash into one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, revamping rusty infrastructure and providing thousands of new manufacturing jobs for a population of 1.2 billion people. Only half of the 3,719 acres (1,500 hectares) of land needed for the site have been acquired, though it was due to start pumping out 4 million tonnes of steel a year by 2011.

POSCO is only one of numerous high profile projects in the energy sector that have been held up by red tape, protests and fights between local and federal authorities. ArcelorMittal and Tata Steel too have faced delays. Investors are also concerned by how long the government is taking to rule on Vedanta Resources’ plan to buy Cairn Energy’s Indian assets, a potential $9.6 billion deal the firms agreed last August but which has been held up by a dispute involving the state-run oil exploration firm. With a quarter of its 42 million people illiterate and 40 percent of infants malnourished, Orissa needs investment. Its roads are bumpy and power cuts are common. Though rich in minerals such as bauxite and iron ore, wealth has not trickled down enough to millions of poor and tribal people.

Orissa wants to use part of the land acquired from the landholders for POSCO to build a new port, but the protesters do not understand why it cannot be built elsewhere, or even done without. The state government says its compensation package is one of the best in India: thousands of dollars in cash and a job for at least one member of each displaced family. Pro-POSCO activists say the mill will tackle youth unemployment. The protesters are not convinced. Sisir Mohapatra, secretary of one of the activist groups, says similar promises were made for other projects that never materialised. “We don’t have any faith in the government,” he says, adding that the mill should be moved to less fertile land. The state government, which alleges children were forced to lie on the baking hot ground to act as human shields, says the project will continue, and that construction work has started on already acquired land. A new land acquisition law is due to be introduced in August’s parliament session, but the activists have vowed to dig in until POSCO withdraws.— Reuters