|
 |
ARTICLE |
 |
System & sweeping social changes
Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat, not conceived or funded as a system, can peter out
B.G. Verghese
 After
a US visit that was more spectacle than substance, Mr Narendra Modi rushed back to India to inaugurate Swachh Bharat — a clean-Indian campaign, a great idea. So Gandhi Jayanti saw everybody wielding a broom that provided a lot of photo-opportunity. And the icing on the cake a day later was the RSS Chief’s 110-minute live Vijaya Dashmi broadcast which Doordarshan, obviously acting under orders, found “newsworthy,” even before its contents were known. While many Indians thought Modi had taken the US by storm and held his audiences spellbound, RSS acolytes beat up Rajdeep Sardesai for being critical, while leading American commentators said the visit “fell short of expectations,” and was a little more than a “getting-to-know-you visit” after a post-2012 period of frostiness, “with expression of goodwill but little in the way of concrete deals”. The hard work to get investments and agreements, as on the nuclear liability issue, must now commence. But reflection was cut short by the frenzy over Swachh Bharat. Clean India is a wonderful slogan but taking up a broom symbolically on occasion is simply not good enough. Modi invited nine brand ambassadors join the drive and asked each to recruit nine others and those nine to recruit nine more until the whole nation was involved. Let us wait and see what transpires. The problem with Modi’s call to build toilets or wield the broom is that neither movement has been fully systematised. One may build a toilet, but is there water and sewerage and sewage treatment all down the line? Or is the muck to be merely removed from point A to point B by manual scavengers or left to drain into a depression or be blown by the wind? Modi’s Swachh Bharat is not conceived nor funded or staffed as a system. The danger is that the drive might just peter out or be transferred elsewhere or be transformed. The manual scavenger, abolished by the Constitution and regularly thereafter — this is something of a joke for which all governments are responsible — is still active in large numbers. Apart from systems, the still oppressive caste system will not allow it to die easily. This is a problem that Modi and the RSS have not addressed. In Bihar in late September, a temple was washed after the Chief Minister, Jeetan Ram Manjhi, a Dalit, visited it. Not a casteist blinked. This is par for the course. Who is going to lead the way to abolish caste? Will the RSS step forward? The RSS Chief, Mohan Bhagwat was on Vijaya Dashmi given the signal privilege of a live broadcast over Doordarshan that, according to one report, lasted 70 minutes! This is unprecedented. Mr Javdekar, the I&B Minister, says Prasar Bharati has complete autonomy to cover events based on what it considers newsworthy. True, but coverage can last some minutes live, or be reported later on merits, but cannot be mandatory live viewing in toto in the case of a private functionary. BJP spokespersons on TV argued that the Pope’s Christmas Mass has been covered live. But only as a news item for some minutes and not verbatim live. Mention was made of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. But, when have they been given the privilege of broadcasting an unseen 70-minute script live? Never. This is the first time this has happened. But who is Mohan Bhagwat, but the head of a secret and unaccountable organisation associated with a clutch of communal offshoots that have been spreading violence and hatred in the name of Hindutva. Let there be no mistake. Hindutva has nothing to do with Hinduism, but is an ultra-nationalist movement that assumes overlordship over all minorities who shall only live on its sufferance. Read Savarkar and Golwalkar’s texts and the current “love-jihad” and other strong-arm campaigns to discover its narrow, divisive, fascist nature. Among other things Bhagwat spoke of were cow slaughter and beef eating and infiltration from Bangladesh. Mr Modi gave his ex-post approval to Bhagwat’s social reform agenda. There were protests in Madhya Pradesh last week after a Christian youth married a Hindu girl, both majors, over the objection of her parents. The girl has been returned to her family after “right-wing activists” threatened mayhem and the man was arraigned for not notifying the district magistrate and getting his approval for the marriage a month before the ceremony, under a bizarre and possibly unconstitutional state law. Mohan Bhagwat proclaims this brand of Hindutva as the “identity of India”. Certainly not for all civilised Indians, among whom a vast majority of Hindus must be included. Modi’s Vijaya Dashmi radio broadcast over AIR was however a good innovation as a means of reaching out to the people. He has promised to make this a monthly or even fortnightly event which would be all to the good for mass communication. Mrs Gandhi did a monthly radio broadcast in Hindi and English on the model of Roosevelt’ fireside chats for the first three years she was in office. So Mr Modi is following a good example.
 |
|
|
MIDDLE |
|
Marriages made in heaven, lived on earth
DPS Bajwa
 There
is a saying in Punjabi “Joriaan jagg thoriaan, narrar bathere” ( which means that “real” couples are very few but forced married couples are aplenty) Although when one gets married one wishes to have a perfect partner but the actual chemistry between a couple is known after a few weeks / months of living together. There are issues like temperament, habits, priorities, family circumstances, finances etc. to quote a few, which often dictate the relationship between a husband and wife. In the beginning, when reality starts dawning upon the couple, if the adjustments and compromises are not made then the marriage may face rough weather. The single-most important mantra for marriage to succeed is adjustment. It is not that this adjustment is to be made by one spouse only. It must be mutual and by both partners. Marriage is like a train on the rails. If the two rails do not run parallel, derailment of the bond is imminent and disastrous.
We have to work hard to make a
marriage succeed. The younger generation has changed the very meaning and sanctity of marriage. Now more and more people like to either spend long periods of courtships or have a live-in relationship, before actually getting into a wedlock. I am obviously referring to our marriage when the practice was that parents would suggest a match and invariably one would agree. During one of my short visits to my sister’s place she showed me a girl from a distance and asked me that if I approved, then she would talk to the girl’s mother. Somehow the first glance I gave the girl, was a good trigger to initiate the proposal. During my next weekend visit a formal meeting at the girl’s house was arranged. Soon we were formally engaged. We started exchanging (love) letters. Since those days cell phones and SMSes were nonexistent, the only way we were exchanging our feelings were through letters. Occasionally, I would visit them on weekends but these meetings were too short and mostly at my fiancé’s house, with her family members around. The marriage was fixed six months hence. This period seemed too long and there was longing for each other. Finally, we got married and with each day our love for each other grew more. Within two years, I happened to be posted to a field area where families were not allowed and we felt like fish out of water. Each separation made us long for each other more. My wife was unfortunate that she always had to live with my mother all these years, but she endured the situation with patience and grace. My mother became dependent upon me ever since we got married. Over the years we felt that we were made for each other. The telepathy, the synchronisation of our thought process is amazing. Many times it happens that I think of something and in a few seconds she will utter the same thing and vice versa. She is extremely caring and thoughtful and I try to reciprocate. After 43 years of togetherness, while we are growing old, the thought that what if one of us departs from this world, gives me jitters. Though our children live away from us, but the company of each other fills that void. We feel we can face all odds while we are together. When I look around at the other couples in my family or friends circle, I find many of them leading a life of misery because of differences and incompatibility. So much so that they are leading a life of hatred and endless torture. Since they never decided to divorce in time, lifelong misery festers. I wonder and also feel sorry for what these couples are missing, the heavenly bliss of being a happily married couple. This reinforces my belief that marriages are truly made in heaven.
|
|
|
OPED
— Security |
|
National Security Forum
India no banana republic but treads fine line
Admiral Arun Praksh (retd)
MANY hubristic public figures who often proclaim, in the media, that “India is no banana republic”, may be less strident, if they learnt the actual implications of such a label. It is not merely a term used for small Central American dictatorships whose economies depend on export of bananas, but has a wider connotation. According to economic theory, a country qualifies as a “banana republic” if it is “operated as an enterprise, for private profit from the exploitation of its national resources, by collusion between ruling politicians and favoured monopolies.” While its “legislators are for sale,” government officials “exploit their posts for personal gain through bribery, corruption and nepotism”, the central government is so ineffective that “it cannot provide public services and has little control over much of its territory.”
for a more secure future: We neither have a national security doctrine nor a strategy. It should be a priority for the new government to bring sharp focus to security issues. PTI |
Grim reminder The uncanny familiarity of these attributes is a grim reminder of the snide aphorism that one hears from foreigners: “Everything that you hear about India is true; but so is the opposite.” India treads a thin line; a nuclear-weapon state and growing economy, aspiring to great-power eminence; it is, simultaneously, a nation negotiating a slippery slope from which it could easily plunge into the abyss of banana republic status. As we have seen in the past few years, all it takes for such a precipitous fall from grace (in the prophetic words of Winston Churchill) is for power to go “to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters... and men of straw”. The test of a nation's mettle and the calibre of its leadership is a crisis situation. Whether it is a natural disaster, terrorist strike, hijacking or trans-border incursion, the Indian state's response to any emergency has followed a depressingly familiar sequence. The onset of a crisis finds the organs of state caught unawares and the leadership stricken with paralysis. Pulling in different directions
Getting our act
together
 India aspires to catch up economically, with an ageing China. However, the exploitation of this demographic dividend demands that the government educate, train and create jobs for 100-200 million young persons in the next two decades.
Should we stumble or fail in this task, many of these youth could end up swelling the ranks of
Naxalites.
At one end of the spectrum is the twin nuclear threat posed by neighbours China and Pakistan, with the latter foolishly brandishing tactical nuclear weapons, of late.
At the other end is the menace of jihadi terror outfits which have openly declared India as a target and form an integral part of Pakistan's low-cost war of a “thousand cuts” against us.
There is the ever-present possibility of conventional armed conflict with China or Pakistan — or both in collusion.
|
The multiple ministries, departments and agencies involved, pull in different directions, lacking coordination and a firm hand on the tiller. Frenzied and haphazard damage-control measures, eventually, bring the situation under control, mostly with the military's help. A phase of national breast-beating follows, accompanied by a free-wheeling blame-game. The state apparatus, thereafter, relapses into its earlier comatose condition — no wiser and unrepentant — to await the next disaster. This is not an indulgence in hyperbole, because having seen such episodes occur many times over, in the recent past, most of us have reconciled ourselves to the Indian state's sub-standard performance and even learned to rationalise it with the sad home-spun aphorism: “We are like that only.” Our fatalistic acceptance of incompetence and inefficiency, coupled with tolerance for venality, and the low worth we place on human life and dignity, promise to brand India as a second-rate nation — even if it becomes a great power. Sweeping majority It was, perhaps, in the hope that he would rescue India from such a fate, that the electorate swept Narendra Modi to power with an unprecedented majority. So far, Mr Modi has not disappointed. An example is the demonstration he provided, not just of his nonconformist approach but also, of moral courage, by broaching the taboo topics of cleanliness, sanitation and public defecation on Independence Day. Accustomed as we are, to soporific speeches full of anodyne sentiments, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi's blunt words have woken the nation to the grim reality of our garbage-strewn cities, towns and villages; and the need to do something about it. As if to emphasise his commitment to clean up India, Modi had the chutzpah to include this topic, even in the recent Washington Post editorial that he jointly issued with President Obama. Domestic scene While the PM must be allowed to savour the well-earned hosannas for his recent foreign-policy triumphs, including the hugely successful US visit, he needs to focus urgent attention to the domestic scene, which is fraught with hazards. He would have noted the unexpected rebuke delivered by the pragmatic Indian voter, during recent assembly elections, to his party; the underlying message being that religious rabble-rousing cannot be a substitute for promises of good governance and achhe din made during the election campaign. At a juncture when maintenance of domestic harmony represents the most crucial challenge before this government, stoking divisive sentiments for political gains, would be most deleterious to national security. Apart from unrest in Kashmir, lingering insurgencies in the North-Eastern states and frequent outbreaks of communal violence, the most serious internal security threat to the nation arises from the violent Naxal movement, running through half of India's 29 states. This 47-year-old movement is a clear manifestation of the Indian state's dismal failure in delivering on agrarian reforms, poverty alleviation and social justice to our poor, landless and deprived masses. By treating a socio-economic problem as a law and order issue and throwing poorly trained para-military forces at it, successive governments have exposed their scanty vision and lack of strategic thought-process. Exploiting demographic dividend India looks forward to a putative “demographic dividend”, which is expected to provide a boost to the economy and open a narrow window which may permit India to catch up, economically, with an ageing China. However, the exploitation of this dividend demands that government educate, train and create jobs for 100-200 million young persons in the next two decades. Should we stumble or fail in this task, many of these youth could end up swelling the ranks of Naxalites. It is against such a daunting domestic backdrop that Mr Modi needs to scan the external horizon for the unique combination of security threats confronting India. At one end of the spectrum is the twin nuclear threat posed by neighbours China and Pakistan, with the latter foolishly brandishing tactical nuclear weapons of late; at the other end is the menace of jihadi terror outfits which have openly declared India as a target and form an integral part of Pakistan's low-cost war of a “thousand cuts” against us. There is, of course, the ever-present possibility of conventional armed conflict with China or Pakistan — or both in collusion. As Pakistan jockeys for domination of Afghanistan, wherein it wants influence as well as “strategic depth”, and China resolutely seeks hegemony across the Indo-Pacific region through the establishment of a maritime silk route, these arenas promise to become the twin crucibles where India's strategic acumen and diplomatic skills are going to be tested shortly. With few cards — economic or military — to play, India would need to employ a skilful hedging strategy and buy a breathing-spell for itself. Fragile environment Given such a fragile strategic environment, one would have expected the new government to bring sharp focus to bear on national security issues, which have suffered egregious neglect for, at least, a decade if not more. It is, therefore, disheartening to note that defence and security have not received the pre-eminence that they deserve in the national agenda. In BJP's 2014 Election Manifesto, security related matters are discussed, somewhat haphazardly, almost at the bottom of a long list of 75 issues, under the unusual heading: “External Security — its Boundary, Beauty and Bounty”. A far more worrisome message is being sent out by the government not appointing a full-time Raksha Mantri (RM) to manage the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for four long months. It hardly needs reiteration that India fields a million and a half strong military and is a nuclear weapon state with a three-legged deterrent. A hiatus of this nature would certainly cause further damage, to this vital Ministry, already suffering from a decade of lethargy, indecision and myopic vision. It may also serve to undermine India's credibility both as a military and nuclear power. So much needs to be set right in the national security edifice, as a whole, and in the armed forces, individually, that a full-time RM, working 24x7, would need a few years to do it. None of the tantalising promises held out by the government, so far; whether it is “Make in India”, FDI in defence production or expeditious clearing of defence acquisition cases, can fructify in anything less that 5-10 years. In any case, they pertain only to hardware issues. Neglected security structure India's national security structure, victim of neglect by several previous regimes, needs urgent reform and overhaul. We have neither a national security doctrine nor strategy. Just as our archaic higher defence organisation, lacking a single military head, is incapable of coping with contemporary threats, the continued segregation of the three armed forces from each other and their sequestration from strategic decision-making could lead to disaster in war. In the words of British PM David Cameron, “In a world of startling change, the first duty of the Government remains: the security of our country.” He goes on, “the task of protecting our security is never complete and in an age of uncertainty we will report annually to Parliament on the National Security Strategy…” Let us remind ourselves that the UK is a small island nation, which faces hardly any security threats to the homeland. Can India settle for anything less? — The author is a former Chief of Naval Staff Comments can be sent to
nsftribune@tribunemail.com
|
