|
|
|
|
|
Back in people’s court
Zero tolerance
Debating points |
|
|
|
Sino-Indian rivalry in Indian Ocean
Lady with beads
Loss of a fabric
|
Back in people’s court
With
the announcement of dates for the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, the Congress and the BJP are set to have their preliminary trial of strength before the general election. For the Congress it is a crucial referendum on recent economic reforms. A positive outcome may see more enthusiasm about reforms, while an adverse verdict may drive it to populism. Though state elections usually focus on local issues, the BJP will shift the spotlight to charges of corruption and price rise that have put the Congress on the defensive at the national level. The recent hike in the diesel price and the cap on cooking gas cylinders will figure in political speeches as people understand these issues more than the opening of multi-brand retail to foreign mega stores. The Congress will have much explaining to do about why these painful decisions were important. For Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi a massive win is important to become the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. A poor show or defeat may confine him to Gujarat. Modi’s aggressive style, pro-industry stance and projection of Gujarat as a vibrant state may help him regain power, but his role in the 2002 anti-Muslim riots has polarised voters. If he emerges as the BJP’s man for the top job, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD (U) may walk out of the NDA. While the Congress has failed to prop up a leader who can match Modi in stature and firepower, it may benefit from the anti-incumbency factor, both in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The hill state of Himachal Pradesh has a tradition of never re-electing a party to power. So after the BJP, it is the Congress’s turn. But in Punjab, where a similar tradition prevailed, the Congress was rejected and the Akali Dal-BJP combine was returned to power. The Congress, therefore, cannot take its chances of success for granted. Factionalism prevails both in the Congress and the BJP. It is a close fight. The outcome on December 20 may point out which way the wind blows.
|
|
Zero tolerance
Rape
is an extreme crime and, not surprisingly, evokes extreme reactions. Following the string of rapes and gang rapes being reported in Haryana, the State Women’s Commission chief was quoted as having called for castration of all rapists. The rash of rapes reported in a few days would also give the impression that there is a ‘spurt’. These rapes are not related, as in a conspiracy. But these are indeed related in the causes — failure of the law and order machinery as well as the social fabric. Statistics on rape can be very misleading, but it is a starting point. In 1971, the National Crime Records Bureau recorded 2,487 cases of rape while in 2011 it was 24,206 (873 per cent increase). Obviously, a chunk of the increase can be attributed to greater reporting, as society slowly comes out of the taboo mentality. Another figure says more than 90 per cent of the offenders are known to the victim. This is an indicator of families and communities breaking down as protective and supporting structures. To an extent, as the Haryana DGP has said, rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, which tends to give individuals greater anonymity, is responsible. But then as an old system breaks down, a new has to step in. That is where the role of the government and the law and order machinery comes in. A youth does not go wayward suddenly at the age of 25. In a feudal set-up, he starts going wrong right when he is born, a male. First, the family pampers him, and then the rest of the job is done by the ineffective law-enforcement agencies, which let him drive much before 18, and do not catch him when he jumps the red light. It’s downhill thereafter. The government is answerable for this. On the other hand, girls have to be given the confidence to be able to speak out, including against crimes such as eve-teasing. Hit back at the slightest hint of an unwanted advance, and hit hard. Zero tolerance from everyone concerned is the need.
|
|
|
Debating points
As
two American presidential candidates debated, the world watched. US President Barack Obama and his challenger, Republican nominee Mitt Romney, faced each other in the first of three televised debates yesterday. Televised debates are not mandatory for US presidential elections, but they have a firm hold on the election process and have played a pivotal role in some contests. Such is the interest in these debates that the latest one hosted at the University of Denver was broadcast live practically all over the world. It comes as no surprise that much of the debate focused on the US economy. However, both candidates have sharply divided views on how to revitalise the economy. Obama wants the government to play an active role, whereas Romney wants its role to be minimised. Both stuck to their positions, but as the world watched, Romney managed to score points over the incumbent, thereby invigorating his campaign, and setting the stage for the subsequent debates being sharper. Both candidates reflected the concerns of Americans, from rather different perspectives, on taxes and healthcare. They reflect a deep ideological divide which has prevented not only a consensus but often even a working relationship on various issues. While Obama has a lead in various opinion polls, in the debate it was Romney who was declared the winner by a large number of observers. Obama was not at his oratorical best, and failed to exploit several opportunities, whereas Romney, who needed to win this debate, did so in a fairly convincing manner, even as political analysts faulted some of the ‘facts’ that he quoted. Both have been trying to reach out to uncommitted voters, and the three debates provide them with the best opportunity to swing support their way. There is no doubt that the next two debates, as well as the one between Vice-President Joe Biden and Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, will be closely watched, not only by viewers in the US, but also television audiences worldwide.
|
|
|
Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence. — Hal Borland
|
Sino-Indian rivalry in Indian Ocean The
Union Defence Minister, A.K. Antony, was in the Maldives last month trying to give a boost to India-Maldives defence relations. He was there ostensibly to inaugurate ‘Senahiya’, a military hospital, built with Indian assistance, but what his visit really underscored was the reality that a change of government in Male is not likely to affect the course of ties between the two nations. As Antony made clear, “India has always considered its relations with the Maldives as very special.” And the Defence Minister of the Maldives, Mohamed Nazim, reciprocated by adding, “Governments will change both in the Maldives and India. Yet the enduring friendship that exists between the two countries will only improve and expand.” India refused to take sides when Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected President of the Maldives, was ousted from power in a military putsch earlier this year in February and since then has reached out to the new President, Mohamed Waheed, assuring him of New Delhi’s continuing cooperation. The reason has been very simple: India simply cannot afford to alienate the government in Male, given China’s growing reach. The President of the Maldives was in China earlier this month when Beijing announced a $500 million package of economic assistance for Male. New Delhi views the Maldives as central to the emerging strategic landscape in the Indian Ocean as it straddles the vital sea-lines of communication between East Asia and the Middle-East. During the latest visit of the Defence Minister, the two sides decided to elevate defence cooperation with New Delhi, deciding to station a Defence Attaché in Male, extending the deployment of its ALH Dhruv helicopter by two more years, providing training to the Maldivian Air Wing, positioning an Indian Navy Afloat Support Team to train Maldivian naval personnel and providing assistance for the surveillance of the exclusive economic zone. New Delhi and Male underscored the importance of these measures as a sign of a united front against the challenges of terrorism and non-state actors. The small island-nation, despite its size, has suddenly become a hotly contested arena between the two rising powers in the region, China and India. India had always viewed the Maldives as important for maintaining security in the Indian Ocean region, but recent attempts by Beijing to expand its footprint in the Maldives and the larger Indian Ocean region have raised the stakes for New Delhi. China has been busy forging special ties with various island-nations on India’s periphery, including Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius. China’s attempt to gain a foothold in the Indian Ocean came into stark relief last year when reports emerged of an offer from Seychelles — another small but strategically located island-nation in the Indian Ocean — to China for a base to provide relief and resupply facilities to the PLA Navy. Though it was promptly denied by Beijing, it underscored the changing balance of power in the Indian Ocean region and the concomitant changes it might eventually lead to. India has traditionally been the main defence provider for Seychelles — providing armaments and training to the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF). Earlier this year, India extended a $50 million line of credit and $25 million grant to Seychelles in an attempt to cement strategic ties with the island-nation. But China has been extremely proactive in courting Seychelles since Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the island-nation in 2007. Much to India’s consternation, Beijing is now involved in the training of SPDF and is also providing military hardware. China has expanded its military cooperation with Seychelles, helping in the maritime surveillance of the EEZ by providing it two Y-2 turboprop aircraft. The Chinese Defence Minister was in Sri Lanka earlier this month to offer support worth $100 million for various welfare projects in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, areas that were beset with Tamil insurgency. At a time when the domestic political constraints have made it difficult for New Delhi to reach out to Colombo, Beijing has been quick to fill that vacuum. Colombo’s centrality between Aden and Singapore makes it extremely significant strategically for Indian power projection possibilities. China has displaced Japan as Sri Lanka’s major aid donor, with an annual aid package of more than $1 billion. Trade between China and Sri Lanka has doubled over the last five years, with China emerging as the latter’s
largest trading partner. Even Mauritius, whose security is virtually guaranteed by Indian naval presence, has been unable to resist the lure of Beijing. India, of course, has had historical ties with the island-nation but for China the Maldives is merely an entry point into the Indian Ocean region. The level of Chinese economic and crucially political and diplomatic investment in the Maldives is extremely significant, especially as it was not on Chinese radar just a few years back. But in a decade, China has not merely given India a run for its money but in some cases even left India behind. With the rise in the military capabilities of China and India, the two militaries are increasingly rubbing against each other as China expands its presence in the Indian Ocean region, and India makes its presence felt in East and Southeast Asia. The Indian Ambassador to the US recently suggested that the South China Sea could be viewed “as the ante chamber of the Indian Ocean”, and India was looking at “freedom of navigation, looking at trade, at humanitarian assistance to disaster relief.” New Delhi has seen China getting into confrontations over barren rocks in South and East China Seas and is drawing its own lessons. The security dilemma between China and India is real and it is growing. The question is whether the two nations can manage it in a way that this competitive dynamic doesn’t spill over into an open conflict. Despite all the hyperbole in New Delhi about the continuing attractions of ‘non-alignment,’ there is no alternative to strong US-India maritime cooperation not only to manage China’s rising strategic profile in the Indian Ocean but also for the management for global maritime commons. This is something that New Delhi and Washington will have to seriously think about as the balance of power alters rapidly in the Indian Ocean
region.
|
||||||||
Lady with beads Mountains, monasteries and monks are the three most defining features of Sikkim. As police chief of the state, I saw grandeur of these sights for almost a year. While going out for morning walks, I used to see all these in their natural glory. Walking from my official residence to the ridge, my eyes always fell first on Nathu La which seemed almost at an arm’s length. This was, of course, an optical illusion. Reaching the ridge, a vista of the unique snow-capped mountains of Kanchenjunga used to rise before my eyes. When the sun was bright and the sky clear, the view of the ranges dominated the sky. Walking on the ridge up to zero mile and from there to Paljor stadium and back, I used to see a number of monks with prayer wheels in their hands and humming mantras in monotonous tones. After morning prayers in the monasteries they walked in groups in their flowing robes. Their colourful attires set against the green of the pine trees and snow of the mountains, the monks presented a spectacle of rare beauty of contrasts in colours. They prayed for peace and happiness of the people. There was also a lady monk. I met her almost every day as she came down from the palace monastery down to the ridge. For this solitary figure having a walk around the palace was a daily routine. Daily I waited for her on the ridge and when she came I tried to make an eye contact with her. Seeing each other almost daily, we did become “acquainted”. Holding her rosary and doing her prayers, wearing a most attractive “Bakhu” with two knotted plaits of silky hair falling in front of her shoulders, a cherubic face with a beatific smile, her gait of slow and heavy steps. Tibetan beads decorating her gown made this lady monk a picture of angelic presence. I tried several times to talk to her. She never spoke. Bliss in her silence and, perhaps, the language was the barrier. But coming out of her deep prayer mode, she always gave a charming smile that brightened her glowing face and cheered my heart. Following her up to the palace gates, I used to return home with the images of moving vistas and the memory of the lady with beads, fresh in my mind. Shortly before leaving Gangtok for New Delhi, I met the lady monk for the last time. This time I was determined to exchange a few words with her. Again, I did not succeed. But she stopped for a while. With some gestures, I conveyed to her that I was going away. With a most beautiful smile, she gave a few gentle pats on my back and resumed her walk. I was blessed. To think of Gangtok without recalling the lady with the beads is
impossible.
|
||||||||
Loss of a fabric
Eighteenth
and nineteenth century European travellers and British bureaucrats have been responsible for much of the primary information available on textiles in the Punjab. Landmark events like major exhibitions in Victorian England and the documented exhibits provide insights into the volume of trade with Europe and the arts that flourished in that period. These are supplemented with monographs from colonial India, volumes on “Industry and Art of Punjab,” District Gazetteers which were meticulously drawn by district commissioners of the area giving invaluable information. J. Forbes Watson who was reporting on the products of India to the Secretary of State for India compiled a volume “The Textile Manufactures and the Costumes of the People of India” in 1866. He collected specimens of all the important textiles manufactures of India and put them in eighteen volumes forming one set. This contained 700 samples and swatches were cut from one big piece. Twenty such sets were distributed in Great Britain and India. He called these “Twenty Industrial Museums” and says “If we attempt to induce an individual or a nation to become a customer, we endeavour to make the articles which we know to be liked and needed, and these we offer for sale. We do not make an effort to impose on others our own tastes and needs, but we produce what will please the customer and what he wants. The British manufacturers follow this rule generally; but he seems to have failed to do so in the case of India, or to have done it with so little success, that it would almost appear as if he were incapable of appreciating Oriental tastes and habits”. This entire exercise was to enable British manufacturers to study Indian tastes and imitate indigenous designs. B. H. Baden Powell wrote a volume in 1872 on “Manufactures and Arts of Punjab” and Lockwood Kipling produced a comprehensive report on Punjab industry in 1877 for the “Journal of Indian art.” These volumes along with other works of that period are of utmost importance to trace the history of Punjab craft and to illustrate further the flourishing textile traditions of the period.
The Punjab connection of shawl It is generally believed that when Ranjit Singh conquered Kashmir, shawl weaving was confined to Kashmir alone. After the Great Famine of Kashmir in 1833 and other economic reasons many weavers came and settled in Punjab and weaving colonies were established in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Nurpur, Gurdaspur, Sialkot and Lahore etc. Punjab made some of the finest shawls under Sikh patronage. The quality of the Punjab shawls is better marked by the award that they won at an exhibition held in Lahore in 1873. At that time there were 300 factories manufacturing shawls where both Amli (embroidered) and Kani (woven or so called jamavar) shawls were made. Amritsar made some indigo dyed shawls with gold or tilla embroidery. At one point there were as many as 6,493 weavers in Amritsar alone. In the catalogue of “Indian Art” at Delhi 1903, Sir George Watt lists different types of products which were exhibited at this big event. He wrote “One of the superb amlikar (embroidered) do-shala in the Exhibition is No-20 a shahpasand shawl exhibited by Trailakhaya Dass of Murshidabad and Dacca. It is presumed to be very considerably over 100 years old and to have been made in Amritsar. It has been priced at Rs 6,900 and sold to His Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad.” The shawl industry in Punjab was over 200- years- old and had some of the finest workers working here. He further says that several shawls from Amritsar were exhibited by Khan Muhamed Shah, Saifudin, and Davi Sahai Chamba Mall. These included shawls, rumals, and chaddars which would take many pages to describe. Good quality shawls are almost non existent in Punjab today.
Other crafts that vanished Gold printing industry existed in Punjab in the 19th century but there is no sign of it today. Tinsel (gold or silver) printing was done with gold or silver leaf. Cloth was first printed with a thin paste of kharia mitti (mud), suresh (fixer) and gond (glue) using water. To the design made with the paste, a leaf of gold or silver foil was applied. The foil was sold in the form of a book where one foil was separated from the other by a sheet of tissue paper in the same manner as mithai (sweet) shops or pan shops use the vark (silver paper) today This type of work was known as nik-ka-kam. Baden Powell mentions muslin printed in gold by Anand Ram of Lahore. Sir George Watt also mentions an award won at the 1903 exhibition for a pair of curtains. Quality of gold printing was good as it fetched awards. Sadly today we associate this craft only with Rajasthan or Gujarat. Gota work is another casualty. It has always been popular and was part and parcel of our culture. Even today in every wedding it holds an important place in wrapping wedding gifts, edging for cloth to wrap the bridal trousseau. Gota kinari consisted of metallic (gold or silver) thread mainly badla and battan woven into ribbon This was made on tiny looms and the narrowest gota was made with 5 or 7 strands of gold thread. This type of gota is called dhanak. It had to have a silk edge to hold the ribbon together. There were different types of gota - dhanak, kinari, thappa, sinjaf, and dor. Rows of gota ribbons were used to make one border or pattern. The centres of production were Patiala, Ludhiana and Ambala. Today there is not much work done in traditional gota styles and gota patti work is more popular which really is from Rajasthan or Gujarat.
Death of Punjab’s textile Traditional Indian cotton varieties were valued for the cloth which was soft, durable and absorbent with excellent draping and colour holding qualities. Lot of cotton grown today is derived from American varieties, specifically grown to suit the high speed machine processing. Introduction of Bt cotton or GM cotton has lead to the ruin of the handloom industry as it is not suitable for handlooms. In early 20th century cotton was produced throughout Punjab and weavers were found in almost every village. In Lahore, Amritsar, Multan, Ludhiana and other towns almost every type of fabric was woven. Finer cotton weaving was done in Doaba, comprising of the districts of Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Kangra between the Satluj and Beas. Fabrics like khes, susi, lungi etc. were all woven in this region. The British were successful in capturing a large portion of the Indian cotton textile market. And the competition of the Manchester cottons dealt a fatal blow to the local manufacturers. Indian cotton printing techniques which were instrumental in starting the printed cotton industry of Europe in the 17th century now converted to reverse trade. Our craftsmen were not able to compete with machine made fabrics of Manchester. Along with cotton industry the natural dyeing industry also suffered. Slowly but surely the natural dyes were replaced by synthetic dyes brought from Europe. With this the whole range of fabrics just died a natural death. There was a time when natural dyes like madder and indigo were widely used in Punjab. Khes dyed with these natural dyes have not lost their colour for over half a century. Natural processes of dyeing and printing is not practiced in the state today.
Lessons to be learnt In some states like Andhra Pradesh there is a revival of indigo dyeing. Not only have they managed to revive the craft but have also created a niche market where designers are using their products. Gujarat has seen the revival of techniques like ajrak and pattola, where there were only few workers left who were practicing the craft. Maharashtra has been successful in revival of Paithani saris which has painstakingly complex process of weaving. Rajastan is preserving its textile traditions of block printing, bandani and laheria. Are we preserving our heritage? The Punjab Archives based at Patiala are in shambles with no proper storage facility. Its importance to the rulers is evident from the unkempt appearance of this lovely heritage building which is being poorly maintained. The museums have very poor storage facilities. The display of textiles is done by unskilled workers who do not hesitate to put metallic thumb tacks or nails to hang textiles in a totally vertical position in bright light. Both can be harmful for the textiles. Museums abroad are tourist attractions and are the centre of cultural activity. What we do need is a comprehensive policy to conserve our textile heritage, which otherwise is in danger of being lost
forever. The writer is a textile researcher who has worked at the National Museum, New Delhi, and Musee d’art et d’histoire, Geneva
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
