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Liquor low No, minister |
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Development or divisive agenda?
Queuing for empowerment
Will UNESCO tag help Corbusier legacy?
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Liquor low THE city news supplement of The Tribune in Chandigarh on Wednesday reported blatant distribution of coupons that voters could exchange for cases of liquor at shops. The accompanying pictures showed hordes of people crowding liquor shops. This was a gift from political parties hoping to buy votes. There was also cash being distributed in matchboxes. The Returning Officer said he was not aware of any such activity. This is a classic example of how the election business goes on across the country. Probably thousands of residents of the UT would have spent the evening high on 'poll spirits', but no one who can take action seems to know. All parties denied any such malpractice, yet it is obvious which are the ones that would have indulged in this - it costs huge money. The administration has acted against the liquor shops under the Excise Act, but that would only amount to some financial loss for a businessman, while the sellers of democracy would get away. The need is to institute a full-fledged criminal investigation, beginning with interrogating the liquor traders and tracing the coupons right up the chain to the source of the money. That should then lead to the disqualification of the candidate(s) responsible. India has come a long way from the rampant booth capturing of yore. The credit for that goes to the Election Commission. But one major lacuna in the implementation of the poll code persists, and that is the candidates' expenditure. It is scandalous that the overspending is obvious, and yet the revenue officers appointed expenditure observers are never able to put together evidence conclusive enough to act against a candidate. Even where action is initiated, it does not lead to disqualification. The law regarding supervision of such investigations - which continue after the poll code is withdrawn - needs to be revisited as these should remain under the EC. The poll panel needs to make expenditure control its next target, without which the notion of free elections remains just that.
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No, minister India's Press has often been noticed by friends and foes alike. Many have called it lively, more pejoratively than positively. The United Kingdom's Minster for Education, David
Willettes, has recently declared that the fall in the enrolment of Indian students in the UK is because of the negative coverage given to their woes by the 'lively Indian Press'. Surely this is the case of shooting the messenger. Prospective Indian students have found the UK to be an uncongenial destination after the aggressive tightening of the visa and work permission rules for foreign students. There has even been a backlash within the UK against the policies of the UK Border Agency. Some academics have described the recent changes in policies as 'stupid, incoherent, short-sighted' and crack-handed. Students, who study in foreign nations, spend a lot of money for the privilege. They seek admission to various courses not only to enhance their academic qualifications, but also to improve their prospects of getting better jobs. For this they need to work. In this way, they earn some money even as they gain the required work experience. Various countries encourage this practice because they also get to benefit by employing generally brilliant students. Indeed, the contribution of educated immigrants to their host nations is now well accepted. While the UK has been a preferred educational destination for Indians for over two centuries, there are various other options available to them now. It is no coincidence that countries like the UK and the USA, which have tightened their laws regarding permission to work during or after their time in academic institutions, have also felt the pinch of losing bright young Indian minds. This has come as a bonanza for other countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The minister may well like to look at the real reasons for the falling number of new Indian students rather than blame the Indian Press for this.
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Thought for the Day
You always admire what you really don't understand. —Blaise Pascal
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The Hindustani shoe question THE decision of the Behar Government in regard to the Hindustani shoe question does give satisfaction to the public. The Chief Secretary observed that the old social practice of taking off shoes within customary limits will be maintained by the servants of Government in their official or semi-official capacities. But in the law courts there is a diversity of practice and therefore the Government does not propose to lay hard and fast rules, but leaves the matter to the good sense of the courts and the public. It implies that if the people themselves establish a new custom, viz., of not taking off the Hindustani shoes, Government would not interfere. English complaint of American methods WE recently noticed the nature of the agitation which was set on foot by the Tory papers in England against the appointment of an American, Mr. H.W. Thornton as Manager of the Great Western Railway. The fire of criticism has been steadily kept up and letters and cartoons published to stir up prejudice and jealously against foreigners. Visions of the introduction to England of the American topsy-turvey methods have been conjured up and the substitution of foreign labourers for British working men on British railways broadly suggested. The loss of a single well-paid post has been magnified into a national calamity. On the top of all this comes the news that a "crowded meeting of Great Eastern Railway men at Stratford last night," we are quoting from the Times of the 16th March, “to protest against the dismissal of Constable Fairweather of the railway police force, passed a resolution calling upon the company to reinstate the officer, and in the event of his not being reinstated by March 23 strike notices would be issued.”
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Development or divisive agenda? MOST political analysts expect a
BJP-led NDA government under Narendra Modi at the Centre. Of all the political leaders in the fray, Narendra Modi is confident of emerging as the next Prime Minister. If this is going to be the political destiny of this country, what are the expectations of the people and priorities of
Modi? Narendra Modi is an RSS 'sevak' and he cannot forsake his roots and is therefore expected to adhere to its basic concepts. It is his RSS roots which helped him emerge as the prime ministerial candidate after pushing seniors like
L.K. Advani to the background. Would he function as an RSS Prime Minister or a Prime Minister of the NDA of which the BJP could be a major constituent?. As regards Ram
Mandir, Modi has said that this would be within the constitutional framework. The correct legal position is that the Supreme Court has stopped the Allahabad High Court from delivering its judgment on the issue of ownership of the disputed site of
Ayodhya. Justice Gokhale, who delivered the judgment, said that if there was one percent chance of a settlement, it should be given a try. This means that the Dharam Sansad of Ayodhya and the Waqf Board have to sit together and come to a compromise in the highest traditions of the country. There is ample land available at the site which could accommodate both a new temple and a
masjid. The ownership issue of the site can well be side-stepped if both parties could agree on the sites. “Ishwar, Allah tero naam" used to be sung at the prayer meetings of Mahatma Gandhi. In that Gandhian spirit, the Hindus should contribute for the construction of the new masjid and the Muslims should likewise contribute for the construction of the new Ram Mandir. Let peace continue to prevail in the Ayodhya — Faizabad area and in the country as a whole. It is, therefore, earnestly hoped that the Supreme Court’s initiative at the instance of Justice H.L.Gokhale would result in healthy and happy developments. If a Narendra Modi government and his party could eventually work out this kind of understanding, both the Hindus and Muslims of U.P. as well as the whole country would be grateful to them. A common civil code again could prove a highly divisive and emotive issue which could disturb the minority community. The Modi government might as well not take it up as a priority issue and wait for better times, after governance improves and the economy looks up. Yet another important issue which could prove troublesome to the proposed Modi government would be Article 370 of the Constitution. The BJP and Modi have spoken in terms of abrogation of this Article which gives as special status to J&K. However, it has become a remote issue with rabid elements of the BJP after Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee died in jail in Kashmir where he was detained for entry without prior permission as was prescribed by Article 370 of the Constitution. The BJP and Narendra Modi are surely aware of the history of accession of J&K which was signed by Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir belatedly when tribal invaders, encouraged by Pakistan, where already in the valley. It was, therefore, an approach of “Insaniyat” and “Kashmiriyat” which dictated the handling of the Kashmir issue by the Vajpayee government. Modi himself has moderated his stand to that there should be a discussion on Article 370. If this important shift in the handling of Article 370 is confirmed, then Modi deserves the gratitude of the people of Kashmir. There is hope among the politicians of various political groups in Kashmir as well as the people of Kashmir that Modi as Prime Minister would take some decisive action in keeping with their expectations. It was, therefore, not a mere coincidence that Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, spoken about the holding of tripartite talks with Pakistan and the people of Kashmir for a lasting settlement of the Kashmir issue. India has held time and again that tripartite talks with Pakistan over the issue are unacceptable. A serious attempt was indeed made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Kashmir in June 2010, but nothing came out of it. Since there would be a new government at the Centre, most probably headed by Narendra Modi, the expectations of the Kashmir people as put forth by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have to be taken into account to see whether it would be worthwhile to have fresh talks with Mirwaiz and other groups of Kashmir. How good and effective the Modi government would be would depend upon the men who Modi would choose to have in his Cabinet. Talking about choosing the right men, someone like Amit Shah could well be left alone. Amit Shah, in his speeches at Shamili and Bijnor in U.P. while electioneering for the BJP candidates, spoke of revenge for the insults suffered by members of a community during the Muzaffarnagar riots. Amit Shah is now figuring as an accused in two FIRs registered in Shamili and Bijnor for his 'revenge speech'. Although, a BJP spokesmen has tried to whitewash Amit Shah's verbal excesses by referring to President Obama's statement that voting in the election would be the best revenge. However, such an explanation is unlikely to protect Amit Shah and the Election Commission itself has issued a show-cause notice to Amit Shah. If Narendra Modi wants to leave behind a lasting legacy, he should avoid the controversial issues and concentrate on the long-term prosperity and welfare of the people.
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Queuing for empowerment India is the land of serpentine queues, and power and influence are often defined by the ability of a person to circumvent them. Yet, on Thursday morning, there was a phenomenon that defied the norm. My better half and I were told that there are 1,200 voters in the first six sectors of Chandigarh. When we went to the polling booth in Sector 4, it seemed that too many of them had decided to cast their vote at that time! Separate queues for men and women meant that Jaspreet moved ahead, whereas I was left quite behind, this time physically too! Voting here had never taken this long. I found myself in the queue next to a soft drink magnate and his son. Our conversation soon got to how important it is to vote and how this was one time we had to register our presence as voters so that we could contribute to society we were hoping to build. “Who shall I vote for, sir?” a woman asked her boss. “You must decide that, but you must cast your vote.” As we waited, we discussed the initiatives taken by the Election Commission. There is no doubt that this body has cleaned up the electoral system to an extent that would have been hard to imagine over three decades ago, when I started voting. There were no EVMs then, and elections were a time when raw power helped aspirants grab their seats. The failure of the Commission to curb malpractices like the much-reported distribution of free liquor also came up, but the focus remained on the positive changes. Booth-capturing is now history, election expenditure is monitored more effectively, candidates are forced to become more civil and voting officers fear the wrath of the Commission that they served during this period. As we moved forward came a distinguished old lady, wearing dark glasses, infirm in the way she walked, but firm in her decision about who she wanted to vote. Many of the voters were first timers, all rather enthusiastic about casting their vote, somewhat excited to be a part of the largest democratic exercise in the world. A topic assiduously avoided was who someone was voting for. The voting took time, but was conducted efficiently. The beep of the EVM as one's vote was registered was an audible affirmation of having participated in forming the next government. As I joined Jaspreet, who had patiently waited after having quickly cast her vote, we met her former principal, and a senior IAS officer standing in the queue, which by now had extended well outside the booth. He was chatting to a friend, quite determined to make his vote count. Yes, it was probably one of the few times that he had stood in a queue, certainly after he had joined the service, but there he was, a powerful person standing with fellow citizens, seeking a different kind of empowerment by doing something as simple yet empowering as casting his vote and thus enabling our democracy.
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Will UNESCO tag help Corbusier legacy? All it meant in the beginning was to rehabilitate a part of Lahore. Then it became much more. Chandigarh, a newly designed city was to be the balm for the wounds left by the loss of Lahore, the capital of West Punjab and a centre of cultural hub before the Partition of 1947. While Jawahar Lal Nehru in his true visionary style sought to make a clear statement of a free and modern India, son of a Swiss watchmaker based out of France was seeking a grand expression of his creativity. And, by accident they came together. At the age of 63 when most of us plan to retire, Le Corbusier took a rickety flight to India. And a new city came into being. He would have liked it differently. Corbusier always wanted to do things at a passionately grand scale. Scaled down though, since the opportunity came at the fag end of his life from a just liberated third-world country, rather than post- war reconstruction of many cities of Europe he had wished to undertake. Yet, like the emblem of open hand he gave to Chandigarh, he received and gave back the world, his genius.
The ‘Urban’ component There have been many attempts by selected groups of denizens of this city, who would like to maintain its identity as a ‘City Beautiful’ to save it from the general urban decay one witnesses all around as also to maintain the unique heritage of Corbusier. There has been neglect as well on this front. Now, Chandigarh Administration is actively involved in a trans-national proposal ‘Urban and Architectural Works of Le Corbusier’ to get World Heritage status from the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) for the city’s contribution to modern architecture.
Modern heritage Chandigarh had come on the tentative list of the heritage sites of UNESCO in 2006 for the urban and architectural work of Le Corbusier. A team of UNESCO delegates had visited the city in 2007 to develop an insight for Corbusier’s heritage in the city. Enthused by these developments, the city administration in 2008 took the initiative to seek UNESCO World Modern Heritage City status for Chandigarh. Besides coordinating with the neighbouring governments of Punjab and Haryana, the department had also written to Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Culture on the issue. The dossier submitted to the UNESCO in the past had the city’s Capitol Complex, Government Museum and Art Gallery, parts of Sector 22, among others listed as core zones. But the dossier could not reach the table of UNESCO on schedule due to several clearances required for such a project from multiple ministries within India. Lessons were learnt with the failed attempt. In the meantime, six countries comprising Argentina, Belgium, Germany, France, Japan and Switzerland were participating in a trans-national nomination on the architectural works of Le Corbusier for inscription on the World Heritage List. The nomination was led by France with the support and involvement of Le Corbusier Foundation, Paris. India had earlier discussed participation in the nomination by including Chandigarh City as whole to be part of the heritage, but later withdrew from the discussions.
Trans-national proposal The six countries currently participating had submitted the nomination twice before unsuccessfully. Apparently, after their presentation was made and the draft documents submitted by them over a period of 18 months, the ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) found no rationale for inclusion of some of the components in the nomination and also found the properties from these countries to make a weak case. They wanted much more evidence to substantiate the influence or significance of the listed components on the modern architecture before they could include these in the series. Despite all their detailed explanations, ICOMOs was not convinced of the significance of Corbusier’s role in the modern movement of architecture, based on the buildings and building projects represented by these countries. It is perhaps for this reason, the possibility of including India was explored by France, heading the delegation. If these countries had the tail of the elephant, India has the rest of the body. The only complete planned and designed urban project by Corbusier happens to be Chandigarh. The Le Corbusier Foundation also clarified that the third attempt will be the last attempt supported by them. Thus, the Indian Delegation was invited to Paris to make a presentation on Chandigarh, in November 2013. The Indian delegation that consisted of the current Advisor to the U T Administrator, K K Sharma, Chief Architect, Dept. of Urban Planning, UT, Sumit Kaur and others made a presentation related to various sites in the city having world heritage value including the Capitol Complex, Sukhna Lake precinct, Rajindra Park, Cultural Complex, Government Museum and Art Gallery, Government College of Art etc.
Management policy The presentation also highlighted the steps taken towards protection, conservation and management of various sites through various legislations which are in place for the purpose. It includes Master Plan 2031 proposed by the Chandigarh Administration for the future management of the city. Before a historical site is considered to be included in the list of heritage buildings, UNESCO likes to ensure a proper management plan for the same. Since the trans-national project involved different forms of governance of the states involved, in the evaluation report of 2011, ICOMOS raised a few issues pointing out that “…The management system for the overall serial property is still inadequate, given the high complexity of the large social property. Consideration must be given to putting in place a shared management approach across all sites that provides clear guidance about how the outstanding universal value will be sustained.” Since each state has its own sovereign rights to put in place their own management system for their properties in accordance with the requirements of the World Heritage Convention, and there was no intent to interfere in the management of properties of individual states, the leading country France assured ICOMOS of a considerable management system already in place. The next submission of the revised dossier is expected in September 2014 while the final dossier is scheduled to be submitted in Feb 2015.
OUV of the city To find a clear justification for the proposal in the revised dossier, inclusion of Chadigarh added to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the structures involved. All the countries involved in the project have provided criteria and attributes of the OUV for each component of the OUV series, which carry detailed work carried out by participating countries. The nominated works now represent the major influence Corbuseir had on the development of ideas on modern architecture and its human and social dimensions. The process of revising nominations has made ICOMOS and the involved States examine and recognise the importance and influence of Corbusier’s work internationally. ICOMOS has therefore been interested to assist the nomination process including the work of ICOMOS International Scientific Committee for 20th century heritage.
The way ahead The city administration has constituted a working group involving the faculty and students of Chandigarh College of Architecture and an expert committee that consists of eminent architects, conservationists and members of the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India). The focus of the working group is on the management plan of the three buildings in the Capitol Complex, the access to the buildings, maintenance of green area and preserved areas and to create a buffer zone. Presently the city’s Phase-I is treated as buffer zone, north of Madhay Marg, from sectors 1 to 12. Inclusion of only the Capitol Complex is proposed in the trans-national nomination with the city as its buffer. This will ensure inclusion of the city within a heritage management framework. Meanwhile Chandigarh city continues to be on the Tentative List as ‘Urban Works of le Corbusier’ to be pursued as a single nomination later. Shikha Jain, Member Secretary, Advisory Committee on World Heritage Matters says, the nomination has enhanced urban equity of Chandigarh and the action plan for both short term and long term management is in place. If the city does get heritage status, it will protect the city from environmentally controversial projects like Tata Camelot. At the same time breeding fears of turning an organic city into a museum space will have to be pacified by the city administration.
Other buildings included in the proposal Germany: Maisons de la
Weissenhof-Siedlung Belgium: Maison Guiette Japan: Musee National des Beaux-Arts de l’Occident Switzerland: Immeuble Clarte, Geneva, Petite villa au bord du Lac Leman Argentina:
Maison Curutchet
Unkempt glory * There are more than 250 World Heritage Cities across the globe. n Italy has almost half-a-dozen such cities while Paris and Tel Aviv also have this status. *
India, despite its long history and numerous heritage sites, has no UNESCO-recognised World Heritage City. *
Varanasi, known to be the oldest living city in the world, with evidence of urban settlements from around 800 BC, has made many attempts but failed to get World Heritage status. *
In March 2011, Ahmedabad was among the three Indian cities to make it to UNESCO's tentative list. It is locked in a close contest with Delhi and Mumbai for the World Heritage status.
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The delayed manifesto of the BJP puts its emphasis on certain basic issues like security of the country and good governance. However, it is not the development agenda and not even the revised security doctrine which would impact the future of the country. Modi's handling of issues regarded as important by the RSS leadership would test his leadership. The Ram temple, a uniform civil code and Article 370 of the Constitution are some of divisive issues which disturb the nation at large. These issues did not figure on the agenda of Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he led the government.
They were all there, the rich, the powerful, and those who made them rich and powerful. Yet on this day, these were citizens who stood with each other. Many eminent people stood in line along with those who worked for them or their peers. 
It is 63 years of commissioning of Chandigarh this year. And the fact is —the concrete structures of straight angles of India’s first planned city that were unsettling initially to the natives of South Asia, are now celebrated for their great functionality. Chandigarh has turned out to be an example of how organic urbanism can be — by being a little more organised and structured. It is an example of how a creatively thought-out-in-advance plan can sustain the swelling pressure of development. The uniqueness of the city on the one hand has attracted a large number of migrants, on the other hand restrictions imposed in its master plan contain its growth. This has worked as a blessing in disguise or a constraining factor, depends upon how do you perceive Corbusier’s contribution to the modern architecture, in a global context. 
France:
Maisons la Roche et Jeanneret, Unite d’habitation, Cabanon, Villa Savoye, Immeuble Molitor, Manufacture a’ Saint Die etc.