O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Combined harvest
Punjab common lands lost to conspiracy of profiteering
As with lands owned by the Punjab Government, so with those belonging to panchayats in the state. The custodian has decided to sell the assets, and there is no one to raise a voice. The reason for the acquiescence is simple — all parties concerned stood to gain, especially in the “land grab scam” in the periphery of Chandigarh, as exposed in the 12-part series in The Tribune that carried excerpts of the report of the Special Tribunal headed by Justice Kuldip Singh. Beginning with panchayats, patwaris as well as revenue and consolidation officials and courts colluded to slice up village common lands among land-holding residents of villages, who in turn sold these unauthorisedly to people with money and influence. All this when there is no provision under any law for individual villagers to take exclusive possession of common land.

On this day...100 years ago

lahore, saturday, november 22, 1913.
Mr Ram Chandra, I.C.S.
MR. Ram Chandra, M.A., I.C.S, the distinguished Punjab graduate, capped his successes at Lahore by earning high distinction at Cambridge and at the Indian Civil Service examination by being placed Ist in the final examination and 10th in ultimate order of seniority. Mr. Ram Chandra originally belonged to the United Provinces but he had his early education in the Government Central Model School, Lahore, and at the Government College, Lahore. He has been posted to the Punjab and arrives at Lahore on Sunday by the 8.13 train.

ARTICLE

The unseemly battle over caretaker govt
Polarised politics has pushed Bangladesh to the edge
Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty
The die is cast. An eight-member interim multi-party government has been sworn in by President Abdul Hamid to oversee the next general election in Bangladesh by January 20, 2014. Opposition leader and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's bête noire Begum Khaleda Zia has called the new government a "farce", refused to participate in elections under this dispensation and urged President Hamid to step in and resolve the impasse.

MIDDLE

Encounters of cultural kind
DPS Bains
Ever since I migrated to the US after giving up a cushy job in India, I have been exposed to cultural differences and similarities that exist between the East and the West. But my new-found profession as an interpreter gave me an unexpected opportunity to get a deeper insight into such differences while dealing with real-life situations in different walks of life.

OPED — Sports

There is a case for legalising betting
Illegal betting is growing alarmingly with organised crime syndicates getting involved. It is perhaps time for a rethink.
Dr Ashutosh Misra
Having worked on integrity related issues in sports at the Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security for many years in Australia, it is possible to see the pragmatism in CBI Director Ranjit Sinha’s suggestion on legalising betting in India.

EDITORIALS

Combined harvest
Punjab common lands lost to conspiracy of profiteering

As with lands owned by the Punjab Government, so with those belonging to panchayats in the state. The custodian has decided to sell the assets, and there is no one to raise a voice. The reason for the acquiescence is simple — all parties concerned stood to gain, especially in the “land grab scam” in the periphery of Chandigarh, as exposed in the 12-part series in The Tribune that carried excerpts of the report of the Special Tribunal headed by Justice Kuldip Singh. Beginning with panchayats, patwaris as well as revenue and consolidation officials and courts colluded to slice up village common lands among land-holding residents of villages, who in turn sold these unauthorisedly to people with money and influence. All this when there is no provision under any law for individual villagers to take exclusive possession of common land.

The fact that so many people of authority ignored the illegality is evidence in itself that material gain was involved. Given the situation as obtained today, there are two challenges. One, fixing the responsibility in each case and handing out the punishment where due. Two, restoring the possession of all common lands to the rightful owner, i.e., the panchayats. The first is bound to be a mammoth exercise, and therefore beyond the capacity of a standalone commission. As suggested by Justice Kuldip Singh, one way could be to have a high court-monitored investigation, possibly using the official machinery of the state government itself, or even the CBI. The racket has been going on not just around Chandigarh but across the state.

The second task of recovering the illegitimately sold lands would be trickier. The state will have to explore all executive and legal means available to it. If an exercise as big as consolidation could once be carried out, why not make an effort to recover what has been stolen. All common land — as marked in the original consolidation records — needs to be first identified and then restored to panchayats wherever sold through impermissible procedures, fighting case by case in courts where challenged. The noise made by both ruling and opposition parties is a farce, as the illegal transactions have happened on the watch of both over the past three decades. The conspiracy of silence has worked way too long; let the rule of the law prevail.

Women at receiving end
Need to implement Vishaka guidelines

Despite having the much-touted Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, that took 16 long years in the making after the Vishaka case in 1997 and promised women equal treatment at the workplace, reports of sexual harassment keep appearing, more from institutions where one would expect a better understanding of gender equality. Employers tend to be indifferent to the Act either because the number of women employees is negligible or they are not in a position of power to demand its implementation.

Under the Act, the employers and local authorities are expected to set up grievance committees which should have representation of women employees to investigate all complaints related to sexual harassment. Those who fail to comply with the Act can be punished with a fine of up to Rs 50,000. A clause in the Act that makes a false complaint or evidence punishable deters many women from coming forward in reporting sexual harassment, which is one of the most underreported crimes and also one of the most difficult to prove.

The sexual harassment of women radio presenters working with the FM Gold channel of All India Radio by their senior officers is one such case brought to the notice of the Delhi High Court that scratches the surface of a prevailing malaise. Another incident of sexual harassment of a law intern has surfaced on her blog. She has accused a senior judge of the apex court of sexually harassing her, which has led a former Dean of Delhi University's law faculty to file an FIR with the Delhi Police. That three other girls were allegedly sexually harassed by the same judge and four other girls faced harassment from other persons indicates the serious need for forming committees at all workplaces and in educational institutions where cases of sexual misconduct should be dealt with and taken to the logical end.

On this day...100 years ago

lahore, saturday, november 22, 1913.

Mr Ram Chandra, I.C.S.

MR. Ram Chandra, M.A., I.C.S, the distinguished Punjab graduate, capped his successes at Lahore by earning high distinction at Cambridge and at the Indian Civil Service examination by being placed Ist in the final examination and 10th in ultimate order of seniority. Mr. Ram Chandra originally belonged to the United Provinces but he had his early education in the Government Central Model School, Lahore, and at the Government College, Lahore. He has been posted to the Punjab and arrives at Lahore on Sunday by the 8.13 train.

Irrigated crops in the Punjab

DURING the year 1912-13, the total irrigated area in the Punjab was 11,589,775 acres being above the normal at both harvests. This is due to the late monsoons and subsequent unequal distribution of same. The season was favourable for irrigated cotton which thrives best in years of moderate rainfall. The season was consequently unfavourable for unirrigated crops. Of the total irrigated area 3,601,882 acres were irrigated from wells, and most of the remainder from canals, which about 7 millions were from Government canals and half a million acres from private canals. Of the total irrigated area wheat, of course, occupied the largest area, being 4,694,907 acres. There were during the year 247,978 masonry and 29,410 non masonry wells used for irrigation, most of which were in the Julludur, Sialkot, Multan and Muzaffargarh districts. In Ludhiana both kinds of irrigation were used, and in Ferozepore canal irrigation decreased owing to favourable rainfall. In Shahpur well-irrigation dropped from 106,430 acres to 87,916 acres owing to extension of canals. In Lyallpur there was a shortage of canal water and irrigation from wells increased from 3,379 acres to 17,440 acres.

ARTICLE

The unseemly battle over caretaker govt
Polarised politics has pushed Bangladesh to the edge
Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (in pic) is determined to lead the caretaker government, which is anathema to Begum Khaleda Zia. AFP

The die is cast. An eight-member interim multi-party government has been sworn in by President Abdul Hamid to oversee the next general election in Bangladesh by January 20, 2014. Opposition leader and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's bête noire Begum Khaleda Zia has called the new government a "farce", refused to participate in elections under this dispensation and urged President Hamid to step in and resolve the impasse.

Meanwhile, a court in Dhaka has acquitted Begum Zia’s elder son and “Crown Prince” Tarique Rahman of money-laundering charges but sentenced his business associate to seven years imprisonment. The prosecution has vowed to appeal. This paves the way for Tarique Rahman to return from exile in London, where he was on bail. During the last government led by Begum Zia, her sons had amassed a fortune through graft. Tarique had become very powerful and was made the Vice-Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which was in government with Islamist parties as its coalition partners.

In Bangladesh's polarised politics, the two major parties led by the battling Begums have rarely seen eye to eye. The current tussle is over Begum Zia's demand for a neutral non-political caretaker government to conduct elections. After the last Constitution amendment the provision for a caretaker government was abolished. Legally, therefore, the only caretaker government that can be formed must come from the ranks of the members of Parliament. Prime Minister Hasina has done precisely that and she is determined to lead the caretaker government as Prime Minister. This is anathema to Begum Zia, who has adamantly opposed this move and refused to participate in an election conducted by a government led by Prime Minister Hasina.

Begum Zia is in a bind. She has tried hartals and bandhs to put pressure but Prime Minister Hasina is not budging from her position. This leaves the BNP with the option of either backing off or boycotting the elections. A boycott means they lose an opportunity to contest the elections when opinion polls seem to indicate that the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League (AL) is on a slippery slope and might lose in the forthcoming elections. Bangladesh has an electoral history of voting out an incumbent government. Any boycott will mar the chances of the BNP's return to power. While this face-off continues, back channels are working hard to find a solution. The new US Assistant Secretary of State, an official of Indian origin, is on her first tour of Bangladesh and has counselled compromise. The Indian Government, no doubt, would be counselling the same. A free and fair election should be the main objective regardless of the outcome. That is the essence of democracy. India and the US should be on the same page on this account, though there are differences based on India's experience of dealing with the BNP-led governments. The Americans regard the major Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, as a moderate party but India regards it as Pakistan's proxy in Bangladesh. Many leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami stand indicted for war crimes and some have been convicted to death and life imprisonment for crimes committed in collaboration with the Pakistan Army during the 1971 War of Liberation. The BNP also is pro-Pakistan in its outlook and this combination helps Pakistan to export jihadists and spread terrorism in India, using Bangladeshi soil.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has shown tremendous leadership and courage on the issue of security and cooperated with India in full measure as opposed to the BNP-led governments that have fished in troubled waters of Indian insurgency in the North-Eastern states, in collaboration with Pakistan, and encouraged Islamist radicalism that later led to a domestic backlash - a phenomenon that has Pakistan grappling with home-grown jihadists today.

Bangladesh is the largest trading partner of India in South Asia. It is a country of 160 million people and has close cultural affinity with West Bengal. Yet it is the Government of West Bengal that has nixed two important agreements between India and Bangladesh - the Teesta river water sharing agreement and the border agreement. It is a result of coalition politics in India. The Mamata Banerji-led Trinamool Congress government's dissatisfaction with the financial package to bail out the West Bengal government is, perhaps, the principal reason why the West Bengal government has not agreed to back the two agreements. Foreign policy is a Central subject in the Indian Constitution but States are increasingly influencing decisions on India’s relations with other nations, particularly neighbours. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for example, dropped his visit to Sri Lanka for the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) after pressure was mounted by political parties in Tamil Nadu on the issue of the treatment of Tamils in Sri Lanka and allegations of massive human rights violations by the Sri Lankan defence forces during the conflict with the LTTE.

The Presidential election in the Maldives is over with a clear winner finally and the country's democratic credentials, though badly battered, can be redeemed soon. Crucial elections in Nepal are round the corner for electing the Constituent Assembly. Bangladesh is also headed for elections with the major opposition party poised to boycott. The BNP's demand for a neutral caretaker government comprising non-political personalities is legally unsustainable under the Constitution. The BNP's rigid posture undermines democracy in Bangladesh. It should consider participating in the elections by taking up the offer of nominating its MPs to join the interim government and could, perhaps, demand guarantees with international monitors to ensure a free and fair election. If it goes ahead with the boycott, then Bangladesh is in for a period of political instability because the BNP and its Islamist allies will create an atmosphere of confrontation and violence leading to economic slowdown. This in turn will lead to more illegal migration into India and consequent problems in our states neighbouring Bangladesh. There are not many options in this complex scenario. India should welcome the result of the elections in Bangladesh even if the BNP boycotts these since that is the only option left now.

The writer is a former Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and a former High Commissioner to Bangladesh

MIDDLE

Encounters of cultural kind
DPS Bains

Ever since I migrated to the US after giving up a cushy job in India, I have been exposed to cultural differences and similarities that exist between the East and the West. But my new-found profession as an interpreter gave me an unexpected opportunity to get a deeper insight into such differences while dealing with real-life situations in different walks of life.

As an interpreter, I have one of the most challenging roles of not only bridging the language gap, but also that of fulfilling the role of a cultural broker; explaining how and why the two parties, coming from diverse cultural backgrounds, respond and behave in a particular manner under a given situation. Such situations can often be amusing, embarrassing or annoying to the point of creating a conflict or miscommunication leading to disastrous consequences.

The major role for most of the time remains to facilitate the flow of communication between doctors, nurses and other medical professionals on the one side and Punjabi patients on the other. These patients, as a rule, come from rural areas of both sides of Punjab, living here as dependents of the early settlers who had made this country their home years ago. The simplicity and lifestyles of these fellow countrymen, generally elderly Sikh women, is often reflected in interpreting sessions that I have to conduct.

While documenting their medical history, these patients are asked a series of questions. “Interpreter, ask her, does she smoke, use alcohol or do recreational drugs.”

More often, the question is answered with a mix of amusement, surprise and cynicism and many a time with a hearty laugh. “Waheguru, Waheguru, I am a pure vegetarian, baptised (amrtidhari) and a woman. How can I do all this?”

The frustration and annoyance of the person asking the question is reflected in the counter-question. “Interpreter, ask the patient what is so funny about the question and moreover one can be a vegetarian, baptised and a woman and still do all this.”

Recently, for some unknown reason, there has been a spate of juvenile asylum seekers trying their luck while chasing the American dream. Still more interesting situations come my way while interpreting for these Punjabi boys in the age group of 15-18 years. Legal counsellors conduct interviews to prepare documents and ask what their “weak” and “strong” points are. They mention limited proficiency in the English language as a “weak” point but often get stuck with a “strong” point. This is generally followed with help from the counsellor.

“Tell him, his strong point is bravery. He has travelled alone for two months passing through jungles to reach here.”

“Ask him if he is married.” As expected, this is replied with “no”.

“Ask him, if he has children.”

Sir, ehna nu puchho, je viah nahin hoyia tan bachhe kithon honge? (Sir, ask her if one is unmarried, how can one have children?).

To this the usual reply from the counsellor is “Tell him, in this country one can be unmarried and still have children.”

OPED — Sports

There is a case for legalising betting
Illegal betting is growing alarmingly with organised crime syndicates getting involved. It is perhaps time for a rethink.
Dr Ashutosh Misra

Having worked on integrity related issues in sports at the Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security for many years in Australia, it is possible to see the pragmatism in CBI Director Ranjit Sinha’s suggestion on legalising betting in India.

It's in the interest of licensed betting operators that their industry is not taken advantage of by match-fixers, as much as it is in the interest of cricket and its fans.

Make no mistake, the world of illegal betting is growing alarmingly with deep involvement of the organised crime syndicates who use the proceeds to fund their activities further. India is no stranger to this trend where match fixing in cricket in the 1990s had brought the sport into serious disrepute and the image took a further beating in the wake of Indian Premier League match-fixing scandals. It simply reveals the perils of running a loosely regulated enterprise. As per one bookie, most of the match-fixing profits end up in Dubai in syndicates run for decades by Dawood Ibrahim. Therefore, it should not take much convincing to argue a case for legalising and regulating a highly lucrative betting market in India.

Shocking ExposÉ In 2013, the biggest-ever investigation revealed around 380 suspected matches, including World Cup and European Championship qualifiers, were fixed by a crime syndicate in Asia. Betting legal in Australia Sport betting in Australia is legal and regulated through various laws, which enables sports bodies and law enforcement agencies to protect sports from match-fixing and drug-related offences. Soccer gambling operations In a series of raids, Interpol has made over 7,000 arrests and seized over $27 million in cash and unearthed $2 billion worth of betting across China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam. Fixing cricket One of the earlier instances of players placing bets was in 1981. Australian cricketers Dennis Lillie and Rodney Marsh placed bets against their own team in a game they were playing against England. They made 7,500 pounds by placing a mere 15 pounds. Waugh & Warne Australian players Shane Warne and Mark Waugh took money from bookies in 1995 to pass on team and pitch information. A year later, they admitted the wrongdoing. They were let off with fines. Cronjegate In 2000, the Delhi Police stumbled upon a conversation between South Africa skipper Hansiwe Cronje and an Indian bookie. The police claimed that Cronje fixed the ODI games against India. The skipper was sacked and later died in a plane crash. Big, fat Indian betting Manoj Prabhakar stirred the hornet’s nest when, in May 2000, he claimed Kapil Dev had asked him to underperform in 1994. IT officials carried out raids at the houses of several cricketers. In 2000, Mohammad Azharuddin was found guilty of match fixing and was banned for life. The others to face the brunt were Ajay Sharma (banned for life), Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar. Pak’s spot of bother After Salim Malik was banned for life for match-fixing in 2000, Pakistan’s most embarrassing moment came in 2011 in England. Salman Butt, Mohd Aamer and Mohd Asif were sent to prison for bowling no-balls as per arrangements with bookies. The ICC banned Butt for 10 years, Asif for seven and Aamer for five. IPL controversy The BCCI billion dollar baby, IPL, met embarrassment in 2013. Rajasthan Royals players Sreesanth, Anket Chavan and Ajit Chandila were arrested for spot fixing. Chennai Super Kings’ Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested on charges of betting. — Subhash Rajta

Gambling and betting remains generally unlawful in the subcontinent, barring Nepal. But thanks to proliferation of match-fixing cases in cricket involving millions of dollars, a realisation has set in among scholars, sports bodies and commentators and law enforcement agencies for legalising gambling and betting.

However, the controversy is understandable, given India’s historical and cultural inhibitions rooted in the epic gambling face-off (the ‘chowsar’) between the Kauravas and Pandavas to settle their contestation over power, which inadvertently led to the ugly outraging of a woman’s modesty. The 21st century Indian mindset still clings on to those mythological events, when it should be awakening to the times we inhabit in. Gambling is still regulated through the outmoded 19th century British colonial era legislation on public gambling — the Public Gambling Act of 1867 wherein the punishment prescribed is very minimal sans any serious deterrence to offenders. So where is the deterrence, let alone the regulation in the first place?

Global phenomenon

Shouldn’t then, at least a debate begin over the prudence of legalising betting in India to preserve integrity of the sports, including cricket which Indians adore? Several Indian police officials have served in the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit and now India has become the fourth country to set up the anti-corruption unit in cricket after Australia, Pakistan and England. Shouldn’t such measures be supported through improved and innovative legislations and regulations?

It is already happening globally. Preserving the integrity of sport has become a major concern for sports bodies and law enforcement agencies alike worldwide and the transnational nature of threats to sport integrity has made the task all the more challenging. The growing involvement of organised crime syndicates in match-fixing, illegal betting and distributing prohibited drugs among athletes has grown alarmingly in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the US. Globally 60 per cent of the match-fixing and illegal betting occurs in soccer, followed by 15 per cent in horse-racing and cricket and 5 per cent in tennis and other sports.

In February 2013, following the biggest-ever investigation, the shocking exposé revealed that around 380 suspected matches, including the World Cup, European Championship qualifiers and Champions League, were fixed by an organised crime syndicate in Asia, involving around 425 match/club officials, players and criminals across 15 countries. Deeply concerned with growing corruption and criminal activities in football, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and Interpol signed a 28 million euros 10-year agreement in May 2011 to curb and prevent Asian based match-fixing and illegal betting in sports.

Soccer saga

Over the years, in a series of raids knows as SOGA (soccer gambling operations), Interpol has made over 7,000 arrests and seized over $27 million in cash and unearthed an overall $2 billion worth of betting from illegal dens across China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. In 2011, the president of the International Olympic Committee JacqueRogge, identified gambling-related corruption as the biggest single threat to the integrity of international sport. The IOC also through its founding working group established the Fight Against Irregular and Illegal Betting in Sport in March 2011.

In Australia, sport betting is entirely legal and regulated through various Commonwealth, state and territory laws and regulations which enables the sport bodies, sporting codes and law enforcement and regulatory agencies to preserve sports from match-fixing, illegal betting and drug-related offences in sports. The 2013 Australian Crime Commission report highlighted that Australian sport is not immune from this corruptive influence and recommended stricter legislations to further regulate the sport betting industry. Financial Action Task Force in Australia also recognises that the sporting industry is one of the many sectors that is attractive for criminals for money laundering.

Across the law enforcement agencies, regulatory authorities and academic experts there is a common belief that there existed an utter disregard by the sports industry for self-regulation in Australia which is now being addressed. In June 2013, the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reforms submitted its inquiry report which recommended that the sport industry needed to self-regulate its gambling policies pertaining to gambling products and advertisements, failing which the government and government agencies should create appropriate legislation on gambling in sports. In October 2012, a National Sport Integrity Unit was created for controlling gambling-led corruption and other illegal and unethical practices in sport. Owing to these measures, Interpol officials have acknowledged that Australia’s betting regulations, law enforcement and executive response mechanism are considered of a high standard for preserving integrity in sport.

Unlicensed betting

According to UK-based sports corruption expert, Prof Jack Anderson, unlicensed betting operators operating online and offshore have caused problems for the proper regulation of the industry in the UK, other EU states, and the US and in Australia breaches of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 have been brought to the attention of the Australian Federal Police with increasing frequency. Until recently, there was a lack of intelligence concerning the links of organised crime and gambling led sport corruption in Australia.

In Australia, as Inspector Jason Saunders of the Queensland Police puts, from being a blind spot of the law enforcement agencies once, now sports corruption, including illegal betting and match-fixing, receives deeper attention. Previously, it remained largely within the domain of sport controlling bodies and regulators and police involvement was purely reactive. Now there is more information sharing between law enforcement and the sports controlling bodies occurring which facilities effective policing of match-fixing. Saunders reasons that the traditional views and priorities of Australian law enforcement agencies have begun to change, including those relating to gambling led corruption in sport and its relevance to and potential impact upon organised transnational crime.

Similarly, with rapid advancement in technology, cyber crime and online fraud has also been seen strategically as a priority issue. The proliferation of online betting and gambling and the rapid development of exotic or spot betting have exposed sport to vulnerabilities of transnational and organised crime involvement. Police agencies in Australia now recognise the threat from gambling led corruption in sports. In February 2013, the Victoria Police created a Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit (SIIU) and a specialised squad to investigate the allegations of organised crime in sport and other states are also contemplating similar measures.

Coordination, collaboration and information sharing between the number of law enforcement and monitoring agencies, sporting controlling bodies and other stakeholders, including gambling industry, has been stepped up in Australia. The rationale is that in a robustly regulated setup substantial and unusual bets can alert the receiving operator and that information can be passed onto the rest of the betting community and to the sports authorities in question. It is also in the licensed betting operators’ interest that their industry is not taken advantage of by match-fixers, as much as it is in the interest of sports itself.

Why should then India shy away from at least debating the merits of Ranjit Sinha’s remarks? In all fairness, as Rahul Dravid remarked, it was time for legal reform and the turn of national and state legislature and the criminal law administration to intervene. India can learn a great deal from the Australian experience to preserve the integrity of sports.

The writer is Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security, Griffith University, Australia