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Politics over gas
Agni triumph |
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City beautiful, once more
Politics over South China Sea
Once there lived a tiger!
Wages of misgovernance
Children’s Literature Festival in Quetta
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Politics over gas
After
the government increased the diesel price by Rs 5 a litre and limited the supply of subsidised cooking gas cylinders at six a year to a family – measures that have evoked criticism from people and praise from economists and industry – the Congress leadership has asked the party-ruled states to raise the cap on LPG cylinders to nine and cut the state taxes on diesel. While this will dilute the impact of the tough decisions taken at the Central level and shift part of the subsidy burden to the states under Congress rule, the message that Dr Manmohan Singh has sent through the latest dose of reforms is still intact. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has extended full political support to the Prime Minister in mending the government finances and treating the ailing economy, but she also has elections to win and deal with opposition parties, which are stoking public anger over the diesel price hike and the rationing of gas cylinders. She has been pushing for inclusive growth through measures like the rural job guarantee scheme, Bharat Nirmaan and the food security Bill, which are all meant to help the poor. The welfare programmes can be carried on only if the government has enough resources to fund them. The food, oil and fertiliser subsidies have bled the exchequer white. A fall in growth has lowered the tax revenue. Hard steps are, therefore, required to reverse the fiscal deterioration. The Congress strategy has a political objective too. By raising the number of subsidised gas cylinders and cutting the state taxes on diesel, the Congress has countered charges of being anti-people and brought pressure on West Bengal and Opposition-run states to follow suit. Thanks to the VAT on oil, states stand to gain from the diesel price hike and can use the extra profit to fund an increased subsidy on LPG cylinders. The BJP and the Akali Dal oppose the diesel price hike, while their government gets richer by Rs 250 crore. However, in the long run the politics of competitive populism will ruin the country.
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Agni triumph
The
latest successful launch of the long-range Agni-IV missile from Wheeler Island is yet another feather in the cap of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The two-stage solid-propelled missile, which has a range of 4,000 km, is capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The missile performed well, and fulfilled various parameters required for it. The design has now proved itself, and the missile accurately hit its target. That this launch was carried out from a mobile launcher adds to its strategic capabilities, since from now such missiles could be transported on roads and launched from mobile launchers. It will, however, be a while before this missile is inducted into the armed forces, since more developmental trials are scheduled. India has achieved remarkable success with missiles, especially the Agni and Prithvi series. The stress on indigenous technology has paid off and various facilities spread across the country, including around Chandigarh, have played a prominent role in conducting research and producing the components necessary for the success of the DRDO’s missiles. They too deserve to be commended for their success. India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme has come a long way in producing and launching missiles, and the DRDO has, over the years, built a solid base which is now yeilding rich dividends. It is true that challenges remain, especially in producing reliable indigenous radars, but overall, much has been done, and continues to be done in this difficult, and, at times, treacherous endeavour. Even as India continues to maintain its no-first-use nuclear policy, it needs to have a credible deterrent force of weapons and missiles, especially since two of its neighbours have their own arsenals. While it cannot compare with China in technology or numbers, long-range missiles will provide the nation with the strategic strength it may need. Similarly, advances in submarine-launches missiles too are of immense strategic significance.
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City beautiful, once more
In
quashing a notification that labelled the Union Territory of Chandigarh a “disturbed area”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has put down what was exploitive use of powers by the executive. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had on December 2, 1986, issued a notification under the Chandigarh Disturbed Areas Act, 1983, which was reissued in 1991. This ensured certain security-related rights to the police and other agencies that would not be otherwise allowed under the law. Had the UT Administration failed to revoke the ‘disturbed area’ tag out of oversight, it could have been pardoned. But as is apparent from the insistence on its part to continue with the status on the basis of excuses that even a layman would see as frivolous, it was a deliberate violation of the spirit of the Constitution. Laws are made to serve the best interest of the country and the citizen. Here was a law designed to handle disturbed periods that was being imposed upon people during a perfectly peaceful period — which made it ‘draconian’. The argument that no action had been taken under the law for the past 10 years itself went against the UT’s stand. Why have the tag if it is not needed? What raises suspicion regarding the administration’s intent to continue with the status quo was the extra security and accommodation that officials in certain positions became entitled to in a “disturbed area”. Also, if need be, certain transgressions could find shelter under it. Another argument proffered was that no resident had suffered on account of the notification. That was indeed a fact, even if irrelevant to the matter at hand. Chandigarh, run by bureaucrats, has existed as an island of governance without any real democracy — the municipal corporation hardly counts for anything, yet. Nevertheless, it can claim to be a city where the citizens’ rights are protected better than almost anywhere else in the country. But that has been possible only because it exists within a larger net of democracy. Let the spirit of that democracy not be impinged upon.
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Night is the mother of counsels. — George Herbert
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Politics over South China Sea
In
March this year an international conference was held at Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on ASEAN, marking the end of 10 years when Southeast Asian countries signed the Declaration of Code of Conduct Agreement to undertake cooperative activities on joint exploration with China, without resorting to force. The year also signifies the tenth year of the 1st ASEAN-India Summit and an end to the period of two decades when India flagged its East Asian policy of engagement. Echoing the sentiments, the then Indian Prime Minister had said in Singapore in 2002 that the South-East Asian region was one of the focal points of India’s foreign policy, strategic concerns and economic interests. It not only institutionalised ASEAN- India relations, but also considered an acknowledgment of India’s emergence as a key player in the Asia Pacific region. Of late, there has been an increasing interest among ASEAN nations for India. It was demonstrative of India being a strong powerhouse on the economic, trade and security fronts as also the practitioner of profound resilience in managing conflicts, now plaguing the South China Sea. The belief is that a strong India is in the ASEAN strategic interest as a strong ASEAN is good for India. Complementing the relationship even before ASEAN was evolved, Nehru, while emphasising the importance of Southeast Asia, had remarked, “The future of India was indivisible from the future of Asia, particularly Southeast Asia.” Considering such prophetic views, India’s engagement with ASEAN for two decades has seen a two-way increase in the export level which is more than the global average. According to the 1st India-ASEAN business conclave held in New Delhi in February 2012, the two are committed to achieving a trade target of $70 billion by this year. It would put us on a par with our trade with China, highest with any other country. India and ASEAN provide a huge market to harness the potential and the competitive edge in the global economy, which certainly demands a systemic exploration of emerging economic opportunities between the two, hitherto dominated vigorously by the Chinese. This also includes the prospective role Indian diaspora could play in expanding investment relations with India. However, the beginning of 2005 saw ASEAN becoming a major focus of Chinese diplomacy, throwing up appreciable concerns, and identifying China as a primary potential threat from the stand-point of ASEAN nations. The Chinese exclusive claim to the South China Sea and their official announcement that it is their core interest akin to Tibet and Taiwan do not rule out the use of force in the region. The South China Sea is significant as a vast reservoir of oil and natural gas and fishing wealth. It is, in fact, the demographic hub of the 21st century where the Chinese, ASEAN and inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent transact vital resources and exchange goods across the region and globally. More than half of the world annual merchant fleet tonnage passes through it; the US trade moves in the area is to the level of $1 trillion with an investment of $160 billion. India, too, has a natural sphere of influence in the South China Sea, acquired traditionally over the centuries. It was also called the Champa Sea at the height of Indian Champa rule in Cambodia and Vietnam. It is not only the gateway to India’s trade with ASEAN, but also a navigable route from the Sakhalin oil base to Mangalore covering a distance of 5,700 nm. India has an investment of $400 million in Vietnam hydrocarbons with its OVL investment of $225 million in oil exploration projects dating back to the mid-80s. ONGC Videsh Ltd along with PETRONAS of Malaysia are also in joint collaboration in the hydrocarbon sector. Aban Offshore Limited, Mumbai, has been awarded two contracts worth $55 million to drill 9 oil wells in Malaysia. Of late, even the Philippines called a part of the sea as the West Philippines Sea. In the geo-strategic and economic realm, it is an extremely significant body of water containing over 250 small islands, atoll, clays, shoals, reefs and sand bars with no habitation in most of them. The main islands under dispute are the Paracel and Spratly. In this regard, making a candid assessment of Chinese behaviour, India provides a greater transparency on Chinese assertiveness which should be worrisome for ASEAN. This is notwithstanding the fact that, akin to ASEAN nations, India too enjoys a bilateral strategic economic dialogue with China. However, China is a competitor and looks to India as a potential contender for a leadership role in Asia. India has a historical opportunity to provide a meaningful role in the current imbroglio, especially when its political and economic vitality is preferred over China by ASEAN. Analysing the larger concern of the ASEAN nations, which want to transform the South China Sea into a maritime control issue, designed to promote peace, friendship and trade, it is the China factor which has a potential to shift its entire dynamics, being a major power. It has put the area in the category of non-negotiable territorial claim. The ASEAN nations are equally non-willing to make concessions with regard to their territorial claims but for the lack of consensus. The United States has in July 2010 at an ASEAN Regional Forum meeting declared the area in the American national interest, for securing trade and strategic interests, ensuring an uninterrupted navigational route to the Pacific. However, one is constrained to believe about their actual physical involvement once the die is cast. The US has strengthened its relations with Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, besides enjoying a treaty obligation with Japan. But, given the disturbed scenario in the region and its relations with China, the major interest of the US in the South China Sea remains debatable. There has been a remarkable shift when India showed credibility in dismissing Chinese reaction to India’s offshore exploratory activities in Vietnamese waters as invalid and without any legal basis. The brutality of the message became more evident when India openly declared that the South China Sea must remain free for navigational purposes and sought to resolve all sovereignty issues in consistent with the international law. It is significant for India to maintain, therefore, its visible presence in ASEAN and promote all kinds of cooperative relationship with member-countries, including military support, on a sustainable basis. Let us not forget that “Mao’s barrel threatens only those with no hold on the barrel”. The one core issue affecting the countries involved in the dispute, including China, is the overlapping claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea. The United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS) provides a basis for the coastal countries to manage threats of maritime security in an ideal manner. In the case of the South China Sea, where all states are members of the convention, there is a race for generating and extending the maritime domain areas and exercising sovereign rights over them in consonance with the provision of UNCLOS. The historical claims certainly can raise the pitch, but may lack legal scrutiny. India is in the immediate neighbourhood of ASEAN. This strategic contiguity demands that both must stand together as a single economic community, depending on their comfort levels. The current situation in the South China Sea presents a case for ASEAN and India to collaborate more closely where India needs to be pro-active in building a new vibrant ASEAN order, free of any turbulence. It will not only help India to become a major stakeholder to the oceanic wealth that ASEAN shall provide, but also forge a dominating strategic bond which will be mutually supportive and will have an appreciable endurance. However, India’s intended withdrawal from the Vietnam oil wells, considered to have gone dry, is adding a new dimension to the politics over the South China Sea. Being viewed as a sign of China’s ascendancy in the region, it has put India’s credibility at stake. This is notwithstanding India’s recent drive with regard to Myanmar, which may serve as the gateway to the ASEAN countries.n The writer is Professor and Head, Department of Defence and National Security Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
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Once there lived a tiger! The
other day my daughter, a big cat lover, suggested to me to go for the latest Salman Khan starrer “Ek Tha Tiger”, presuming it to be a film about tigers that are facing extinction. I and my wife readily consented, feeling concerned about the declining tiger population.The movie turned out to be of a different genre and a pure thriller. However, sitting in the multiplex munching popcorns, I failed to focus on the movie and my attention was riveted to the tiger conservation efforts that have suffered major setbacks and threats from inside and outside the country leading to an almost extinction of the wild cat. “Can the tiger be saved?” I questioned myself. I wondered why the Project Tiger launched way back in 1973 had failed. Our country has currently a tiger population of about 1400 which was close to 40,000 at the turn of the century. The Project Tiger’s recent successor, the National Tiger Conservation Authority, had also not brought about palpable results. My daughter got carried away when I expressed my views on tiger conservation efforts. She said that one of the most deadly threats facing the tigers in our country is poaching for its parts. A single tiger is used for producing various medicines to make money. According to the Wildlife Protection Society of India, poachers use Nepal to move between India and China. It’s the traditional Chinese medicine market that’s driving the demand. The Wildlife Protection Society of India confirms this assessment. Recent undercover investigations by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) revealed that the trade in tiger and leopard body parts continues to thrive while driving our wild tigers closer to extinction. The market for tiger parts has really turned pervasive as in some countries tiger farms have come up, where tigers are bred and raised for slaughter. According to the WPSI reports, mining and other development projects are reducing tiger habitat. Large development projects such as mining and hydroelectric dams are taking their toll on the tiger’s habitat. In the past 10 years, thousands of square kilometres of forest land has been diverted and destroyed to facilitate such projects. Though mostly outside the protected network, the loss of this vital habitat will have serious repercussions on tiger conservation. Poachers have the means to acquire the latest in assault weaponry, and sadly about 90 per cent of the cases against poachers fail to stand scrutiny in courts. On way back, when our discussion moved to excellent new tiger protection measures like the recommendations of the Subramanian Committee for the Prevention of Illegal Trade in Wildlife, 1994, and Tiger Task Force, 2005, my wife pitched in. She said that measures had been proposed for the big cat’s conservation but little effective action appears to have been taken. We arrived at a consensus that the best thing was that the public had taken notice of tigers in crisis and school children and several civil society groups in the country were coming together to demand the basic right of the tiger – the right to survival. That will determine the fate of the tiger and of our future generations before it is too late. Otherwise it will be “Ek Tha Tiger” or once there lived a
tiger!
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Wages of misgovernance MORE than a week after the terrible blaze in Karachi and Lahore, in which some 300 workers perished, the people are still struggling to figure out the possibilities of progressing from rank misgovernance to a reasonably efficient management of public affairs. The seriousness of the effort is open to question though. Post-disaster cogitation in Pakistan is usually a nine-day affair devoted mostly to emotional dirges and acrimonious statements against some of the easily visible culprits. The link between a disaster and poor governance is seldom addressed and often deliberately ignored. Instead of owning their failings and shortcomings, administrators and politicians join hands to dismiss disasters as accidents and tragedies beyond human control. Remedial action is limited to writing out cheques for the victims’ families, as if money can be adequate compensation for loss of life and valued relationships, or sending some minor functionaries into the wilderness, that too for a short period. If the Karachi and Lahore disasters of Sept 11 do persuade the rulers to tackle the issues of misgovernance it will be a welcome break from a reprehensible tradition of criminal neglect of the interests of the people, especially industrial workers. In 1995, the Sindh inspector-general of police, Mr Afzal Shigri, told human rights activists who were probing matters relating to organised extortion: “The problem in Karachi is that no right or facility, be it an electricity connection or a permit to ply a bus, can be obtained through legal means.” Seventeen years down the line the disease has spread to all corners of the land. Not only has the use of unlawful means to secure what is legally due become common, our genius has found ways of bypassing the law for all kinds of illegal gains. A great deal of noise is made about the corrupt practices of politicians while an issue of much greater concern is the corruption of the institutions of governance. Whenever a factory building collapses or is destroyed by fire the first question asked is whether the premises had been built according to the rules. The answer in the case of the Lahore factory that caught fire last week as well as the chemical factory that collapsed some months ago was in the negative. Now Punjab’s smart officials are finding scores of unauthorised and irregular structures. In Lahore, the problem of industrial units in residential localities, including those producing combustible material for fireworks, has never been solved. But in Karachi’s SITE area, the country’s first and duly planned industrial area, unauthorised construction or irregular maintenance of factories will be considered an avoidable invitation to disaster. Who is to blame for allowing industrial activity on unsafe premises? The profit-hungry entrepreneurs or those who abolished the system of regular inspection of factories by inspectors employed by the departments of industries and labour? Nowhere does one find respect for the rules for emergency exits and preparedness for dealing with fire that once had to be approved, among others, by the civil defence authorities. The federal government has now ordered a survey of firefighting arrangements in all factories/establishments. Why was this not done when fire destroyed land records in a Lahore office or a huge treasure of books at Ferozsons, again in Lahore, was reduced to ashes? Perhaps in today’s Pakistani culture, books are more worthless than even factory labour. The stark reality is that the state’s inspection system has been dysfunctional for years and its revival in Punjab recently leaves much to be desired. If any official does, out of self-interest, visit an establishment to check on safety measures the owners choose insecurity by bribing the intruder. The Karachi case has also exposed the scandal of workers’ security of tenure. The size of the workforce employed at the garments factory has not been revealed — but figures between 700 and 1,000 have been mentioned. It is said that no more than 250 workers were registered with the Employees Old-Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) and the employees paid contribution for only 200. This form of exploitation of labour has been noticed all over the country. It has increased in Punjab after the provincial government exempted units employing less than 50 workers from trade union laws. At a large number of places, workers are not on factory rolls and do not have appointment letters. The fact is that labour laws are violated with impunity through collusion between the administration and the employers. And that doubtless amounts to misrule. No industrial trouble or disaster in Karachi can be examined without reference to the city’s culture of extortion. Were the garments factory’s exit gates locked as protection against raids by bhatta collectors as has been indicated or was this done to imprison workers till the requirements of the export order were met? If the owners were under extortionists’ threat, the government is responsible for failing to protect them. In the latter case, the government has a duty to ensure that in their zeal to maximise profits the employers do not put at risk the lives of their workers, in some cases their own lives too. Deficiencies in both areas fall in the category of administrative failures. A friend has pointed out that one of the principal causes of disorder and disaster at industrial units is the suppression of the trade union movement. The government is no longer a neutral referee between employers and employees; over the years it has become more and more hostile to the working class. Workers have been tried and sentenced under the Anti-Terrorism Act, but no employer has been made to pay for his misdeeds. Strong trade unions can help employers to maintain safety standards and also resist the pressure of corrupt officials. True, labour unions too can make mistakes or advance unfair demands but their capacity to cause harm is much less than their ability to do good. The lesson from last week’s huge loss of life is that the long-pending task of moving towards good governance and rule of law cannot be delayed. Instead of treating the symptoms of misgovernance, it is the disease that must be attacked. By arrangement with Dawn, Islamabad.
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Children’s Literature Festival in Quetta A
CHILDREN’S Literature Festival in Quetta sounds like a contradiction in terms. Quetta is in Balochistan and one doesn’t have to be reminded that the province is in the grip of a violent insurgency. When I went there last week I could feel the tension in the air. Fear was palpable. So how could a festival — that too for children — be held in a place not considered very safe? For me the festival amounted to making a political statement: children need peace. We knew that whatever the state of security, life has to go on. Yet one could not turn a blind eye to the tight security which in turn made one feel insecure. The event was not advertised and was reported in the media only after the show was over. People of all backgrounds and classes — highly educated professionals and workers with no schooling — speak of the ‘problem’ but each sees it from his own point of view. That is why I could get no single answer to the question of who was behind the killings — many following enforced disappearances — and why. There is a blame game on with the army, the Baloch nationalists and the religious militants being held responsible. But the army and the government which have the power to do something are not bothered. No dialogue is on the cards. Death haunts the hills and valleys, the towns and villages. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan titled its recent report on Balochistan Hopes, Fears and Alienation which captures the emotions being generated by the crisis. How is this affecting the children? No one has time to really address the issue. The impact of violence on the child’s education, health and family life has not been documented sufficiently. And no one speaks of what violence does to a child’s mind. Against this backdrop the proposal to hold the Children’s Literature Festival in Quetta was a courageous move and an act of humanism. It needs a woman to think of the children. On this occasion there were two women with a third prodding them on. Ameena Saiyyid of the Oxford University Press and Baela Raza Jamil of Idara-i-Taleem-o-Agahi are the brains behind the idea of a children’s literature festival, the first of which was held in Lahore last November. Zobaida Jalal, a former education minister, now an MNA and the founder of the Female Education Trust, suggested Quetta as the venue and mobilised local support. It was a calculated move to counter the negative repercussions of the Balochistan crisis on the child’s psyche. It has now been universally documented how war has a devastating effect on the young mind. Many of the children in Balochistan have never experienced what one can call a normal life. The festival was designed to expose them to a life — even momentarily — that is different from what they know. The idea was to introduce them to the world of books — even though it was amidst tight security. In these circumstances, the presence of a contingent of nearly 50 people from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, which included singers and musicians as well as artists and storytellers, brought cheer to the hearts of the young audience. For some time, they could forget the danger and indulge in dance and music, storytelling and painting. That was good therapy for the 5,000 or so children from 125 schools (over 40 of them being government institutions). Students from madressahs were also present and the gaiety at the Boy Scouts headquarters, the venue of the festival, was a good change for them from the austerity of their daily life. They are children after all. The message that emerged loud and clear was that education that should equip a person with the tools for reading, writing and critical thinking is important for the personal development of a child. But to make education really meaningful it is important to also unlock the power of reading. In other words, introduce the book to the child and create the reading culture. That is what the festival was all about. The fact is that the ability to read is just a tool. What really counts is what you make of it. As Quratulain Bakhteari — who has done phenomenal work for female education in the province through her Institute for Development Studies and Practices — so aptly observed, education can either empower or enslave you. The education secretary of Balochistan, Munir Ahmed Badini, quite uncharacteristically a highly educated man and an author of renown, was the first to get the message of the festival. He announced that from next year the government would include an annual literature festival in its education programme. Moreover, he promised to have a library set up in every school. Such moves should give a boost to education in the province, the insurgency notwithstanding. It will provide an avenue for self-expression to young souls in pain. After all, the boy who read out his story of the youth whose father had been shot in the head was trying to articulate his anguish. . Now that the children’s literature festival seems to be there to stay, the organisers should plan some kind of a follow-up assessment. It would be interesting to know how that memorable day in Quetta impacted on the schoolchildren and whether we can hope for books to change their lives. By arrangement with Dawn, Islamabad.
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I.A Rehman
