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Reforms in Punjab |
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Women in Saudi Arabia
Citizen Rahul
Promoting Modi for PM’s post?
The gender food
WHY SHAHEED BHAGAT SINGH ENJOYS MASS APPEAL
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Reforms in Punjab
Even if initiated rather late, citizen-oriented reforms will be a major achievement of the Shiromani Akali Dal- BJP government in Punjab. Part of the credit for saving the citizen the hassle of making rounds of government offices for obtaining simple services like access to land records, birth-death certificates and registration of vehicles will go to the Punjab Governance Reforms Commission, whose term ends on September 30. Since experts’ reports often gather dust in official cupboards the Punjab commission has the satisfaction of seeing some of its ideas bearing fruit. Though an assessment of the actual implementation of administrative reforms will have to wait, on paper these look attractive and aim to take the administration off the citizen’s back. These will definitely benefit the Akali Dal-BJP combine politically in the coming elections. What the ruling coalition has achieved will be weighed against what it has not. It has rendered ineffective the Constitutional requirement of limiting the strength of ministers by appointing parliamentary secretaries. Due to governmental profligacy and a top-heavy administration, the state debt has shot up. Police reforms have remained unimplemented despite directions from the Supreme Court. Punjab politicians do not shed control of the force and use it for fixing opponents. Power reforms have been bungled. Unwanted, loss-making state enterprises have not been disposed of and are a drain on the exchequer. Economic reforms, which have reduced the role of the government, made project clearances automatic and curtailed the inspector raj, are unheard of in Punjab. The regressive administrative practices had evolved largely during British rule and were based essentially on the distrust of the citizen. If these were continued in a democratic India it is because the interests of the new rulers — politicians and bureaucrats — too have been well served. But corruption rising to intolerable levels and an increasingly assertive citizenry helped by an aggressive media have forced governments to be citizen-friendly. The citizen not only looks up to the government for efficient, trouble-free services but also opportunities for growth.
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Women in Saudi Arabia
Whether
it is the effect of Arab Spring — which has led to the fall of three Arab dictators and some getting their hold over power weakened — or the growing interaction of the Saudis with the liberal West, it is good that women are being offered one concession after another in Saudi Arabia. The latest is that they can take part in the municipal elections held there for the past few years. They have been given the right not only to cast their vote but also to contest the polls. They have been allowed to participate in the discussions of the Shura, the supreme advisory council of the Saudi King. These developments have come a little before the next civic polls, scheduled for September 29. Perhaps, women are being told indirectly that they should not get impatient as they may get more rights in days to come. The government has been under tremendous pressure from women’s rights groups in Saudi Arabia who now can claim that their efforts are bearing fruit. In fact, the very existence of women’s rights activists in the conservative kingdom shows that the mindset in the richest Arab monarchy is changing for the better. For the past few years the thinking that appears to be gaining ground is that women will have to be involved, though gradually, in every walk of life in view of the changing reality in the Arab world. This is reflected in the victory of women on different fronts in Saudi Arabia. Saudi women lawyers can now argue cases in courts. A few days back the kingdom got a state-of-the-art women’s university, claimed to be the biggest institution of its kind in the world. Now everybody in Saudi Arabia is curious to know when the rulers will amend the law for women to hold driving licences. Interestingly, the law does not prevent them from driving, but it remains an illegal activity for the female sex because they are not issued driving licences. Their victory on this front will bring about a drastic change in their lives. Indications are that they will soon get this right too.
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Citizen Rahul
Planes
are getting faster, and the world is getting smaller. It takes longer to go from one end of a village to another than it takes to go from one continent to another. Well, there is a bit of poetic exaggeration there but rural streets are indeed quite that bad in some areas. Just visit Uttar Pradesh. So where does one really belong? Well, in the case of politicians, it could be everywhere. Especially if you come from as illustrious a family as Nehru-Gandhi, you can stake claim to being a truly global citizen, who is at home anywhere and everywhere. So, when Rahul Gandhi was in Srinagar the other day, he made it a point to mention that he fully understood the pain of Kashmiris as he was a Kashmiri himself. Those who are not good students of history may need to be reminded that he is absolutely right there, considering that his father’s mother’s father’s father belonged to the state. As blood is thicker than water, that makes him a true-blue Kashmiri and he struck an instant chord. Thousands of young students, mainly girls, defied the Geelani boycott call to throng the university’s convention centre where he spoke. Belonging to a fully cosmopolitan family, he can stake claim to many more states. Delhi is very much his turf because he was born and brought up there and is waiting for the “call of higher duty”. Uttar Pradesh is all the more his pocket borough because of the Indira Gandhi connection and also being his constituency. He can also be called a Maharashtrian because that is where his dada Feroze Gandhi came from. Come to think of it, Feroze was originally a Parsi from Gujarat; so Rahul can trace back his ancestry to that state. It is another matter that he might like to stick to the grandmother side of the family tree, which yields better fruits. And if one is also allowed to belong to the places where one has studied, then even better opportunities unfold. He is an Uttarakhandi too, since he studied at Doon School for some time. But why remain confined to the shores of India? He can claim to be an Italian the next time he visits Europe. Then there is also Harvard and Cambridge. The whole world is a small family, indeed. Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam!
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You can’t escape history, or the needs and neuroses you’ve picked up like layers and layers of tartar on your teeth. — Charles Johnson
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Promoting Modi for PM’s post?
FUNDAMENTALIST parties throughout the world think of newer ways to expand their base in the community they seek to radicalise. India’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is no different. It feels that it should increase its support among the Hindu community, 80 per cent of the electorate, and not bother about the rest, including 12 per cent Muslim electorates who, in any way, largely do not vote for the BJP. The three-day fast by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was meant to get more support from among the Hindus. The ambiance of the hall where the fast was undertaken, the saffron-clad gurus and sadhus and the speakers chosen — all reflected the Hindutva ethos. Therefore, there was no room for any divergent viewpoint. The protesters were arrested long before they reached the venue. Modi refused to wear the skull cap which a Muslim cleric offered because this did not fit in with the proclaimed objective of the fast, even though called “sadbhavana” (conciliation). A mere memorandum on behalf of the victims of the 2002 pogrom was not entertained at the reception. Whether the purpose has been achieved is the question the BJP leadership must mull over. Crowds are no criterion because Modi’s appeal was in the name of Gujarati chauvinism. He talked about the pride of six crores of Gujaratis even in full-page, state-sponsored advertisements in leading newspapers. Moreover, the people were attracted to the place that was airconditioned and were offered free food, costing the exchequer more than Rs 6 crore. Much more money has been spent on dinning into the ears of Gujaratis that Modi has revived their “pride” which was hurt when Jawaharlal Nehru was preferred to Sardar Patel, a Gujarati, as India’s Prime Minister after Independence. Patel’s photo became the backdrop of the dais. True, Modi has changed the Gujaratis who have returned him with a majority in the state assembly poll twice in a row. This happens when the top man rules in an authoritarian style as Modi does. The developmental work goes to his credit. But the Gujaratis are a gritty, hard working community and they will do well in every clime. I found them on the top of the ladder in the UK 20 years ago when I was India’s High Commissioner in London. Modi’s fast was not meant to project the progress of the Gujaratis, but to appeal to the Hindu electorate through television channels which unashamedly telecast a purely fundamentalist show all 24 hours. It is difficult to say whether the fast had the desired effect. But it is clear that even the BJP’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were overwhelmingly against him. The NDA convener, the Janata Dal (United) chief, wanted Modi to assuage the feeling of hurt which Muslims bore. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, heading the government with the BJP’s support, walked away from journalists when asked to comment on Modi. Apparently, the BJP’s purpose was to project Modi on the national scene. The party did not attempt in any way to wash away the blood stains on Modi’s administration. What kind of governance was being praised when the Muslims felt insecure and when the Chief Minister’s own senior officials, two IPS and one IAS officers, said in their affidavits that Modi was responsible for what happened in 2002? The judgment by the Supreme Court with which the BJP has gone to town has only sent the case back to the trial court and has not commented on the allegations against Modi because it wants to judge when the case comes before it for appeal. The Special Investigation Team has exonerated Modi personally, but the amicus curie has given a different report. The jury is still out on this one. Modi does not, as expected, want to know that there is a minority and a majority in the country. This fits into his policy which his state showed nearly 10 years ago. He, as the BJP leader, does not have to make up with the 16 lakh Gujarati Muslims who have been waiting for justice for the past one decade. Yet, as the state Chief Minister, he is answerable for the killings of some 2000 Muslims at the hands of police-backed mobs. The Janata Dal (U), a BJP ally, has rightly said that a person who could not control the situation in one state cannot be entrusted with the responsibility of running the country. Modi is being projected as yet another candidate for prime ministership apart from Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. Modi talks about the education system in the country. His criticism is right but his right to use his fast for the purpose is wrong. More than the BJP, Modi should realise that the hundreds of days of fast cannot wash away the sins he has committed. He should at least now, when he wants to play a bigger role, apologise for the 2002 riots. The Congress was late in admitting its fault for the 1984 killings of Sikhs, but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at least offered apologies. He enhanced the compensation to the victims’ families, something which is not on Modi’s agenda. The unthinking BJP is now concentrating on L.K. Advani’s rath yatra which he had announced before Modi’s fast. The party forgets that Advani is not Anna Hazare who has come to symbolise the fight against corruption. Rightly, the RSS is not enthusiastic about the yatra. I have witnessed Advani’s yatra from Somnath Temple to Babri Masjid before the latter’s demolition. It is apparent that the BJP wants a similar kind of polarisation which resulted in the death of hundreds of Muslims. But the same card cannot be played twice. The BJP continues to confuse the issue. The voters are not wooed through hatred against the minority community. The party should have learnt the lesson from the last two general elections which it lost. Even the Congress government’s misgovernance was preferred to the BJP’s plank. The nation is not prepared to face the situation where Hindus are arrayed on the one side and Muslims on the other. The resurgence of terrorism has made people still more worried about the future. It is not that the RSS does not see the danger. But it wants to come to power through whatever means it can employ. The BJP has to reach out to the Muslims, a taboo in its lexicon. Citing the support of Kashmiri leader Mehbooba Mufti does not help when she says she never uttered the words that Modi was not anti-Muslim. Surely, his deeds say so.n
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The gender food It has been revealed by Brian Ford in his book ‘Secret Weapons’ that during World War II the Allies thought of smuggling oestrogen into Hitler’s food so that he became more feminine and less aggressive. British spies got engaged in carrying out this plot. A question was asked: “Why not use poison and feed Hitler to death?” Ford replied: “He had testers to taste his meals so there was no mileage in putting poison in his food. Sex hormones were a different matter.” The attempt of the British was to change ‘Herr Hitler’ to ‘Her Hitler’. Ford believes that food cannot change sex but can change the gender. The book has unravelled the mystery with which I had lived watching boys pronouncing ‘ouch’ on even a slight pinch and saying big ‘haw’ when a non-vegetarian joke was served on them while the girls said ‘you bas****’ and ‘ha-ha-ha-ha’ on exactly the same respective situations. Could it be because of their food and fodder? The Indian treatise, I have read, is the Bhagwadgita that qualifies food. Life-prolongation, pure thoughts, energy, joy, devotion and vigour come by consuming simple and Spartan food. It has been named as Sattvic. Too salty, bitter and sour; hot, dry, muggy and spicy food results in grief, distress and disorder and is loved by royal-passionate. It is Rajasic. That which is stale, fusty, decaying and rotten is cherished by a boor, a lout. It is described as Tamasic food. I, generally, take Sattvic and sometimes Rajasic food but none, so far, has called me a feminine-food taker though I have often been dubbed as straw-grass eater. And straw-grass fodder is liked by both the bull and the cow; the he and the she elephant. So, Sattvic food cannot be a feminine food otherwise all bulls would start behaving like cows and despite the use of tractors, most of our agricultural activities in marginal and small farms would come to a halt. And as far as I am concerned, I am far away from uttering ‘ouch’ and ‘haaaw’ in already mentioned situations. But there is some romantic connection between food and gender, otherwise honey, sugar, dumpling, sweet pea, pumpkin and other such words would have remained in the kitchen only. And the world would feel sorry if a young one could not ‘eat up’ the milky-smooth skinned apple of his eye with lips like cherries. I too would lose the bliss of being ‘His Mistress’s Voice’. I am not admitting that I take food with osterogen that encourages gender change. No, never. I take food — gender or non-gender — that my wife cooks and always try to convince this food-fancied world that ‘I eat to live and not live to
eat.’
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WHY SHAHEED BHAGAT SINGH ENJOYS MASS APPEAL Personally, I believe that the question is overly simplistic and very disingenuous. But it does make one reflect over the phenomenon of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. Nowhere else in the world has someone achieved such fame, following and veneration in such a short life.
That his sacrifice continues to be a source of inspiration 80 years after his death testifies that many of the evils he fought continue to afflict the country. So what is it about him that makes him popular, inspirational and venerable across nations, religions, societies, time eras and age groups? Certainly, the sheer nobility and selflessness of his martyrdom moved people. But, I believe, that there is much more about him that explains the power of his following. A careful assessment of history shows that he is the first Indian freedom fighter who was extremely young (the youngest of all) but at the same time, intellectually sophisticated, extremely well read, eloquent, articulate and someone who epitomised meritocracy.
Gokhale, for instance, mentored Gandhiji, who in turn took Pandit Nehru under his tutelage. The longevity of this experience also meant that these leaders were considerably older. For instance, Pandit Nehru, who was projected by the Congress as the leader of the youth, was way past his 40s in 1931. On the contrary, Shaheed Bhagat Singh was born in a farmer's family. Reasonably well off, his parents were nowhere as rich as that of spearheads of the national movement that time. He had no means to get fancy education but turned himself into an intellectual stalwart through his voracious readings and active thinking. It is said that when he was to be taken to the gallows, he asked the jailor to let him complete the chapter of the book that he was reading. In his own words, "Study was a cry that always reverberated in the corridors of my mind." Hardly into his early 20s, he had read the works of Marx, Lenin, Tom Paine, Victor Hugo, Dostoevsky, Sinclair, John Mill, Nikolay Bukharin, and Thomas Aquinas, amongst others. It is a testament to his intelligence that his work - "Why I Am an Atheist?" -- despite the brevity of the document, is regarded in the same league as some of the finest literary works of Indian leaders such as Pt. Nehru and Dr Ambedkar. While in prison, he wrote a book called "The Ideal of Socialism". Its manuscript was smuggled out of the prison, but inexplicably and tragically it was lost. Secondly, Shaheed Bhagat Singh was one of the first leaders to openly disassociate himself from religion. This means he was the first and probably the only influential leader in the Indian freedom struggle to have espoused secularism in a manner that was subsequently defined by the Constitution of independent India (that the state has no religion). This stance of his got him a lot of respect from common people who were being torn apart by Hindu, Muslim and Sikh fundamentalist groups. I quote an excerpt from his writing, wherein he says, " I would attribute the origin of God to the ingenuity of exploiters who wanted to keep the people under their subjection by preaching the existence of a Supreme Being and then claiming an authority and sanction from him for their privileged positions". He further states that "emancipation from bondage of religion and superstition" is highly crucial. Thirdly, Shaheed Bhagat Singh was the first leader, who cut a unanimous appeal with Indian youth, most of whom were from under- or non-privileged backgrounds. As I mentioned earlier, the Indian freedom struggle was thus far being largely led by genteel uber sophisticated senior politicians who had noble ideas, but for ordinary people they were "brown sahibs". The common youngster could not identify himself with them. By launching student mobilisation movements, organising community kitchens and dialogue and launching initiatives such as the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Shaheed Bhagat Singh gave a feeling to youngsters from lower middle class and poor families that they too could contribute to the national struggle without being held hostage to their caste, class or religion. The fourth, of course, is the sacrifice. By this I do not merely mean his gallant embrace of the gallows but his entire life. His forsaking of what could have been a comfortable life, his start of a mammoth fasting session to protest against inhuman conditions of Indian prisoners, his decision to choose himself to drop a bomb in the assembly and the sheer selflessness with which he led his life are instances that are without a parallel in world history. I feel a gut-wrenching pain when idiotic people try and draw parallels between him and Che Guevara. My earnest request to them is not to sully Shaheed Bhagat Singh's reputation. Charismatic he was, but Guevara cannot escape the blame for fomenting some needless wars and persecution of innocent people in Castro's Cuba. On the contrary, Bhagat Singh's legacy is without a blemish. He was and continues to be a hero without reproach. Here was an immensely talented, charismatic and scholarly young man who epitomised the best values of secularism and rationality, led by example, put his nation, team and people before himself, practised a rigorous disciplined work ethic, willingly embraced self-denial and represented the common man of India. Aren't these the virtues that modern India is desperately looking for in an elusive new leader? That should explain his continuous appeal and answer the question at the start of this write-up. The writer is a former Finance Minister of Punjab and the leader of the People's Party of Punjab
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All of 23, when he embraced martyrdom, his death was the tipping point of the Indian freedom struggle. His sacrifice revitalised the freedom movement, which was going astray due to various factors, and rekindled the national consciousness, which in the early 1930s, was severely in danger of being tarnished by communalism, regionalism and other ideological dissensions unleashed by the British. 
Till his arrival the Indian freedom struggle was dominated by people born in privileged families, who had had privileged European education, sufficient international exposure and had the good fortune of being groomed under a highly eminent senior national leader.