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Raising cash Safety is their right |
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Ukraine’s chance for peace
Kikkar
Pehlwan — the lion killer
Reformist agenda of khaps in Haryana
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Raising cash The
Union Government has decided to sell 5 to 10 per cent shares in three of its companies — Coal India, ONGC and NHPC - which at the current prices can get the government about Rs 44,000 crore. The depleted treasury needs this money badly to achieve the fiscal deficit target set in the NDA's first budget as well as fund the government's ambitious infrastructure projects. Besides, a SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) order requires a mandatory 25 per cent public holding in state-run companies. There is also a provision for 10 per cent reservation in the sale of PSU shares for small investors to ensure wider public participation and prevent big private companies and funds from grabbing the country’s prime assets. Time was when any talk of a sale of a government stake in a public sector unit used to generate a heated controversy with vigorous opposition from the Left parties. There are hardly any murmurs of protest this time. Only some labour unions of Coal India Ltd have threatened a strike. This shows a broad political consensus and a change in public thinking about the economic reforms, which aim to shift the government's role from a doer of business to a facilitator. Still, it is only disinvestment, which is different from privatisation. And the timing is right, except that one wishes the Modi government had sorted out the gas pricing issue before putting ONGC shares on sale. The euphoria in stock markets needs to be tapped and can throw up a good price. Since the formation of a stable government at the Centre under a Prime Minister having a pro-business reputation, the stock markets’ upward march has defied all logic. It is driven more on sentiment than hard economic data. The UPA had tried hard to push disinvestment, but the market conditions were far from encouraging. With the change in investor perception, return of consumer confidence and pick-up in GDP growth, the stock market is expected to stay bullish -- in the near future at least. Later in the year capital outflows could begin if interest rates harden in the US.
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Safety is their right The
Sikhs of Pakistan are a small minority that numbers a few thousand. Many of them are small traders in the
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region as well as in Punjab. The community is feeling so vulnerable that it has threatened to launch a countrywide agitation to highlight the recent attacks, including the killing of a trader. The community has found support from a larger minority that too is facing discrimination and worse — the Hindu community. The founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was a secular person, as is widely known. What secularism means exactly has been debated from time to time, but at the least, it has always represented respect for people of other religious persuasions. The exclusivist interpretation of the country in Islamic terms is often attributed to military leaders who ruled the country. Religious minorities in Pakistan face discrimination, and at times persecution, at the hands of militants, whose writ runs large in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region. The trader’s killing is said to be the sixth or seventh targeted killing of a member of the community. The local Sikhs complain that no arrest has been made in any of the cases. Natural justice demands that the assailant/s be identified and brought to justice. The protest and coming together of the two non-Islamic minorities demonstrates the gravity of the situation. Pakistan is home to important Hindu and Sikh shrines and an ever-dwindling minority of followers of both religions. The Pakistan government must make the effort to reach out to the communities. The legislators, who represent the minorities in the national and provincial assemblies, must raise the issue and make the government act. All that the minorities are seeking is security. This is their fundamental right, and the Pakistani government is failing in its duty when it is unable to provide even that.
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Thought for the Day
No one knows what he can do until he tries. —Publilius Syrus
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WHATEVER may be the feelings of the British public towards the people of India, their status and claims as British subjects in the self-governing colonies, they have expressed great satisfaction and commended our loyalty and our offers of help for the defence of the Empire. The Standard writes: "The princes and rulers of India almost without exception have offered their swords and resources to the Crown and so India will be able to spare two divisions for Imperial Service." The Spectator says: "India is prepared to send us two divisions—that is 40,000 men—and every one of our self-governing dominions has spontaneously tendered help to the utmost limits of its capacity." The Daily Mail says: "The self-governing Dominions, the Crown Colonies and the greatest dependency of India are all alike animated by but one spirit. All alike realise that this is a life and death struggle not only for Great Britain but also for Greater Britain and all British ideas of liberty and justice." The Punjab Imperial Relief Fund
WE are glad that the Punjab Government has organised a Provincial Branch of the Imperial Relief Fund. From an official paper published in another column it will be seen that it has constituted a strong Executive Committee with Sir Alfred Kensington, the Chief Justice, as chairman, and Messrs. Humphreys and Amar Nath as Secretaries. The members of the Executive Committee are drawn from all parts of the Province and power is given to them to add to their number. The presence of the Chief Justice at the head of the local organisation and the selection of influential non-official gentlemen make it a popular movement.
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Ukraine’s chance for peace Developments in and over Ukraine have reached a critical point in determining the larger question of US-Russian relations and threats of escalating tit-for-tat sanctions. Indeed, the nature of the crises has induced three former US ambassadors to Moscow to plead for diplomacy to take the lead in getting a handle on worsening relations with Russia. The West, in particular the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), did indeed need to assure Russia's neighbours after it annexed the Crimean Peninsula and intervened in eastern Ukraine that it would protect them. And the recent Nato summit in Wales decided to form a rapid reaction force that would spring into action when needed in days, with heavy military equipment prepositioned in Russia’s neighbouring countries skirting a breach of the basic Russia-Nato pact by declining the permanent positioning of 10,000 troops in Poland, as Warsaw desired. Having reassured Russia’s skittish neighbours, the mystery of why Washington has fought shy of engaging Moscow diplomatically when the contours of a possible compromise are clear remains. Hence the three former ambassadors’ appeal in the New York Times is a reminder to President Barack Obama to run a parallel diplomatic offensive to untie the knot. It is almost universally taken for granted that the Russian annexation of Crimea, once a part of the old Soviet Union with an overwhelming ethnic Russian population, will now remain part of Russia. What President Poroshenko has been emphasising is the sovereignty of the rest of his country should be ensured. There is no ambiguity in Russia's interest in eastern Ukraine in view of it being inhabited by primary Russian speakers and the close religious, familial and ideological links between eastern Ukrainians and native Russians. Moscow's proposal of federalising Ukraine to give easterners wide autonomy might not be acceptable to Kiev, but there is scope for compromise. Easterners could be offered autonomy and guarantees for Russian language in a new version of Ukraine. It is typical of the escalating crisis between Russia and the West that hardliners in the Ukrainian government — and there are many, including its Prime Minister — sought to present the prospect of their country joining Nato. This is one outcome Moscow will never tolerate and if such an option were seriously proposed, it could lead to a new hundred years' war. Indeed, the Ukraine crisis has increasingly taken on the vocabulary of the Cold War because the West has failed to realise Russia's legitimate interests in its vast neighbour. Western leaders still seem to be living in the age of Boris Yeltsin by proceeding on the road to folding in Ukraine into Nato to embellish its previous triumphs in netting the Baltic States and Poland, among others. The Soviet Union's existential crisis after the break-up of the Soviet Union was enhanced by a temperamental and often far from sober Boris Yeltsin singing to the Western tune, partly by compulsion, partly by his own weaknesses. Mr Putin presides over a stronger Russia and is far more capable of protecting his country's interests. It would seem that the West, led by the United States, was carried away by its own euphoria over the demise of the Soviet Union to complete its triumph of boxing in Russia, the successor state, into a tight circle ringed by Nato members as a final act of humiliation for Moscow. As is clear now, that is not to be, given President Putin's refusal to bow before the West. Germany has, of course, been playing a key role in coping with the Ukrainian crisis and has progressively hardened her position, despite the cost to thriving German exports, as Moscow increased its intervention in eastern Ukraine by supplying military equipment and men. But it is notable that Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken less and less as the crisis is ballooning. With winter approaching and Europe's need of Russian gas becoming more apparent each day, the wages of continuing escalation are clear. There are no short-term fixes for substituting Russian oil and gas as prospects of a compromise become more appealing. What then are essential for a compromise, given the complexities? The West must recognise that Russia will never accept Ukraine joining Nato. Second, the status of the Russian language in the east must be guaranteed. Third, a wide measure of regional autonomy must be granted although its form can be subject to negotiations. Fourth, the new super-ready expeditionary force, while seemingly necessary for the short term, must be recast to appear less threatening to Moscow. Judging by the three former US ambassadors to Moscow, there are sober elements in the US establishment thinking of the larger consequences of the standoff with Russia over Ukraine. Elsewhere, in Europe, particularly in Germany, many would want to de-escalate a dangerous trend in international affairs and are looking for a way out. Continuing and extending the present ceasefire between the main contestants is one path for future peace. Another is to put a handle on the increasing decibel levels of Cold War rhetoric that are choking the sound waves. There are elements in Ukraine, including in the government, anxious to inflate the crisis to ensure that their country would fall into the lap of the West and become in every sense part of the western ethos and military organisations. On the other hand, any sane reading of the situation would suggest that the best option for Ukraine's peace and prosperity lies in being militarily neutral between Russia and the West and be friends with the European Union and Moscow. The world awaits with bated breath which option Ukraine and the West choose.
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Kikkar Pehlwan —
the lion killer Kikkar
Pehlwan was a favorite of the elders and an icon for the youngsters of Dera Dhian Singh. He came from a large family of prosperous and hard working farmers. Instead of lending a hand on the farm he spent most of his time at the village “akhara”. In hot and sultry summer months, he, along with Mithoo, a boy from a poor family, would go to Himachal Pradesh to participate in open tournaments called ‘Dangals’. Wrestling, those days, was a popular sport in rural Himachal. Villagers collectively wagered on popular wrestlers and honored the winners with prizes in cash and kind. Year after year, this duo from the Punjab invariably returned loaded with canisters of ghee and sacks full of almonds, the preferred diet of the wrestling community. The beast, having come closer, stopped a step away from Kikkar. Giving him a cool inspecting look, and finding him tall, the lion shifted balance on its hind legs. The man, ready and alert, anticipating its first move, ducked and received the lion's slap on the back of his shoulder. With the reflexes perfected during his long wrestling practice, he took the lion in the vice like grip of his long arms. Having lost its foothold, the lion tried to free itself. The more it struggled, tighter turned the grip. Locked in a deadly embrace, they fell on the ground and started rolling down the slope alternately coming under each other. This veteran of many a tournament was locked in a bout never experienced before. Rolling down the prickly slope, both man and beast suffered grievous injuries. They finally came to rest in a shallow freshwater pool where he succeeded in pinning down the animal and forcing its head under water. Bruised, wounded and exhausted, he had no choice but to keep fighting. Ultimately the lion's strength started giving way. With one last press Kikkar did it in. By this time, a little crowd had gathered around watching this strange bout in awe. After the lion was dead, the man too weak to speak, signalled the onlookers to come and help him out of the ditch. He was carried on a makeshift stretcher to the local physician where he was washed clean and bandaged with medicinal decoctions. Instantaneously, he earned the sobriquet ‘Lion Killer’. The news, riding the wings of air, reached the Maharaja. Royal ambulance carried him to the state hospital where he was given a hero's welcome. He had suffered multiple fractures. The doctors later confirmed that the animal also had suffered spinal fractures. He was lionised for this incredible act of courage and sanctioned a decent pension by the state. Kikkar never fought a bout again but lived long enough to teach the young wrestlers the virtues of courage. The legend of the lion killer will live forever in the annals of oral history of rural Punjab.
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Reformist agenda of khaps in Haryana Frankly, one doesn't know what to make of the gender friendly posturing of the khaps, the self-appointed panchayats in Haryana. A few of them are going all out to show a progressive face mouthing a reformist agenda which firmly negates their earlier stand based upon some of the most brutal and regressive trends in society. In brief, so far they had been demanding changes in the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and the Hindu Succession Act 1956, a legal recognition of their customary practices in marriage, bringing down the marriageable age of the girl from 18 to 16 and changes in the property rights in keeping with their patriarchal patrilineal society. Their demands also include changes in law against homosexuality, surrogate motherhood, or ban on women wearing jeans and using mobiles, closing down of all the co-educational institutions from the school to the college level and lastly and importantly demanding the Lok Adalat status with judicial powers for themselves - for bodies that are unelected and not accountable to anyone. Suddenly, newspapers are flooded with reports on khap panchayats vying with each other to declare their 'no objection' to inter-caste marriages, opening out for purposes of marriage the customary exclusion of the village and gotras that fall in the khap area from ties of siblinghood, and going to the extent of saying that girls have 'equal rights' to wear jeans and keep mobiles. In this they have firmly refused to toe the line of Muzaffarnagar khap, UP, that banned the use of mobile phones and wearing of jeans by unmarried girls. They have also been campaigning against female foeticide, extravagant marriages and alcoholism. However, these khaps continue to maintain a deafening silence regarding 'rights of women to equal inheritance'. If they are touting to be the institutions that believe in 'equality' this remains a serious anomaly. Changing local dynamics Reasons are many for this volte-face among the khaps. In fact the reformist agenda seems to have emerged as obligatory to their survival. The multiple socio-political reasons behind this change extend from a rapidly transforming social milieu of the independent India, the process of political democratization, to the opening of economic opportunities that have altered local power dynamics, complicating relationships between members of different caste groups as well as between members within a caste group.
The traditional linkages of unequal status, hierarchy and prestige are being challenged and replaced by new norms based upon notions of egalitarianism, citizenship and entitlement. Certain shifts are occurring simultaneously: on one hand, caste solidarities are crystallizing, and on the other, education, reservations, and opening out of the economy are eroding the traditional system of caste by changing the material base for different caste groups. There is a certain amount of de-linking between caste, occupation and power in contemporary India. Other identities have taken over, leading to greater self assertion and the rejection of traditional norms observed for purposes of marriage. Couples are therefore defying the age old customs and revolting against the imposed constrictions, they do not believe in. In the given social milieu of education, higher mobility and facing a globalized and consumerist society which has increased the intermingling of sexes, it is not difficult to gauge their growing rebelliousness. Consequently, we are witnessing a rising defiance from the young couples, especially in relation to their marriage, regardless of the consequences. Restricted marriage market Over the years, the customary regulations governing marriages have had the effect of creating a very tight market for prospective brides and grooms. For example, inter-village and regional migrations have resulted in a severe drop in the number of very small villages and corresponding increase in that of large and very large villages. This has had the effect of multiplying the number of gotras (patrilineal clan) represented in different villages. From two to three gotras, villages may well have as many as 20 to 25 gotras. An extension of the principle of village exogamy means that all the gotras represented in a village cannot be entertained for marriage. This leaves the marriage market highly restricted. The extension of the concept of bhaichara (brotherhood) also means that all the neighbouring villages have to be similarly excluded. These prohibitions imposed on marriages are greatly compounded in a social situation labouring under multiple problems — the extremely unfavourable sex-ratio, the presence of a large number of unmarried men and the dowry economy. All these are inter-connected. The widespread female foeticide practiced in this region in combination with suspected female infanticide through neglect and other causes has led to an adverse ratio of only 819 females to 1000 males. According to some activists this estimate, in a number of villages is as low as 500-550. This uneven sex ratio is creating havoc in more ways than one. About demand and supply In a situation where status hypergamous marriage is also the customary norm for a girl's marriage, there is a surplus of brides at the top but a pronounced deficit at the bottom. This situation is compounded by a very large number of unemployed men in Haryana. According to the official figures of the unemployed in Haryana available for 2001 only, there are a total of 7,85,408 persons registered in the employment exchanges. Since 1980-1981 these unemployment figures have more than doubled. Rural unemployment is calculated to be almost twice that of urban unemployment. In the marriage market it is the employed and not the unemployed who are coveted. Their limited numbers means a competition to net them in marriage. The existence of surplus girls in this stratum, feeds into the dowry economy--successfully defeating the economics of demand and supply. Such concerns leave the unemployed to either settle for lesser matches or not get married at all. Consequently, a substantial number of the unemployed is to be found among those who are unmarried. In Haryana 36.24 per cent of men in the category of 15-44 years of age (the so-called reproductive or marriageable age) are unmarried. In districts like Rohtak, the percentage of unmarried males is as high as 44 percent. Unable to get married, such men are reduced to purchasing brides, of any caste group, from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Orissa, Bengal, Mizoram, Assam, Bihar and Nepal. Apart from raising the questions of severe exploitation, legitimacy, inheritance and race etc. such marriages/associations are also questioning the rationale behind the imposition of marriage restrictions by the khaps which are clearly extremely hard on both the boys as well as for the girls. The defiance of marriage norms are attempts to open out the marriage market against traditional sanctions. Impact of growing defiance Indeed, a kind of simmering 'revolt' can be witnessed in the breaches of customary norms in marriages, whether inter-caste or intra-caste, which have escalated over the years. Although there is no statistical evidence, in the rough estimate of the lawyers in Chandigarh, the Punjab and Haryana High Court receives as many as fifty applications per day from couples fearing for their lives, seeking state protection, or anticipatory bail or restriction orders against being mentally and physically harassed by the parents and other relatives, for having defied their families and community in matter of their marriage. According to them, this is a staggering ten-fold rise from about five to six applications a day, five years ago. The 'traditional' way to deal with such cases is the physical elimination of the couples generally and of the girl especially under the entirely erroneous euphemism of upkeep of 'honour'. Lately, the media — both print and electronic — has played an important role in creating nervousness among the khap members. On one hand, the media certainly gave them publicity, which proved to be 'heady' for the Khaps but they were also roundly chastised, severely condemned and repeatedly made to lose face for their 'highly regressive', 'inhuman' and 'unconstitutional' ways. The politicians of Haryana who had earlier refused to intervene in the worst cases of violence inflicted by or under the khap directions are now urging the khaps to take up social issues for reform that trouble the populace. They are eyeing the khaps as their vore banks. Altogether such efforts have prompted the khaps to adopt some measures to counter the scathing criticism. Opening out of some of the khaps to women, was one such measure, because the charge of 'exclusion of women from khaps' had been noticed widely and assailed universally. Some women, who would support the khap line, started to be invited. Recently the Chief Minister reportedly gave Rs one crore as 'inam' (prize) to the Bibipur Sarv Khap panchayat, which had appointed a woman as the Sarpanch. Some women brought in as khap members have also been promised or even given tickets by some political parties, underlining the fact that khap members are deeply divided on political lines. Clearly, the khaps are composed of members of different political hues who vote according to considerations other than the khap dictates. Consequently, this non-representative body has come to be assailed as a whimsical organisation of different individuals who are not accountable to anyone but their own highly individualised interests. Political shades Moreover, the politicisation of village India is a fact, which cannot be denied. Existing factionalism and litigation in the villages feed into unstable political conditions, fragmenting it further. Growing conflict over caste, community and land has become an important aspect of rural politics in India. The utopian principle of village aika (unity) projected by the khaps stands fragmented. The fact that the khaps are not homogenized monolith bodies who act under a unified command for political purposes is now well acknowledged. Also in this age of media presence is it possible to offer to a disgruntled complaining electorate a non-reformist agenda and get away with it? The recent attempts, even though taken as a token, are an attempt to overcome this serious charge. There is clearly a deliberate attempt on the part of the politicians as well as the khaps to reform their much damaged image by projecting a modern socially responsible face. The khaps' advocacy of the reformist agenda is a belated reaction to their having come to be known as a body not responsive to the socio-economic changes under way. It is a way to seek legitimacy which is fast slipping out of their hands. Gender equality? n Khaps have been demanding changes in the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and the Hindu Succession Act 1956 that includes bringing down the marriageable age of the girl from 18 to 16. n
Most of them oppose 'rights of women to equal inheritance.' n
Female foeticide and suspected female infanticide practised in the region has led to an adverse ratio of only 819 females to 1000 males, in some districts it is as low as 550 females. n
36.24 per cent of men in the category of 15-44 years of age are unmarried in Haryana. In districts like Rohtak, the percentage of unmarried males is as high as 44 percent. n
By a rough estimate provided by the lawyers of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, as many as fifty applications are received per day from couples fearing for their lives, seeking state protection, or anticipatory bail fearing harassment by the parents and relatives, for having defied their families in matters of marriage. The writer has authored several books on
gender issues including The Veiled Women: Shifting Gender Equations in Rural Haryana and
Gender Discrimination and Land Ownership.
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Thus far, the ceasefire declared by Ukraine and Russia is largely holding, despite violations, and neither President Petro Poroshenko nor President Vladimir Putin wants see the relative calm junked. But the European Union has unveiled fresh sanctions against Russia without enforcing them and there have been hints from Moscow of denying Western airlines overflying rights over Russia that would result in massive losses to airlines.
Once during such a sojourn they were walking through a thicket on their way to another village. He noticed his friend suddenly turning dumb and death pale. On looking around he noticed a full-grown lion intently looking at them. Having sensed the danger, the scared boy increased his pace in a prelude to running. The lion appeared resolute but in no hurry. It was slouching towards the boys a little faster. Thinking at a lightning speed, Kikkar perceived the situation and made up his mind. He stood there as if rooted to the ground and waited. His friend in the mean time had slinked away.
