The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Food for all
Challenge and opportunity

The Centre’s Food Security Bill will have a bearing on state finances. It will benefit the cash-strapped Punjab government, which is hard pressed to meet the financial obligations of the Akali Dal-BJP coalition’s atta-dal scheme. The state agencies implementing the scheme like Punsup have not been paid adequately for the political largesse.

The scheme, which cost the exchequer Rs 1,300 crore in four years, will continue even if there is a change of government in Punjab as the other major contender to political power, the Congress, has also pledged to provide wheat at Re 1 a kg. In normal course this would have doubled the state’s food subsidy bill but the Food Security Bill will halve the financial burden.

The food Bill has been discussed threadbare by the National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi. Some states still oppose it on account of the financial pressure it would put on them. The maximum number of below-poverty-line families is in some of the poorest states, which are hard put to raise cash to provide food security to all. The Centre’s definition of the poor leaves 37 per cent of the BPL families out of the purview of the proposed food law. States like West Bengal and Tripura have asked Delhi to provide cheap food to the entire population and bear the total expenditure as well.

The demand for funds under the Central scheme is not limited to buying food only. Additional storage space has to be provided for. The movement of food grains to all regions from the food surplus states in North India will require better railway infrastructure, including dedicated corridors. The Food Ministry and the Railways are working on a special purpose vehicle for this purpose. There are other challenges like a revamp of the public distribution system. The states will have to put in their bit to make the implementation of the universal food security proposal a success.

Facing the music!
Crass numbers from Punjabi albums

Gandhiji’s three monkeys must be confused! We have allowed all kinds of profanities to pollute our aural world, yet we continue to be pretentious about propriety, when it comes to the visual world! The hypocrisy that governs our cultural world is moving in different directions. The Punjabi pop-music industry is a living example of what goes wrong when lure for quick success makes the wannabe singers hit the rock bottom of indecency.

The titles of some of these discs are unprintable and so are the lyrics. The songs and accompanying videos are not only derogatory to women and all the values of decency inherent in the spoken language, they promote raucousness in the name of glorifying the macho. What is shocking is not why some women groups are protesting against the vulgarity of these so-called singers, but why these protests have not gathered momentum in the state?

Compare this apathy of the concerned departments to the alacrity with which they act, when it comes to films and books. Last Friday ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ was to be released in India, but, it was not. Reason, Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) objected to some scenes of love-making and sexual assault on the protagonist, which are central to her transformation into a woman who turns revengeful. Director David Fincher refused to oblige the CBFC, and Indian viewers were deprived of watching a film nominated for several Oscars. The fact that the book on which the film is based has sold over 65 million copies too was ignored by CBFC.

On the one hand, our cultural sentinels uphold the Indian viewers’ chastity by keeping them infantile, by letting them watch only child-friendly, or, family-oriented regressive soap dramas on the TV, and bleeping ‘unfit’ words like ‘condom and ‘virgin’, nor do they let them see any ‘intimate’ scenes to withhold high Indian cultural values. At the same time, they are at liberty to hear and watch, what is produced by a bunch of so-called singers — products of total bankruptcy of imagination and artistic responsibility, sold in the name of Punjabi pop music. The authorities must ban album titles like #//** and ##/** which cause serious damage to the youth by killing them intellectually and culturally.

Thought for the Day

Action is the real measure of intelligence.— Napoleon Hill

ARTICLE

Fighting terrorism
Policies mired in systemic weaknesses
by Gurmeet Kanwal

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) finally gave its approval to the establishment of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in mid-January, two years after it was first conceived following the Mumbai terror strike on November 26, 2008. A month later, seven chief ministers have expressed strong opposition to the NCTC on the grounds that the states were not consulted and that the functioning of the proposed NCTC will undermine the federal structure of India’s Constitution.

This opposition comes despite the fact that the structure of the NCTC approved by the CCS is a watered down version of the form in which the NCTC had been originally conceived by the Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, following the Mumbai terror attacks. In an address to officers of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on December 23, 2009, the Home Minister had envisioned the NCTC as an organisation capable of “preventing a terrorist attack, containing a terrorist attack should one take place, and responding to a terrorist attack by inflicting pain upon the perpetrators.”

The NCTC had been envisaged as an umbrella organisation, which would exercise control over agencies like the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the National Security Guard (NSG). It will now be placed under the Intelligence Bureau and the existing Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) will be subsumed in it.

The NCTC will draw up and coordinate counter-terrorism plans, integrate intelligence gathering and coordinate with all the existing investigating and intelligence agencies. The NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid), which was approved by the CCS in June 2011, will provide a data bank of 20 databases like travel records, immigration details and income tax records as inputs to the NCTC.

Unless the NCTC is empowered to conduct counter-terrorism operations like its US counterpart, on which the Indian agency was expected to be based, urban terrorism will continue to remain a cause for concern, and much will remain to be done in the planning and execution of India’s counter-terrorism policies, the execution of which is mired in systemic weaknesses.

Though recent terrorist strikes have been sporadic and have been spaced out in time, the overall impression that prevails is that of an unstable internal security environment in which the initiative lies with terrorist organisations and they are able to strike at will. The government needs to review its largely reactive policies and adopt pro-active measures to fight terrorism, particularly the variety that emanates from the soil of inimical neighbouring countries.

India’s response to the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008 was slow and laborious and poorly coordinated among the Central and the state governments and their various agencies. Coastal security was virtually non-existent; the Marine Police were too few in number to effectively patrol the vast area entrusted to them; they were ill-equipped and inadequately trained; and there was poor coordination between the Coast Guard and the Marine Police. It took far too long to begin flushing out operations and then to eliminate the nine terrorists who were holed up at three separate locations.

The government must formulate a comprehensive approach, with all organs of the state coming together to implement a national-level counter-terrorism strategy to fight terrorism. The government must draw up a national-level strategy that is inter-ministerial, inter-agency and inter-departmental in character. Such a strategy must also balance the interests of the Central and the state governments.

It must be ensured that the counter-terrorism policy is based on strong but egalitarian laws. India’s experiments with POTA, TADA and UAPA have failed to deliver the desired results. Laws must be just and humane and must not be designed to either be vindictive towards or shield any particular community or religious denomination. The experience of many other countries has proved that it is possible to formulate strong yet egalitarian counter-terrorism laws. The US established a powerful Department of Homeland Security following the 9/11 strikes and there has not been a major terrorist attack since then.

One major source of the lack of a coordinated approach is the gross disconnect between how the Central and the state governments view counter-terrorism; there are glaring disparities in the views held in Delhi and the state capitals. The Constitution must be amended to move “law and order” from the State List to the Concurrent List so that the Central government can act on its own initiative when necessary, particularly in the case of externally-sponsored terrorism. And it is time the government bifurcated the internal security function of the Ministry of Home Affairs by having a separate ministry headed by a Cabinet minister.

Besides prevention through accurate “humint” and “techint” intelligence gathering, successful counter-terrorism requires effective intelligence penetration of terrorist groups so that their leadership can be systematically neutralised by an empowered anti-terrorism agency. Comprehensive planning and better stage management are necessary for the quick elimination of a group of terrorists during a strike while the terrorists are on a killing spree.

Post-incident investigation is aimed at unravelling the identities of the planners and the plotters, and bringing to justice the perpetrators of the incident of terrorism. The NIA must be reconstituted as it lacks teeth in its present form. It should be re-modelled on the FBI of the US to give it both preventive and investigative powers. While there is no need to blindly ape any country, there is no harm in learning from the best practices abroad and incorporating them into Indian policies.

India’s intelligence coordination and assessment apparatus at the national level and counter-terrorism policies remain mired in the days of innocence. We are now living in the age of “new terrorism” that is far more violent and vitriolic than before, and policies must keep pace with the emerging developments. Also, the government must enlarge the scope of its counter-terrorism policy to covertly eliminate the leaders of terrorist organisations abroad who are actively engaged in sponsoring terrorism in India. This is how we can eliminate the problem root and branch.

The writer is Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi.

MIDDLE

Power brokers
by Uttam Sengupta

The call was from Raj Bhavan. The Laat Sahib wanted to speak. Wondering what it was all about, yours truly waited. It became even more intriguing when the Governor of the state, with whom this writer had at best a nodding acquaintance, began by asking about the welfare of “everyone at home”, none of whom he had ever met, of course.

A minute later, he came to the point. He wanted to be interviewed on the editorial page. Before I could react, he disarmingly volunteered the information that he was one of the contenders for the office of Vice-President and it would help if people learnt of the great work that he was doing as Governor.

He went on to list his achievements. When he took over, Raj Bhavan was a disgrace, he said.

I could visualise the grimace on his face. But he had done it up with a little help from his wife.

The lounge has been tastefully decorated (You have been there, haven’t you?) and rare paintings now line the wall. The kitchen too has had a make-over. And above all, he had thrown open Raj Bhavan for children of the weaker sections to visit once a month and get themselves photographed with him.

He surely had impeccable credentials to become the Vice-President and, in good time, the President. When, finally, he paused to catch his breath, I politely informed him that the editorial page was made centrally in New Delhi for all cities and, in any case, I had no authority to guarantee that his interview would be carried.

The Governor sounded relieved. “Oh, that’s no problem, then. I will see to it that you get the clearance. But do send someone who understands what is at stake and check the interview yourself before releasing it,” he tersely said before I could recover and tell him what I was thinking.

This was the first time I had come across lobbying for such a high post. I was, of course, a babe in the woods. In due course, the interview did appear with the introduction coyly mentioning him as a “strong contender” for the Vice-Presidential office. Others must have lobbied harder for their cases because our man did not get the coveted post.

The old memory was revived by a bit of gossip that appeared in a periodical this month. A leading business house from Mumbai, it suggested, wanted a Vice-President of its own choice when the vacancy would be caused.

Yours truly has always suspected that this country is run by an elite club, members back-slapping each other. The uneasy feeling returned while reading that among the probables are a retired IAS officer “highly networked in Delhi’s power circles, a powerful woman and a prominent Cabinet minister”. The Chief Election Commissioner is also emerging as a “powerful contender”, but “the problem with him is that he is not backed by any industrialist”.

There was no mark of exclamation. It was a businesslike, matter-of-fact statement. It is clearly not enough to be on the right side of the government. It is also necessary to be on the right side of big industrial houses in Mumbai! A lesson, no doubt, for those who intend to climb the ladder in New Delhi.

OPED THE ARTS

Art- in the arena
Is the ‘business’ of art robbing viewers and artists the time to reflect, create and interact? There are worrying signs that art and artists are getting overwhelmed by the market
Ina Puri

Ina Puri

Revisiting my earliest memories of meeting artists, I remember a time when straight after school, I used to visit Jamini Roy at his studio with my father. Having had the privilege of growing up amidst art and artists, mostly friends of the family, had meant an early exposure to arts, music, theatre and cinema. And often, over a weekend, my father would allow me to accompany him to meet a film-maker or painter as they shared a cup of tea and adda ( a place where informal discussions take place) about the state of arts in the city!

Arguments and explanations later, an amicable conclusion was arrived at and one came away reassured that one’s reasoning had been right after all, be it about a finer detail in a Ray film, the latest exhibition of Ganesh Pyne or even a newly-published book of poems by Sakti Chattopadhyay.

The days that were: Manjit Bawa in his studio with his creations Photograph Nemai Ghosh/ ‘Faces of Indian Art’

But that winter Sunday was special. The morning sun came streaming into the studio, lighting up canvases stacked here and there — works complete and semi-finished. Jamini Roy, dressed in his simple dhoti-kurta was in an animated mood and between exchanges with my father and others, made me feel at home by offering me a cup of tea and biscuits. This immediately raised his esteem in my eyes, making me forget my diffidence and ask him a question or two about his works, which he answered, patiently, maybe even picking up a canvas to illustrate the point he was making. Though he was by now a very acclaimed painter and one who was much sought-after by collectors in India and abroad, Roy impressed me with his simplicity and the fact that he was so unaffected by his fame.

Around that time, in Calcutta and Santiniketan, I had many such opportunities to meet artists and sculptors. In retrospect, what lingers is the feeling that no matter how distinguished s/he was, they were interested in each other’s work and met often to critically review and appraise one another’s work.

Another occasion that comes to mind is when I had the good fortune to meet the wonderful sculptor Meera Mukherjee. There were few galleries in those days and she was exhibiting her works at a friend’s bungalow in Ballygunge Circular Road; the sculptures were displayed across the green expanse of the lawns. It was difficult to remain unaffected and I recall being struck by the beauty of her works, the way she made the bronze sculpture appear radiant as if illumined with mysterious life from within. The musicians and assemblages of men and women, in clusters or in solitariness, going about their daily business of living had moved me immensely; each figure had been invested with such gravitas, such dignity.

The lost quietude

These memories came back to me when years later I was working on the book ‘Faces of Indian Art’ with Nemai Ghosh, the focus of the project being the photographer’s perspective of an artist’s workspace. Jamini Roy’s portrait took me back to the time when there was time to share ideas and thoughts with like-minded friends, drink cups of tea without the interruption of mobile phones and dealers to break that interlude. Working on Meera Mukherjee’s exhibition during the Art Fair (a collaborative project with Akar Prakar) I sensed the same regret, the feeling that despite the hustle bustle of sophisticated gentry, that quietude was missing, that moment you pause before a work and allow it to speak to you. It was much like T S Eliot saying “In the room people come and go/ Speaking of Michelangelo” ( The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock).

Cutting to the present, the sepia-tinted hours of leisure spent at studios have given way to a busy, vibrant time when it is all about the business of art and the merchandising of art. Globalisation in recent times has undoubtedly taken Indian art to unprecedented heights, ensuring the participation of India, for the first time in the Venice Biennale, in the Centre Pompidour show that also celebrated Indian art and artists, a recurrent phenomenon that we saw elsewhere too. As an Indian, it is, no doubt, a cause of great pride to see the leading practitioners of art become such a presence on the international scene and for this the galleries have a significant role to play in the way they have showcased Indian art internationally in important art fairs. Seeing Subodh Gupta’s monumental installations at Art Basel or Sudarshan Shetty’s works in Art Frieze, displayed in Regent’s Park has been possible only because of the galleries that have supported their work.

Chittravanu Mazumdar’s brilliant exhibition, Nightshade, mounted lavishly by his gallery in Dubai, has also been the result of Malini Gurjarani’s single-minded determination. Today Sakshi Gallery has art spaces not just in Mumbai but in Taipei as well, that showcases Indian art regularly, initiating new collectors. Sunitha Kumar and Peter Nagy have, through imaginatively curated shows, made foreign collectors and curators familiar with the works of Bharti Kher, Subodh Gupta, Sudarshan Shetty, Ravindran Reddy, Thakral & Tagra, Jitish Kallat amongst others. Shireen Gandhy is another dynamic presence whose contribution has ensured that distinguished artists like Nilima Sheikh, Anju & Atul Dodiya, Mithu Sen (Chemould artists) have become household names world-wide . And then,there is Neha Kirpal whose ambitious initiative of the India Art Fair has brought curators/galleries/dealers the world over to our door-steps.

All that hype and hoopla

At the India Art Fair today, our art shares the same platform alongside galleries from across the world, the showcasing and curated shows and presentations, as professionally produced as the best of art shows anywhere else in the world facilitating sales, initiating dialogues between museum directors and curators…we hear of a Bangladeshi couple who have been so inspired by the Fair that they are keen to start one of their own in Dhaka next year.

So what does all of this really bode for Indian art? After all the attention and acclaim that we seem to garner internationally, there is also the case of one of the leading art spaces like Bodhi closing shop, only because its programme of art promotion over-reached itself forcing the director to withdraw, simply because it was not feasible to sustain its lavish production costs and promotions. When the going was good, Bodhi presented some of the most outstanding shows in its spaces in India, New York and Singapore, supporting exhibitions with beautiful publications till one learnt one fine day, in hushed voices, that they had wound up. Is too much hype and hoopla detrimental to the cause of art or an advantage?

There was a time when Manjit Bawa did not sell a single work for years; so dire was his financial situation that he had to undertake house painting assignments to survive. M F Husain began his illustrious career painting billboards to make a living, painting under streetlights when he had a minute to himself at the end of a day. Looking back on the stories of hardship many a distinguished painter had to face in order to survive, to paint, would it be wrong to conclude that it is a better option to have a gallery support the artist rather than the artist trying to do it all by himself?

Romantically, it is one thing to imagine an artist living the life of a bohemian, creating art works for himself…practically, however, it makes sense that there is a person, recognising his/her artistic merit and supporting him/her with exhibitions or publications that would reach their work to viewers/patrons worldwide.

And the spectrum

In my own instance, I showed Manjit Bawa in Santiniketan in 1998, to a niche viewership of Kala Bhavan students and artists based there. We did not even contemplate sales and were therefore overwhelmed by the numbers that thronged to the show over the three days we were there. Personally, it was one of the best exhibitions I had ever curated of Manjit’s, but in later years, we had to exhibit in more commercially viable metropolitan venues, because Manjit had responsibilities he couldn’t ignore. The other end of the spectrum then was our Bose Pacia Show in New York (Circa 2000) that sold out and had some record numbers of visitors in attendance. I was, incidentally, part of both the shows and in retrospect feel both were significant in their own ways.

In Kolkata, very recently, I was invited to release the Art of Bengal book at a luxurious five star hotel and while I felt it was appropriate to launch a book so magnificently produced and priced, I couldn’t help thinking back to the time I had mounted an equally grand exhibition at Kolkata’s Academy of Fine Arts. A part of me recognises the crucial role business houses as patrons must play to sustain art but another part cries out to revisit a studio and spend a quiet hour just looking at works, just having a conversation…not discussing prices, not planning schedules.

(The writer is a well known curator, columnist and documentarian, who has authored several books, including the biographies of Manjit Bawa and Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma.)