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Chidambaram’s triumph
Farming portents in Punjab
Egypt on the boil again |
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Indo-US N-deal and after
Bharat Ratna: Why ignore defence forces?
How Kairon changed the face of Punjab
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Chidambaram’s triumph
Buffeted
by scams, the UPA government at the Centre has cause for relief over the CBI special court dismissing a petition by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy to declare Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram as a co-accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case. So much was the media build-up for Saturday's order by Special Judge O.P. Saini that the dismissal evoked undue surprise. Special Judge O.P. Saini's observation that though Mr Chidambaran (who was Finance Minister when spectrum was sold in 2008 under then Telecom Minister A. Raja) was party to selling spectrum at 2001 prices in 2008 and privy to dilution of equity by Swan Telecom and United Limited to whom spectrum had been sold, these two acts were not per se criminal, stands to reason. What the prosecution failed to establish was that Mr Chidambaram was acting in pursuit of a criminal conspiracy. Mr Swamy or his lawyers were not able to adduce evidence to suggest an agreement between Mr Chidambaram and Mr Raja to subvert the telecom policy and obtain pecuniary advantage for himself (Chidambaram) or any other person. In that event it was naïve to expect Mr Chidambaram to be clubbed as a co-accused with Mr Raja. Petitioner Subramanian Swamy's painstaking efforts to get to the root of the 2G scam which defrauded the country's exchequer of a massive amount need not be deprecated. His resolve to take the matter to higher courts is legitimate. But Mr Swamy and his lawyers would need far more convincing arguments to carry their point through. At the least, Mr Swamy will have to establish that Mr Chidambaram acted in a malafide manner in the fixation of spectrum price at 2001 rate. As for the Opposition, especially the BJP which is refusing to accept Judge Saini's verdict, it would be an act of irresponsibility to continue its boycott of Mr Chidambaram in Parliament. There would be other opportunities to put the government on the mat but on this issue it must respect the trial court's verdict while awaiting the outcome of Mr Swamy's efforts in higher courts. It is quite on the cards that the court order will be of help to the Congress in the ensuing assembly elections in five states.
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Farming portents in Punjab
Senior scientists of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, have raised the alarm over the impact climate change is already beginning to have on agriculture in Punjab. The concern has come not a day too soon. The phenomenon has been recorded globally, and in most cases the impact is negative — drop in yields. One degree Celsius rise in temperature could lead to 3-7 per cent loss in various winter crops. The reason is easy to understand: all crops have evolved in a given set of agro-climatic conditions; when you alter that, the world changes for a plant. Present climate changes include increasing carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere, rising temperature and increasing frequency of floods and droughts. All these set off a domino effect on pests, soil quality, moisture levels, etc. The PAU concern is pertinent especially because the effect of climate change will not be the same the world over. It is region-specific. Each agro-climatic zone will, thus, have to adapt to its own situation. States like Punjab and Haryana, which practically grow only wheat and rice, will be among the most affected. Wheat is being hit by a shorter ‘chill period’, and rice by high temperature as well as droughts and floods. Crop varieties resistant to the new stresses will have to be developed (could take 10-20 years), and the other imperative is to diversify into a variety of crops so we have the eggs in more baskets than one. In adaptation comes the role of research, which by no means is cheap. Funding specifically for this will now have to be regular and not piecemeal, along with a part of the country’s research set-up dedicated to the cause. Given the states’ finances, it is the Centre that will have to fund most of the research, but the states have their own role to play in policy. Resource conservation (such as in water), diversification and dissemination of new technologies are areas where states can begin work immediately. It is about food security, and nothing can be more urgent.
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Egypt on the boil again
The
killing of 74 soccer fans in Port Said town of Egypt last Wednesday occurred when supporters of one team attacked those of another team. However, the worst violence in 15 years in football’s history has more to it than meets the eye. The army administration that has come into being after the overthrow of dictator Husne Mubarak’s rule has been exposed as being incapable of establishing the rule of law. The Egyptians, who celebrated the first anniversary of their pro-democracy movement on January 25, raised slogans against the military regime. They doubt the intentions of the new regime, being run by Mubarak loyalists in the armed forces. They seem to be determined not to let the gains of the movement go waste. They held demonstrations all over Egypt soon after the killings in the football stadium, demanding that those who won the recently held elections must be allowed to form a government soon. The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which conducted the successful elections, is scared of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose political wing won enough seats to form a government. But the elected government is not being allowed to be formed on one pretext after another. The army, perhaps, believes that the Brotherhood may indulge in vendetta politics, endangering the lives of many in the armed forces. The public, however, is restless and wants to have a democratic regime as soon as possible. There is no love lost for the armed forces. The army rulers are fully aware of the widespread anger against them and that is why they used the occasion of the pro-democracy movement’s anniversary to lift martial law. But this is not enough. The Egyptians will have to continue their fight for democracy till they achieve complete victory. For them Mubarak’s regime has only been replaced by another dictatorial regime, which must be dethroned. This is an unfortunate situation for lovers of democracy all over the world.
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When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure. — Alice Hoffman
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Indo-US N-deal and after
Recall
the euphoria three years back when the Indo-US nuclear deal was finalised in the teeth of internal and external opposition. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh risked the life of his minority government by pursuing this agreement despite fierce opposition from the Left parties, his coalition partners. By winning over Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party (then in the Opposition) and sundry Independents, the UPA-I government managed a majority in Parliament to approve the deal. For his part, President George Bush doggedly pushed the Indo-US nuclear deal through a sceptical American Congress, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Domestic opposition in the US came from the Democrats and the non-proliferation lobby who objected to India being supplied nuclear technology without entering the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or accepting its constraints. International opposition came from several members of the IAEA and the NSG who objected to the guidelines of these organisations being given a new meaning. But President Bush rode roughshod over all these objections to push the deal through. Appreciating the difficulties in finalising the nuclear deal, why does it still remain unconsummated? Three issues are persisting. First, China, on the same analogy, has also extended a nuclear deal to Pakistan without its either joining the NPT or accepting its constraints. But China has not sought the prior approval of the IAEA and the NSG, cognizant of its own and Pakistan’s dubious non-proliferation record. China’s contention that it does not need to go before the IAEA and the NSG because its present transfers were envisaged during its earlier supply of atomic reactors to Pakistan is obviously specious. But the overall effect of these two exceptions made to the NSG guidelines has been to emasculate them. Second, the Civil Nuclear Liability Act passed in August 2010 by India’s Parliament caps the compensation for nuclear accidents at Rs2500 crore, but envisages the reactor operator claiming this amount from the nuclear supplier. Some uncertainty now attends the liability of the supplier of nuclear technology in case of an accident. Incidentally, the Atomic Energy Commission is the only reactor operator in India, whereas the suppliers come from the private and public sectors in India and abroad. This uncertainty regarding compensation in cases of accidents has inhibited American suppliers, almost exclusively in the private sector, from entering the Indian market. India, however, is unlikely to amend its law to accommodate them. So, this impasse continues. Third, the NSG had revised its guidelines last June to further restrict exports of ‘sensitive nuclear technologies’, especially pertaining to uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing (ENR). India was denied access to ENR technologies on the reasoning that this would help enlarge its nuclear weapons programme. But India argues that the Indo-US nuclear deal envisaged a ‘clean waiver’ with no restrictions being imposed on technology transfers. Apropos of this, India possesses indigenously developed capabilities to enrich uranium and reprocess plutonium, but is seeking access to the latest advances in these areas. India believes it is entitled to a ‘clean waiver’ as recompense for accepting several conditions laid down by the Indo-US deal like continuing its moratorium on nuclear testing, working towards the conclusion of the Fissile Materials Cutoff Treaty, accepting an Additional Protocol on its civilian nuclear facilities, enacting export control legislation, and so on. On the other hand, the NSG believes that providing a ‘clean waiver’ to India will seriously impact the nuclear non-proliferation regime, since it compounds the problems of safeguarding such facilities and multiplies the dangers of fissile materials being diverted to nuclear aspirants. But India is adamant that it must be allowed access to ENR technologies. Indeed, the Prime Minister had informed Parliament in 2009 that India had secured a 'clean waiver’, and the Foreign Minister had informed the Indian Parliament last August that "We see this (“clean waiver”) as the surest guarantee of India's acceptance as a full and equal partner of the international nuclear community." Proceeding further, the exigencies of American politics had forced Condoleezza Rice to concede before the nuclear deal was concluded “that if Congress were to approve the proposal for nuclear commerce with India, the administration would get the NSG to ban the sale of ENR equipment to countries that had not signed the NPT.” An intense debate on this issue had proceeded between the United States and India until the NSG published its new guidelines in June 2011. Incidentally, the agreement embodying the Indo-US nuclear deal lays down that “Sensitive nuclear technology … may be transferred under this agreement pursuant to an amendment to this agreement.” The legal position is thus clear. No ‘clean waiver’ can be provided to India unless the US legislation is suitably amended. It seems, however, that the United States has relented now on the ENR issue. Two senior Obama officials have notified the US Congress that the Administration has reviewed its ENR policy, and has decided to adopt a case-by-case approach to transferring enrichment and reprocessing technologies. The immediate problem before them is pending negotiations to finalise nuclear cooperation agreements with Vietnam and Jordan that do not restrict ENR technology transfers. The Administration’s stated reason for its changed policy is that ENR restrictions are curtailing US entry into the nuclear programmes of its partners, which reduces its influence thereby to pursue its non-proliferation goal. But the underlying reason is that, apparently, each billion dollars of nuclear exports supports 10,000 jobs in the United States. With unemployment having become a huge political issue in an election year, this policy volte face is entirely explicable. This move has its obvious implications for India, and might erode a major impediment to implementing the Indo-US nuclear deal. Does this imply that the nuclear deal is finally back on track? The answer has to be qualified ‘No’. A case-by-case approach might differentiate the Indo-US and Sino-Pak nuclear deals from all others. But whether an exception would be made for India on the ENR issue is yet to be decided. And the civil nuclear liability issue still remains far from getting
resolved. The writer is associated with the Institute of Peace and Conflict
Studies, New Delhi.
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Bharat Ratna: Why ignore defence forces? Recently
there has been a considerable media hype on the award of India's highest civilian award to Sachin Tendulkar for his outstanding performance in cricket. It cannot be denied that he has brought tremendous credit not only to himself and his family but, above all, to our country in the field of sport by breaking all previous records in cricket and setting new ones. A few days back the PMO, as reported, amended the eligibility criteria for this award based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Sports Ministry by including sportsmen for the same, thereby paving the way for Sachin Tendulkar and Dhyan Chand to be considered for this most prestigious award. This was followed soon after by the Rifle Association of India recommending the name of Abhinav Bindra for the Bharat Ratna on the basis of being the only Olympic gold medalist. I have no hesitation in accepting their laudable contribution to our country, but in all honesty cannot come to terms with equating them in stature or lifelong contribution with our stalwarts like Jayaprakash Narayan, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, JRD Tata, Mother Teresa, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri, just to mention a few. Notwithstanding this, I would like to state unequivocally that they are worthy of civilian awards appropriate to their contribution in the field of sports. I do feel that we should not compromise the dignity and importance of the Bharat Ratna, the most prestigious award of our country. I wonder why it does not occur to the government to consider the armed forces for such an award. After all, it cannot be denied that India's integrity has been preserved by the ultimate sacrifices made by the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. India today is a vibrant democracy not merely because of the political leadership but also because of the loyalty, dedication and devotion of the personnel of the armed services. We have always valued and cherished a democratic system of government and abhor any alternatives. It is because of this orientation that the armed forces lay down their lives on a daily basis in support of a civilised society and form of governance. This orientation has not come about by waving a magic wand but by the leadership at the various senior levels culminating in the highest, namely the Service Chiefs, many of whom have post-retirement been appointed as governors in different states, and ambassadors to foreign countries. Today the armed forces represent the most disciplined segment of our society and continue to be so even after retirement. We are apolitical and serve the government whenever called upon in all its endeavours. Yet the government and the media do not seem to recognise the sacrifices and unflinching loyalty of this very important segment of our society. Today the officer with the highest profile is a stalwart and an icon, Marshal of the Indian Air Force, Marshal Arjan Singh, who post-retirement went as ambassador to two countries, and subsequently was appointed Lt-Governor of Delhi, and who in his nineties continues to serve the government and the armed forces with the utmost loyalty, dignity and professionalism. He has been a true example of 'Service before Self' and exhibited leadership qualities beyond compare. As an Indian, I find it difficult to understand why Marshal Arjan Singh's name has not been been considered or recommended for the Bharat Ratna. I am somewhat disappointed that our sacrifices and loyalties have not been recognised by the country. Let the country show its gratitude to the armed forces now by honouring Marshal Arjan Singh with this prestigious award which he richly
deserves.
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How Kairon changed the face of Punjab
Kairon was well known for not tolerating any nonsense and did not hesitate in calling a spade a shovel if that could get work done. Efficiency mattered, malfeasance was frowned upon. Procedures were meant to help decision-making rather than hamper them and if someone stood in the way, so much the worse for them. Bureaucrats, political colleagues and many others recalled being at the receiving end of Kairon’s ire. On the eve of Independence Punjab had a surfeit of leaders. Each jockeying for positions of power, for pelf was yet not the main accompaniment of power. While Gopi Chand Bhargava and Bhim Sen Sachar led their own factions, Kairon carved a place for himself as a go-getter minister who could be relied to deliver on important tasks. As Sachar and Bhargava toppled each other’s ministries in quick succession they needed help from Kairon. Kairon in turn bargained for important portfolios like irrigation, development, forest, revenue, agriculture and veterinary. These in turn would enable Kairon to initiate the process of his dreams: to convert Punjab from being a mere supplier of military canon-fodder to the nation to an industrial and economic power-house. Empowered the farmer First as a minister and later as Chief Minister, Kairon did wonders for laying the foundation of modern agriculture in Punjab. He piloted various land reforms acts that empowered the actual cultivator. The processes that Kairon began of state-sponsored consolidation of land, construction of access roads and electrification would ultimately enable Punjab to emerge as the state that fed the nation single-handed. The per capita income of the state indicated the growth of Punjab under the Kairon style of development. From Rs. 321 in 1952-53 when the first elected government was formed in Punjab the per capita income increased to Rs. 331 in 1955-56, an increase of just over 3%. In the next five years, those were also the first five years of Kairon’s chief ministership, the per capita income increased more than 20% to Rs. 401 far outstripping the growth of income in India as a whole. Kairon hoped that if progress continued at the same pace it might be possible for Punjab to match the economic prosperity of Europe in about three years. The recommendations of the States Reorganisation Commission in 1955 created considerable disturbances within the Congress ranks in Punjab. Chief Minister Sachar and Lala Jagat Narain were all for the full implementation of the SRC recommendations with regard to Punjab. However, Kairon was opposed to the idea of including Himachal Pradesh as part of Punjab. When Kairon let it be known in clear terms what he thought of those who supported the SRC on Punjab, Prabodh Chandra, then a Parliamentary Secretary, felt offended enough to submit his resignation in protest against the ‘open indignity’ inflicted on him by Kairon during the assembly debate on the SRC.
Tough with agitations Kairon had great difficulty in reconciling himself with the Sachar government’s namby-pamby handling of various Akali agitations that were threatening to divide the state. Language, religion, caste and other hackneyed points of identity politics on which the Akalis wanted to reach out to the masses were anathema to a modernist Kairon. As the Akali agitation spread so did police action. In one instance, on July 4, 1955, when the agitators took shelter in a place of religious worship the police was forced to enter and arrest them. The Akalis took this to be a major sacrilege and forced the Chief Minister to publicly apologise for the police action. With Congress Chief Minister Sachar showing signs of succumbing to the Akali demand to de facto divide the state into separate Hindi and Punjabi-speaking zones Kairon had little hesitation in leading a campaign to condemn the CM even though Sachar had the whole-hearted backing of Prime Minister Nehru himself for accepting some of the Akali demands in identity politics. The differences between the CM and his most important minister became so sharp that the CM asked for the resignation of the minister. Kairon refused. When Sachar complained to Nehru the Prime Minister responded in a letter to Sachar dated August 5, 1955, that the government of Punjab needed both Sachar and Kairon, and that from some points of view Kairon was more indispensable of the two. Finally, it was the CM who had to go. The Congress Legislative Party selected Kairon to be the new CM. Kairon turned out to be the longest running CM that Punjab has seen since Independence. He remained at the helm of affairs for more than eight continuous years that no other CM has been able to match till now.
Thrust on education As Chief Minister, Kairon came into his own. He had already overseen the construction of the Bhakra dam as the minister in charge of irrigation. Now, as CM he sought to increase the position of Punjab in the field of higher education for without higher education, according to Kairon, it was impossible for a people to get ahead in life. The budget for higher education was increased by almost 50 times to a grand Rs. 17 crore. Important institutions of higher learning like Punjab Agriculture University and the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research were set up. Plans were initiated to also establish a university in Patiala to improve the condition of the Punjabi language and another in Kurukshetra to promote studies in Indic culture and thought. In a small state like Punjab four universities were now available. Three full-fledged engineering colleges, polytechnics in each district and four medical colleges too were established at the behest of Kairon. As a minister in the department of development Kairon launched a campaign to penalise those officers who were inefficient and/or dishonest. As newspapers reported it, he had a team of five trusted officers who would sift through the mass of petitions complaining against the government and then send out his own agents into the field to check out things. Sometimes his agents also went in the garb of sadhus to find out the truth about the functioning of the government. By November 1953, he had penalised over 400 officers of which some 200 were from his own departments. “87 officers were discharged, 40 dismissed, seven convicted and ten reverted”, was how a newspaper put it. Senior ICS officers who were accused of corruption were immediately punished. When patwaris, the village-level revenue officials, went on strike, Kairon took steps to break the strike even while ensuring that the work of the people did not suffer. To the officers of the civil services he would sternly warn about zero tolerance towards communalism or any other kind of partisanship. At the same time, he did not hesitate to stand by his officers and protect them from unfair allegations. The “Mahapunjab” agitation got out of hand in Hoshiarpur in 1956. The subsequent strong police action was condemned by many newspapers and the police was charged with having molested the agitating women. Some people even sat on a hunger strike to force the government to take action against the police. However, the Chief Minister insisted that notice also needed to be taken of the fact that the agitators had killed a police constable and that action against the police would be initiated only after a proper investigation. The subsequent inquiry absolved the police of any wrongdoing.
Dream for the region On becoming Chief Minister Kairon began to rethink his position on the nature of the state of Punjab. While earlier he had opposed the inclusion of Himachal in Punjab now he suggested that not only Himachal, but also the large region that had been associated with the rivers of Punjab—including Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Rajasthan— should be part of a single regional entity. That would provide these states greater leverage in the federal structure of India as also enable them to leverage their respective strengths. Not much came out of this idea of Punjab because of its rejection by Jammu and Kashmir. Kairon’s first term was marked by continuous battles against linguistic sectarianism. The champions of Hindi and Punjabi were busy battling it out on the streets and the government was hard put to ensure peace and quiet in the Punjab and Haryana region. A fallout of the uncompromising position taken up by the government was witnessed in the elections when Kairon was barely able to keep his seat in the Sarhali constituency by mere 31 votes. His Akali opponent, Mohan Singh Tur, was in prison at that time awaiting trial for activities in the Punjabi suba agitation. While Kairon won by a narrow margin, the Congress party won 128 seats, by far the largest number ever since Independence. The numerous contenders to the post of Chief Minister were silenced by Nehru’s support to Kairon, who formed his new ministry on March 11, 1962.
Enemies galore By now however, Kairon had made far too many enemies. Even Feroze Gandhi, the most recent opponent of Nehru and his friends, had begun to take swings at Kairon. Feroze Gandhi charged Kairon with being in cahoots with smugglers and worse. “What explanation is there”, Gandhi would demand, “when a person with six previous convictions to his credit…had the daring to appear before a court of law and file an affidavit to the effect that the Chief Minister had directed the withdrawal of the case pending against him and that the order would reach the court from the Home Secretary?” [Times of India, January 8, 1960]. When it was not possible to corner the CM on such charges his opponents turned to attack his family. His wife and sons were implicated in various wrongdoings and were charged with using the influence of the CM’s office for personal gains. At the same time news began to filter in of various conspiracies to assassinate the Chief Minister. By October 1961, the Punjab police claimed to have unearthed at least three plots to kill Kairon. At his assassination in 1965, E N Mangat Rai, ICS, who had worked with Kairon for long years wrote in a [then unpublished] letter to newspapers, “I thought such reprisal may…come much earlier than it
has”. The writer is a Professor of contemporary Indian history and Chairman, Department of
History, Panjab University, Chandigarh
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Partap Singh Kairon
