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Chosen children
Government apathy |
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Time for diesel decontrol
The oppressed women
In food, we trust
Back home with grouses
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Chosen children
India is justifiably proud of the achievements of its sons and daughters who have gone abroad and made a place for themselves in alien lands. Through the dint of their hard work and by capitalising on their educational and intellectual acumen, they have indeed achieved a lot. Judges, lawmakers, businessmen, artists and sportsmen, people of Indian origin serve many flags even as they maintain a deep emotional connection with the land of their origin. There are only a few homes, if any, in Punjab that do not have a foreign connection. Indeed, the Punjabi diaspora has a vibrant and visible presence and Punjabis are to be found all over the globe. The pravasi Punjabi comes back home in winter to a warm welcome. The Punjab Government rolled out the red carpet for these NRIs. The Deputy Chief Minister projected a Punjab that would have surplus power, improved air connectivity, metros and even an 8.1 per cent rate of growth. Now, that’s an alluring projection. It may not meet the standards of rigorous empiricists, but that is another matter. Like the people living in the state, the NRIs too suffer from a poor law and order climate — they want their properties to be safe, and the justice system to be swifter. They have been promised a lot, and will expect the government to deliver on various announcements that were made at the Pravasi Punjabi Sammelan. It stands to reason that the people of Punjab will also benefit from the government’s resolve on this issue. The Punjabi NRI has not made much investment in the state of his origin. Indeed, even as the Deputy Chief Minster went all out to woo them during the recent Pravasi Punjabi Sammelan, it remains to be seen how much of sentiments translate into real investments. Punjab needs to diversify beyond its traditional agrarian roots and in order to do so, it needs foreign investments in its industrial sector. The warmth and bonhomie of the event is great, but the state needs its sons and daughters to invest into the land they are emotionally attached to. The government is giving the right signals to encourage such participation, but the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in eating it. |
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Government apathy
Given the lack of training and preparedness of medical evidence collection and analysis that results in delay in trials and a pathetic rate of convictions in rape cases, the demand for forensic science and forensic medicine specialists is justified in demanding the J S Verma Committee to create a dedicated cadre of forensic experts. The majority of about 3 million pending cases of sexual assault and rape in various courts end up in acquittal of the accused because most doctors are clueless about the collection of evidence. More forensic labs are required in the country for analysis, especially with just three existing DNA profiling labs. There is an urgent need for more human resource in the field as well as better and efficient infrastructure to speed up trials in rape cases. Till forensic infrastructure improves, the government should make use of rape-kits mandatory in all hospitals. The sexual assault forensic exam kit (rape kit) is the collection of DNA and other forensic evidence, which is then kept by the medical professional (doctor/nurse) until it is picked up by law enforcement agencies or the crime lab. It is then stored until the victim determines whether or not to pursue a case. The WHO approved rape-kit is generally a large envelope or cardboard box, which can safely store evidence collected from the victim’s body or clothing. It includes items such as written instructions, bags and sheets for evidence collection, swabs, comb, envelopes for hair and fibers, blood collection devices and documentation forms. The manual in the kit explains a step-by-step procedure for evidence collection. Some Maharashtra-based NGOs have long been demanding the use of rape-kits and specialised training of medical professionals on standard protocol to be followed in the course of attending to a rape victim, as mandated by the WHO. The use of the kit has shown improved results, wherever it has been used. Therefore, reluctance of the government in using this simple device is beyond comprehension. Or, is it another case of government apathy? |
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Time for diesel decontrol
There are reports that the Union Government is actively considering implementing the Vijay Kelkar Committee recommendations. Appointed by the Finance Ministry, the committee has suggested that the petroleum prices should be increased in phases so that by the start of 2014-15 diesel prices can be fully deregulated. In expectations of a price hike shares of oil companies shot up on Friday. The government plans to raise the diesel price by Re 1 a litre for the next 10 months. The last price hike of Rs 5.63 a litre, effected in September 2012, was quite steep and raised a public outcry. A phased price increase, it is believed, may not provoke such howls of protest and still help the government cut its fuel subsidy. It is generally believed that since the economy runs on diesel, any price increase would drive up prices. The wholesale price inflation at 7.3 per cent is quite high and so is the consumer price inflation at 10 per cent. However, a study carried out by a think tank called Integrated Research and Action for Development has challenged the conventional wisdom and contended that if diesel prices are not allowed to rise in keeping with global trends, inflation would actually move up. A higher diesel subsidy would be financed by higher government borrowings, which would result in a wider fiscal deficit. This means money supply in the system would go up, thus contributing to inflation. Countries like the US, Germany, Japan and China, which have deregulated diesel prices, have low inflation of 1 to 2 per cent. The problem is that such finer points may not be understood by people in general and opposition parties may whip up protests to draw political mileage ahead of elections, especially when the government is not good at explaining its actions. Subsidised prices have pushed up sales of diesel cars and SUVs. It is time the government took hard decisions to control fiscal deficit by limiting the fuel subsidy. |
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Living in dreams of yesterday, we find ourselves still dreaming of impossible future conquests. —Charles Lindbergh |
The oppressed women
Woman's body is meant to be used and to be discarded when it loses its attractiveness.” This is the ethos of a male-dominated society. When this is coupled with criminality, it turns men into demons. This is duly illustrated in the shockingly devastating act of gang-rape in Delhi that has led to a major debate on how to ensure the safety of women. The horrendous act has shaken the nation's conscience. The concerned citizens, dominated by the youth, are in a rebellious mood. The display of anguish and fury is the spontaneous overflow of anger accumulated over a long period against a system steeped into insensitivity and callous indifference to suffering around, posing a serious existential threat to the oppressed and the marginalised, especially the female who are no more than a commodity to be utilised by the male in Indian society. The public outrage may impel our ruling elites to take some steps for the safety of the female on the streets — more of police patrolling in cities, fast-track courts to try rapists, some amendments in the criminal law to prescribe severe punishment for rapists and so on. There may be some attempt to make investigations more effective. All this is necessary, but not enough. This is only a symptomatic treatment of a malady which has deep roots in the male psyche. Rape is normally understood as a device to fulfil uncontrollable sexual urge. This is a misleading notion. Rape is rooted into the patriarchal structures of society. The female body is the site to establish male hegemony. Rape is incessant male urge for power which is reflected in violence, intimidation and humiliation of the female. After the public outrage, which has compelled the authorities to take some measures, women may be slightly more safe in the open spaces. Will all this secure women’s safety in its totality? The answer is an emphatic “No”. A large number of adolescent girls are victimised inside the four walls of their houses by their close relatives, fathers being a sizeable number of them. You can't put policemen in every house for the safety of girls. Most of such cases go unreported and are hushed up in the name of family honour. However, the stigma gets attached to such a girl in adult life and she is saddled with a traumatised existence. Woman's lot still continues to be at a disadvantage in the developed parts of the world like Europe and North America. The situation is much worse in developing countries. The problem has been further compounded in India where the powerful scriptural authority is invoked to downgrade women. A “shaloka” in the Righ-Veda reads: “Women have unsteady brains. They are not trustworthy.” Manu, the law giver of Hindus in the Manusmriti, says: “In childhood a woman should be under her father's control, in youth her husband's, and when her husband is dead, under her sons.” Right from the womb to the tomb a woman has to traverse this long journey under male hegemony. The Ramcharit Manas of Tulsidas has a powerful impact on the Indian psyche and therein woman has been clubbed with “shudras”, animals and the uncivilised who need to be thrashed. Sita and Draupadi are the two towering women in Indian mythology . Sita is gentle, submissive and docile. She symbolises the purity of spirit and body. Draupadi, the consort of the five Pandavas, stands in sharp contrast to Sita. She is aggressive, assertive and self-willed. She is conscious of her rights and fights for them valiantly. Unlike Sita, she wouldn't meekly submit to a man because he happens to be her husband. Who should be the ideal of the two? Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, who did seminal thinking on the oppressive structures in Indian society, stood for Draupadi. He wanted to start a debate in Indian society on the topic that India's ideal woman was Draupadi and not Sita-Savitri. Indian society could not advance, argued Lohia, so long as half of its population was cast in the image of Sita. Crusaders like Jyotiba Phule and Ramasami Naicker exhorted women to assert their identity. Mahatma Gandhi laid due emphasis on the uplift of women. However, in spite of all such reformers, the depressed state of the Indian woman continues to stick out like a sore thumb, thanks to the inexorable operation of the patriarchal structures in society. The construction of male superiority promoted by patriarchy is reflected everywhere — in our families which privilege a male child, our workplaces where women are subjected to various kinds of gender discrimination, our belief systems shaped by men, our educational institutions controlled largely by men, our political parties which give nominal representation to women in its decision-making bodies — the list is endless. The most powerful site for this psyche is our mindset. Women in Indian society, irrespective of class, caste, religion and ethnicity, have been the most oppressed section along with Dalits and Adivasis. There has been an attempt at the uplift of the last two sections by giving them reservation in government jobs and admissions in educational institutions. However, the issue of reservation for women in our legislative bodies has been hanging fire for the last so many years. There is no likelihood of this to succeed so long as our Parliament is dominated by the male with the gendered notion of power. Even political parties which champion the cause of the depressed classes in India oppose it on one specious ground or the other. The construction of male superiority is so deeply embedded in the male psyche in society that its uprooting would need a prolonged ideological struggle. This mindset is behind foeticide, infanticide, domestic violence against women, dowry deaths, custodial deaths, rapes, honour killings and other forms of female persecution. Our religious texts — our “dharmshashtras” — all written by men, have an inbuilt bias against women. There is a need to deconstruct them to reveal this for public consumption. The single incident of gang-rape in a moving bus in Delhi has proved to be a spark to light a prairie fire and the whole of the nation is on the boil. The raging flames of this fire have the capacity to consume the patriarchal structures of our society if the battle is taken to its logical conclusion. What is needed is man's emancipation from the shackles of patriarchy along with woman empowerment. A man who tends to enslave women dehumanises himself too. The presence of a good number of male youngsters along with girls in the present protest movement is a good augury. There is a need to build a counter-culture to dismantle the present structure of male hegemony. The problem requires a two-pronged attack — revamping our justice system and a mass movement against patriarchy. It is a long-drawn-out battle as there are no short-cuts in
history. The writer, a retired Delhi University academic, specialises on socio-cultural issues. |
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In food, we trust Returning from Lake District in London, on the way, is a “Farm House Shop”, where farmers sell their agricultural produce. There are fresh bread, eggs, honey, milk, cream, butter, pickles and all kinds of bread spreads and a variety of muffins, cakes and pastries. There is also a cowshed where cows are milked through mechanical devices connected to their udders. A ‘tea shop’ serves tea and coffee, and scons with jam and fresh cream are the favourite. It is a popular stop with road travellers and old couples for coffee and ginger biscuits. In this shop, a caption — “Eat only what human has cooked” — caught my attention. But only humans cook, I thought. That made me curious. Animals do not cook. They eat fresh and raw, be they are herbivorous or carnivorous. This left me thinking. Animals eat whenever hungry. They sniff before eating; they have a high sense of smell. I doubt they sniff to like or dislike but to decide if it is edible. They take their food or their kill to a safer place, in case of uncongenial surroundings, and sit and eat. They chew well; cows quietly sit and cud, and a dog would chew bone at leisure. Once hunger is satiated, they rest or sleep. Lion hunts only when hungry and eats as much as needed and leaves the rest. One feed for them lasts three-four days. Animals eat to live; they neither overeat nor eat the leftover. The leftovers are left for animals who survive on the leftover of others’ kill, and the variety of birds and insects. There is a symbiotic living in nature for its variety of creatures with ease and harmony, and maintaining the ecological balance. Nature provides food for all its being, to sustain and to remain active and secure. There are a variety of foods. They are of different colours; that makes them attractive. Some smell nice — one salivates, releases digestive juices, and each of different tastes like sweet, sour or bitter to satiate the taste buds. One likes to taste different foods because they appear attractive and smell nice, and eat because they are tasty. No one cares to look for their nutritive constituents or calories. The seasonal vegetables and fruits are more nutritious, jucier, easily available and, therefore, cheap. I mused. We humans — the superior being — despite having intelligence and the sense of discrimination, simply complicate the simple nature of food. We cook and at times overcook to make it tender irrespective of the known fact that it destroys some nutrients. We add spices, sugar and/or salt to make it tastier and enjoyable. Roots and fruits have enough sugar; animals do not take extra sugar but have more than enough energy to wander around or run when it comes to their survival. Food of a vegetable origin is less complex and easily digestible as compared to that of animal origin, but we kill — an immoral act against those innocents who can’t run for justice to anyone, and eat and increase the workload of the digestive process. Those who like to enjoy food for sense satiation (who live to eat), health standards for them are of secondary importance. They take a tablet for heartburn, one for digestion and another to relieve constipation. It led me to understand that “eat only what human has (freshly) cooked”. Stale food or the food repeatedly warmed loses its nutritive value. Anything from nature is subject to decay and, therefore, has a shelf life, after that it loses its nutritive value. Frozen and preserved foods have a shelf life, after that it is inedible. Many stores in England advertise, “The food that can be trusted.” Is other’s food to be trusted less? The processing and packaging make the frozen food expensive. This led me to think further. One needs to eat when hungry. It is said no clock is more regular than the belly. Eat colour as you find in nature and not artificially coloured. Eat sweet foods as you find in nature. Food should be chewed enough to enjoy the taste and the meal instead of eating in a hurry to fill to feel full to beat the hunger. There is not only insufficient chewing — the first step in food digestion — but also one ends up eating more and without enjoying it. Eating in public and even more when walking is rude. Indeed, food should be tasty; what for are the taste buds? Monotony in life and food lacking taste mar the spring of life. Little wisdom will only make life exciting and interested, and adding more years to life. Our life-style, chasing aspirations and leaving no time for eating or cooking has changed our eating
attitude. |
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Back home with grouses
Every year the Ministry of Overseas Indians organises the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) between January 7 and 9 to engage with the diaspora in a sustainable and mutually rewarding manner across the economic, social and cultural space. Creating conditions, partnerships and institutions that will best enable India to connect with its diaspora comprehensively is central to this annual event. India has the second largest diaspora in the world. The overseas Indian community, estimated at nearly 30 million, is spread across every major region in the world. The overseas Indian community is the result of different waves of migration over hundreds of years driven by a variety of reasons — mercantilism, colonialism and globalisation. The overseas Indian community is a diverse, heterogeneous and eclectic global community representing different regions, languages, cultures and faiths. The common thread that binds them together is the idea of India and its intrinsic values. Different governments, including those of the US, the UK and Canada, acknowledge that Indians are amongst the best-educated and successful communities in the world. Everywhere the community is recognised and respected for its hard work, discipline and non-interference and for successfully integrating with the local community. It has made significant contributions to political. social and economical growth of the country of residence and has added in considerable measure to knowledge and innovation.
Staying connected Undoubtedly, overseas Indians share a strong bond with their country of origin. Besides maintaining their affinity with their language, cultures and traditions, they continue to look back at their rich heritage by staying connected with their roots. It may be because of the PBD or other such initiatives, the relationship between India and its overseas community is growing, new partnerships are evolving and newer multi-faceted dimensions are getting explored. Now in its 11th edition, the PBD has become a significant forum to connect with overseas Indians from all over the world. Over a thousand delegates participate in this annual event where besides felicitating selected overseas Indians for their success in various fields, including business, trade, industry, academics, engineering and medicine, ways and means are discussed for maintaining connectivity of the second and third generation of overseas Indians with their grassroots One area of concern has been investments in India, especially in business enterprises, education and infrastructure. Overseas Indians are still suspect about the safety and security of their investments back home, especially in North India, including Punjab. At one of the PBDs held in Delhi, an unsavoury controversy was generated after Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia remarked that the philosophy behind holding the PBD was not to solicit investments from overseas Indians but to connect them with their roots. He quoted some figures that of the total foreign investment in India over the years the share of overseas Indians was negligible. However, overseas Indians have played a significant role by sending remittances back home. Though remittances have slowed down now after the dollar has stabilised, substantial investments continue to pour in the area of village life improvement programmes. Kharaudi in Doaba is an outstanding example. From top of the line players in business, engineering, trade, industry, politics, academics, and social sciences, this annual Indian sojourn also brings home hundreds of thousands of illiterate, semi-literate, unskilled or skilled workers who have chosen green pastures overseas for their sustenance. Like "Faujis" (soldiers) they come on annual leave not only to attend weddings but also to witness and sponsor rural sports festivals, besides renovating their homes. Many of them also come with the sole purpose of looking after their ancestral landed property as cases of land grab, especially of properties belonging to NRIs, have been on the rise. Tim Uppal, Bal Gosal, Harinder Takhar, Manpreet Bhullar, Gurbax Singh Malhi, Dr Ruby Dhalla, Herb Dhaliwal, Sukh Dhaliwal, Devinder Shorey, Peter Sandhu, Jagrup Brar, Gurmant Grewal, Neena Grewal and Ujjal Dosanjh -- all from Canada, Lord Diljit Rana, Lord Swaraj Paul and Darshan Singh Grewal from England, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi (New Zealand) and Parminder Singh Marwah (Uganda) are some of the top successful political bigwigs who come calling every winter not only to cement their relations with their grassroots but also to impress upon the Centre and the Punjab Government to redress major issues facing them . Looking back, in 2010 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went to Canada, five-time Member of Canadian Parliament Gurbax Singh Malhi (he lost the 2012 election), for example, submitted a memorandum highlighting eight major concerns of Canadian Punjabis. Similar memoranda were submitted to Dr Manmohan Singh by other Canadian MPs of Indian origin. They included Dr Ruby Dhalla, Sukh Dhaliwal, Neena Grewal, Tim Uppal, Devinder Shorey and Navdeep Singh Bains. The demands or concerns of overseas Punjabis have remained unchanged.
Issues relating to overseas Punjabis Individual concerns
Talking about the safety and security of landed property, Peter Sandhu, who is a member of provincial assembly in Alberta, told The Tribune that it took him almost a year to get "intqaal" of the property he purchased. "Though the Punjab Government says that it has set up six NRI police stations, their complaints are registered at ordinary police stations," he said.
Anther related problem, he said, was the registration of false cases against the overseas Indians. Subsequently, the locals manage to get them declared Proclaimed Offenders as a part of their larger game plan of grabbing their properties. All such cases of declaring NRIs proclaimed offenders must be reviewed at a senior level and all existing cases should be reviewed on merit. Darshan Singh Rangi, who is now settled in Canada, had to spend nearly a year to get himself acquitted in a case in which his rivals, who had staked claim to his landed property, got him declared a Proclaimed Offender. "Even after two years of litigation and moving from pillar to post, I still have no access to my own land," rued Darshan Singh Rangi during his last visit to India.
Besides these common concerns of the overseas Punjabis, the PBD has been debating demands for the simplification of the visa process or renewal of Indian passport overseas and surrender of old or expired (Indian) passports while seeking a visa to India.  |
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