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Getting it wrong
I am Anna |
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Spare the rod
Was the President really elected?
Those were the days
The recent positioning of khap panchayats as saviours of the girl child goes against their patriarchal structure. Will they override structural constraints to cast a new identity for themselves?
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Getting it wrong
Correct
weather forecast remains difficult despite scientists’ attempt to crack the monsoon’s “source code” with supercomputers. In 2009 India’s weather department predicted a normal monsoon. It was one of the driest seasons. This year too a normal monsoon forecast has gone haywire. The Prime Minister’s Office says the current rainy season is already 22 per cent below average, though no one is yet using the word “drought”. The worst affected are Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka and parts of Gujarat. Assam faced floods which uprooted 20 lakh people and killed more than 100. The effect of deficient rain or a “drought-like situation” can be devastating. The Bhakra Dam management releases less water in canals and generates less electricity. Consequently, farmers in Punjab and Haryana spend more on diesel to pump out groundwater to save paddy. The already precarious water table falls further. The scare of drought drives up prices of food items. Even though there are enough stocks of cereals, prices have started rising. The government needs to release foodgrains in the open market as and when the situation demands. Pulses and edible oils, which India imports mostly, have become costlier. The Centre and states must come down heavily on horders and cartels of middlemen who artificially jack up prices. As farm and non-farm work opportunities in rural areas shrink and incomes fall, demand for manufactured products slumps, leading to a decline in industrial growth and government revenue. Since the gap between government revenue and spending is already large, its capacity to help the needy is limited. It may be difficult to cut subsidies. Amidst fears of inflation soaring, a diesel price hike at this juncture may be inadvisable. UPA ally Mamata Banerjee has already waved the red flag to an oil or cooking gas price increase. The government has committed Rs 30,000 crore for the rural job guarantee scheme, which can help alleviate rural misery. Whatever little the government does will further stretch its finances. The food security Bill will make additional demands on the government resources. States, meanwhile, can slash their extravagant spending and postpone the buying of new cars for legislators to spare resources for coping with the difficult situation. |
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I am Anna
Members of Team Anna are on fast again, demanding a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe charges of corruption against more than 160 MPs and 15 Cabinet members. Unlike last year, the Anna show this time has scant crowds. Anna Hazare says the government has betrayed them time and again on various anti-corruption promises. But maybe Anna’s own supporters are feeling betrayed to the extent they have seen little changed on ground, as opposed to the overnight change they had come to expect at the peak of the Ramlila Maidan frenzy. People’s dramatic expectations are not Anna’s fault, but his expectation that any SIT can be so powerful as to expose 160 MPs and half the Cabinet are no less dramatic. Mass movements either achieve spectacular results — as in Egypt or Libya — or die down without a whimper. No single wave can wipe off corruption. It is work for the long haul. Solid legwork is what does it; and who better to know that than members of Team Anna. Each one of them has been a national icon in his or her stead — for the years of hard work they put in at the ground level, achieving milestones in social reform. Ridding Ralegan Siddhi of hooch — one still at a time — is what turned Baburao Hazare into Anna Hazare. Filing one RTI application after another — turning it into a mass movement — is what earned Arvind Kejriwal his Ramon Magsaysay Award. Kiran Bedi has stirred endless number of girls and other deprived children into finding their spot in the sun. Rather than failing as a team, these leaders of civil society need to show the rest of the citizens of this country what tools of democracy to use to set things right. Turn each supporter into an RTI activist. Dig out dirt, take it to courts, let the media bring on the pressure. Things will move, just as they did in the ‘Adarsh’ and 2G scams. Ministers at the Centre, in Karnataka and Punjab going to jail is proof systems work, only we need an Anna in each village, not Parliament Street. |
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Spare the rod
How to best educate children is a question that has no easy answers. In a country where surveys have often found corporal punishment widespread in schools, disciplining children will always remain a ticklish area and a matter of concern. So, while the West Bengal Education Department may have considered it in the fitness of things to issue certain notifications in order to discipline students, the reaction of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is equally understandable. On the surface, rules like imposition of fines and penalties, extra academic work and referring a disobedient child to a counsellor might seem innocuous enough. However, the truth is that often seemingly simple ways of dealing with children can have far-reaching effects. In an overzealous bid to instil proper values among children, teachers often resort to methods that can only harden the attitudes and behaviour of children. In Hyderabad, a talkative schoolgirl was made to stand outside for five hours with an adhesive tape on her mouth. In yet another part of the country, a boy was allegedly forced to drink urine by his teachers. Such outrageous acts can completely undermine both the self-confidence and the abilities of children. Whether it’s the abysmal teacher-taught ratio or the enormous burden of syllabus or the uninteresting ways of teaching that define our education system, the perception that children will not learn on their own and need to be thrashed to enhance learning continues to find sustenance. Educators need to understand that the future of the children they are so intent on “securing” is only jeopardised by their disciplining methods. Indeed, education and teaching methods are not simply a teacher-taught issue but one that needs to be addressed by all. Until we, as a society, learn to reject punitive measures as a solution to problem solving, an atmosphere where children can hold their heads without fear is unlikely to develop. |
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What would be ugly in a garden constitutes beauty in a mountain. — Victor Hugo |
Was the President really elected?
The Presidential election did look like a general election but, as is well known, “looks can be deceptive”. The look was superficially similar inasmuch as bargains were struck, promises made (some of which did not last even 24 hours), attempts were made to outsmart one another, and so on. But the vital difference was how the outcome was determined and who determined the outcome. In a general election, though the political parties constrain or limit the choices that voters can make, the final decision (within the limits set by parties, of course) still rests with the voters. Unexpected wins and losses are not only possible but also frequently happen, giving rise to the general belief that the “Indian voter”, though not necessarily educated, is politically savvy and smart, and has the national interest in mind. But was the Presidential election really decided by those who voted in it and was the decision really known only on the day of the counting? The decision on who should be and would be the President of the Republic was taken by a handful of people, possibly not more than 30, who head various political parties, in fact, not necessarily on paper. Barring one or two exceptions, in an overwhelming majority of parties, in fact, there was only one person whose opinion mattered. Once these 25-30 people have made up their minds, the members of the so-called electoral college act as pawns due to the spectre of the Anti-Defection Act that the political parties hold. Even if a “whip” is not issued, there are already reports in the media about some parties having initiated probes to locate those who voted against the party’s wishes in order to take action against them. This is when Article 55 (3) specifically says that “the voting at such election shall be secret ballot”. It is this real process of deciding who becomes the President that raises the question: Was the President really elected? The process of electing the President gets vitiated from the time political parties start confabulating about possible candidates. While it is the norm for political parties to select candidates in all significant elections, including the general election, where the selection of candidates is based on that indefinable characteristic called “winnability”, the selection of candidates for the Presidential election is somewhat different. The so-called “consultations” are more in the form of bargaining in terms of “what will you do for me if I support your candidate?” And it is in this almost sordid process, the party as a whole or even the minor leadership of the party has no role at all. The quid pro quos are worked out among a total of about 25-30 people and that decides the incumbent of the highest office of the land for five years. We do not have to go far to realise that this can cause the choice to fall on the “least unacceptable” rather than the “most acceptable” person being elevated to being the Head of State! Though even the selection of candidates for their election as MPs and MLAs by a handful of people is objectionable because that is a negation of real democracy, the same process for choosing the candidate(s) for the President’s post should be totally unacceptable because the President can be rightly looked upon as almost the sole representative of the nation. Distinguished public intellectual, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, in a recent article has lamented on this fact in the following words: “It is a reflection of the essential hollowness of all ritual where its inner meaning remains un-understood. One cannot expect the remote fruit of an indirect election to enthuse, much less inspire, a billion people… Presidential elections now see appeals to the political mind. They are all about the political mind, not about the political heart, if such a thing is left in our body politic, not to speak of political ‘soul’. They are about the give and take of support, assurances and collaboration. With the President’s electors seated on rows upon rows before the President-elect, his inaugural accurately reflects India’s political geography, its abacus, or the counting-frame of power. It does not represent India’s aspirational astronomy, the scattered arrangement of its stellar hopes.” The fact that the process of selection of candidates renders the so-called electoral college almost completely irrelevant and thus totally negates Articles 54 and 55 of the Constitution raises very fundamental doubts about the credibility and even constitutionality (at least in spirit, if not in letter) of the entire process — the heart finds it difficult to accept it though it might be within the letter of the law. What makes the process even more disturbing is that the 25-30 people who make this momentous decision themselves are not elected. They have come to acquire this “power” by virtue of either having formed political parties or inherited them or through some other means but definitely not by means of elections that can be called “free and fair”. The effective choice of the Head of State by a handful of unelected people is against all fundamental tenets of democracy. This is arguably the most potent proof the infirmities of our electoral system. The basic reason why a handful of unelected people can take such a decision is the lack of internal democracy in the functioning of our political parties, and, therefore, the only solution is to have a real and effective democracy in the internal functioning of all our political parties. This would require political parties to hold transparent, free and fair elections at every level. In the context of the Presidential election, every political party will have to decide, in a transparent and demonstrably democratic manner, whom to put up for President. Then there might even be more than two or three candidates for the post of President, and members of the electoral college will have the opportunity of exercising the real choice while casting their vote. But the moot point is: Is such a real and effective democracy acceptable to our political
parties? The writer is a former professor, dean and director-in-charge of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. |
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Those were the days
The other day a local newspaper carried a photograph of Connaught Place, dug up, and with its ugly innards in full view. Mercifully, it is only the delayed and scanty monsoon which appears to be saving the iconic landmark from a sure mess of slush and nuisance. Even as these days visits to CP have got reduced to a trickle and that too, perhaps, only on business, it would be difficult to erase its imperious magnificence from memory. Till the late seventies, it used to be a favourite rendezvous and the happening place for leisure activities. With insignificant levels of traffic pollution, it used to be a lot of fun to sit out in the open and enjoy a cup of coffee late in the evening. Often, one would have a leisurely stroll through the colonnade, with an occasional peep into a show window or just browse languorously through a magazine on a pavement. The government also considered Connaught Place to be an important showpiece. There was a time when all the visiting Heads of State/Government used to be driven from Palam to Rashtrapati Bhavan with full ceremonials, in State, through its circular roads. The entire area used to be well-decorated with arches and buntings. All the open spaces used to be fully occupied by enthusiastic crowds, but sometimes things did get out of hand. The occasion was the first ever visit of any US President to our country. A grand reception befitting the special occasion had been organised. President Eisenhower landed at Palam in the afternoon of December 9, 1959, and was received by our President, Vice-President and Prime Minister along with huge crowds. The enthusiastic crowds kept coming even after the ceremonial drive had commenced. The result was chaos. As the winter dusk approached, the entire motorcade was still stuck near Rivoli on Irwin Road (now Baba Kharak Singh Marg). Welcoming and cheering crowds had packed every inch of Connaught Place resulting in obstruction. It is said that Nehru at one stage almost got out of his car and had to wave his baton to clear the way. A grand reception had been marred by the over-enthusiastic crowd. The usual inquiry was held and it was decided that a second road to Palam should be built. The alternative route through Moti Bagh and Rao Tula Ram Road is the result. Over the years, as the traffic volumes grew, so did congestion, changing many things. Fun and leisure in Connaught Place increasingly made way for business and work. The open spaces began to fill up with scooters and then cars. Indian Coffee House disappeared. Instead, we had Palika Bazar. The entire area began to be used as a huge traffic rotary, for both destined and undestined movements. Clearing the roads for a ceremonial drive of the VVIPs became a nightmare. Despite the constraints, our traffic arrangements for the 7th Non-Aligned Summit in March, 1983, which had over 90 Heads of State, were universally acclaimed. The same year we hosted CHOGM which was to be inaugurated on November 19, 1983, by Queen Elizabeth-II of Britain. Crowd interest in the VVIPs was somewhat on the decline after the introduction of colour TV the preceding year, but the Queen of England was an emotional draw. It was her only visit after 1961 and huge crowds were expected. After the visit was over and CHOGM was declared to be even a greater success than NAM, in view of the difficulties faced by the common man, a formal proposal was moved to completely avoid Connaught Place and have a new ceremonial route. The matter rested with the Chief of Protocol in the External Affairs Ministry who wanted to understand the magnitude of the problem. This was explained with the help of maps and diagrams and we felt that he had been convinced, but he asked us to wait. Contrary to expectations, a call came, the very next day, followed by a letter. The route of the ceremonial drive had been changed. Connaught Place had been taken off the VVIP route for all times to come so that people there could breathe somewhat more easily. For the record, the Chief of Protocol who took the decisive action happened to be none other than Mr Hamid Ansari of the Foreign Service, now our Vice-President.n |
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The recent positioning of khap panchayats as saviours of the girl child goes against their patriarchal structure. Will they override structural constraints to cast a new identity for themselves?
Khap panchyats are endogamous, clannish institutions with strong patriarchal structures, which are largely Jat outfits around rural Delhi, some districts of Haryana and western U.P. and the adjoining areas of Rajasthan. The khaps have faced two-fold criticism relating to their structure. Traditionally, women are not allowed to participate in the khap panchyat proceedings, though vital decisions concerning their lives are taken there. Secondly, in our times it has become a caste panchayat of the Jats. To counter these accusations, it was decided to float a woman wing of the khap in a conclave of various khaps held at Kurukshetra on April 13, 2010, and secondly they started labelling every khap meeting as sarv jatiya khap panchyat - an all caste council. But, the changes remained on the surface. It was clearly seen at Bibipur, in Zind district on July 14, 2012 where a woman khap was invited. But, as it turned out, women were used as a shield. It was propagated that the event was initiated by women against female foeticide, but, the stage was dominated by male khap elders. Not a single woman was included in the eleven member committee constituted to chalk out the future strategy. Despite the label of sarv jatiya there was no representation of non-Jats in the khap gathering. A resolution was passed to condemn foeticide at Bibipur. Passing a resolution is a ritual which, unless equipped with proper ideological grasp of the issue and appropriate structural apparatus to give a practical shape to it, remains only a pious platitude. If Khaps possess these traits is doubtful. Foeticide has societal roots. It is an offshoot of patriarchal mindset. The institution of khap, by its structure and functioning, is a patriarchal institution. Thus, khap’s resolution is a contradiction in terms of its structure. No strategy On account of highly skewed sex ratio and speedy dismantling of the traditional bhaichara bondage in rural hinterland, girls in villages feel highly insecure and the problem of eve teasing, molestation etc. is assuming alarming proportions in rural society. Khaps, so far have displayed no appropriate strategy and will to curb this menace. Rather, the patriarchal mindset often tends to blame girls, their education, clothes, hair style etc. for this phenomenon which results sometimes in penalising the victims and letting off the wrong doers. A girl has equal share in the parental property along with her brothers in the Hindu Succession Act. In arranged marriages, normally a girl does not demand her share. However, in case of a choice marriage, it is assumed the girl, or her husband would be bold enough to stake claim in the property. The cases of choice marriage are increasing in our times on account of growing intermixing of the two sexes under the impact of modernisation. The land, especially in the National Capital Region, the hub of khaps, has become very valuable and the risk of division of the family property starts haunting the male. The above three causes put together cumulatively make the girl child an unwelcome creature. Their unpopularity The legitimacy of the khap panchyat as an institution touched the lowest ebb in recent times, thanks to its atrocious firmans( diktats), which was a cause of concern for its political supporters- the ruling as well as the major opposition party, both being ardent supporters of khaps. The mainstream political parties of Haryana do not want to lose their vote bank supposedly controlled by the khap elders, while in reality they do not enjoy much hold over society in making political choices. The khaps are realigning themselves in the wake of an alarmed central government which is concerned at the rising incidents of honour crimes. The centre decided to frame a fresh law to curb the menace and appointed a Group of Ministers(GOM) headed by the former Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee. The GOM wrote to Chief Ministers of all the states seeking their views on the possible legal remedies to counter honour crimes. Several documents accessed through the RTI channel throw light on the issue. The Central Ministry of Home Affairs, vide its D.O. No. 12/24/209-Judl. Cell dated July 8, 2010, asked the Haryana government to send its views on the issue. The Law Secretary-cum-Legal Remembrancer to the Government of Haryana, replied that, “Honour killing is the most barbaric act…..The introduction of the Indian Penal Code(Amendment Bill, 2010) is indeed a step forward.” This expert opinion was subsequently overruled. Despite the issue being highlighted by the media, Haryana Government decried its role. The Home Department of Haryana vide its letter No. 14/26/2010-31(C) dated September 8, 2020, cautioned the Central Government “to be wary of motivational forces, more so in the present day climate rendered vulnerable by megalomaniac media.” The Chief Minister of Haryana vide D.O. No. CMH-2010 PSCpi/3453 dated September 30, 2010, addressed to the then Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee also cautioned “…to critically examine the different manifestations of ‘honour killing’ in a wider context without being overwhelmed by exaggerated media reports.” The letter also states that there is no need to have fresh legislation to deal with the problem. On the contrary, leader of the opposition in Hayana has been very forthright in expressing his support to the khap panchayat’s demand to ban same gotra and same village marriage. There are about three hundred such cases in his native village alone. The nexus between khaps and the two major political parties of Haryana was clearly visible at Bibipur too. The show could be seen as a smart exercise in image-making. But, this can also prove to be counter- productive if khaps fail to deliver on the issue. The media hype built on the show did not match the ground reality. Losing social relevance The sex ratio in Bibipur itself does not inspire much confidence. The record of institutional deliveries in government health centres maintained in the office of CMO ( chief medical officer), Jind, reveals that child ratio in the year 2009 was favourable with 48 female births against 43 male births in Bibipur. Thereafter started a phase of decline. The corresponding figures for the next two years are 36 female for 62 male and 38 female for 44 male respectively. The figures for the year 2012 up till the end of May are shockingly 13 female for 26 male- show a steep decline. Passing a resolution against foeticide is not enough. There was no discussion on the roots of the problem: dowry, insecurity of girls, property rights etc. Such resolutions against social evils have been passed earlier also in khap meetings with no tangible results. The earliest example of the sarv khap panchayat of the Jats relate to the one held at Barona, now in Sonepat district, on March 7, 1991. It was attended by 21 khaps. The conclave passed 28 resolutions, most of which dealt with issues of social reform like curbing dowry and wasteful expenditure on marriages, ban on obscene songs in social functions etc. To commemorate the century old khap panchayat held in Barona, a similar gathering took place on March 7, 2011, which also passed 28 resolutions. Most of them refer to issues of social reform and some financial concerns like getting remunerative price for the agricultural produce etc. This conclave took special notice of the menace of foeticide and resolved to curb it. Several other khaps too have passed similar resolutions. Despite these conclaves various social evils have multiplied many fold. There is not a single instance of khaps taking action against the violators of its decisions. Though khaps would like us to believe of their great relevance in the social history of the region, in our times khaps generally have shown the power to meddle into marital relations alone. Reluctant to change There are reasons for the poor record of khaps when the issues of social reform are involved. These are related to serious institutional constraints. There is no elective principle in constituting a khap nor is there a formal membership for enrolment. Its head or leader is appointed on the basis of hereditary in some cases while in others, they are self appointed. This undemocratic structure of the khap limits its appeal and capability. The khap elders are reluctant to modernise and democratise its outmoded structure, fearing their ouster in most cases in such an eventuality. It is their vested interest to perpetuate its outmoded structure. Moreover, it is a question of changing the patriarchal mindset in the khap belt as was made apparent recently in a khap edict around Baghpat in western U.P. Facing the problem of eve teasing, it decided to confine women till the age of forty in the four walls of their houses, denying them the use of mobile phones instead of taking on the eve teasers, approaching their families to check them, failing which commanding a social boycott for them- hukka-pani bandh, an age old tradition of khaps. Ajit Singh’s RLD (Rashtriya Lok Dal)supported this edict. The All India Jat Arakshan Samiti endorsed the order and asked all panchayats in U.P. and other states to follow it. Its president Yash Pal Malik lambasted Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram for criticising it. In the perverse concept of justice of these Jat leaders, victims are to be penalised while the wrong doers are to be let off. The Jats known for being energetic, resourceful, hardworking and rebellious against all kinds of wrong doings will face a bleak future unless they get such dinosaurs of the community off their backs. D.K. Chaudhry has authored ‘Haryana at Crossroads: Problems and Prospects’ published by National Book Trust |
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