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The big climbdown
Khaps’ diktats |
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Green and clean Hydel policies have to be transparent THERE is a move in the Himachal Pradesh government to allow certain ‘concessions’ to companies allotted hydroelectric projects in the state. Any modification in policies after the grant of awards is fraught with the risk of being viewed with suspicion, and naturally so.
Pak role in promoting terrorism
A dream shattered
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The big climbdown
BY backing UPA Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee, Mamata Banerjee has extricated herself from a difficult situation of her own making. Pranab would have won regardless of her support, but she would have been hard put to explain to the people in her home state why Trinamool Congress was opposed to a Bengali becoming the President of India. After spending some time in political isolation she has returned to the UPA fold, self-respect battered. “We have not struck any deal”, she has clarified. It still, perhaps, has not occurred to Mamata that right now she is left with no bargaining power. Since her party depends heavily on Muslim votes, she may have no choice except to support Hamid Ansari for the post of Vice-President as well. It defies logic how a leader of a 19-MP party can have illusions of deciding who should be the Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidates. She picked up APJ Abdul Kalam and Gopalkrishna Gandhi for the two posts and both politely declined to enter the fray. Reports suggest that she did not even bother to obtain their consent before tossing their names in the ring. It has taken quite a few hard political knocks for her to return to reality. Her co-trouble-maker, Mulayam Singh, ditched her to stand behind the UPA leadership. The BJP, which had watched with unconcealed glee the Mamata-Mulayam defiance, hoping for a disintegration of the UPA, must be disappointed with the patch-up. It is possible the good times may not last. Mamata may not be as abrasive as before in pressing for a financial bailout for West Bengal, but she would expect the Centre to find ways of pulling her state out of the financial quagmire. Given the Trinamool Congress’s rigid stand on issues such as oil price hikes, FDI in multi-brand retail, the land acquisition Bill and the pension Bill, differences may resurface. It will, therefore, be interesting to watch Mamata’s response to reform initiatives being contemplated by Dr Manmohan Singh. The UPA, on its part, will find it hard — as usual — to live with or without her because of her usefulness in 2014.
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Khaps’ diktats
IN 21st century India where many women have achieved unassailable positions of power, there are shocking reminders that the more things change for them, the more they remain the same. The recent diktat passed by a khap panchayat in Asara village in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh is a case in point. It is indeed ironic that in times when women are venturing into space, khaps consider it prudent to forbid them from going out for shopping or keeping a mobile phone. Call it a Taliban-style diktat or a reflection of the medieval mindset, issuing the strictures, including a ban on love marriages, is tantamount to blatant infringement of basic human rights. Home Minister P Chidambaram has righty called these strictures illegal. The problem with the directives issued by khaps, which have started behaving as an extra-constitutional authority, is that their rulings find social sanction. Though the man who initiated these directives has now backtracked and remarked that these were mere suggestions, many elders in the village are supporting the archaic rules on frivolous pretexts. Whatever may be at the heart of the matter, it can’t be denied that all of it stems from a feudalistic psyche that wants to take control of women’s lives. Dictating women how to behave and dress up is just their way of reinforcing male superiority. Tempted as one might be to dismiss such thinking as prevalent only in rural India, a similar thought process can be discerned in the urban milieu too. The victim-blaming approach is used as a ruse to explain crimes against women across the length and breadth of India. In villages the failure to curb khap-sanctioned crimes is what gives them a fresh lease of life. It is no secret that khaps in Haryana have played havoc with the lives of many young couples. The tacit approval of political parties only emboldens them further. While action against those challenging the law is imperative, perhaps the real solution lies in building an alternative vibrant pressure group that could counter the self-styled custodians of morality. |
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Green and clean
THERE is a move in the Himachal Pradesh government to allow certain ‘concessions’ to companies allotted hydroelectric projects in the state. Any modification in policies after the grant of awards is fraught with the risk of being viewed with suspicion, and naturally so. There are proposals to grant some projects on a first-come-first-served basis, and to reduce the minimum period required before a party may further sell an allotted project. Given the complexity of applicant assessment and finance of such projects, it may at times be a necessity to modify policies in the larger interest, but the state Cabinet — which is yet to clear the changes — would do well to remember the 2G spectrum affair, where the issues were remarkably similar. Uttarakhand is another state that has a large number of proposals for small and big hydroelectric projects. It, however, has been struck by a rash of petitions and court orders that have halted a majority of the projects, including some that were halfway through. A large number of violations of environmental requirements and lack of transparency in allotments and policy issues have created an atmosphere of suspicion in Himachal too, which could be detrimental to sustainable realisation of the massive hydroelectric potential of the state. There have been many arrests by the state Vigilance in connection with the grant of no-objection certificates by local officials. Certain companies allotted projects have failed to contribute the amounts committed to local area development, and wreaked havoc on the surroundings. With hundreds of projects, currently involving dozens of companies, set to literally change the face of the state — by sending major rivers underground into tunnels — as well as its economy, the government should consider it as its primary concern to have completely above-board policies, even if it happens at the cost of a few projects failing. It should hire the best consultants with experience in this field, financial as well as environmental. Hydel power is a ‘clean’ source of energy — as opposed to thermal — but it is bound to have some impact on the hills in which it is produced. Finding the acceptable trade-off is the key. |
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I learn something every time I go into the mountains. —Michael Kennedy
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Pak role in promoting terrorism
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
has quite correctly made it clear that he will visit Pakistan in response to invitations he has received if there are prospects of tangible results emerging from such a visit. His announcement followed the visit of Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani to India to carry forward the much-touted “composite dialogue process”. The very fact that we are carrying on with this “dialogue process” is a concession made to Pakistan. India agreed to this dialogue in 2004, only consequent on a categorical assurance from the then President of Pakistan, Gen Pervez Musharraf, that he would not allow any “territory under Pakistan’s control” to be used for terrorism against India — an assurance that was buried by the 26/11 terrorist attack on Mumbai. Despite evidence available from the trial of David Headley and Tahawwur Rana in Chicago and from the testimony of Ajmal Kasab, confirming the role of ISI officials in the attack, Pakistan has remained in a denial mode about the involvement of either LeT chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed or the ISI in the meticulously planned and executed attack. This posture of injured innocence has been maintained even after Saudi Arabia, coming under American pressure, decided to deport Syed Zabiuddin Ansari aka Abu Jundal to India despite Pakistani pleas of his being a Pakistani national, who had visited Saudi Arabia with a Pakistani passport and other identity documents. Ansari is singing like a canary, corroborating what others have said about the involvement of ISI officials in the Mumbai carnage, both from a “Control Room” near Malir Cantonment in Karachi and in earlier training and planning exercises for the attack. Jilani, not surprisingly, turned belligerent when questioned about the statement of Home Minister P. Chidambaram alluding to new information about ISI involvement. Just how realistic is it to expect any change in policies by Pakistan on the state sponsorship of terrorism? It is now known that after crossing the Durand Line in 2001, Osama bin Laden lived in Peshawar and then moved to Haripur, near Islamabad, before moving to his mansion located in the heart of Abbotabad cantonment. Two of Osama’s three wives accompanied him to Abbotabad. His first wife Khairiah joined him in 2011. Osama fathered four children from his fourth wife Amal, a favourite, while in Pakistan. Two of his children were born in government hospitals. He lived with three of his wives, eight children and five grandchildren in Abbotabad. Yet, the Pakistan army still claims that it had no idea of Osama’s stay in Pakistan! The 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, in which 250 people were killed and 700 injured, were planned and executed by the ISI, using Mumbai mafia don Dawood Ibrahim as the executor. Dawood lives in the elite Defence Housing Society of Karachi despite his being sought by the US Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI for financing of international terrorism through drug money. Pakistan, of course, blandly denies that it knows anything about Dawood’s whereabouts! There is no reason to believe that Pakistan’s elected government is in a position to compel its powerful military to change course on backing terrorism in India and Afghanistan. Its Parliament elected a Punjab politician, Raja Pervez Ashraf, as the country’s 25th Prime Minister on June 22. President Zardari’s first choice to succeed Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was yet another minister, who like Gilani, was a leader from southern Punjab, Makhdoom Shahabuddin. Interestingly, a court served an arrest warrant on charges of corruption against Shahabuddin virtually within 24 hours of his preparing to file his nomination. Judicial activism in Pakistan can be very selective politically, with the Supreme Court Chief Justice himself mired in controversy over the financial indiscretions of his son! Moreover, Prime Minister Pervez Ashraf himself faces charges of corruption for his actions during his tenure as Minister for Water Resources and Power. It appears inevitable that the Supreme Court will stir up action on corruption charges against the newly elected Prime Minister and also attempt to compel him to act on its demand that he should obtain details of President Zardari’s Swiss bank accounts — a demand that Ashraf will inevitably decline to act on. Under the 20th Amendment to Pakistan’s constitution, the elected government makes way for a neutral “caretaker” government when general elections are announced. It appears that by the end of this year Pakistan will be headed for elections following the appointment of a caretaker government, whose composition could be a source of considerable controversy. In case there is no consensus in Parliament on the composition of the “caretaker” government, its composition will be decided by the Chief Election Commissioner. Political parties have, however, acted wisely in nominating a highly respected Judge, Justice Fakhruddin Ebrhaim, to be the next Chief Election Commissioner, reducing the possibility of the army or the judiciary subverting the electoral process. The 2013 elections are, however, likely to produce a split verdict, despite the army’s support for Imran Khan. Adding to this uncertainty is the prevailing opposition to the “deal” with the Americans on reopening NATO supply routes, even as drone attacks across the Durand Line continue. The army is under pressure on two fronts. Firstly, it cannot just reconcile the contradictions between hunting with the American hound and running with the Taliban hare. Secondly, having brought the jihadi groups under the umbrella of the “Difah-e-Pakistan Council” led by the likes of Maulana Samiul-ul-Haq and Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, it cannot entirely do a u-turn on its backing jihadi groups’ activities in India and Afghanistan. In any case, there is nothing to suggest that the army as an institution wants to give up the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy. The clear enunciation of Indian policy on Siachen by Defence Minister A.K. Anthony, which requires an agreement with Pakistan on “determination, delineation and demarcation” of the existing ground positions before we can even consider discussions of a troop pullback has convinced the Pakistani military that India will not agree to anything which encourages them to undertake another Kargil-style misadventure. It remains to be seen if in these circumstances Pakistan’s elected government will be permitted by the military to move ahead on issues like expanding people-to-people contacts, or promoting two-way trade and economic relations. India, therefore, needs to move ahead in improving its internal security structures and capabilities so that it does not repeat the earlier mistakes it made after it got indications in 2008 of a possible sea-borne terrorist attack on
Mumbai.
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A dream shattered
Overawed by the huge building and the aura of the Christian brothers in flowing robes moving purposefully in the corridors, the small boy clung to his father’s hand. Nervous on his first day in school, he was petrified when he saw the class teacher lashing out at a boy with a cane. He desperately held on to his father’s flannels, reluctant to enter the class. Gentle but firm nudges made him take to the classroom. Discomfort, however, persisted and the next day, when his father lovingly readied him for school, putting his hair in place and knotting the tie, the boy broke into tears. The father took out a one-rupee note and thrust it in his pocket. “Spend it”, he said. This became an everyday norm. The pocket money of Re 1 a day was a princely sum in the 60’s and worked out to double the amount of school fee in a month. The father never grudged the boy any amount, even beyond that, though money was not in abundance in the family. But the boy sensed that it was burdensome for his father, considering that he had a family of four children and innumerable cousins and relatives who were always overstaying. Occasionally, he would see a furrow crossing his father’s normally smiling and dimpled face. Slowly, the boy had learnt to manage the bullies and handle the temper of the teacher and thus gave up on his stipend, with the firm hope that this will ease his father’s burden, and told him so. The father flashed his dimpled grin, ruffled the boy’s hair fondly and said, “You will take care of me when I grow old, I am sure.” That day the boy strutted around proudly, feeling important that he was the chosen one. He promised to himself to fulfil the wish of his father. Trips to the school amidst incessant chatter was a lovable experience, whether it was on a bicycle, scooter or a car. Time flew and the bond between the father and the son grew, as they took walks together with their lovely dog prancing around. The boy grew up and joined his father in his profession, but he had not forgotten what his father had told him, and remembered the solemn promise that he had made to himself. Recalling the fleeting years, he sat by his father, holding his hand. But what is this? Why is his hand cold and why is he lying on the floor? Why is his face drained of all colour? Why is there blood on the sheet on which he is lying? Why is everybody so glum? Is someone sobbing and wailing ? Somebody gently held him by the shoulder, “I am sorry about the demise of your father”, he said. Oh ! he is no more. “But what about my promise?” the boy said. “My father cannot break the heart of a small boy, whom he so fondly took to school. He cannot ruin the dream,” he said. But destiny willed it otherwise and the dream and the promise lay shattered. Death had taken the boy’s father away in a road accident. I know all this because the boy in the story is me. I lost him on July 17 in
1984.
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RAJESH KHANNA 1942-2012 HE was spotted by Chetan Anand playing the role of gunga sipahi in 'Andhayug,' directed by late Pt Satyadev Dubey in 1963. Anand gave him the lead role for 'Aakhri Khat.' And the rest is history. Man of his times
He belonged to an era when men were not shy of showing their chest hair. His staccato mannerism may appear rather awkward today, it brought freshness after a long era of tongue- tied heroes Hindi films had produced for a long time. He acted with his body rather than his face and was charmingly flirtatious and bold for his times. He knew how to woo women, without being rowdy or shy. Thus he acquired the perfect balance of a man who was neither going to be a loser like 'Devdas' nor was an obsessive lover. He was somewhere in between, adorable in a unique way. Remember his unforgettable song, mere sapno ki rani kab aayegi tu from 'Aradhana' rendered yanking his head, which was adorned by a Nepali topi . He sang the song from an open jeep following a train, where a coy and dimply Sharmila Tagore sat pretending to read a book. Or, his gentle enticing of a widow in 'Kati Patang' with, ye jo mohabbat hai ye unka hai kaam. It was his inimitable wooing of his screen women which almost touched a degree of reverence in films like 'Amar Prem,' 'Khamoshi' and 'Kati Patang.' He made young Indian women swoon. Some women literally married his pictures, others wrote letters in blood. When he married 'Bobby' star Dimple Kapadia, many women attempted suicide. In real life he broke his long time fiancée Anju Mahendru's heart by marrying Dimple. The master of emotions
Rajesh Khanna essayed on screen what he was best at-- high, intense, emotional drama, you could call it melodrama. He was not action hero material, and his directors knew that. When he played Anand, a happy- go- lucky man dying of cancer in 'Anand', not a single eye was left dry in the auditorium. No one ever died on screen creating such strong empathy as did Rajesh Khanna in 'Anand.' If 'kitne aadmi the' from 'Sholay' became a leitmotif for action films," maut tu ek kavita hai, mujhse ek kavita ka vada hai, milegi mujhe," became a refrain, his fans never felt tired of repeating. Hrishikesh Mukherjee moulded the super- star into an actor for some of the most memorable roles of his career. If, in 'Anand' he defeated Meena Kumari with his prowess to make people cry, in 'Bawarchi' Mukherjee explored his lesser known talent for humour. In 'Namakharam' he was once again paired with Amitabh Bachchan, after 'Anand,' and did not disappoint his critics. Shakti Samantha cast him for a complex love triangle in 'Safar' and opposite a sentimental female character of a prostitute in 'Amar Prem.' These films succeeded for their high emotional quotient and Khanna became inseparable from his suffering heroines — he became their messiah. Music all the way The factor that constituted most in the making of the superstar was his popular songs. Khanna became the face for Kishore Kumar's voice. Right from 'Aradhana' when S D Burman made Kishore Kumar sing Roop tera mastana to the evergreen songs of 'Anand', 'Safar', 'Kati Patang,' 'Dag,' 'Andaz,' 'Aan Milo Sajna' or 'Aap Ki Kasam' you could not separate popularity of Khanna from the songs he rendered on screen. In films like 'Anand' different singers gave their voice, including Manna Day, who sang zindagi kaisi ye paheli hai, the songs still became super hits like the hero who rendered them. In fact most memorable songs of Bollywood can claim an association with Khanna's films. His leading ladies His women contributed immensely in the making of the superstar. Unlike the monochromatic female characters of the day, his women were multi hued — from a vivacious Mumtaz to the sensitive Sharmila Tagore. These women had substance and some of them were senior to him, like Nanda, Tanuja, Waheeda Rehman, and Asha Parekh. Most of them were seasoned actors, Khanna had to match up to their stature, which contributed to making people believe in their screen pairing as real life replication. His leading ladies recall him with a mix of emotions. Nanda-
"I first saw Rajesh Khanna on the sets of Yash Chopra's 'Ittefaq' in 1969. He was a shy, young lad, but his eyes were intense, as we began working together I noticed in him a rare élan, he had the ability to modulate his dialogues in 4 to 5 different tones in romantic scenes. His heroines could not but get carried away by him, a feat only Dev Anand could achieve before him." Sharmila
Tagore- "He is undoubtedly the first super star of Hindi cinema. We worked in many films together 'Aradhana,' 'Safar,' 'Amar Prem,' 'Dag.' After the success of 'Aradhana' we were called the leading pair of the 70s. Rajesh Khanna did not have the versatility of Dilip Kumar, romanticism of Dev Anand, or the in- born rhythm of Shammi Kapoor, but he had a voice and inimitable smile that swept people off their feet. He had this unique ability to look into his heroine's eyes, shut them for a moment and then reopen with a smile, that used to make women swoon over him." Hema Malini - "My memories of Rajesh Khanna are of a man who used to distance himself from me, but was thoroughly professional in front of the camera. No other artist could have lifted the song Zindagi ek safar hai suhana in 'Andaz,' as he could while riding a motorbike. I still remember the scene of my marriage in 'Prem Nagar' a tear was stuck into his eyes and he said, " Lata, main tumhe aashirwad de raha hun." He was a master of emotions." Mumtaz-
"Just a few days back Dara Singh passed away, the news of Rajesh Khanna's demise has shocked me. I paired with him in many films, 'Do Raste,' 'Dushman,' 'Aap Ki Kasam,' 'Roti,' and 'Sachcha Jhutha, they were all hits. He was a star of stars. I still remember shooting of the song vada tera vada for 'Dushman,' I had never seen such gathering of people who had come to get a glimpse of him. After the shooting of Kuchh hua kya of 'Aap Ki Kasam,' I asked him why did he imitate Dev Anand, he said he was his idol and he was influenced by his style." Asha Parekh- "Speaking of Rajesh Khanna reminds me of the song achchha to hum chalte hain from 'Aan Milo Sajna.' When the shooting began he was full of respect towards me, he was not opening up for the romantic requirement of the scene, and director Mukul Dutt was in a fix. I told Khanna , this is just screen romance, the rest you know. The song became a smashing hit. He could lip sync his songs very effectively, he had a short temper, but he did not keep his anger for long. Stars of his calibre are rare." Victim of success Born Jatin Khanna, he was an adopted child. After a stint in theatre, he was selected by the United Producers' Talent Contest. His earlier films did nothing for him till Aradhana (1969) came along. His double role as a dashing pilot in uniform in ‘Aradhana’ turned him into a star. There was no looking back till the angry young man Amitabh Bachchan arrived on the scene. Thereafter, his stars could not rise. Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress drew him out of his forced retirement with the lure of politics closer to the 1990s, and Rajesh Khanna – perhaps missing the adulation of fans and the contact with the masses – agreed to contest elections and become a Member of Parliament from Delhi. After giving about twenty hits, he pined to have a single successful film. But it evaded him. His last film was with the a struggling starlet Laila Khan, who was murdered recently. Amitabh Bachchan presented the IIFA Award to Khanna. He said, “What hysteria Rajesh Khanna invoked… I used to be constantly asked, ‘How does he look?’ and ‘What does he do?’ He retired to his bungalow Ashirwad, finally, where he breathed his last. We were not estranged, we remained good friends. I have lost my life partner. — Dimple Kapadia, wife
Shabana Azmi
Anupam Kher
Shah Rukh Khan
Madhuri Dixit
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RAJESH KHANNA 1942-2012 
Rajesh Khanna was not Dilip Kumar of Hindi cinema. He did not have enviable talent for acting, he could not dance, nor was he handsome as a Roman god, but he became the first superstar of Hindi cinema. It was his charm all the way that gave him 15 consecutive hits, an unprecedented phenomenon for Bollywood. What contributed to the making of the first superstar of Bollywood was not the actor alone, but a lot of factors that were in sync with the times when he arrived in his screen avatar.
