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month november 30, edition 000363, collected & managed by durgesh kumar mishra, published by – manish manjul
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THE PIONEER
- DUBAI MAY SINK RAPIDLY
- LIVING LIFE KINGSIZE
- LET POLICE DO THEIR JOB - JOGINDER SINGH
- IRANIANS DEFY REPRESSION - LISA DAFTARI
- JIHAD'S WEB OF DECEIT - SHASHI SHEKHAR
- REDS ARE CONFUSED - SHIKHA MUKERJEE
- RAO WANTED BABRI TO FALL - PRAFULL GORADIA
- CONTOURS EMERGE OF COORDINATED ACTION - KOSYREV
MAIL TODAY
- DUBAI WAS A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN
- NO ROOM FOR LENIENCY
- READ BABRI REPORT RIGHT - BY RAJEEV DHAVAN
- AT WAR WITH OURSELVES - PRABHU CHAWLA
- HIGH COMMAND IN CONTROL IN ANDHRA
TIMES OF INDIA
- WAIT AND WATCH
- CORRECT CALL
- EXORCISING BENGAL'S GHOSTS -
- 'QUEER MOVEMENT WILL UNDO PRETENTIOUS HETEROSEXUAL VALUES'
- A SEA VIEW -
- BITE ME -
HINDUSTAN TIMES
- THE GULF PLUMMETS
- BAHU VS SENA
- DIALECTIC MATERIALIST – SITARAM YECHURI
- THE 17-YEAR-OLD SCAM - PANKAJ VOHRA
INDIAN EXPRESS
- CAST IN WORDS
- SYSTEM UPGRADE
- THE RISING TIDE
- AND THEN, ACTION NOT TAKEN
- DAYS OF THE ROG
- DESH GAURAV CHOPRA SEKHRI
- 'WE LOOK AT NATURE AS PART OF FAMILY... ONLY NOW WORLD REALISES FORESTS ARE IMPORTANT'
FINANCIAL EXPRESS
- GOLD VERSUS EQUITY
- WHO'S GOT THE POWER
- SHOULD WE WORRY ABOUT CAPITAL FLOWS? - SAUGATA BHATTACHARYA
- OUR CULTURE ABOUT OUR AGRICULTURE - YOGINDER K ALAGH
- THE TELECOM TANGLE CONTINUES - ANANDITA SINGH MANKOTIA
- REPORT CARD
THE HINDU
- BRAZEN SUBVERSION OF JUSTICE
- CONTROLLING MALARIA
- MULTIPLIER ACCELERATOR SYNERGY IN NREGA - MIHIR SHAH
- 7/7 TRIAL: INSIGHT INTO LIVES OF BOMBERS - RACHEL WILLIAMS
- AFGHANISTAN: THE HIGH COSTS OF FAILURE - RAMESH THAKUR
- BJP'S FACE, MESSAGE, STRATEGIST, AND ORGANISER - HARISH KHARE
THE ASIAN AGE
- RISK-AVERSE BANKS RETARDING GROWTH?
- OF LEAKS, LIES AND LIBERHANS - SHIV VISVANATHAN
- PM'S FAITH IN US IS STRONGER THAN EVER - PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA
DNA
- DESERT STORM
- FAMILY FEUD
- WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ANGER, POST 26/11? - KALPANA SHARMA
- MEANS OF LIBERATION
- BJP'S TRYST WITH DISASTER - AMULYA GANGULI
THE TRIBUNE
- RBI'S CAUTION
- INDIA'S STAND CONSISTENT
- DEATHS ON ROADS
- A TALE OF TWO VISITS - BY ARUNDHATI GHOSE
- MBA MADE EASY - BY V.S. CHAUDHRI
- SUSTAINED DIALOGUE SANS MEDIA GLARE IS THE KEY: OMAR
- CHATTERATI - BY DEVI CHERIAN
THE ASSAM TRIBUNE
- TROUBLE IN BTC
- A CENTURY OF WINS
- AFRICA-ASIA TIES
- CHALLENGE TO OUR SURVIVAL - DR JYOTSNA BHATTACHARJEE
- AGRICULTURE, INDUSTRY SHOULD COEXIST - MOON MOON SARMAH
THE ECONOMIC TIMES
- TIMES TO BE FLEXIBLE
- TACKLING FOOD INFLATION
- BENEFITS OF DOG-WALKING
- FOREX FUTURES MORE EFFICIENT THAN OTC MARKET, SAYS SEBI - GAURAV PAI & REENA ZACHARIAH
- SMALL CAPS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO DELIVER BIG - SHAILESH MENON
- MANIFESTATIONS OF ATMASUDDHI - K VIJAYARAGHAVAN
- NOW SHOWING: 2009 FALL COLLECTION, DUBAI - SUDESHNA SEN
- INVESTORS WITH EXPOSURE TO BANKS SHOULD STAY ON - SANTOSH NAIR
- BANK SUPPORT VITAL TO FAST-TRACK INFRA GROWTH
- 'INDIAN FILM INDUSTRY CAN'T TAKE AWAY MUCH FROM SCOTLAND, BUT AN EFFORT IS BEING MADE' - ASHOKE NAG
- OUR STRATEGY TODAY IS NO LONGER LENDING-LED: MARK T ROBINSON
- WE'RE NEITHER A TEL NOR A COM: TATA DOCOMO - DURBA GHOSH
DECCAN CHRONICAL
- RISK-AVERSE BANKS RETARDING GROWTH?
- A FAIR FOOD DEAL FOR ALL - BY ARJUN SENGUPTA
- AMERICA VS THE CONCOCTED ARAB NARRATIVE - BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
- OF LEAKS, LIES AND LIBERHANS - BY SHIV VISVANATHAN
- THE WIZARD'S WIZARD - BY MAUREEN DOWD
- SENSE OF ETERNAL CRISIS GRIPS INDIA - BY PANKAJ MISHRA
THE STATESMAN
- BELATED WISDOM
- NATURE STRIKES BACK~II - DHRUBAJYOTI GHOSH
- REALITY REALISED
- A FAILED SYSTEM
- DON'T DRINK VODKA, EAT IT
THE TELEGRAPH
- WARMING UP
- QUIET CHANGES
- TOWARDS A HAPPIER STATE - S.L. RAO
- HISTORY PLAYS - GWYNNE DYER
DECCAN HERALD
- RETROGRADE VIEW
- FACE-OFF
- TWISTING THE TRUTH - BYLINE M J AKBAR
- AN INEFFECTIVE INSTITUTIONAL MONSTER - BY KANCHI KOHLI
- SWEET LIES - BY AMBIKA ANANTH
THE JERUSALEM POST
- A COALITION FOR JERUSALEM
- REALITY CHECK: A CHANGE OF HEART? NOT LIKELY - JEFF BARAK
- THE REGION: MORE, MORE, MORE! - BARRY RUBIN
- DEFENDING FREE SPEECH AT THE UNITED NATIONS - JACOB MCHANGAMA
- OBAMA'S AMNESIA ABOUT ZIONISM - HAROLD BRACKMAN
- ARE WE WHITEWASHING EVENTS IN NORWAY? - MANFRED GERSTENFELD
HAARETZ
- LIKUD'S HARMFUL RESISTANCE
- WHAT HAPPENED TO SARA'S COUNSEL? - BY AMIR OREN
- THE RIGHT PERSON - BY ZE'EV SEGAL
- THE LIMITS OF PRIVATIZATION - BY EYTAN SHESHINSKI
- LOOKING FOR A HILLTOP - BY KARNI ELDAD
THE NEW YORK TIMES
- KEVON'S CHOICES
- COMMUTERS BEWARE
- IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY
- ENLARGING NATO, EXPANDING CONFUSION - BY MARY ELISE SAROTTE
- THE JOBS IMPERATIVE - BY PAUL KRUGMAN
THE HIMALAYAN
- WORTHY INITIATIVE
- FLYING COLORS
- SEVENTH WTO MINISTERIAL MEETING WHAT IS AT STAKE FOR NEPAL? - BIJENDRA MAN SHAKYA
- JOY OF A MOTHER - RANJANA ADHIKARI
- OBAMAS CHINESE BALANCE SHEET - ZHANG WEI
THE AUSTRALIAN
- A GOOD DEAL, SO COOL THE HOT AIR
- CYNICAL POLITICS OF THE WORST KIND IN THE NT
- FIGHTING THE GOOD WAR
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
- LABOR IS STUCK IN A POLL NIGHTMARE
- THE MECHANISM BEHIND A MASSACRE
- NEW TRAIN AND TRAM OPERATORS INHERIT A NEGLECTED SYSTEM
THE GURDIAN
- SWITZERLAND: HATRED BENEATH THE HARMONY
- CLIMATE CHANGE: LOOKING SOUTH
- IN PRAISE OF… NEELIE KROES
THE KOREA HERALD
- APOLOGY NOT THE END
- MORE POWER?
- FROM COMMUNITY TO SECURITY IN ASIA - FIDEL V. RAMOS
THE JAPAN TIMES
- HELP HOSPITALS RECOVER
- SHORE UP BASIC SCIENCE
- LESS EFFICIENT NATURAL 'CLEANING' COULD TIP GLOBAL CARBON BALANCE - BY MICHAEL RICHARDSON
THE JAKARTA POST
- INDONESIA'S GEOTHERMAL DEVELOPMENT - HANAN NUGROHO
- SACK BAMBANG AND HENDARMAN
CHINA DAILY
- SUSTAINABLE GROWTH PATH
- COASTAL ENVIRONMENT
- WILL 'PHOENIX NEST' INCUBATE SAME-FEATHER BIRD?
- LOW-CARBON URBANIZATION WAY FORWARD FOR CHINA
THE MOSCOW TIMES
- OSCE'S ROLE IN AFGHANISTAN - BY BORUT GRGIC
- THE KOMSOMOL SPIRIT THRIVES IN AZERBAIJAN - BY MATTHEW COLLIN
- CONSERVATIVE MODERNIZATION - BY SERGEI MARKOV
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THE PIONEER
EDIT DESK
DUBAI MAY SINK RAPIDLY
MIRACLE CITY REDUCED TO ASSET BUBBLE
Adversity will automatically pare down ambition. Dubai's dreams of becoming the Gulf's first post-petroleum economy, insulated forever from the energy resource that drives its region, will now be downsized. The wealthy bankers and luxury retail chains that had made the city their habitat will have to look elsewhere or contemplate less business. The job market too will be tempered. Since the earlier oil boom of the 1970s, Dubai has been the South Asian blue collar worker's city of gold. Two of every five residents are Indians. Exact figures are unavailable but according to some calculations, 25 cents of every dollar sent home by NRIs as remittances comes from Dubai. Kerala will be severely hit. So will Gujarat, which is a big exporter of gems and jewellery to Dubai. The exposure of some Indian banks to projects in Dubai and the investment plans of Dubai-based real estate companies in India — one of them is building the Commonwealth Games village in Delhi and has already been burnt by the Indian real estate collapse of 2008 — will also arouse concern.
In the long run, India will probably be less affected than certain other countries that are far more dependent on Dubai and its dollars. Yet, there will be an indirect affect. If Dubai World is forced to liquidate its assets in, say, Europe — and these are said to be not insignificant — then the prospect of a distress sale will only drive down prices in those markets. This is not happy news for a global economy that thought the worst was over. Suddenly, 2010 doesn't look as much of a recovery year as it was being made out to be before the bubble called Dubai burst.
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THE PIONEER
LIVING LIFE KINGSIZE
THAT'S WHAT GATECRASHING IS MEANT FOR!
There is something sinfully exciting about gatecrashing an exclusive party. Perhaps it is the adrenalin rush that one experiences from being able to break into the 'charmed circle' and successfully mingling with the 'hip' crowd without looking out of place. In fact, the very tag of 'exclusiveness' makes one want to be a part of the occasion. And they don't come more exclusive than a White House state dinner. Hence, it is hardly surprising that people wanted to drop in uninvited when US President Barack Obama and the White House staff decided to roll out the red carpet in honour of our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But what is surprising is that an enterprising couple from Virginia were actually able to pull a fast one on the US Secret Service and sashay their way into the super-private soirée. Understandably, this has left the Secret Service looking sheepish. In their defence, the two intruders, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, were amiable-looking folks who even bothered to dress for the occasion: She wore a stunning red lehnga-choli while he looked as distinguished as anyone else in his finely pressed tuxedo and both mingled easily with the high and the mighty. They even got their pictures clicked with US Vice-President Joe Biden as if they were old college mates. Mr Obama too wasn't shy of flashing a smile for the shutterbugs when the Salahis greeted him. Besides, Ms Salahi is supposed to be a star on the television programme Real Housewives of Washington. Don't people watch that show? It is entirely possible that the bright, young Secret Service chap manning the gates for the evening instantly recognised Ms Salahi and her husband from TV and ruled out any threat perception.
Had it not been for an undercover Washington Post journalist who just couldn't stick to his bread and butter story about the dinner, the Salahis would have got away with their act and none would have been the wiser. But no, the snooping journalist had to be a killjoy and find a different angle. As for the Salahis posting pictures of their gala evening spent in the company of Washington's movers and shakers on their Facebook page, who can blame them? What's the point in gatecrashing an exclusive party and not being able to brag about it to your friends? They would have been daft to keep it a secret. Which puts into perspective the hoopla surrounding state dinners. Aren't they just an excuse to show off and go the whole hog to impress the guests and have a good time? After all, with the media constantly keeping politicians on their toes, it becomes difficult for the poor souls to kick back and relax once in a while. So let us call it a day and stick to what our Prime Minister had to say on the grand occasion: "The dinner was lavish and extravagant."
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THE PIONEER
COLUMN
LET POLICE DO THEIR JOB
JOGINDER SINGH
In a communication to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has conveyed his sense of "great betrayal" over the manner in which his son, Rahul, has been handled by those investigating the David Headley-Tahawwur Rana episode. He felt anguished over his son being questioned.
It would only be fair to set the record straight. The National Investigation Agency team probing Headley and Rana's movements and activities during their stay in Mumbai naturally needed to examine whether any of their local friends or acquaintances, including Rahul, had taken them around the landmarks that were hit by the 26/11 terrorist attack.
The investigating agency has to investigate whether Pakistan-born Daood Gilani did not choose his Christian-sounding name, David Headley, for a definite objective. He has reportedly told the US authorities that it was done to avoid raising an alarm when he travelled.
In fact, it was his American identity that failed to awaken suspicion among immigration and police authorities in India. Headley was issued a five-year, multiple-entry business visa, which is said to be against the rules of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The rules reportedly require all cases of Pakistan-born individuals seeking an Indian visa to be referred directly to the MHA.
Headley had used his visa to extensively travel across India between 2006 and 2009. He made as many as nine trips to this country, visiting various cities like Delhi, Kochi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Agra and Lucknow besides Mumbai from where he operated his so-called immigration assistance firm. It is apparent that this firm was only a cover used by Headley to recruit footsoldiers for the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba.
The Headley-Rana episode is also one of the first cases wherein a link has been established between a terror suspect in the US and a former Pakistani military officer. Subsequently, five have been arrested in Pakistan.
The problem is that as human beings we are susceptible to forgetfulness, however grievous a hurt might have been. Investigation is a painstaking job. It is the first step in uncovering the truth. Investigation cannot be done as per the wishes of the persons summoned. Determination of the truth and backing it up with solid evidence in court is of utmost importance. But in the absence of a witness protection programme, it becomes almost impossible to get independent witnesses to depose in court, resulting in the cases lingering on for years.
As per the present laws, any statement made to the police or an investigating officer need not be signed. In fact, telling one thing to the investigating officer and another to the court has become the norm as hardly anybody is punished for perjury.
Theoretically, terrorists can kill hundreds, as they did in Mumbai on 26/11, confess to their crime before the police and then deny their guilt in court. On the other hand, the police have to produce independent witnesses to prove that they have the real killers. Plus, anybody is free to go to the media or approach politicians to complain about investigating excesses and project himself or herself as the victim.
No investigator has a magic wand. Concrete links have to be established during the investigation process to build a case. The investigator has not only to establish connections between the crime and the criminals but also answer many unanswered questions that arise during the investigation.
Terrorism is the biggest threat facing India. Following are some of the major terror incidents to have shaken the country which are worth listing:
Mumbai, November 26, 2008: 173 killed and more than three hundred injured in fidayeen strikes
Assam, October 30, 2008: 55 killed and over 119 injured in 18 terror bombings across Assam.
Imphal, October 21, 2008: 17 killed in a powerful blast near the Manipur Police Commando complex.
Kanpur, October 14, 2008: Eight people injured after a bomb planted on a rented bicycle went off at Colonelganj market.
Malegaon, September 29, 2008: Five people killed after a bomb kept on a motorbike went off in a crowded market.
New Delhi, September 27, 2008: Three people killed after a crude bomb went off in a busy market in Mehrauli.
New Delhi, September 13, 2008: 26 people killed in six bombings.
Ahmedabad, July 26, 2008: 57 people killed after 22 synchronised bombs went off within less than two hours.
Bangalore, July 25, 2008: One person killed in a low-intensity bomb explosion.
Jaipur, May 13, 2008: 68 people killed in serial bombings.
Hyderabad, August 25, 2007: 42 people killed in two bombings at a popular eatery and a public park.
Samjhauta Express, February 19, 2007: 66 people killed after two firebombs went off on the India-Pakistan friendship train.
Malegaon, September 8, 2006: 40 people killed in two bomb explosions.
Mumbai, July 11, 2006: 209 people killed in seven bombings on suburban trains and stations.
Varanasi, March 7, 2006: 21 people killed in three bombings, including one at a temple and another at a railway station.
New Delhi, October 29, 2005: 61 people killed in three bombings on the eve of Diwali.
Mumbai, August 25, 2003: 46 people killed in two bomb explosions, including one near the Gateway of India.
Gandhinagar, September 24, 2002: 34 people killed in an attack on the Akshardham temple.
Our police forces and investigating agencies are under tremendous pressure to contain terrorism and at the same time keep their political masters happy. It is nobody's case that Mahesh Bhatt's son is a confirmed terrorist. But it would be in the best interest of the country for him to co-operate so that the truth comes out.
Meanwhile, it is high time that visa procedures were streamlined and made more stringent. The general prevailing impression is that a Caucasian with a Christian name cannot be a terrorist. This myth should be dispelled from the minds of the investigating and security agencies. Also, it is time to give our police forces and investigating agencies autonomy as per the September 2007 ruling of the Supreme Court. The media, on its part, should continue playing a constructive role and become its own and the country's watchdog.
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THE PIONEER
COLUMN
IRANIANS DEFY REPRESSION
LISA DAFTARI
Serious threats imposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran's Revolutionary Guards did not stop thousands of protesters from marching in the streets of Tehran last week. The protesters wanted to make it clear that the post-election momentum has not dissipated. Security forces barricaded the city's main roads to prevent the Opposition from gaining force as plain clothed and uniformed guards spread through streets using aggression and, in some reported incidents, violence to deter the demonstrators.
The most recent protests commemorated the murders of political activists Dariush Forouhar and his wife, Parvaneh, who were viciously stabbed to death in 1998. The Forouhars were the founders and leaders of the Hezb-e-Melat-e Iran, or the Nation of Iran Party, that openly criticised the Islamic regime. Organisers arranged small-scale protests to begin in the morning and march towards the Forouhar home, located in central Tehran, in the late afternoon. Before protesters could get close to their neighbourhood, riot police had already closed off the area.
"My parents and many like them died in the name of freedom for the people of Iran," said Parastou Forouhar, the daughter of the slain couple, in a phone interview while Revolutionary Guards were still vigilantly loitering outside her parents' home. Parastou and her brother Arash, who flew into Tehran from Frankfurt, Germany, where they currently live, visit their parents' home every year on the anniversary of their deaths.
Loud cheering and the chanting of political slogans could be heard blocks away where demonstrators had been stopped, she said. Regime guards had ordered her and her family to not leave the house all day. Reports indicated that students protesting at Tehran University had a sizeable turnout but were contained by police and not allowed to leave campus. Similar reports came from the University of Shiraz, though not confirmed.
Riot police and Islamic security forces have repeatedly warned protesters not to participate in demonstrations, threatening arrest and severe repercussions. Yet, since the upheaval that followed the contested June 12 election, the Iranian Opposition, lacking the authority to stage its own demonstrations, has used holidays and commemorative days to organise and protest in the streets, universities and in various cities across the country.
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THE PIONEER
OPED
JIHAD'S WEB OF DECEIT
A YEAR AFTER THE FIDAYEEN ATTACKS ON MULTIPLE TARGETS IN MUMBAI, WE ARE STILL TRYING TO PUT FACES TO THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO MASTERMINDED THE DIABOLICAL PLOT. THAT'S A DIFFICULT TASK: TERRORISTS MORPH INTO VARIOUS PERSONA AND SWITCH IDENTITIES, ALL THE WHILE SPINNING A WEB TO MISLEAD POLICE
SHASHI SHEKHAR
The indictment of seven accused in a Pakistani anti-terrorism court last week in connection with the 26/11 fidayeenattacks on Mumbai was perhaps more farcical than belated.
The 26/11 chargesheet filed in a Mumbai court names 35 accused. Three of these accused are standing trial in India, while nine others are rotting in a morgue in Mumbai.
But then not all of the seven indicted in Pakistan are listed in the chargesheet in India. But that's not even where the farce begins.
The chargesheet in India names four distinct individuals — Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Abu al-Qama and Zarar Shah — among others. Several news reports from Pakistan have identified the detainees Zarar Shah as Abdul Wajid and Abu al-Qama as Mazhar Iqbal.
But then as with many aspects of the conspiracy behind the 26/11 attacks these identities too have come under a cloud with the still unravelling findings into the activities of the two accused in the Chicago conspiracy — David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana.
More specifically the intrigue is centered around the identities of the two Pakistan-based associates of Headley who have been named only in the third person in the Chicago conspiracy complaints by the FBI in the US.
Several news reports, unconfirmed though, have named the two Pakistan-based individuals linked to Headley and Rana to be Sajid Mir and a certain Abdul Rehman.
Sajid Mir has been known internationally as a Lashkar commander and controller in a much publicised plot of a French national Willy Briggette accused of terrorism back in 2006. Strangely enough, Sajid Mir has never been named by Indian authorities or media for any of the past attacks this decade.
Strangely, a week ago sources within Intelligence Bureau revealed twice in less than a week to an online news portal that Sajid Mir may in fact be Abu al-Qama. Those unfamiliar with al-Qama may want to rewind back to 2005 when he was held responsible for the 2005 serial blasts in New Delhi.
Not just that the same IB sources also now suspect Sajid Mir to be Zarar Shah whose name gained popular attention as the person who set up the e-mail account drmoazam@ymail.com from which the claim of responsibility for 26/11 was issued in the name of the Deccan Mujahideen.
The confusion over the veracity of multiple identities perhaps assumed by the same Lashkar commander can be best appreciated by rewinding back to September 2008 in the days after the serial blasts in Delhi.
On September 26, 2008 the Indian Express carried a report quoting sources in Delhi Police that claimed Lashkar commander Abu al-Qama had been directing the Indian Mujahideen wave of serial blasts in multiple cities in India. But contradicting this claim the report said Jammu & Kashmir Police believed al-Qama had been killed six months back in Gujranwala after he deserted Lashkar. The Indian Express followed up with another report on September 30 quoting the Delhi Police special chief that al-Qama was alive.
On more than one occasion there has been confusion on the antecedents and sphere of influence of not just al-Qama but the other Lashkar commander who has also been variously attributed responsibility for attacks last decade.
Two satellite phone numbers — 8821651135541 and 8821621330743 — that were listed in a report that appeared in the DNA on December 19, 2008 had also appeared in a report in the Indian Express on July 26, 2005 when two satellite phones were allegedly recovered in Jammu & Kashmir during an encounter. While in 2005 either satellite phone number was associated with Muzammil and al-Qama, in 2008 both the satellite phone numbers were claimed to have been used by Muzammil. Also back in 2005 al-Qama was described as Lashkar's commander for attacks in Jammu & Kashmir and Muzammil as the commander for all attacks outside the State.
The myth around division of responsibility between them that was first described in 2005 is severely put to test in 2006 when a third name re-emerges as the Lashkar's commander responsible for attacks outside Jammu & Kashmir — Azam Cheema who is the prime accused in the July 2006 serial blasts in Mumbai. To square the division of labour between the two known commanders of Lashkar a new myth emerges in October of 2006 on the alleged competition between Cheema and his peers Muzammil and al-Qama.
This myth takes a curious turn to when another appears to explain that the Baba referred to in 26/11 phone intercepts was not Azam Cheema who we are told was suffering from diabetes. In the same report from January 19, 2009 we were also told Azam Cheema had transferred control to al-Qama.
Meanwhile, the legend of Muzammil takes its own life in the aftermath of the January 2008 fidayeenattack on a CRPF camp in Rampur. The many confessions of Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Sheikh reported variously in the media in April 2008 reveal Muzammil as the mastermind behind the 7/11 attacks while describing him in a subordinate capacity to Azam Cheema.
Strangely enough, while Muzammil emerges as key Lashkar mastermind post-7/11 overshadowing Azam Cheema, al-Qama practically fades from public memory but for his alleged role in the 2005 Delhi blasts till he re-surfaces in the 26/11 chargesheet.
It is important to note the chronological sequence in which al-Qama (Delhi 2005), Azam Cheema (Mumbai 2006) and Muzammil (all attacks after 7/11) have been attributed responsibility for major attacks since 2005.
With Muzammil, al-Qama and Zarar Shah named in the 26/11 chargesheet as three distinct individuals, Headley's revelations on Sajid Mir take us deeper into a tangled web of assumed identities. So deep that to date Sajid Mir was not even on the radar of Indian agencies for any of the attacks on Indian soil.
On the first anniversary of 26/11 we are no wiser on the operational layer of command between the known leaders of LeT, JeM and HuJI — Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Masood Azhar, llyas Kashmiri and their Indian origin lieutenants like Amir Raza Khan and the allegedly dead Shahid Bilal amongst others.
The cold reality a year after 26/11 is that we have mostly been chasing ghosts for the last five years while the sponsors of terror continue to operate from behind a web of anonymity.
The writer tracks terrorism in South Asia.
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THE PIONEER
OPED
REDS ARE CONFUSED
IN THE NAME OF RECTIFICATION, CPM COULD WRECK ITSELF!
SHIKHA MUKERJEE
There is a difference between a shake-out, a clean-up, a purge and rectification. Hopefully the West Bengal unit of the Communist Party of India(Marxist) knows the difference, because it is almost certain that the central leadership of the party, namely general secretary Prakash Karat, does not.
A cleaning supervisor who ends up making a mess is not the best guide for a State poised on the brink of regime change as West Bengal is. Quite apart from the disaster that Mr Karat produced by following through on his threat to withdraw support from the Congress at the Centre in 2008 compounded by the ridiculous exercise in alliance building with Ms Mayawati on the one hand and Ms J Jayalalithaa on the other, his interventions in Kerala have ensured that not only did the CPI(M) lose in the Lok Sabha election but that it will lose to the Congress and usher in a United Democratic Front Government in the next Assembly elections.
The formal inauguration of the rectification drive in West Bengal, following the post-mortem of the Lok Sabha election results does not augur well for the already demoralised cadres of the CPI(M). It must be presumed that the rectification has a purpose larger than the routine task of identifying the loyal foot soldiers from the mercenaries. With stories in circulation of how the party's cadres have evolved into contractors and suppliers, using their clout to drive business, the purpose of the rectification drive seems to be a public relations exercise for the benefit of the CPI(M)'s critics and the disgruntled voters.
Minus the substance, the naming, shaming, rectification is a textbook solution to a complicated problem at a critical juncture. In the real world, especially in a boisterous democracy, the rigid rules cannot be imposed and implemented. For one, the party has grown too large; producing a format to clean up three lakh plus members over two days is a fantastic target, given the complexities of relationships and circumstances within West Bengal. For another, the fixers need to start with a clear understanding of what can be fixed and what needs to be discarded. Communicating this down the line so that the rectification does not turn into a witch-hunt in places, a settling of scores elsewhere is essential.
The fact of the matter is that some of this could have been achieved had there been a credible chain of command. Unfortunately, the State unit of the CPI(M) has poor commanders and in some districts grossly overage leaders, who cannot be expected to deliver on anything, leave alone lead an exercise that requires energy, discernment, diplomacy and a certain degree of ruthlessness.
For a party that prides itself on the smooth transfer of power from the veterans to the 'younger' leaders, all of who are pushing 60 now, it has proved ridiculously inept in replacing the veterans at the district level. While Mr Jyoti Basu bowed out and then quit the Polit Bureau, others have not done so; some because no one suggested it to them, others because an acceptable replacement could not be named. In Kolkata district, so crucial for the party's morale, the leadership has remained with Mr Raghunath Kushari for decades. In Purulia, Mr Nakul Mahato has been around forever; Burdwan district is still in the grip of Mr Binoy Konar despite his age and health.
There was a time when the CPI(M) did drop old timers and even younger leaders who were getting too hot to handle. It served a different purpose; it signalled to the rest of the party what was desirable and what had to be either pensioned off or discarded. The people named and removed were examples and that seemed to work better, than what this rectification drive promises.
The CPI(M) in West Bengal is being driven back to the wall by the pressure from the opposition buoyed by a tidal wave of disappointments, discontents and anger. The party has been in power for 32 years and in as much as it has to account for its actions to the electorate, it has to account for its actions to the party. To be guided by the central leadership of the CPI(M) on rectification may be a technical requirement, but the State leadership cannot afford to let itself be dominated by a 'line'.
Mr Biman Bose, technically and Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, morally, are required to lead the party in West Bengal.
The shakier the CPI(M) gets as a vote catching machine, the greater the need to be seen to provide effective security to its local leaders. A harsh rectification will drive the mercenaries towards the opposition; a blundering drive will alienate the locals and their leaders. They cannot do anything that jeopardises the lives of the thousands who have lived and worked for the CPI(M). They cannot wreck the party in the name of rectification.
The difficulty is that Mr Bose and Mr Bhattacharjee have to agree and follow through on a strategy of exemplary punishment that communicates the message within the party, can be paraded for mending relations with the disenchanted public and repair morale. Blundering into a rectification that ends up as a bloodbath is not politic; Mr Bose and Mr Bhattacharjee have responsibilities beyond supervising a clean-up. Their roots are in West Bengal; they have lived and led here. They cannot be obedient to the boss and let down their comrades. If they can pull it off, the CPI(M) can salvage itself from defeat; if they fail, they will have cut the ground from under their own feet.
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THE PIONEER
OPED
RAO WANTED BABRI TO FALL
HE REALISED THAT THE DISPUTED STRUCTURE WOULD BECOME A GREATER LIABILITY FOR THE CONGRESS THAN IT WAS AN ASSET FOR THE HINDU MOVEMENT. IN HINDSIGHT, HE WAS RIGHT
PRAFULL GORADIA
I had overlooked the significance of what a member of Rajiv Gandhi's Cabinet had casually mentioned sometime in 1987. The BJP had not then taken on board its 'Ayodhya manifesto'. The Minister had said that the Ram mandir would become a greater liability for the Congress than it was an asset for the Hindu movement. It was only in September 1991 that I was reminded of the mandir. By then Parliament had unanimously passed the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This law prohibited any alteration in the character of a place of worship in India from what it had been since August 15, 1947. Except the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure. While the Act was significant I did not quite realise its import.
Thereafter, in late-November 1992 when Mr Keshubhai Patel, later the Chief Minister of Gujarat, telephoned me to get ready to accompany him and Mr Suresh Mehta to Ayodhya. By 10:40 am on the fateful day we were all on the VIP terrace with the Babri edifice in view from not very far. We could not leave the terrace till nearly 5:45 pm by when it was cold and completely dark. Well before 6 pm we were in our car and on our way back to Lucknow for the night. On Mr Mehta's transistor radio we heard that the Centre had dismissed all the four BJP State Governments, including that of Mr Kalyan Singh.
On the terrace, Acharya Dharmendra was acting as the master of ceremonies with the help of the only microphone available there. From time to time, he would invite anybody willing to sing or speak in praise of Sri Ram. As more VIPs came up to the terrace, the younger persons were asked to make space. By noon the terrace had a galaxy of VIPs. When a number of young men climbed on to the main dome of the edifice, in all they were three, Mr HV Seshadri made fervent appeals on the microphone successively in six different languages asking the young men to get down as he feared for their lives. Instead of getting off, the young enthusiasts scratched the surface of the dome so hard that it became golden sand in colour.
In the meantime, came up to the terrace two photographers who had lost their cameras, had been badly bruised and humiliated. They had insisted on taking photographs of the so-called kar sevaks who were, with the help of crow bars, digging into the bottom edges of the domes. I was surprised that kar sevaks would object to being photographed. Normally, they should have been delighted. My poser to the photographers was, were the kar sevaks, by any chance, Government servants? Perhaps, PWD men? At approximately 2:30 pm one of the domes on the extreme right from where we were, collapsed. Surely, if the Centre disapproved of such demolition, it could have imposed Governor's rule immediately and saved the next two domes. The next one to go was at 3:40 pm and the last one survived until 4:30 pm. There was still clear day light when the entire Babri structure with its 10 walls, some three feet thick and over 30 feet tall, standing in all their domeless splendour. The walls were intact; with the three domes gone.
We returned to Lucknow by about 8:30 pm. The city was by then under curfew, and after some searching got rooms in a guest house. While we were having dinner came Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao on television. He was speaking in Hindi to express his sorrow at what had happened in Ayodhya that afternoon. After condemning the act repeatedly he solemnly promised that he would re-build the Babri masjid very soon. To which our reaction was: Where was the need to re-build the edifice? It was still very much there. Only the three domes were missing which could be re-built in no time. Instead, the Governor representing the Central Government demolished the standing walls.
Ayodhya had been so cordoned off that no photograph could be taken of the walls without the domes. Neither I have seen the picture nor have I met anyone who has seen one.
Thereafter, there was little specific news from Ayodhya. What we saw next were the newspapers of December 9 showing photographs of Ram Lalla in the make-shift temple guarded by para-military jawans. We were astonished to find from the photographs that the entire structure was missing, all the walls gone and no rubble. All this happened in the course of 60 hours between the night of December 6 and December 8. Without the whole-hearted support of the State Public Works Department and its bulldozers, this enormous task could not have been accomplished. All this while Uttar Pradesh was under Governor's rule and, therefore, at the beck and call of the Centre.
Narasimha Rao used his foresight for the sake of the Congress. So long as the Babri edifice had remained, the BJP would have a handle to agitate and win Hindu support. The Congress might have been continually on the defensive. With the structure gone and Ram Lalla installed at his birthplace, the BJP will lose the cause for agitation.
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THE PIONEER
OPED
CONTOURS EMERGE OF COORDINATED ACTION
ALTHOUGH WE ARE YET TO SEE A REGIONAL OR GLOBAL POLICY ON TERROR, SOMETHING IS HAPPENING AT LAST, WRITES DMITRY
KOSYREV
The parade followed the route of the terrorists, passing by the city's two best hotels and the famous railway station, which looks like a huge Catholic cathedral.
Last year 10 young people, well-trained and armed to the teeth, arrived by boat from neighbouring Pakistan and killed 166 people in the course of 60 hours.
It was a unique act of terror, which called into doubt our ability to stop such actions as a seizure of a city centre by a small group of people.
This terrorist attack did not affect India's domestic policy. The ruling Congress has won the general elections. Surprisingly, no major changes have taken place in India's foreign policy but the reason for that is simple: Any attempts to counter the threat emanating from Pakistan seemed pointless.
During this anniversary Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid a visit to Washington, DC. He told the American audience that when Pakistan was ruled by Gen Pervez Musharraf, who was not an ardent champion of democracy, it was at least clear whom to call. This is no longer possible now that Pakistan is ruled by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who are not on very good terms.
Needless to say, India broke off political dialogue with Pakistan. After an exchange of letters between New Delhi and Islamabad, which lasted for months, Pakistan finally charged seven people with 'complicity' in the events in Mumbai. One of the 10 terrorists (others were killed) will go on trial in India.
However, there is no guarantee that these actions will help the world reach its main goal, which Mr Singh described as "the destruction of the infrastructure of terrorism."
It appears that nobody knows how to attain this goal. The unprecedented 9/11 attacks in New York and the massive act of terror in Mumbai originated in the same barely controlled part of the world. For all the reservations about their names, Al Qaeda, which was in charge of 9/11, and Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, which was behind the Mumbai attacks, are links of the same chain. It is believed that this chain was set up by Pakistani secret services, and not without participation of their American colleagues.
Indians maintain that the Pakistani military could easily destroy the infrastructure of terrorism and should be encouraged to do so. The weak Pakistani Government should be given some guarantees of survival after doing this.
Americans were much more radical in their moves. They simply occupied Afghanistan after the war in the winter of 2001-2002. The results were negligible in both cases. There is no guarantee against new major raids in any part of the world. There are places like Somalia, where people limit their activities to such trifles as piracy on one of the world's busiest routes by sheer accident. Nobody knows how to cope with these problems.
At any rate, nobody knew this in the strange transitional world which emerged in the 1990s — an uncontrollable world of illusions about the 'only superpower' and globalisation under one and the same pattern. It is obvious now that this world will never come back but it is not clear what system of global management will replace it. It is being created by test and trial before our eyes.
The anniversary of the act of terror in Mumbai is an excellent illustration of this process because on that day US President Barack Obama met with the Indian Prime Minister in Washington, DC. Their conversation primarily revolved around Mumbai, Pakistan and terrorism. Mr Obama is expected to announce a new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan on December 1, and it will have nothing to do with retreat or withdrawal. India, a key country in the region, did not take part in US policy before, but this absurdity had long been obvious.
It is not yet clear what the two leaders agreed on in Washington. Obviously, the US is no longer on Pakistan's side. Now Americans and Indians are fighting terrorism together. India is grateful to Mr Obama for his role in putting the Pakistani 'suspects' on trial.
The writer is a political affairs columnist based in Moscow.
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MAIL TODAY
EDITORIAL
DUBAI WAS A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN
DUBAI'S debt disaster has sent waves of fear and panic through investors worldwide. The panic is not surprising. Just when they thought that governments around the world had managed to successfully stave off the prospect of a collapse of the world financial system, the news that a sovereign government would recklessly endanger not only its, but the entire region's financial stability and economic development is enough to scare anybody. But that is exactly what Dubai, an autocratic kingdom which is run more like a closely- held family company, has been doing.
Technically, the default in debt repayment was committed by a real estate developer, Nakheel. But Nakheel is owned by Dubai World, which is Dubai's sovereign wealth fund. And Dubai World's debts were in turn backed by the Dubai government. The Dubai debacle is entirely man- made, just like the impossible skyscrapers and the unbelievable artificial islands which have become its trademark. It borrowed and spent recklessly on projects which would have simply failed to find financial backing in any other corner of the world. This was driven by Dubai's ruler, Sheikh al Maktoum's ambition to turn his tiny desert city- state into a magnet for the world's wealth and playground for the rich and famous. The result has been a mountain of debt and empty monuments to human imagination.
Dubai's crisis is of immediate concern to India. Dubai has always been very closely linked with India. Indians control its thriving gold market, power its construction boom and dominate its trade. The government and the Reserve Bank have said there is little to worry. But the informal linkages are much bigger. Dubai is the focal point of India's hawala trade, channeling billions through unofficial channels in and out of India. The panic in the stock markets was triggered by the fact that most players are aware of the extent to which these funds have been pumped back into Indian stocks and real estate. The plight of millions of Indians working in India is also of pressing concern.
The end of the Dubai dream will mean a nightmare for millions more back home, dependent as they are on remittances from family members there. Kerala, with lakhs of its citizens there, has already called for help.
The government needs to act proactively to prevent a human tragedy.
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MAIL TODAY
EDITORIAL
NO ROOM FOR LENIENCY
THE panel set up by the Union Surface Transport and Highways Ministry to review the Motor Vehicle Act of 1988 is right in proposing stiffer penalties for drunken driving, with slabs being set for different alcohol levels in the blood stream. As is well known, the present law — where there is a uniform penalty of Rs 2,000 irrespective of how much alcohol a driver has consumed — is too soft to deter offenders.
Drunken driving is something most Indians who consume alcohol have been guilty of, at some point or the other. But it is high time we stopped considering it as a mere indulgence.
Those inclined to see it that way must remember that it is estimated that 40 per cent of road accidents in India occur at night, with one- third of those being caused due to alcohol — a lakh people are killed on our roads every year.
But it is not enough to merely raise fines for drunken driving. The panel must also take a call on habitual offenders, with a third violation leading to cancellation of licence. In any case, it is not laws and regulations but their enforcement that is the key here. For instance the Motor Vehicle Act of 1988 even stipulates imprisonment for drunken driving but rare is the case when this actually happens.
Our policemen need to be more vigilant at night and they must be provided proper equipment to check alcohol levels. Also, the possibility of the proposal merely helping policemen make more money is real and needs to be guarded against.
It is perhaps not within the purview of the panel to consider death due to drunken driving but this is a matter on which our parliamentarians must show the way. As we have said before, section 304A of the Indian Penal Code which deals with death due to negligence is too mild a provision against a drunk driver running over someone. A parliamentary panel had suggested that an offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder be made out in such cases. The lawmakers could consider this proposal or, at the very least, introduce a specific provision in the IPC against the offence.
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MAIL TODAY
EDITORIAL
READ BABRI REPORT RIGHT
BY RAJEEV DHAVAN
Those indicted culpablybythe Liberhan panel must not hide behind procedure or the leakof the report
AT LAST after 17 years, 399 settings, 48 extensions, a cost of Rs 17 crores, embarrassing differences between the Commission's counsel and Chairperson, litigation in court to delay it, the Liberhan Report on the destruction of Babri Masjid has arrived. Submitted on 30th June 2009, Home Minister P Chidambaram held on to it until, it was leaked on 23rd November 2009 amidst accusations of conspiracy and finally tabled on 24th November.
First, the leak. It was a coup for a newspaper. If anyone knows about the leak, surely it is that newspaper which stole a march to make a coup. In fact, what was wrong was the archaic law of non- disclosure. It is an absurd relic from English practice. There is no reason why reports should be disclosed to parliament first.
On one occasion in 1960 or so, Pandit Nehru was accused of breach of parliamentary privilege because he pre- disclosed to the press a comment he was to make in Parliament. This part of parliamentary privilege should be removed by legislation. An Act should be enacted which simply says " All reports to Parliament shall be submitted to the Speaker and Chair of each House; and simultaneously published straightaway; ( 2) Any Action Taken Report ( ATR) shall be declared to Parliament within one month". This cat- and- mouse game of publication will disappear consistent with RTI principles of transparency. No report should be withheld from the public by either the government or parliament.
PRECEDENT
Second, the spat between the Chairperson and Liberhan Counsel Anupam Gupta was unnecessary.
Self- advertisement is not unknown to Gupta who acquired notoriety in other controversies over judicial corruption in 1993. Liberhan appointed Gupta.
There is no reason to doubt Liberhan's integrity. Making media capital out of personal recriminations is not right morally, under lawyerconduct rules or otherwise.
Everytime a report comes out, we do not have to wail that all commissions are useless and designed to gather dust.
Reports are of many kinds: on corruption, riots, events or people. Corruption reports on Kairon and TT Krishnamachari were given to Nehru who took action. Today, Prime Ministers and all political parties tolerate corruption.
Parliament's own Joint Committee Report on Bofors, on Rajiv Gandhi's involvement, has never been accepted as true or convincing. Commission reports should not become political toys. The Babri Masjid report explores a damning event of our history.
It is easy to dissolve its findings in acerbic party- political acid. But this should not happen.
Let us look at the Report and the political antics designed to obfuscate its message. This is a people's paredness of the Karsevaks, there was a well planned conspiracy to destroy the Masjid; ( 3) Financial support came from Sangh Parivar funds including bank accounts operated by various named persons; ( 4) The, then, Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and his handpicked bureaucrats were involved in the conspiracy to destroy the Masjid and allowed a " parallel government" and " cartel" to facilitate the campaign which infiltrated the government; ( 5) The state ( of UP) had become a willing ally and co- conspirator in the joint common enterprise…( of) demolishing the structure; ( 6) The conspiracy arose from the single- minded efforts of the RSS and VHP ideologues and theologians to manipulate ordinary people into a frenzied mob; ( 7) The campaign had nothing to do with a popular mandate from the people who were manipulated to support it; ( 8) The police fell in line with this conspiracy; ( 9) The union government was crippled by failure of intelligence and the " all- is- well reports by its rapporteur Tej Shankar"; ( 10) Not a single video camera was put in place; ( 11) The media " and report for the people to find their way around a people's issue on an event that divided India. 6th December 1992, when the Masjid fell, is a watershed in India's contemporary history. Through the demolition, the Sangh Parivar legitimised the politics of destructive communal hate. Hitherto, communal tension was regarded as an evil in governance.
CONCLUSIONS
After Babri Masjid, BJP leaders and the Parivar set a new political standard which declared that the destruction of masjids, killings of people, destroying of art works were a legitimate pursuit of a communal pseudo- Hindu nationalism advancing the cause of the " true Aryan" people.
Liberhan was not examining a " who- done- it". He was looking at a phenomenon that shook India's secular, multicultural people and polity. What Liberhan found was what we already know but need to know better. His conclusions in chapter 14 were ( 1) Babri Masjid was not an unintended spontaneous event except for " self- serving hyperbole"; ( 2) Logistically, given the total pre journalists were subjected to systematic harassment"; ( 12) Leaders like Vajpayee, MM Joshi and L. K. Advani, and Govindacharya knew of the designs of the Sangh Parivar and lent their support in various ways; ( 13) Muslim leaders " wittingly or unwittingly" did not counter the plans of the RSS and VHP, effectively to make the latter's task easier; ( 14) 68 persons are found " culpable", including Advani, Vajpayee and Joshi, but not Narsimha Rao.
There are several recommendations for the future on both the inadequacy of response and the need for new changes. None of the 68 indicted culpably should hide behind procedure ( even if those like Vajpayee have a genuine grievance of not being called a witness in his defence) or the leak of the report. Let them replace artful defence with honesty and candour. The indicted persons face two alternatives other than criminal proceedings. The first alternative for them is to candidly state: " I was involved in the destruction of the Babri Masjid and I am proud of it"; and face the social, legal and political consequences. Alternatively, if they are innocent, then each individual in this group of 68 should be prepared to say: " I never intended or participated in any conspiracy to destroy the Masjid; I denounce and condemn its destruction as illegal and unconscionable; I express my regrets over its destruction and promise never to be involved in any conspiracy and actions to destroy religious structures or victimise people of other faiths and religions." There is no other alternative. It's truth or nothing.
NATION
India must put this divisive event behind it. The Supreme Court decisions on the Ayodhya Act and Presidential reference case of 1994 have stated that the vesting of the Babri Masjid area in the Union Government makes the latter trustees and not owners of the structural area until the Lucknow court decides this issue. At least court proceedings have brought temporary peace. But, following the Liberhan Commission report there should be ' truth and reconciliation' in which statements and regrets are talked through.
The BJP and Sangh Parivar must be truthful. The nation cannot move on until the truth is told. The Liberhan Commission invites a premium on truth not for further divisiveness but to heal a nation which was split open. But if obtaining political power is more important than governance, these games will continue to infiltrate our psyche. The most frightening part of the Liberhan report is how the ' state' and ' governance' can be hijacked into manipulation and control. Fascism began in this way.
The writer is a Supreme Court lawyer
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MAIL TODAY
POWER & POLITICS
AT WAR WITH OURSELVES
PRABHU CHAWLA
IT WAS an occasion when leaders, cutting across party barriers, should have stood shoulder to shoulder, heads bowed in dignified mourning. Instead what millions of TV viewers saw last Thursday on the first anniversary of the Mumbai attack was something that was totally at odds with the solemn occasion. Our politicians were busy trying to score brownie points. What else would explain the ugly, acrimonious scenes witnessed in the Lok Sabha that forced the seasoned Pranab Mukherjee to curtly tell the BJP's Ananth Kumar, " I did not come here to listen to you, I came to listen to your leader LK Advani". What prompted the vicious response was Kumar's allegation that even one year after 26/ 11, less than 1/ 4th of the victims or their families had been paid the promised compensation. Kumar's charges were not without basis but by raking it up on the day when people across the country lit candles in remembrance of the dead and reached out to commiserate with one another, he only managed to prove that even on an issue that should have glued us all, our politicians stand divided. Sadly, this percolates down the line and it was appalling to see senior police officials indulging in a tu tu mein mein that would churn the stomach of most of us. What was most astounding was that it was Hassan Gafoor, then Mumbai Police Commissioner who has since won " promotion" as DGP( Housing), who chose to launch the internecine war by levelling needless accusations against four senior Mumbai police officials of dereliction of duty.
I don't know what the provocation was but Ghafoor has opened a can of worms and I won't be surprised if even school children are now tempted to believe that the police establishment itself was responsible for the death of some of its finest officers.
Now the wives of some of those bravehearts have joined the battle and are openly alleging that their husbands died because of the effete top brass of the Mumbai police. Vinita Kamte, wife of Ashok Kamte, Additional Commissioner of Police who was killed along with anti- terrorism specialists Hemant Karkare and Vijay Salaskar has held the Mumbai police top brass responsible for their deaths, accusing them of giving inadequate information from the police control room about the attacks. Hers is no empty boast. A lawyer by training, Vinita's conclusions are based on the telephone call logs of the Mumbai police that she accessed using the Right to Information Act. Kavita Karkare, widow of the slain ATS chief, too filed an RTI seeking information on her hus- Vinita Kamte band's bulletproof jacket, only to be told that it is missing.
We would have laughed at such sloppiness if it weren't for the deaths of so many brave men. I was in Mumbai on 26/ 11 and was dining with my colleagues at the Taj Land'send in Bandra when I heard about the shootings. We persuaded a reluctant taxi driver to drop us near the Trident Hotel where we stayed put till the early hours. Based just on what I saw that night, I had in these columns exactly a year ago written about the casual manner in which Hassan and Jt Commissioner Rakesh Maria seemed to be going about their jobs when they should have been leading from the front. I am not surprised that Vinita Kamte's painstaking work has unearthed what had been suspected all along: that Mumbai police goofed up. And having done so badly, were desperately seeking to cover up. Faced with Vinita's allegations, now published in a book, Maria has threatened to quit. Ironically, Maria who stands accused of laxity, is also in charge of the 26/ 11 investigations. Judge, jury, prosecution and defence, rolled into one. So much for accountability.
The uncivil war has spared none. Like the police, politicians too are busy pointing fingers at each other. The Congress, the senior partner in the ruling coalition, seeks to wash its hands of, because the home portfolio is held, then as now, by the NCP. In Delhi, Advani and Ananth Kumar must have taken leave of their senses to launch such a low- level attack on the government.
If the politicians who are supposed to lead and the police who are tasked with securing our safety are so divided, it may not be long before 26/ 11 comes visiting again.
HIGH COMMAND IN CONTROL IN ANDHRA
WHY DID it take the Congress high command three months to hold the meeting of the 199- member Andhra Pradesh legislature Party? To correct a constitutional impropriety that was committed when governor N. D. Tiwari used his discretionary powers to appoint K. Rosaiah as successor to late Y. S. Rajsekhara Reddy.
Under the Constitution, the governor can appoint someone only after he or she has been formally elected by the legislative party.
In this case, this was not done and legal questions were being raised about the legitimacy of the government. The CLP was put off for three months because of the fear that Jaganmohan Reddy, YSR's son, would ride the sympathy wave to get himself elected.
All this while, Congress leaders from New Delhi worked quietly on him and other potential candidates.
Last week, the high command sent its two most powerful emissaries, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and law minister Veerappa Moily to Hyderabad to resolve the issue.
On Saturday, when the CLP met, it passed a resolution authorising Sonia Gandhi to choose its leader.
Curiously, Congress MPs were special invitees to the CLP and even more curiously, the resolution was moved not by an MLA but by Jagan who is an MP. Within 24 hours, chief minsiter Rosaiah's name was formally announced. But the crisis will be fully resolved only when the Congress honours the second part of the deal with YSR's son.
After the party lost a few local civic elections recently, the Jagan group launched a fresh offensive to " save the party" and demanded Rosaiah's head on the ground that he doesn't have a mass base and is not aggressive enough, as YSR was.
So Rosaiah's election doesn't in anyway ensure that he will continue in office for long.
The majority of the Congress leaders in the state feel that unless the party has a firm and decisive leadership, the state will slowly slip away from its hand.
Chandrababu Naidu, the Telugu Desam Party ( TDP) cheif, must surely be licking his chops in anticipation
FOR A bureaucrat, Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrashekhar is quite net savvy, even an ardent votary of e- governance. Recently, he sent memos to secretaries of all departments about the quality of the government websites that left a lot to be desired in terms of design, accessibility, quality and currency of content, all of which were compounded by the obsolete technology that was used. " Today, websites are considered the virtual face of the Department in cyber space… and must accurately reflect the Department's activities and initiatives in the real world as well as offer more and more services online," his note said. And so he asked all department Secretaries to nominate senior officers at Additional Secretary or Joint Secretary level who would take upon themselves the task of ensuring up- to- date and high quality content on the websites as well as ensure timely response on queries received through websites.
The secretaries were also asked to review the overall quality of the websites on a periodic basis.
But of the 700 odd IAS officers of the rank of secretaries, additional secretaries, joint secretaries and other heads of departments, a majority still leave the job of logging on and off their computers to their personal staff. Last heard, the response from the departments has been disappointing as few officers have volunteered to take up the responsibility. Chandrashekhar's dream of encouraging e- governance through citizen centric and visitor friendly government websites may remain just that — a dream.
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TIMES OF INDIA
COMMENT
WAIT AND WATCH
Dubai's government-run investment firm, Dubai World, sought a "standstill" agreement last week to defer repayment on much of its $59 billion debt. This rocked global stock markets. The move now has national governments everywhere worried about the impact of the corporate debt default request. Is there cause for knee-jerk panic? Experts the world over seem to think not. They say Dubai is only the latest demonstration of the perils of overleveraged ambitions. The unravelling of what's dubbed "the Dubai model" of breakneck speed development was waiting to happen. Indian authorities, on their part, recommend a calm assessment of Dubai's possible fallout. This is wise.
Banks are checking their exposure levels, and so is industry. Our real estate firms are largely domestically driven, but even those with projects in Dubai don't seem ruffled so far as their India operations go. So far, it appears that Dubai World's debt woes could have a marginal fallout. While the conglomerate's future plans in India may falter, existing projects may remain unscathed. Nonetheless, concern for around five million Indians living and working in the Gulf is understandable. They remit over $10 billion annually. Around 40 per cent of the UAE's population is Indian, contributing over 10 per cent of incoming remittances. Yet if incomes of the families of immigrants and contracted workers dip, it's worth recalling that money flow has been thinning for some time. Also, NRI deposits are more likely to be hit than remittances. Again, job contraction may occur, but migrant labourers have been coming home over the past year since most are employed in construction, a sector badly hit by the global recession.
The focus is also on investor confidence, and its possible domino effect in the form of capital outflows from emerging markets. Where India's concerned, some amount of capital flight may actually facilitate a correction in Dalal Street, in light of a recent surge in FII inflows that raised eyebrows. But the prospect of big outflows looks unlikely. Dubai-based sovereign funds are not big buyers of Indian equities and other financial assets. Nor is there much Dubai-linked private stakeholding in listed Indian companies. So the bourses aren't likely to be too rattled.
Finally, it's improbable that Dubai World will be allowed to tank by Abu Dhabi, with all its oil money. With many of the developed world's biggest banks surviving on government handouts, a bailout for a Middle Eastern government-owned investment fund would be unexceptionable. Minus the firm promise of a quick bailout, however, the markets could bet on a sovereign default. Today, sovereign debt's piled up everywhere. One sovereign default may make bond holders and markets start doubting the repayment abilities of their debtors. That's something global finance doesn't need.
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TIMES OF INDIA
COMMENT
CORRECT CALL
The back and forth on Iran's nuclear programme continues to confound. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution censuring Iran comes less than two months after what was hailed as a diplomatic success in the entire process. While IAEA inspectors did examine the newly revealed nuclear facility near Qom as Tehran had acquiesced to then, the second clause - shipment of the majority of Iran's uranium stocks to another country for enrichment - continues to be problematic. Given the prevarication, the late revelation of the Qom facility and the fact that China and Russia backed the resolution as well, India took the correct decision by supporting it.
Given the tricky duality of India's long-standing ties with Iran and its strategic interests in preventing nuclear proliferation, New Delhi has made the best of the situation. Its stand is a suitably nuanced one. One the one hand, it cannot afford to lose the ethical high ground on nuclear proliferation that has enabled its unique nuclear status among non-P5 nations. Voting against the resolution when even Russia and China, usually votaries of a softer approach to Iran, had come on board would have achieved precisely that. Neither is it in Indian interests to have another nuclear weapons state in the region.
On the other hand, the foreign office has made it clear that New Delhi does not support punitive measures or a drawing down of diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue. This is essential, since the internal dissent in Iran about Tehran's agreeing to the two measures is a good sign. While the proverbial stick is necessary in case the naysayers win, it should not be employed hastily. Such debates take time to play out.
As for fears of deterioration in India-Iran ties if New Delhi supports the IAEA, they are exaggerated. The big-ticket item in the relationship, the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, remains a pipe dream for the moment. By the time the India-Pakistan situation is resolved sufficiently to make it a reality, a lot of water will have flowed under the bridge. New Delhi and Tehran's shared security concerns in Afghanistan are also likely to ameliorate any possible friction. And oft-cited fears of domestic reactions in India are hyperbole at best. Public engagement with regular foreign policy issues has never been high. It is unlikely to change now.
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TIMES OF INDIA
TOP ARTICLE
EXORCISING BENGAL'S GHOSTS
The problems the UPA government had faced with the Left during its last tenure may not be too dissimilar from the difficulties it's likely to have with its Trinamul allies during this one. In the first chill blast, Mamata Banerjee vetoed legislation that would reform current land acquisition laws. Ironically, it's those laws that enabled the Left Front to take over land at Nandigram and Singur, which Trinamul has been in the forefront of protesting.
Such cussedness and lack of pragmatism closely parallel the Left's own stand on the India-US nuclear deal, when the Left tried hard to get New Delhi to cut off its own nose in order to spite Washington. Given that the Left has a strong Bengali dimension (Trinamul of course is a Bengali party), it's time to revisit the old adage about India thinking tomorrow what Bengal thinks today. Bengal now lags behind the times, thinking today what India thought yesterday. Communist rule has led to the stagnation of Bengal, as was the case in Soviet Russia under Leonid Brezhnev.
If anything survives the uproar over the Liberhan commission report during the current session of Parliament, the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill and related Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill are slated to come up again. What position the Trinamul stakes out on these will indicate whether it's a pragmatic and future-oriented party or whether it wishes to perpetuate the old self-wounding politics of Bengal. The continuation of this politics has meant that while this year's parliamentary elections were peaceable in most parts of India, its Bengal phase unleashed what governor Gopal Gandhi - usually a mild-mannered man - described as "a tandava of political violence". More than a hundred people died in political clashes between May and August this year.
It's hard to watch The Leopard - Luchino Visconti's classic film about 19{+t}{+h} century Sicily - against the backdrop of today's Bengal and not make connections. The film evokes wonderfully the torpor of the Sicilian summer, which stands out against the movement for change and modernity that comes to the island with its invasion by Garibaldi's redshirts. Don Fabrizio, the sensual yet world-weary Sicilian aristocrat played by Burt Lancaster, votes in favour of the revolution. But he is cynically clear-eyed about its prospects: "something has to change for everything to stay as it was". In his view Sicily is liable to remain as it always was, a place where only lineage and patronage will matter, and personal achievement counts for nothing.
The revolution brought to Bengal by the Left Front government in 1977 is now coming apart at the seams, because another one's in the offing. Today's political tandava may be happening because the tables are turning once again, as Trinamul makes headway at the cost of the Left Front. Despite the utopian hopes aroused by the Left, its principal failing is that it changed Bengal's patrons but not the system of patronage. Everything in Bengal's institutions and public life was systematically and relentlessly politicised under its rule. Despite the overwhelming sympathy the Left received from Bengal's intelligentsia it failed to cash in. One only hopes Trinamul doesn't repeat history when (and if) it comes to power.
The Left Front started well with Operation Barga, the movement to record the names of sharecroppers in the countryside. As sharecropper rights were made inheritable, Operation Barga did raise rural living standards and spur agricultural growth. But land reform can't be a one-point economic programme, with little effort made to lift industrial or social indicators. What happens when the population goes up, and the sharecropper has to divide his land among multiple offspring? What does Bengal do with its vast army of educated unemployed, apart from keeping them engaged in internecine political warfare?
By the time chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee launched a crash industrialisation programme - after three decades of Left rule had elapsed - another problem had cropped up. Collapsing all distinction between party and government, the CPM had unleashed its cadres on the countryside. While this cadre followed the Maoist dictum that power grows out of the barrel of a gun, police forces in the state were rendered ineffective. Ironically, while Operation Barga strengthened the claims of peasant proprietorship, cadre power undermined it. These two principles came into collision at Nandigram, as the cadre was let loose on villagers who resisted land acquisition.
The Left is now haunted by the manner in which it undermined governance and the legitimacy of state institutions. Result: Bengal is close to realising the communist goal of the state withering away, and Maoists have come to the fore. Ironically, it's the "radical" Maoists who are now raising the issue of non-implementation of NREGS in the state by the "moderate" Left Front government, worsening the plight of the rural poor. Trinamul is busy taking advantage of the situation. But it too may be riding a tiger it will be unable to dismount later. The question remains whether it can make the transition from a party of opposition to a party of governance. If it can't, its balloon is liable to be pricked much faster than the Left's was.
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TIMES OF INDIA
Q&A
'QUEER MOVEMENT WILL UNDO PRETENTIOUS HETEROSEXUAL VALUES'
Noted art historian and head of the department of art history and aesthetics at M S University of Baroda, Shivaji K Panikkar is currently engaged in setting up an institution named ARQ (Archive, Research and Queer Cultural Practice). He spoke with Romain Maitra about his views on the ethos of the 'queer':
What do you wish to attain through the notion of the 'queer' - around issues of gender and alternative sexuality?
The 'queer' values have to become a socio-politico-economic movement in order to revolutionise and transform the norms of the heterosexual nucleus family system, interpersonal and social relationships, and private possession and ownership, into new systems of communal sharing, living, responsibilities and ownership. The 'queer' movement will undo the pretentious heterosexual values and usher many human beings into a new world of freedom of choice to live truthfully. It will replace the dominance of the religious and theocratic world view with a new anthropocentrism, humanism and true secularism. The new culture that will evolve as a result of 'queer' movement will break all the barriers of nationality, caste, class, gender and sexuality.
What's been the response of the general public and public bodies in India to 'queer' activism?
In India too, 'queer' activism is slowly but steadily making its affects felt in jurisprudence, political bodies, social discourse and cultural circles. Particularly noteworthy are the attempts in interrogations being made among different religious leaderships, community organisations, agencies concerned with health and academic disciplines. Changes of drastic kind can be expected to happen slowly and only through consistent efforts as there are many impediments like convention-driven Indian social and family values, moralist discourses, slow legal and governing machinery, lack of consistent and sustained support from the media, and so on. Besides, when a lot of focus of activism is centred on health sector, the aspects of cultural and political empowerment are somewhat ignored by the activists.
What are the manifestations of the 'queers' in artistic and cultural practices in India?
It is only in the past over four decades that identifiable queer activism and its expressions in various fields of art are publicly visible anywhere in the world. In the recent past, writing queer histories for strengthening legitimacy to queer existence and its own political conviction, and inculcating faith in queer activism have come into existence in India. These, apart from asserting the claims of the past, also contest the myth that gay experiences and expressions are vices that developed in the western societies and imported to India. Further, while the 'coming out of closet' is often accompanied by pain and embarrassment, the 'queer' identity politics in art is also a fragile field. However, although it is quite heartening and inspiring that the queer identity in art, cinema and literature has provided major fillip to the movement, the queer cultural practitioners have to make further negotiations and adopt new strategies to make their presence more effective.
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TIMES OF INDIA
SANDWICH SORTIE
A SEA VIEW
Last week saw the anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, an attack that failed to destroy the hotel and its spirit. The damage sustained has been repaired and the hotel has been functioning smoothly for several months now. For the navy, the Taj is more than just a hotel. Notwithstanding the numerous skyscrapers that have come up, the Taj dome has always been a prominent nautical landmark and naval officers learn to recognise it from the sea even before setting foot inside the hotel. The dome is frequently used for various navigational functions such as fixing the position of the ship, checking the accuracy of the compass and anchoring. Since it is within walking distance from the naval dockyard, it is convenient for naval officers to visit whenever their pockets are full.
Back in the1960s,we had a cocktail party onboard my ship that went on late into the night. Three of us decided to go out and eat at the Sea Lounge. We ordered Swedish open sandwiches and the waiter brought a big tray with a large assortment of them. All of us had one each, and like Oliver Twist, wanted more when one friend averred that we could eat as many as we liked and would only be charged for one. Only too willing to believe him, we picked a few and were stupefied to see that we had been charged for every single piece! Then there was the Blow Up, India's first real discotheque, the hottest place in town to take one's girlfriend. The music and the psychedelic lights were mind-blowing.
On other occasions, particularly in the wee hours of the morning after a Bacchanalian binge, the Taj provided a reference point for the Bade Miyan stall just behind the hotel. The navy was introduced to it by a roly-poly bachelor who regularly visited it with all his shipmates. It became so popular that soon Bade Miyan was invited to cater for parties on ships. I believe that tradition continues to flourish to this day. I am only an occasional visitor now and look forward to my next trip to Mumbai, so i can walk into the Sea Lounge and order Swedish open sandwiches. I will happily pay for more than one this time!
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TIMES OF INDIA
SUBVERSE
BITE ME
A Twilight movie smashing the Dark Knight's opening day record? Wow, that's like, so totally uncool. Whatever could the multitudes of screaming girls on Team Edward or Team Jacob find in movies that share with their source material a singular lack of artistic and literary merit? It's almost as if they're in a vampire thrall, mind-controlled into believing that these books and movies are, well, good. If reading Twilight is a tortuous experience for most people with an ounce of intelligence, watching Edward the creepy, stalker-like centuries-old vampire our unlovable teenaged protagonist hungers after sparkle in the sun is even more nauseating. It's insulting that Hollywood assumes such dreck is palatable to large chunks of the female population or it would be if they hadn't been proved so humiliatingly, depressingly right with the hundreds of millions that New Moon, the just-out second movie in the series, has earned.
So, who's to blame for inflicting upon the world this bad fan fiction masquerading as young adult literature? Who primed unsuspecting humans of the female persuasion for Stephanie Meyer's nefarious, vampire-loving purposes? What ungodly phenomena unleashed upon us the uber-emo Edward and the unbelievably wet Bella?
It wasn't always like this. Vampires were once scary creatures of the night that preyed upon humans for their survival. They were just this side of feral and looked like the bloodsucking beasts they were meant to be. But the tortured new vampire as exemplified by Edward is more interested in true love than true blood. His popularity suggests that much like a unicorn, he's the fantastical creature that all girls want the perfect boyfriend.
The seduction of and the ultimate blame for the existence of Twilight must be laid at the feet of one Bram Stoker. Dracula, Stoker's claim to fame, drew on the mythologies of monsters like werewolves to establish new vampire lore, in which vampires and other creatures represented the anxieties of the age.
Popular culture is meant to reflect the modern human experience. It is at its most persuasive when doing so. Part of the reason vampires have endured to this day is because they, like all good monsters, can act as ciphers for the representation of sexuality. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the eponymous protagonist is a sexually confident young woman, whose vampire boyfriend nonetheless literally becomes a soulless monster after she sleeps with him, telegraphing the fears of millions of young women the world over. But Twilight is an allegorical tale about the dangers of unfettered female sexuality masquerading as a fairytale about true love: Bella's awakening sexuality is such a problem that Edward must physically restrain her from ravishing him. And when he finally gives in to her, she falls pregnant with a half-vampire fetus that attempts to kill her from inside the womb. Charming.
That's the other, perhaps more unforgivable problem with Twilight; why its popularity amongst tweens and their moms is so depressing. In the fracas over Team Edward and Team Jacob, there's no talk of Team Bella. That's because it's impossible to be on Bella's team - she has little intelligence, less self-respect and no agency. Indeed, you're left wondering why a creature so perfect as Edward would fall in love with her. Then you understand: it's not what she does, but rather what she is. Her blood is irresistible to the magical perfect vampire man thing that is Edward. Bella has no personality she's a tabula rasa and her overwhelming passivity allows things to happen to her, but she doesn't do much of anything.
The wild popularity of the Twilight books and films is discouraging not only on the aesthetic level, where vampires bear a strong resemblance to shiny woodland creatures, but because of Bella's willingness to sacrifice everything friends, family, education, even physical safety for Edward, who controls every aspect of her existence. Bella's the metamorphical princess locked away in her tower, and it is deeply tragic that young women project themselves in her place to be vicariously wooed by the undead, no matter how dazzling and attractive the vampire company might be.
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HINDUSTAN TIMES
EDITORIAL
THE GULF PLUMMETS
Prospects of a $59 billion debt default by Dubai World, a sovereign fund, are roiling an international financial structure that has just pulled back from the edge. The latest shock to the global recovery will pass through India because of our economic exposure to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE account for 11 per cent of our exports and have directly invested $1.4 billion in the country till date. But this does not come even remotely close to capturing the terms of economic engagement. Indians working in the Emirates sent home approximately a tenth of the $44 billion that India, the world's largest recipient, got as remittances in 2008-09.
Dollar flows from the Persian Gulf have a direct correspondence with Kerala's foreign exchange earnings. Every third house in the state has a person working abroad, principally in the Gulf. Their loss of livelihood could be a double whammy. It would not only hit our exports but also crimp consumption back home at a time when India, along with the rest of the world, is trying to spend its way out of a crisis. Understandably, the rupee is taking a hard knock — it has tumbled more than most Asian currencies. The Mumbai bourse has not come in for undue punishment though because of the low exposure of Indian companies to Dubai's construction bubble. The fall in the stock indices reflects a secular flight of portfolio investment to security and should reverse once the dust settles in the Gulf.
In fact, strong emerging economies like ours stand to gain once the dollar resumes its quest for higher returns. Last year's financial crisis will serve to identify pockets of prudence amid the build-up in asset values across large parts of the globe. Dubai's four-year real estate bubble, which saw prices crashing 50 per cent from last year, should work as a marker for the dollar (or euro) carry trade on what constitutes reasonable returns in emerging markets. India's demand for physical infrastructure will also come up against fewer capacity bottlenecks if Dubai's appetite for construction resources were to ebb. Finally, Mumbai's claim to becoming a regional financial centre is perversely tied to the eclipse of the Gulf powerhouse.
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HINDUSTAN TIMES
EDITORIAL
BAHU VS SENA
Sena bahu Smita Thackeray says she speaks only in Marathi at home and her son, vilayat-trained Rahul's first film will be in Marathi. Surprised? No? We don't blame you. That's Ms Thackeray's very unimaginative and frantic bid to pitchfork herself back into Maharashtra politics, this time piggyback-riding on the Congress. Ms Thackeray, the lady of Matoshree, is apparently disillusioned with her father-in-law, Bal Thackeray, and the way the Shiv Sena is run these days. No more is she the Rani of Realpolitik. Instead she now has to play second fiddle to other leaders.
And that's not all. There's more on the peeve list: Thackeray Sr refused to publish her second article in the family publication, Saamna. This rebuff led to two earth-shattering incidents: she not only tore up the article (something we hear quite often happening when we send a polite rejection letter ourselves) but also has severed her relationship with the Sena. Well done, ma'am. Imagine your magnum opus landing in the dustbin at the editor's office. On this, Ms Thackeray, you have our vote. We wish you had sent the piece to us instead.
But behind all this whining — and pining for the Congress — the adaptability of the Thackeray bahu must be acknowledged. Where did she learn this from? Not at the feet of the Tiger who doesn't change his stripes for sure. After realising that the Sena is not going anywhere, Smitaji marched straight to the opposite tent — no, we didn't say 'duplicate' camp and, therefore, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena of Raj — but the Congress. She insists she has an 'identity' of her own. To bolster her case, she gushed a bit on the importance of English and Hindi too. As they say, better late than never. Last heard, Thackeray Sr, has been ranting about how Raj is the only 'orjinal' Sena.
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HINDUSTAN TIMES
EDITORIAL
DIALECTIC MATERIALIST
Tomorrow is the world Aids Day. The absence of effective cures warrants campaigns to prevent the spread of this killer cellular mutative disease. Yet another silent mutation, cancer, continues to claim many lives, eluding a decisive cure. Could it be possible that these mutations are part of the evolutionary process signalling that in a very distant future, life-forms on this planet could be those that are completely unrecognisable today?
Such are the questions that arise in the 200th year of Charles Darwin's birth. During this preceding week of November 150 years ago Darwin's The Origin of Species was published, revolutionising scientific and rational thinking. This, for the first time, scientifically established that all living beings originated through entirely natural processes. So antagonistic was this to the reigning religious and philosophical view of the Divine Creator that Darwin himself once jocularly labelled himself as the 'devil's chaplain'. In a fascinating biography of The Origin of Species, Janet Browne says that it "in many ways [it] is the story of the modern world".
Not surprisingly, since the time of its publication, The Origin continues to be at the centre of many controversies. Even those who could not negate the irrefutable, scientific foundations of evolution, could not come to terms with the fact that it was threatening the existence of theology. From this sprang the postulate that the shaping of Earth and its inhabitants is a continuous process controlled by laws that god had instituted in the beginning. To this came the retort that if this be true, then god must be the most unemployed and bored entity since the laws are running their natural course. Such a deep churning on matters of theology and morality continue even today despite the fact that evolution has been scientifically accepted.
Darwin himself chose not to enter this controversy. Only 12 years later in The Descent of Man, he famously said "it has often and confidently been asserted that man's origin can never be known; but... it is those who know little and not those who know much who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."
Some of the most brilliant minds of the 19th century took up cudgels on behalf of Darwin. The most famous of them all, Thomas Huxley — who incidentally coined the term 'agnostic' — cast himself as 'Darwin's bulldog'. He passionately defended and propagated the question of ape ancestry and the close anatomical relationship between the humans and the primates. This led many for nearly a century to search for the 'missing link'. Darwin himself had, however, suggested a common ancestry for both humans and primates closest to us like gorillas and chimpanzees.
Paying homage to Darwin, the confirmation of this has come, literally from afar — the discovery of the fossil remains of Ardipithecus ramidus, 'Ardi' for short, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in the Afar Rift region of northeastern Ethiopia. While this was discovered in 1992, it took all these years of research by an international scientific team, whose results were published in Science in October this year. This now establishes the fact that there is a direct evolutionary genetic link between today's humans and our earliest pre-human ancestors. The humans did not evolve from the primates but both evolved from a common ancestor which is yet to be found. While our ancestors were evolving in a specifically 'human' direction, primate ancestors were evolving in a specifically 'chimp' direction.
These exciting discoveries, providing us very deep insights, reassert that evolution takes place essentially in the concrete material conditions and the needs for that particular life form to survive and develop. The evolution of the modern human being, the development of brain as the highest form of matter, continues to be shaped by the ceaseless man-nature dialectic.
While such discoveries should have settled the age-old philosophical debate between idealism and materialism, an opinion poll in the New York Times in November 2004 showed that 55 per cent of the respondents believed that god created humans in their present form. Thus, the philosophical debates of human and moral consciousness will continue. The majesty of discoveries like Ardi, however, reasserts the grandeur of nature as Darwin said in The Origin: "There is grandeur in this view of life... whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."
As humanity continues with its endeavours to better understand its evolution, and on that basis find solutions for diseases like Aids and cancer, the fact remains that all this is the unfolding of the man-nature dialectic. Darwin's own assessment of his work continues to remain as relevant today as it was when he published The Origin. "Man may be excused for feeling some pride at having risen, though not through his own exertions, to the very summit of the organic scale; and the fact of his having thus risen, instead of having been aboriginally placed there, may give him hope for a still higher destiny in the distant future."
Sitaram Yechury is CPI(M) Politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP
The views expressed by the author are personal
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HINDUSTAN TIMES
EDITORIAL
THE 17-YEAR-OLD SCAM
PANKAJ VOHRA
The report of the M.S. Liberhan Commission, which probed the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya, has not left anybody wiser. In fact, there is more information available from other sources. The report appears to be incomprehensive despite the long time it took for Liberhan to submit his findings after so much money was spent and numerous extensions given.
What has surprised many is that Liberhan made no attempt to examine so many people who were in the know of things. Instead, he reached his conclusions that are not only inconsistent but are written in different styles of language across sections. Liberhan must have certainly silenced his critics in the bar who always questioned his ability to write judgements and reports.
The report actually made its way into the public domain through a selective leak to The Indian Express during Parliament session. Understandably, the leakage led to a hue and cry and both the Congress and the BJP accused each other of sharing the report with the newspaper. As according to the home minister's statement, there were just two copies of the report and he assured members that he had not leaked it. The obvious implication of this was that the leakage occurred from Liberhan's side.
Though the learned judge denied vehemently any such doing on his part, several BJP and Janata Dal (United) members admitted in private to the possibility of the hand of a Haryana politician in the affair. Many also saw this as a ploy to unite the divided BJP and also to enable L.K. Advani, under fire from the RSS, to extend his tenure as leader of the Opposition. The other explanation was that the report could have been leaked by the Congress to divide a united opposition wanting to discuss price rise, the Koda episode and a host of other issues.
But coming back to the report, a lot was made out of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's name appearing among those responsible for the conspiracy to knock down the Babri Masjid. VHP leader Ashok Singhal on Friday did confirm that Vajpayee was associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement even if there was nothing to suggest his direct involvement. In any case, he was the biggest beneficiary of the movement since he went on to become the Prime Minister for six-and-a-half years over two terms.
Singhal, incidentally, has advised Advani to refrain from saying things like "It was the saddest day of his life."
The report goes on to absolve P.V. Narasimha Rao, the then Prime Minister. This has been done without caring to examine leaders like Makhan Lal Fotedar who was the only member of Rao's Cabinet to resign on this issue and who had warned him time and again that the kar sevaks would demolish the disputed structure.
Fotedar, a former political adviser to both Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, later told Rao at a Cabinet meeting on the day of the incident that he was to be blamed for the destruction of the structure. Earlier, the then President Shankar Dayal Sharma had told Fotedar that he got the impression that Rao had prevented Governor B. Satya Narayan Reddy from imposing President's rule at that time as a pre-emptive step. Liberhan never examined Reddy.
Sources in the bureaucracy also confirmed that even the Cabinet Secretary S. Rajgopal had an inkling of what was going to happen on that day. But the PM overruled him. Singhal has alleged that Rao was sympathetic to their cause. The rest, as they say, is history.
What has surprised many is that the government's comments on the report are extremely bureaucratic. It is true that with a report like this, there is nothing much any government can do in its Action Taken Report (ATR).
But the anthology of different styles in the Liberhan report is, in fact, a joke on the people of India. Who will ever believe any commission of inquiry after such a shoddy job? In the end, Justice Liberhan has no reason to be proud of himself. Between us.
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INDIAN EXPRESS
EDITORIAL
CAST IN WORDS
It may not exactly be equivalent to having it from the horse's mouth — with or without Liberhan, the horses were always too many — but we've just had it from the man chosen by the Sangh to cast the first stone at Ayodhya in 1989. Kameshwar Chaupal is a BJP MLC in Bihar, whose moment in a troublesome history was sealed when his fact of being a Dalit was capitalised on to bolster the BJP/ RSS's claims to an inclusive Hindutva. But what Chaupal has told this newspaper amounts to a much-articulated refrain in the public
debate — that the politics of Ayodhya has run its course and is no longer a vote-catcher. Except that, it is uttered now by a low-profile (and thus perhaps down-to-earth?) individual once integrally associated with the Ayodhya agitation and who has reappraised the politics that catapulted the BJP to national prominence and subsequently handicapped it.
Chaupal says that the BJP should add roti (that is, livelihood) to Ram. While there's an essential truth to this aam aadmi-like rebuke, the more useful thrust of Chaupal's complaint points at the present existential dilemma of the BJP than at what should have been done 17 years ago. Of course, the BJP got the script violently wrong then; but is it, post-Liberhan, post-electoral defeat, willing to listen to public opinion and its own Chaupals?
A man who might or might not have belonged to its class of rabble rousers has spoken out about the distance he's travelled from that winter of Hindutva discontent. But his party is yet to make up its mind about the path it henceforth wants to tread — a return to its rabble-rousing days or a considered centre-right re-positioning commensurate with the changed political discourse of the country in these 17 years. Either way, the BJP should note that what's felt by people on the outside is also being voiced by many insiders.
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INDIAN EXPRESS
EDITORIAL
SYSTEM UPGRADE
Close on the heels of the human resource development ministry giving the green signal for the Indian Institutes of Management to set up campuses abroad, comes another welcome move. The proposal to set up an Indian Institute of Technology campus in Qatar is reported to have been given the all clear by the ministry. From student exchanges to those of faculty and new revenue models, these foreign outposts could revitalise the Indian core. And given how many students, in India and increasingly abroad, want the benefit of an IIT education, more campuses serve a larger social good.
The IITs' decision to think global is one of many radical ways in which they are redefining themselves. The IITs are good at producing world-class engineers who can compete with the best anywhere else in the world. Yet, there has been over time criticism that the institutes are, in contrast, not that effective in producing scholars and thinkers who can test the boundaries of their discipline. It has also been felt that the IITs — and Indian academia in general — could benefit from more expansive liberal arts departments. In a concerted bid to address this, the IITs have ramped up their humanities studies, investing money, professors and resources into expanding in this direction. The IITs are perhaps in a better position to fast-track proposals for reform and innovation — the kind of changes, for instance, that could put them on a trajectory covered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, from being a good engineering college to a broad-based centre of learning and research.
With Kapil Sibal signalling his openness to creative thinking,
institutions of higher education have a great opportunity to make up for the stagnation of past decades. It is therefore hoped that the IITs' appetite for expansion will have a contagion effect.
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INDIAN EXPRESS
THE RISING TIDE
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, or CHOGM, is usually a sleepy affair. Queen Elizabeth II, the body's figurehead, gives a speech, a pariah state is expelled or one that's finally held elections is welcomed back to the fold. But this instalment, in Trinidad in the West Indies, has become the centre of attention. The last meeting of a major grouping of nations before the Copenhagen climate change summit gets underway, CHOGM was effectively taken over by climate change. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, French President Nicholas Sarkozy, and Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen, the host of the December summit, all turned up, hoping that something substantive would be agreed upon; something that would build upon recent moves by China and the United States to go to Copenhagen with something substantive to put on the table.
In the end, something was indeed agreed upon: a $10 billion plan that will help small island nations, like Mauritius, respond to the threat of rising sea levels. These are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and the least able to finance adaptation to those effects. About half the Commonwealth consists of such states, so getting agreement is a good sign that something about adaptation might well be achieved at Copenhagen. But other sticking points continued. In a speech that was sharply worded, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that it was unfortunate that climate change negotiations had become "enmeshed" with threats about trade measures. He moderated that tone by elsewhere in his speech assuring his listeners that India will sign on to an "ambitious" global target for emissions, if the burden is shared "equitably."
That latter does not mark an enormous departure for the Indian position. But the Indian insistence that Copenhagen not be "pre-empted" — in other words, that the architecture of a final agreement not be understood beforehand — and that nobody should give up on a final, binding agreement at that summit, sets it apart from many other major economies. While the latter is an optimistic view that many should take, the former might be more short-sighted. All major economies are going to Copenhagen with numbers on the table, and with a sense of where their negotiating position starts. India has demonstrated its commitment to climate change already. It must go the last mile, and properly quantify that commitment. The environment minister, who spent the weekend chasing a chimera of old-style Us-vs-Them solidarity in Beijing when China and Brazil have already jumped ship, should be instructed by the cabinet to come up with the best estimates of India's emissions targets — before the government's negotiators leave for Copenhagen.
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INDIAN EXPRESS
COLUMN
AND THEN, ACTION NOT TAKEN
Section 3 of the Commission of Inquiries Act provides that when the Central or state government is of the opinion that it is necessary to do so, it may appoint a commission to inquire into any matter of definite public importance. If the appropriate legislature (Parliament or state legislature) passes a resolution to that effect, the appropriate government is bound to appoint such a commission. This power of the appropriate government has been judicially held to be based on the subjective satisfaction of the government as to the existence of a definite matter of public importance which requires to be inquired into. It is not justiciable as a court cannot direct the appointment of such a commission. This is the stage where political wisdom overtakes rational wisdom, making it possible for a government to play the ostrich burying its head in the sand and pretend that no such situation exists, even if there is a public outcry. The eventuality of the appropriate legislature passing a resolution and compelling the government to appoint a commission, though theoretically possible, is remote, as it may be avoided by deft political manoeuvring.
More often than not, the public importance of the definite matter stems more from its political overtones than its inherent moment. The overtones make it inherently difficult for a person not immune or indifferent to political pressure to act judiciously and in accordance with the dictates of his conscience. The commission then degenerates into a convenient tool in the hands of the political class to stifle debate in the legislature and hope that the groundswell of public opinion would eventually subside with the passage of time.
The act prescribes no qualification for the person to be appointed on the commission. This gives another handle to the government to appoint any convenient bureaucrat effectively to whitewash the issues and ensure that there are no adverse findings against it. The person chosen may also be a retired judge whose self-interest may override judiciousness in his findings. Every time there is such a definite matter of public importance, and the government dithers, there is persistent clamour for the appointment of a sitting judge, preferably of the high court or Supreme Court, to preside over the commission. In theory, at least, the last category of persons is expected to be impervious to political carrots and sticks.
The inevitable political overtones of the inquiry throw open the doors to all busybodies to claim before the commission that they represent particular interests that have certain facts to present and views to project during the inquiry before the commission. Even if many of them are publicity seeking busybodies, it becomes impossible to separate the chaff from the grain until the whole process is completed. Apart from dumping tonnes of relevant and irrelevant documents on the commission, the representatives of different sections, often represented by astute counsel, insist on interminable cross-examination of witnesses, often randomly and ramblingly. The commission is often buffeted by the strong side winds, unable to steer the course for the inquiry charted by it. Any stern ruling by the commission brings forth flared tempers, acrimony, innuendos and outright allegations of bias. The commission must be made of sterner stuff if it has to navigate the turbulent sea of voluble lawyers, perjuring witnesses and uncooperative officers of the government to grapple with the Holy Grail of truth.
The task of the commission is to sift through the mass of documents and testimonies presented before it and draw rationally acceptable conclusions and suggest appropriate remedial measures to the government. The blame game freely indulged in by all political parties renders this task of the commission immeasurably complex. The sheer political sensitivity of the task daunts many, impelling them to seek quietude by adroit avoidance of appointment to the commission by convenient excuses, perhaps to prove Alexander Pope's astute observation that fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
Even if an occasional lionhearted one volunteers to brave the flings and arrows of an outrageous fortune and decides to take arms against a sea of troubles to end them all, the outcome is utterly disillusioning. The government that solemnly appointed the commission is not obliged to accept the findings of the commission and may disdainfully dismiss them as "not acceptable" with nary an apology for the sheer waste of precious time, talent and public funds. True, Section 3(4) of the act requires that the report of the commission be tabled before the appropriate legislature together with a Memorandum of Action Taken. This is intended for the legislature to debate upon before acceptance. Aye, there lies the rub, for such a memorandum, called the Action Taken Report in popular parlance, gives free rein to the use of bureaucratic jargon to obfuscate material facts and metamorphose the Action Taken Report into a veritable No-Action Taken Report.
An unbiased reader of such an Action Taken Report will often find it to be an exercise in suppressio veri, if not suggestio falsi. Creative usage of bureaucratic language used in such an Action Taken Report is often replete with such circumlocution as would make Samuel Johnson blush in his grave. The findings of the commission accepted would be relatively few and insignificant, as compared to those that are officiously rejected as not acceptable. The reasons given for such non-acceptance of the commission's findings are hardly enough to satisfy a reasonable mind but miraculously the legislature is made to accept the ATR and treat the matter as closed. The aggrieved citizens are left wondering as to whether the exercise was worth the time and money spent.
This is the painful and pitiable saga of most reports of commissions of inquiry appointed in this country so far. In the final analysis, the whole exercise, to quote William Shakespeare, resembles "A tale told by an idiot, full
of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
Justice Srikrishna, who headed the commission of inquiry into the Bombay riots of 1992-3, retired as a judge of the Supreme Court
express@expressindia.com
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INDIAN EXPRESS
COLUMN
DAYS OF THE ROG
DESH GAURAV CHOPRA SEKHRI
As the ATP finals wind down to a fitting close, with Roger Federer assuring his year-end number one ranking, as well as making it to the semi-finals, this has been a historic year not just for Federer, but also for tennis as a whole. In a sport that is known for its ups and downs, and which is just a year removed from witnessing what is almost universally being acknowledged as the greatest match ever, namely the Wimbledon 2008 finals, this has been a see-saw of a year, with momentum shifts, feel-good stories, injuries — and unfortunately, controversy as well.
What is certain is that this was Federer's year, but, ironically, he has a feeling of vulnerability about him, and his winning is no longer a foregone conclusion. Rather, his turnaround year can be attributed to some support from a person who was barely known in his home country of Sweden, but in the ATP finals defeated two of the top three players in the world. Robin Soderling was the protagonist of what is now considered the greatest upset of all time, when he defeated Rafael Nadal at the French Open and opened wide the window of opportunity for Roger to kill three birds with one swing of his racquet: slam number 14, his first French Open, and a career grand slam. More importantly, it was a far cry from when he literally cried his heart out during the prize distribution ceremony at the Australian Open, seemingly unable to decode the Nadal puzzle.
Nadal's, of course, is another story that started as a fairytale year, and is ending in a heap of unfulfilled expectations. Before the Soderling match, Nadal was peaking, and in every which way El Toro de Oro, or the Golden Bull: the defending Wimbledon champion, Australian Open champion, Olympic gold medallist, and well on his way to remaining undefeated at Roland Garros. Since that match, Nadal has looked a pale imitation of his once immortal persona: aching, woebegone, and seemingly unable to come to terms with his body not being a hundred per cent. He wins against the world's top players on increasingly rare instances; and in recent months, has not been considered the favourite by a long shot, fighting to hold on to his ranking. With his high-impact game, his reliance on endurance, speed, stamina and physicality, a Nadal less than a hundred per cent fit is a sitting duck even for players not named Roger, Andy or Novak (and now, Juan and Robin).
Tennis has changed now, and the depth is significant. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro, Robin Soderling, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and of course Andy Roddick, not only compete with, but often have a fairer than even chance of beating Federer or Nadal. While their overall consistency is questionable for all the grand slams, they are more than capable of raining on the potential champions' parade, and also winning their own share of grand slams soon. Federer is winning harder, and savouring each victory with more relish with each passing year, and each grand slam he wins is more a testament to his greatness, and less a stain on the deep competition.
Tennis was in a great spot and for all intents and purposes had never looked better. Women's tennis too was on the upswing with Serena doing well, Venus re-emerging, and Clijsters going on to win a Cinderella grand slam.
And then came Agassi, and his book. Open has thrown the tennis world into disarray, and angered most tennis purists, especially the players. That there seems to be no purpose behind the revelations from one of tennis's greatest ambassadors and biggest stars makes it seem that much more futile. The doping stories caused a crackdown, with two Belgian players being banned for not reporting for drug testing under the now infamous WADA "whereabouts" clause, and threatening to sue the ATP and WTA. Agassi, of course, will face no legal action since his acts all stemmed from over 10 years ago.
The next few years will see many new faces and hopefully some Indian ones as well, as the changing of the guard takes place. This is why 2009 will not only represent all the records that were broken, but also a paradigm shift, with depth replacing dominance, and power replacing finesse. One should savour these last few pulses of the tennis calendar with relish. Tennis has had a year of paradoxes, and fittingly, there will be no epic ATP Finals featuring Federer and one of his young nemeses, in a thrill a minute encounter. One must get used to the fact that a Nadal or a Federer will not be a part of every tournament finals from here on, but should also reflect on just how much each man has achieved in the last two years. 2008 was Rafa's year, but when the dust settles, this will be seen as one of the most momentous years in the history of tennis: when a gracious superstar stamped his legacy against all the odds. The days of the 'Rog' continue.
The writer is a sports attorney
express@expressindia.com
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INDIAN EXPRESS
OPED
'WE LOOK AT NATURE AS PART OF FAMILY... ONLY NOW WORLD REALISES FORESTS ARE IMPORTANT'
Hello and welcome to Walk the Talk. There are days in my life when I really love my job, and this is one of those. Why? Because we stand here in a sacred grove. The only buzz you can hear, in fact, is that of breeze blowing through this wonderful, wonderful forest. And sacred grove because for hundreds and hundreds of years nobody has been allowed to touch a leaf, an animal in this forest because the tribals of Meghalaya protect it. We are in the village of Mawphlang, about 30-35 km from Shillong — really one of the most distinct and forgotten parts of India, particularly when we look from Delhi. And my guests today: two wonderful people, Toki Blah and Mebanda Blah, the father-daughter duo, who will tell us more about questions of identity, insecurity, alienation, distance that the tribal people face, particularly the hill tribal people. So welcome to Walk the Talk, Toki and Mebanda. We stand in this sacred grove, tell us a bit about it. Because you know there is so much tribal tradition that we seem to be losing.
Toki: Yeah, this is part of our culture, the maintenance of these sacred groves. You see in Meghalaya, there are around 8,500 sq km of forest. Of this around 1,000 km are sacred groves, run either by the village committee, by clans, by individuals… and this is one such forest. This is a sacred grove where, as you said earlier, you are not even expected to take out even a leaf or a twig. There is some deity here.
That is the belief?
Toki: That is the belief and this deity is the one that protects the community, protects the village.
Mebanda: These are guardian spirits of the forest. And it is also said that these are the same guardian spirits who…you know, if women walk alone, these are the spirits who help the women. They also take care of the forest.
Women can afford to walk not only just alone but in the lead in these parts, because this is a matrilineal system. Women wield real power here, isn't it?
Mebanda: Yes, they do.
And this tradition is common to Khasis as well as Jantias?
Toki: Yes.
The two of you are Jantia?
Toki: Yes, we are Jantias.
And Khasis and Jantias are very similar.
Toki: They are more or less the same.
So are we losing some of this tradition? This, and many other tribal traditions?
Toki: That is one of the main issues for indigenous people like us. The fear of losing our identity... I mean the monetary pressures that are coming up in our society today, most of these forests, the sacred groves have been cut down because of their timber value. This is one of the forests that has been protected. We have faced a number of problems, social and political, in our state, in our community because of this issue of identity. I think this is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Mebanda, does the issue of identity worry you? Or should it worry the tribals as much as it seems to?
Mebanda: It does worry me, especially since I represent the younger generation. For us it is not so much, you know, we want to know that we have a future and our future will be as Khasis, we will be known as the Khasis. But slowly, you know, globalisation, Westernisation... we are slowly losing that, even my generation.
You recently went to a UN convention on indigenous people, what did you learn from people from other communities from other parts of the world who came there?
Mebanda: That experience was quite enlightening, in the sense that it made me realise the problems that we as the indigenous people here face, is something that is not isolated but it is a very global problem of all indigenous communities. We are doubly marginalised.
How do you mean, doubly marginalised?
Mebanda: Well, firstly, thinking about women. This is a matrilineal society but there are other indigenous societies where women do not play such an important role, they are marginalised, in some cases even here. But the fact that we are tribals, so we are doubly marginalised because of this.
One of the most unusual things about the Khasis and the Jantias is the matrilineal system. Is some of that also being lost now? Are you also becoming male-dominated or are women losing some of the power? I see lot of people in this generation, for example, carrying their fathers' second names.
Mebanda: When it comes to the second name, that is a more a personal, family thing. But losing power, I don't really know if that is what the case is. In spite of the fact that it is a matrilineal society, women do not play a role in local darbars. The chief and even the main members of the darbar are male.
Toki: You see, you are talking about losing out. The scariest part is we are losing our social values, the value systems we as indigenous people carry.
You came back to work with your people. You were an IAS officer. In fact, if I remember correctly, you were the batchmate of G.K. Pillai, the current Union Home Secretary.
Toki: Yeah. '72 batch.
And you chucked it to come back?
Toki: I had to come back. The attraction back home was greater, I think, than the service.
Are all these fears of identity real? Because wherever you go now, you find posters from students' unions, political parties, if I read the newspapers… they are full of stories of identity. Is some of that exaggerated or is it real?
Toki: I think it is both ways. Demographically, I think, there is some fear that we may be swamped since we are a minority. But then as I said, we have to live with the times. My daughter talked about globalisation. It is an issue that is going to impinge on our societies. But the fear that is uppermost on our minds is losing the value systems that we have because that will be a big loss, really.
Mebanda: Another thing is that indigenous communities like ours are mostly based on oral traditions. So if nothing is documented we lose more. And I think, no offence to my father's generation, but they didn't really do much documenting. Now it falls to our generation.
But Toki, do you think some of these fears are also exaggerated or they are deliberately, politically exacerbated?
Toki: Oh sure. They have political value. If you are able to frighten the population, mobilise them and polarise the society, definitely, that is there.
And how do you counter this? How do you convince your young people not to be paranoid?
Toki: I think education should play a major role. If we are able to create a level system of education, educate our people, create that awareness, I think that is important. Then we will be able to adjust with the world, not only in the minuscule world of our own.
Why is there so much alienation in the Northeast? We know that Meghalaya, fortunately, has never had an insurgency but there is alienation. There is a feeling of being far away, of being distant, of being cut-off.
Toki: When you ask that question, I can't but help answer. We hate a person because we don't know him. And we don't know him because we hate him. So, this is a vicious cycle. I think a lot of people from mainland India, I will put it that way, are yet to understand us.
The younger people — why the feeling of alienation now that access is much better, there are flights, there are much better connections. I find a lot of youngsters from the Northeast, particularly from Meghalaya, working all over India. So why is there still so much alienation?
Mebanda: Well, I don't really know but one of the things is that if we go to, like he said, mainland India, we are judged by the way we speak, the way we look. And at the end of the day, no matter how much you try, you will always be just a scheduled tribe, never just a plain Indian like everybody else. We always have this tag with us.
But what is India, if not a celebration of diversity?
Toki: We believe in that. But just because I am different doesn't mean that I am not an Indian. I am very much Indian but…
But then why the insecurity here? Why the continuing insecurity?
Toki: I think one of the basic reasons is lack of governance in this area. People really don't see a connect between their own insecurity and the governance around them. That is a fear we have. We see poverty increase, we see the irrelevance of politics in our day-to-day lives, and there is a feeling of isolation, especially in remote areas. Take a village like Mawphlang. It feels like it lives just by itself.
But that is a wonderful thing. That is also a tribal way of living because villages have their own democracy and their own system of governance. We have another village not very far away, which is the cleanest village in India, most probably, and it is all done with local action. It couldn't happen in UP because the village would be divided on caste, by big landowners… the distinctions are too many. Tribal societies make sure those don't matter.
Toki: This is social capital that we have. It needs to be built on. But at the same time, we belong to an ever-shrinking world... Within that we need to open up and we have to realise where our strengths and weaknesses are.
Mebanda, when you talk to young people, what do you think disturbs them most of all? Why this latent anger, distrust as if, if I may put it a bit crudely, India will come and take our assets away?
Mebanda: Well, again it is not so much India…
…Or evil Delhi?
Mebanda: No, it is not that actually. We don't have any animosity against the country as such but, like my father said, the lack of governance. These people, the representatives, are representing mainland India. They have run short of their promises…
That is, your local politicians? Are they the ones who are increasing the alienation?
Mebanda: In many ways, I would say so.
Because you people will see them as an extension of the Delhi establishment?
Mebanda: Exactly.
Not as an extension of your society into the Delhi establishment but the other way round.
Toki: Let me put it this way. Once a guy gets elected, comes into politics, he forgets that he should be speaking in the interest of the community. He starts speaking about financial interests, monetary interests, about the interests of someone else. I mean, this is ridiculous.
Tell me, you both have spent time outside of the Northeast. What are the most interesting things people have said to you, that show ignorance and at the same time that might show affection or large heartedness?
Toki: Once I was in Chennai and I was in a shop. So this guy was talking to me. We were speaking in English and then when I started purchasing something, he said, "Do you have dollars?" I said "No, I have Indian money". He said, "Where are you from?" I said I am from Meghalaya. He said, "Oh Malaysia". He just couldn't place me as being an Indian.
Mebanda, do you have a story?
Mebanda: Something similar. You know, every time you say Shillong, everyone thinks it is Ceylon. For some reason we don't really gel or we don't really look …
But it is also true that you are a very small minority. Khasis and Jantias are just about a million people? Like 7-8 per cent of Delhi, that is all. So it takes time for the rest of the country to figure out...
Toki: Yes. So, that is why, I think, we have not been able to make much of an impression.
Don't say that, because one of your own tribesmen J.M. Lyngdoh became a national star. He was an Indian all of us are proud of.
Toki: But that was from the political angle. What I am talking about is…we come back to the cultural angle. Here we are standing in the midst of a culture, which I think can contribute a lot not only to India but to the world.
Mebanda: Just as he was saying this should be, you know, the solution to things like climate change, a global problem. Our ancestors have had these forests for centuries and it is only now that the world has woken up to the fact that forests are important, so our stewardship roles are our answers.
Tell us a few more really valuable traditions of your tribes that are worth emulating, preserving, remembering?
Toki: The issue of governance, again…governance has now been put into the context of divisive politics. In our traditional way, governance was consensous. I think this is a thing we need to show and teach the world. The tribe got together, and there was never a split over a majority or a minority, or you belong to the Congress, you belong to the BJP. The other thing that we can give the world is the wisdom we have in our healthcare system. We have this herbal healthcare system, especially in paralysis, broken bones, in so many other ailments.
This forest is also laden with some of the rarest of trees. Isn't it?
Toki: Yes, yes. Repository of lot of extinct herbs.
And one of the trees vandalised all over India's forests for its anti-cancer properties.
Toki: Taxus baccata . One of the trees you can find here.
And what about family values? Tell us about a few that are worth preserving, that should not get lost and also about changes that have taken place.
Mebanda: Well, one of the things about our traditional Khasi family is the kind of respect we have for elders. For instance, unless you address a question to me, I can't really answer because I have an elder before me, things like these. So in many ways the word of the elder would be the highest authority. We look at nature as part of the family, but the kind of respect we had for nature is slowly dying out now.
And what is happening to the village as a unit because the Khasi village is not just any other village. A Khasi village is a universe in itself. Is that under threat?
Toki: It is. It is under threat especially because of the media. A lot of new influences have come into the village. Like she said, the word of the elder is now slowly being marginalised and the wisdom of our elders and forefathers is slowly being substituted by other elements.
So, I know that you are now a full-time activist, she is an activist. You (Mebanda) also teach English literature. You are among a very small but a very important group of activists now, and that you are trying to preserve not only the environment but also tradition, and to highlight some of that for the rest of the country. So what are you focussing on in the immediate future?
Toki: The issue of governance is a very important issue that needs to be brought in. So that participatory concept of governance which is our main strength needs to be reflected in modern governance. The second issue: do we start identifying and bonding ourselves with modern culture.
So Mebanda, you are not trying to hide away from modernity?
Mebanda: No, not really. We embrace it and yet at the same time we want to be rooted. Just because I embrace being like any other person anywhere else in the world doesn't mean that I lose out on my culture, my roots.
Because, you know, you read about the problems that tribals in central India are having where we now have Naxalism, Maoism and a lot of exploitation. There is poverty here too, but to a much greater degree there. Do you have a view on how the tribal problem can be handled differently? Are there lessons from here that can be applied there or lessons from there that can be applied here?
Toki: I think that the social bonding that we have as tribals is one of the main factors that has prevented these sorts of divisive issues to come in. And religion also plays a major part in preventing such forces as these extreme views to come into our society.
Christianity in the case of Meghalaya?
Toki: Yeah.
So, Christianity is a moderating force?
Toki: Yeah. But for how long can we resist unless there is an improvement in governance?
Mebanda, do you see a lot of impatience in young people with the quality of governance?
Mebanda: Yes, there is. Each time before the election, everyone tells us that they will be the one bringing the change and we are still waiting. So…
If it doesn't happen for too long, people will get angry?
Mebanda: Definitely, because, you know, we are not stupid, we know what we have. You can't sell everything to us in the name of development.
In the name of fake development.
Mebanda: Fake development. Yes.
Because if there is development, you will welcome it.
Mebanda: Definitely. But not at the cost of our traditions, our culture.
And the responsibility for that lies here with your leadership or would you expect that to come from Delhi?
Toki: No, it lies with us, within us.
So, Mebanda, you said half -jokingly that we are not stupid people. In fact, you bring so much wisdom and also such a remarkable ability to maintain tradition and also to absorb modernity. We stand next to this sacred grove and we stand next to these monoliths, which have been there for, God knows, hundreds of years. Tell us about them.
Toki: As my daughter said, it is through oral traditions that we handed wisdom down and these are some of the marks that our fathers put in to commemorate memorable occasions in their lives then. Usually we have three monoliths but here is a very unique formation, this might be a small grave... this is to mark a very important event in the history of our community.
Now, you know, you are a community of less than a million people but are you also conscious that now you are really asserting so much soft power all over India, because everybody knows that Meghalaya is the home of such wonderful music.
Toki: Yes, it is the music capital of India.
And you have a football club of your own that is doing very well, Lajong FC.
Toki: The youngsters are more into that.
Tell me Mebanda about music, football…Meghalayans are reaching out to the rest of the country now.
Mebanda: Yeah. The thing is it has always been there. It is only now that people have realised that we have a lot to offer.
That is why it is such a wonderful feeling to have chatted with you. Thank you very much.
Toki: Thank you for coming to Meghalaya.
Transcript prepared by Mehraj D Lone
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FINANCIAL EXPRESS
EDITORIAL
GOLD VERSUS EQUITY
The world, still uncertain about economic prospects, now made a little more uncertain by Dubai's bankruptcy, seems to be making a beeline for gold, still considered a safe investment. Of course, as is well known, there is an inverse relationship between the fortunes of the dollar and gold prices and as the dollar has lost almost 8.4% this year against a basket of major currencies, the yellow metal has moved towards its biggest yearly gain since 1979. In India, the world's largest consumer of gold, prices jumped to whopping Rs 18,000 per 10 grams, from around Rs 12,000 in a span of just six months. This has dampened the demand for gold, in physical form. Purchases during the festival and marriage season have been sluggish because of high prices. Interestingly, in October (the peak of the festival period), Indian gold imports dropped by almost 11.5 tonnes to 26 tonnes. And even though gold prices in the Indian market didn't entirely reflect the spike in global rates—the rupee went up by almost 3.9% in the last three months—it was good enough to ward off several new and prospective buyers.
However, gold continues to attract investor interest, if not retail interest. Even central banks seem interested. RBI's sudden move to buy 200 tonnes of IMF gold, followed by similar purchases—though in far smaller quantities—by Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Russia were all noteworthy. The continuous rise of gold has led to a boom in investment in instruments like ETFs. As on November 25, investments in SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange traded fund-backed by bullion stood at 1,127 tonnes, almost 4.5% more than the holdings on September 14. Still, the events of the last days further showed the vulnerabilities that a retail investor has to bear with. A rise in dollar index along with the Dubai debt default crisis which triggered fears of another banking meltdown compelled investors to look for the nearest exit route. Spot Gold dropped almost 3.4% from Thursday's close to around $1,151.60 per ounce—in just 24 hours the metal lost almost $40 per ounce. This is precisely the sort of blip that makes us less bullish on gold. Historically, and leave out the last few years, gold has been an underperformer compared to its biggest rival, equities. The World Gold Council data shows that on a five-year basis return on the main 200 stocks listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 24%, while investment in gold in rupee terms has grown at a CAGR of 19.8%. Something worth pondering over in the mad rush towards gold.
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FINANCIAL EXPRESS
EDITORIAL
WHO'S GOT THE POWER
That there has been a surge in the import of Chinese power equipment into India—according to some estimates these have gone up to more than a fifth of the total national capacity installed annually—is not in question. The real question is whether the government should take steps to intervene and prevent these imports. The government has already displayed protectionist instincts by clamping down on the issue of visas to Chinese workers, many of whom were working on power projects in India. Of course, the clampdown has already taken a toll on power projects, which are now short of manpower. On Chinese equipment, the government has set up a high-level committee chaired by a member of the Planning Commission to assess the impact of such imports and recommend a plan of action. The plan of action should surely be to do nothing. For one, local power generation companies which have benefited from the lower investment costs and faster pace of project completion using Chinese equipment and Chinese workers are thoroughly opposed to any restrictions.
But the government seems more focused on the interests of the giant public sector Bhel. Bhel's market share in power equipment has incidentally dipped to 53%. But the fact is that it is the slow response of Bhel—which is still in the process of ramping up capacity from 10,000 to 15,000 MW even as its order book position has more than doubled from Rs 55,000 crore in October 2007 to Rs 1,17,000 crore by March 2009—that has led to Chinese firms making substantial headway. In fact, inadequate capacity and the delay in tying up super-critical technology by Bhel had earlier led to a capacity slippage of almost 4000 MW in the Tenth Plan. But though the shortage of power equipment has been a visible bottleneck for some time now, this is soon set to change as the government's efforts to boost capacity by linking up new equipment orders with domestic production bear fruit. The decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure last August to go in for a bulk ordering of 11 super-critical units with a phased manufacturing programme for development of indigenous facilities is one step in this direction. These efforts will also be supplemented by market forces as indicated by the greenfield projects planned through joint ventures between L&T and MHI, JSW and Toshiba, Bharat Forge and Alstom, and GB Engineering and Ansaldo for manufacture of supercritical boilers and turbine generators, a technology that is expected to account for a major share of the power capacities installed in the Twelfth Plan. Amidst all this, the government would do well to resist the temptation to bar Chinese imports and let the market choose the best equipment.
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FINANCIAL EXPRESS
COLUMN
SHOULD WE WORRY ABOUT CAPITAL FLOWS?
SAUGATA BHATTACHARYA
Memories of currency markets since early 2007 still remain fresh in our collective memories, despite the intervening turmoil that had changed our perceptions of financial life. India had net capital inflows of $108 bn in 2007-08, the rupee had risen from Rs 48 to the dollar at end-2006 to over 39 at the beginning of 2008, an appreciation of over 13% over a year. India's foreign currency assets swelled from $170 bn to $284 bn in January 2008 (increasing thereafter to $302 bn by May 2008). RBI bought a net $105 bn through currency intervention operations in the spot markets and then augmented this through a buildup of $17 bn in forwards markets exposures.
This intervention consequently increased pressure on domestic money, forcing RBI to sterilise the added liquidity using Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS) bonds, extracting close to Rs 1.8 lakh crore. The government had to pay market interest on this corpus, and more insidiously, pushed up the cost of the entire market borrowing programme. We had estimated then that net of sterilisation, RBI's currency intervention resulted in an approximate injection of Rs 2,49,000 crores, almost 30% of incremental M3 in 2007-08. The effect of this increase on inflation can only be surmised.
It is against this backdrop that current concerns of many emerging markets about a sudden surge of capital inflows, a lot of it speculative, need to be understood. Brazil and Taiwan have been among the first to impose some controls on speculative and arbitrage seeking capital flows. Should India begin thinking of appropriate controls?
What exactly is the problem with such a surge in flows? The first is that the resultant rise in a currency renders exports relatively uncompetitive. In India's case, exports have begun to account for a significant engine of economic activity, accounting for over a sixth of GDP, using the simple (and probably simplistic) metric of magnitudes. Given that developed country imports remain weak, this just makes export growth more problematic.
The second problem is that associated swings in currency driven by volatile portfolio capital increases uncertainty and operational costs of not just exporters, but all entities with exposure to global trade and capital operations, should they wish to hedge their exposures. India's total inbound and outbound interactions account for well over 100% of its GDP, having doubled over the past half a decade. This proportion will have been even higher for many other important emerging markets.
The third adverse impact is the potential buildup of bubbles (rise in asset market levels beyond that warranted by fundamentals, although this is notoriously difficult to ascertain). Policy authorities fear, justifiably, that foreign funds are diverted into uses different from those originally intended, and this is particularly difficult to monitor. Rapid rises in rates increases system volatility and interferes with many policy objectives.
Having said this, there are many benefits of a strong local currency. The first is an aid in inflation control, since a strengthening rupee reduces the cost of imports, allowing importers to pass on cost savings to domestic consumers. That's the theory, at least; the actual pass-throughs will depend on specific market structures. Depending on the extent of the pass-throughs, importers' profitabilities also improve, increasing their tax potential for the exchequer. For emerging markets like India, with significant external debt repayment obligations, the overall debt burden falls.
Policy authorities, therefore, have to balance competing considerations in taking a view on currencies and capital flows and of the most appropriate instruments to transfer the benefits and costs between various stakeholders. As a sidenote here, even in the academic literature, while there is near unanimity on the virtues of free trade, the jury is out on full capital account convertibility. So, if there is indeed a need for some controls on cross-border capital movements, what might be the best and cheapest way of imposing this, particularly given the potentially adverse effects on foreign investor confidence?
We have already had a taste of the fiscal and other costs of currency intervention by RBI. If a more hands-off approach to the rupee is adopted, should exporters be compensated for their hit? If so, how, particularly given the constraints of the WTO regime in which we now operate. If legally feasible, will direct transfers be less expensive than currency intervention? Will more direct limits on the magnitude and nature of flows have less distortionary effect on overall activity (and in economic parlance, lower deadweight losses)? Is portfolio capital really more volatile than other, supposedly more stable, flows like FDI and NRI funds? Many studies of the 1998 Asian crisis found evidence that portfolio capital was not the main culprit, it was short-term debt capital.
There is bound to be strong reduction in portfolio flows, if some controls are imposed, but this is likely to be temporary. Capital with a relatively long-term returns perspective will still be attracted to India's growth prospects. What the best approach might be requires deeper study, and we should do this as swiftly as possible.
The author is vice-president, business & economic research, Axis Bank. Views are personal
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FINANCIAL EXPRESS
COLUMN
OUR CULTURE ABOUT OUR AGRICULTURE
YOGINDER K ALAGH
Whenever I go somewhere I have a bad habit of going to a village. I must be the only FE columnist who wrote a centrepiece from a village bar in the Canadian badlands at the end of the western part of the Prairies. Farmers complain everywhere. We have had a bad kharif, but is anything seriously wrong with Indian agriculture, in the sense that we did not know earlier? It's difficult to say. As chairman of the Agricultural Prices Commission that started publishing its reports, the CACP dutifully sends me a copy. I must be the only one in the world to have read all their reports, each one running into five hundred pages. So, I was amused when a politico asked why the CACP reports are secret. The last one for 08/09 is written eruditely by two CACP chairmen, the current one and his predecessor, both very competent economists. CACP reports are so good that no one reads them.
They both tell us an interesting story. The recent trend in agriculture is not bad for the last three years. Of course, that was before the knocking of Kharif '09. After all, '03 and '05 were both bad years and taking away a bad base always gives good growth estimates. The long-term trend is not much to preen about what they say. But hidden somewhere is the story that cereals are doing badly in spite of the good crop of 07/08. Non-cereals are doing better, apart from edible oils, and it's animal husbandry and fish that are the leaders of the pack. In the growth league it is animal husbandry, non-cereals, and then cereals, with pulses and inferior cereals at the bottom.
Now CACP doesn't say so, but the cereal economy is the only one in a government price policy frame. CACP says that the policymaker should announce support at the time of sowing so that the economics work. It also raises its eyebrows on bonuses after the crop is in, having read its Ricardo, but it is left to a group of young economists, who have been doing a slew of acreage and supply response studies, to show that markets don't seem to allocate in cereal crops. My son is a product of the Bombay School and is naturally critical of my 'planning mindset', but is a part of the pack on this in a forthcoming book on supply response. It is extremely unlikely, it seems at present, that the demand of around 240 million tonnes of foodgrains in the Eleventh Plan will be met. In commercial crops prices matter and the CACP also suggests that it would not be wise to import without protection as in oilseeds. In general, there is hardly any improvement in terms of trade for agriculture and so no big breakthroughs in private investment.
The official and media concern is high agricultural prices. Last year, agricultural prices fell and there was no comment. Seasonality in agricultural prices is a dominating fact and the media and political parties show no awareness of this, the latter asking for good prices for farmers and cheap food at the same time. Montek was right in saying that food prices will fall. In fact, the last Wholesale Price Index, now released only monthly, says that food prices are lower than the same month last year, while overall prices are rising. But housewives are complaining and it is true that consumer prices are rising. Once upon a time consumer and wholesale prices always moved together. Now this is not so and we don't know why.
A study by Sukhpal Singh and Naresh Singla at the IIMA on the impacts of retail supply chain effects showed that the retail mall paid a price of nine rupees per kg of cauliflower, while the A-grade price in the mandi was eight rupees a kilo in a major metro where retail malls are popular. Obviously in this case farmers are getting better prices. Equally obviously the price was 12.5% higher and would show up in the consumer price index. In cabbage the January price was around 17% higher, but taking into account off-season prices, the average was only 4% higher. One of the objectives of supply chain management was for the farmer to get better prices and now that he is getting it, one can't cavil. But the price would rise.
These are only stories and we still don't know why retail and wholesale prices are behaving differently, but they should find out. Quality may be an answer, improving incentives another. The CPI is reportedly ready for urban areas and needs looking at for rural areas. One hopes it will have some answers before policies are put into place. On a general plane we do know that the central bank and the chief economic advisor are right. There is too much of purchasing power in the system and a liquidity overhang, and it makes it difficult to fight inflation. Inflation pricing has to be separated from incentive pricing policies as apart of the reform process. There are many things we don't know, neither do many others, but they won't say so. It's time to find out.
The author is a former Union minister
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FINANCIAL EXPRESS
COLUMN
THE TELECOM TANGLE CONTINUES
ANANDITA SINGH MANKOTIA
Should A Raja continue to be telecom minister? This newspaper has brought to light how norms were twisted by the department of telecommunications officials under Raja's directions. However, Raja had all along a line of defence—that he's done nothing wrong and purely gone by the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and kept the Prime Minister and finance minister in the loop. Whatever be the merits in those arguments, in our democratic structure the courts are the final arbiter and the verdict is out.
The observations by the Delhi High Court are not the first. The single bench of the court had last year in July already struck the arbitrary advancement of the cut-off date to grant new telecom licences, which denied the same to many, including the global telecom major AT&T, but helped real estate companies like Unitech and DB group with no prior experience to get licences, as illegal. The DoT had appealed against that judgment to a division bench headed by the Chief Justice AP Shah and found no relief. That surely says something significant. For argument's sake, DoT may say that it would appeal in the Supreme Court. If the apex court upholds the High Court judgment, what should Raja do? Stay on, still?
The government should now get into the act of clearing up the mess and this calls for hard steps. It is a well-known fact now that there was not enough spectrum to accommodate a large number of operators, yet DoT tweaked Trai recommendations in a way to grant licences to a few favoured firms, lied in the court that the balance applications have not been rejected but are on a waitlist, then on the sly asked the Trai once again to review whether more licences should be given since there's spectrum crunch.
The sequence of events coupled with the HC judgment clearly establishes something was seriously wrong. Now DoT has no option but to give licences to the balance 343 applications of 16 companies. Does it have the spectrum? The time to answer tough questions and take tougher decisions has come now.
anandita.mankotia@expressindia.com
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FINANCIAL EXPRESS
COLUMN
REPORT CARD
Using firm-level data, this paper* analyses the transformation of India's economic structure following the implementation of economic reforms:
In this paper we analyse the evolution of India's industrial composition by focusing on the microfoundations of its productive structure: we examine the evolution of India's industrial structure at the firm level following reforms. In addition to changes in the industrial composition, we examine whether entry took place and if so, whether at the expense of traditional incumbents such as state-owned and traditional private firms. Finally, we examine the evolution of firm size, market share and industry concentration over time and in industries that were liberalised to either domestic or foreign entry or trade. Using firm-level data, we document dynamism and change in the productive structure following the implementation of economic reforms. Substantial new entry by foreign and private firms went along with high growth in their assets, sales and profits. In recent years, for example, some new and important private players have emerged in sectors such as IT services, pharma and telecom. However, despite the substantial increase in the number of private and foreign firms, the overall pattern that emerges after close to two decades of reforms is one of continued incumbent dominance in terms of assets, sales and profits: state-owned firms and traditional private firms. In sectors dominated by state-owned and traditional private firms before liberalisation (with assets, sales and profits representing 50% or higher shares), these firms remain the dominant ownership group following liberalisation.
—* Laura Alfaro and Anusha Chari; India Transformed? Insights From The Firm Level 1988-2005; Working Paper 15,448, National Bureau Of Economic Research, October 2009
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THE HINDU
EDITORIAL
BRAZEN SUBVERSION OF JUSTICE
Nobody would have thought there was any public interest left in Bofors, a quintessential 20th century corruption scandal involving top political figures in India and Sweden. But the ghosts of Bofors have a habit of returning to haunt the functionaries and apologists of the party behind the scandal and its cover-up. Congress or Congress-led governments have gone to extraordinary lengths over two decades to obstruct and subvert justice in the Bofors criminal case. The latest instance is getting the Central Bureau of Investigation to ask Interpol to withdraw its Red Corner Notice against Ottavio Quattrocchi, the sole surviving accused in the corruption case and a fugitive from justice. This allows the Italian wheeler-dealer, who enjoyed unrestricted access to the highest reaches of power in 1986 when the Rs.1,437 crore howitzer deal was struck, to travel abroad without fear of arrest or extradition. It is not as though evidence on his key role in the Bofors scandal is in short supply. Swiss bank documents and a mass of other evidence assembled by the CBI in its criminal investigation have established that, using a front called A.E. Services Ltd., Mr. Quattrocchi and his wife received kickbacks amounting to $7.32 million from the Swedish arms manufacturer for no demonstrable services rendered.
Time and again, the Bofors payoff case has exposed, aside from unclean political hands, the CBI's shameful lack of independence and the willingness of the country's top law officers to oblige their political patrons. If attempts to bring Mr. Quattrocchi to trial in India have failed, it is because own goals were deliberately and repeatedly scored. In a shocking act of collusion, the Narasimha Rao regime allowed him to slip out of the country in 1993. In December 2005, two of the Italian businessman's bank accounts in London were unfrozen thanks to an Indian Additional Solicitor General misinforming the Crown Prosecution Service in England that there was no evidence to link these deposits with the Bofors payoffs. This was after two British courts had upheld the freeze on the accounts. And why was Mr. Quattrocchi let off in Argentina after being detained in 2007? It surely had something to do with the fact that the CBI's extradition plea contained an invalid arrest warrant and failed to spell out the reasons why the accused should be extradited, as required by Argentinean law. The Argentinean court not only let him go but even ordered the CBI to pay his legal costs. By gifting Mr. Quattrocchi the freedom of travel he lacked for a decade, the Congress dispensation has shown it would spare no effort to bail out the man referred to as 'Q' in former Bofors chief Martin Ardbo's diary.
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THE HINDU
CONTROLLING MALARIA
A significant reduction in malaria deaths through targeted intervention measures, particularly in Africa, and a substantial rise in funding to fight the scourge have brought the goal of elimination of the disease nearer. The search for a malaria vaccine may eventually present a winning candidate, but the focus for the immediate future must be on controlling the deadly falciparum form of the disease. The global health community, which has been enthused by the outcome of int ensified malaria control efforts, is now talking of elimination. A dramatic reduction in mortality has been demonstrated with the use of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets and access to Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT). The World Health Organisation's Roll Back Malaria initiative is working to bring down deaths from close to a million a year today to near zero by 2015. Much of the optimism stems from good results reported by countries such as Zambia, where malaria deaths have declined by two-thirds. This breakthrough was achieved by distributing millions of insecticide-treated bed nets and making available ACTs widely over a two-year period. If the 60 other 'malaria heartland' countries can replicate these results, the disease can certainly be rolled back within a few years.
On World Malaria Day (April 25) this year, an ambitious Affordable Medicines Facility under the Roll Back Malaria framework was unveiled. This will bring ACTs within reach of everyone in a selected group of countries. It has been made possible by fixing low, subsidised drug prices through negotiations with manufacturers. If the experiment succeeds, it can become a global programme. Expanded funding running into billions of dollars has been pledged by various sources, starting with $4.6 billion from the Global Fund, to scale up malaria control and offer combination therapy where appropriate. The talk about rising India must not be allowed to obscure the harsh reality that remote areas in India, especially in the Northeast, continue to witness significant levels of death and morbidity due to falciparum malaria. Studies show that the affected regions are backward and extremely poor. It is crucial, therefore, that national malaria control efforts carefully weigh the evidence on the efficacy of fixed-dose combination therapy in comparison with conventional medicines and monotherapy. It will then be possible to make the best therapies available through the public health system to those who need them. The war against malaria has been long and costly but there is excellent evidence in hand to suggest that it can be won if the right public health choices are made.
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THE HINDU
LEADER PAGE ARTICLES
MULTIPLIER ACCELERATOR SYNERGY IN NREGA
THE CONCEPTS OF MULTIPLIER AND ACCELERATOR BORROWED FROM MACROECONOMIC THEORY ILLUMINATE THE ENORMOUS POTENTIAL OF NREGA AND HELP SET STANDARDS THAT IT MUST BE JUDGED BY.
MIHIR SHAH
Over the last few months, just as the economy entered its current recessionary phase, the mainstream media, which till then had been uniformly unswerving in their antipathy to NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), suddenly began to sing its praises. In all the gloom and doom, we are told, rural India is shining.
All this talk of a shining rural India must, of course, be dismissed as it was by the electorate five years ago. India's countryside continues to be characterised by a sluggish agrarian economy, marred by malnourished children and anaemic women, as also suicide by farmers in distress. But there is no question that NREGA has put money into the hands of the poorest of the poor on a scale that is unprecedented in the history of independent India.
The concepts of the multiplier and accelerator borrowed from macroeconomics and adapted to an agrarian economy help explain what such money could do in a recession. Till the 1930s, mainstream economic theory was steadfast in its denial of the very possibility of large-scale unemployment under capitalism. The work of two great economists (Michal Kalecki and John Maynard Keynes), following up on the Great Depression of 1929-33, changed this view forever. They showed that without appropriate government intervention, widespread unemployment would be a characteristic feature of capitalism.
Government intercession in a recession can take the form of various counter-cyclical policies to stimulate demand. One is to reduce taxes so that there is more money in the hands of taxpayers. Another is a large-scale public works programme like NREGA, which creates purchasing power among workers. When those receiving tax breaks or working on NREGA sites spend this additional money, they create demand for commodities. The production of these commodities, in turn, creates demand for capital, raw materials and workers. The extra incomes so generated cause further demand, which again provides a stimulus to production, employment and demand ... and so on in a spiral. This demand stimulating process is called the multiplier.
The value of this multiplier depends on the marginal propensity to consume (mpc) of those benefiting from government intervention. The mpc is our extra spending out of the additional rupee we earn. Clearly, the higher the mpc, the greater the stimulus provided to demand. The great thing about NREGA from this point of view is that it is putting money into the hands of those whose mpc is the highest. Those on the margins of existence are more likely to spend than save most of what they earn.
This explains the celebration of NREGA in the media. Apparently demand in the economy is being sustained by rural buying, which has received a boost from NREGA incomes. But this is not even half of NREGA's full potential. For NREGA is much more than an ad hoc relief programme dishing out doles (or what these days are more fashionably called direct cash transfers). It promises transformation of rural livelihoods. To understand how NREGA can deliver on this potential, we need to grasp a curious unrecognised fact about agricultural labour in the most backward regions.
Not many people know what data from the Rural Labour Enquiry of the National Sample Survey confirms, that a very high proportion of agricultural labour households in India actually owns land. The percentage is around 50 in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, 60 in Orissa and Uttar Pradesh and over 70 in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. And if we focus on Adivasis, the proportion shoots up to as high as 76-87 per cent in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
Why are these facts important? Because they help us understand that NREGA workers are not just consumers stimulating demand in a recessionary economy. They also include producers — millions of small and marginal farmers forced to work under NREGA because the productivity of their own farms is no longer enough to make ends meet. NREGA will become really powerful when it helps rebuild this decimated productivity of small farms. Public investment in the programme incentivises private investment by small farmers and gives them a chance to return to full-time farming. I have seen hundreds of such examples, especially in the central Indian tribal belt, arguably the poorest parts of the country. Here earthen dams on common land have recharged wells of those poor farmers who earlier worked as labourers to build these dams. These farmers are now busy making a series of investments to improve their own farms.
Thus, a mutually reinforcing relationship between investment and income is catalysed by NREGA. First, investment generates demand and income through the multiplier. Then, income stimulates investment via the accelerator. Giving rise to a spiralling cycle repeated in successive rounds. Although not usually deployed in such a context, the accelerator principle in macroeconomic theory describes the positive impact of growing incomes on private fixed investment. Rising incomes also improve capacity utilisation and happier expectations act as incentives for more investment. Under NREGA, farmers have come back to land they long abandoned, as increased output, in an atmosphere of renewed hope, spurs further investment. Converging NREGA with other programmes for rural livelihoods would carry this momentum forward in a positive upward spiral, which will broadbase the growth process via downstream multiplier-accelerator effects. Effectively a wage employment programme can thus be transformed into a source of sustainable livelihoods generating self-employment. Which would permit reductions in allocations for NREGA over time, not only because landed labourers get back to their own farms but also because of a general rise in demand for labour in the rural economy.
Ten years ago, in our book, India's Drylands, my colleagues and I sketched precisely this kind of scenario. With the key proviso that investments in an employment guarantee programme must be in productive, eco-friendly assets. This would ensure that the resultant growth dynamic is both sustainable (by regenerating the environment) and non-inflationary (by easing the agrarian constraint). Not only does demand need stimulation, growth has to be sustainable in both economic and ecological terms, especially in these times of climate change. So what we require is not just a stimulus a la Keynes but a specific new kind of stimulus a la Schumpeter!
There is no way this multiplier-accelerator synergy can fully come into play without the most important piece of the NREGA jigsaw falling into place – radical governance reform. NREGA is a revolutionary Act that seeks to bring real democracy to India's grass-roots. By replacing the contractor raj, which has dominated rural development in India, with Panchayat Raj — planning, implementation and social audit of works by gram panchayats under the oversight of the Gram Sabha. This requires the creation of a new cadre of dedicated executive agencies serving panchayats, with a team of barefoot engineers and social mobilisers supporting them. Only then can NREGA yield rejuvenated watersheds and recharged water tables. Without which the multiplier-accelerator synergy will remain a distant dream.
Radical governance reform challenges the very fabric of rural social relations. Strong state support is essential to dismantle the fossilised yet exploitative system and to build an effective alternative. Even the few hesitant steps in this direction have produced a violent reaction. As we approach the first anniversary of the martyrdom of Lalit Mehta, a crusader in the NREGA cause, it is time to remind the state of its duty to protect the unsung heroes who continue to risk their lives to make NREGA a success.
While entering untested waters, there are other fresh challenges. Paradoxically, the attempt to check corruption by making payments through banks or post offices has backfired in transition. The additional NREGA load is proving impossible to handle and workers also find it hard to reach these sparsely located distant offices. Local elites with greater mobility and access take hold of workers' job cards and swindle them by fudging entries both on job cards and the centralised computer database. As the social audit process picks up and workers become more aware of the scams taking place in their name, things will improve but there is no alternative to making banks and post offices better equipped and more effective. Could these expenses be met through the 6 per cent administrative costs provided under NREGA? NREGA has fallen short of its potential because the preparation needed for this revolutionary Act was not in place before it was launched. Let us focus radical governance reforms on the 200 most backward districts or even better 1,000 most backward blocks. Where NREGA really matters and should have been restricted to in the first place. If a new architecture of implementation is put in place here, we could see not only the multiplier but a productivity enhancing accelerator in action that transforms livelihoods for millions of our poorest people, in a manner that is sustainable in both economic and ecological terms.
(Dr. Mihir Shah, an economist, is a member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council.)
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THE HINDU
7/7 TRIAL: INSIGHT INTO LIVES OF BOMBERS
NEW VIDEO SHOWS RINGLEADER SAYING GOODBYE TO DAUGHTER.
RACHEL WILLIAMS
From home videos of the ringleader, Mohammad Sidique Khan, cooing over his baby daughter to the "to-do lists" written by the bombers in their final days, the trial of Waheed Ali, Sadeer Saleem and Mohammed Shakil offered a new insight into the preparations for the July 7 attacks, and the four men who would go on to carry out the suicide bombings that killed 52.
The police believe the bombers were schooled by the al-Qaeda operatives when they travelled to Pakistan. Khan twice attended training camps there and went a final time with Aldgate bomber Shehzad Tanweer in late 2004. It was on this trip that authorities believe their plans changed from fighting overseas to an attack in the U.K.
Ali claimed Khan and Tanweer came to him in Pakistan to tell him they were heading back home "to do a couple of things for the brothers."
The trial also revealed:
— Previously unseen footage that showed Khan, who would go on to kill six people near Edgware Road, tenderly saying goodbye to his six-month-old daughter before going to Pakistan. Cradling the child in his arms he tells her that he is going away "for the sake of Islam."
— How the bombers may have deliberately dropped ID and bank cards some distance from where they sat before they detonated their devices, so the documents would survive and they could be easily identified as the perpetrators and "get credit" for what they had done.
— Details, for the first time, of a second bomb factory — a bedsit (one-room flat) above a shop in Chapeltown, Leeds — where investigators believe the four carried out preparatory work in spring 2005. Traces of explosives were found there and CCTV footage captured all four entering the building.
UNIQUE DESIGN
The prosecution's forensic scientist said the unique design of the rucksack bombs that would kill 52 people meant their carriers almost certainly had help to make them. The jury saw the first pictures of the main bomb factory, at Alexandra Grove in Leeds, and heard descriptions of the chemical residues, bulbs, wires, batteries and traces of high explosives found scattered in disarray around the flat.
The bombers' to-do lists, found at the Alexandra Grove bomb factory, included a "plan for the day," thought to have been penned by bus bomber Hasib Hussain. It had just four elements: "Rehersal [sic]. If confronted: deal with it. Pop it if overheats on thing. Organise times!"
A longer list, scrawled by Tanweer, reminded the bombers to memorise prayers. A charred note showing timings of journeys on the underground was recovered from the wreckage of the Russell Square bomb.
Previously unseen CCTV pictures followed an anxious Hussain after his bomb failed to explode on the underground, rooting around in his bag on the concourse at King's Cross. By the time he boarded a number 91 bus, sweat was pouring down his face and his lips were dry and cracked, according to a fellow passenger. The footage of Khan with his daughter was shot two days before he flew to Pakistan in November 2004. The prosecution said it was clear he did not expect to see her again, although in fact he was to return to the U.K. to mastermind the bombings.
"I just wish I could have been part of your life, especially these growing up — these next months, they're really special with you learning to walk and things," he says. "But I have to do this thing for our future and it will be for the best, inshallah, in the long run." He adds: "Be strong, learn to fight — fighting is good." In another clip, shot the month before, he is seen introducing his daughter to her "uncles" — Tanweer, Hussain and Ali.
Detectives based in Yorkshire learned that Ilkley Moor was used as a fitness training ground by young would-be terrorists. Among those spotted running and rock climbing there was Khan. Eyewitnesses are understood to have told detectives that he would frequently be seen there, often with younger men. Usually they would run to the Cow and Calf, an outcrop of rocks at the top of the moor, where they could then be seen hugging.
ANOTHER SIDE
The court heard of another side to Khan's character. Mohammed Shakil told how when the pair became friends in their early 20s, Khan — or Sid, as he was known — was "not a good practising Muslim" and the pair would drink alcohol and smoke cannabis together. The court also heard that during the trip which the prosecution alleged was for reconnaissance to London, Piccadilly line bomber Germaine Lindsay stole the wallets of two men staying in their hostel because he was angry that they were smoking cannabis.
Tanweer, according to Ali, was a more gentle character who had been so religious as a teenager — praying five times a day and growing his beard at 14 or 15 — that other children gave him the nickname "Pious." He "looked after" Ali, and the pair played cricket together in the park the night before the bombings. Tanweer's hair and eyebrows had changed colour — bleached by the chemicals in the bomb factory. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009
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THE HINDU
AFGHANISTAN: THE HIGH COSTS OF FAILURE
THE IDEAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AND THE AFGHANS IS FOR OUTSIDERS TO STAY ENGAGED ON SECURITY ASSISTANCE AND DEVELOPMENT AID, AND FOR THE AFGHANS TO DELIVER ON CORRUPTION, DRUGS, AND DISARMING OF THE WARLORDS.
RAMESH THAKUR
The New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team at the foothills of where the giant Buddha statues stood.
A recent five-day visit to Afghanistan left me both profoundly pessimistic about the accomplishments to date against the scale of international blood and treasure expended, yet convinced also of the importance of not losing the war with the Taliban, al Qaeda and fellow travellers. Kabul defined the pessimism: after more than seven years of massive security assistance and operations, travel in the capital city was permitted only in armoured cars and wearing bullet-proof ves ts. Bamiyan defined the determination not to abandon the cause: the gaping hillside holes from the two giant Buddha statues, which stood as silent sentinels for more than 1500 years before the Taliban destroyed them in an act of wilful cultural vandalism, stand in silent rebuke to a world that allowed this to happen.
The two pressing priorities are to transform the mission from a heavily militarised to a civilianised operation, and to shift it from an externally directed into a locally owned enterprise. At present the capital and the country are fortified garrisons and Afghanistan is not merely under foreign occupation but feels like a quasi-colonial country with real power divided between the Afghan warlords and the American overlords.
The centrepiece of the political situation this year will be the presidential election scheduled for mid-August. By all accounts, Hamid Karzai, who is seeking re-election, is the man to beat. While almost everyone expects him to win, it was hard to find anyone who is filled with genuine enthusiasm, excitement and hope at the prospect of another five years of Mr. Karzai. He is yet to issue a political platform for which he can be held accountable by Afghans and outsiders alike.
One puzzle is whether the Taliban will take part in the political process, in preparation for the parliamentary elections due next year, or whether they will remain outside the process, waiting for the low lying fruits of political victory to fall into their laps as the coterie around the president become increasingly more corrupt, powerless and ineffectual and public cynicism and revulsion grow proportionately. Events in Pakistan show how an enfeebled government saps the morale of the people in standing up to the threat of the spreading Taliban.
In the meantime, there is an agonising debate over whether there is any such thing as a moderate Taliban who can be engaged, detached from the militancy, and integrated into the new national community. Are there people who joined the Taliban for reasons other than ideological fanaticism and can be weaned away from the path of militancy? Or will concessions and goodwill gestures of accommodation be seen as signs of weakness and serve merely to embolden the insurgency, as seems to have happened with the notorious deal between the government and the Taliban in Pakistan with respect to the once lovely Swat valley?
A second imponderable is whether the election will be seen as free and fair by the Afghans regardless of how international observers certify it. There is some concern that five tools in government hands will facilitate the manipulation of the machinery and process to the incumbent's advantage and thereby compromise the integrity of the presidential election. The Afghan Independent Election Commission, its name notwithstanding, has yet to establish its credibility as an independent body. The Afghan National Police, widely reviled for corruption and shake down habits, is a pliant tool in government hands. The provincial governors are appointed by the president and the chain of command extends to district administrators and police commanders. The government enjoys the power of the purse and the revenue streams can be directed to serve electoral rather than development goals. And there is no independent and robust media to subject the government to critical scrutiny and disseminate alternative political platforms and opinions.
The new Afghanistan strategy announced by U.S. President Barack Obama seems to put the focus more strongly on fighting terrorism and less on civilian assistance and local ownership. This goes against the reality of recent and continuing reversals on the human rights, civil liberties and press freedoms front. The passage of the notorious Shia law with its antediluvian views on the wifely duty to provide sex on tap for husbands is but one example; the jailing of journalists for seemingly innocuous behaviour is another. Canadian and European allies will lose the will to fight in Afghanistan if they see the government's behaviour sliding to match the Taliban approach to governance, fatwa for fatwa.
The Rumsfeld instrument of combining security, development, and governance was the provincial reconstruction teams. The PRT-led effort means that everything is seen through the military and security lens, which results in the militarisation and securitisation of all efforts. Moreover, to the extent that attempts are underway to devolve power form the central to the provincial level, this also means that real power has been appropriated by the PRTs at the local level.
The retreat from nation-building, by which is meant building the institutions of state, could prove fatal to the cause of creating and leaving behind a stable polity and a sound economy. This includes strengthening the police, judicial and criminal justice systems, instilling discipline and professionalism, paying adequate salaries so they don't take bribes out of economic necessity as opposed to corrupt character, and accentuating national as opposed to sectarian identity. The army needs to be built up into a professional and national force too. But history shows that to succeed, a counter-insurgency operation has to be led by the police, not the military (think Khalistan versus Kashmir). The EU police presence in Kosovo is in the order of around 2,500; in Afghanistan just over two hundred but slated to rise to 400. Yet the number of Afghan police killed last year was around 2,000, double the army soldiers killed.
The ideal partnership between the international community and the Afghans is for outsiders to stay engaged on security assistance and development aid, and for the Afghans to deliver on corruption, drugs, and disarming of the warlords.
The strengthened U.S. military presence and activity come with heightened risk of an increased level of civilian casualties and culturally offensive behaviour. Just as there is a need to shift from a heavy military to a major civilian footprint, so at some stage the lead international actor should be the United Nations. For all its faults, the organisation has no peer competitor in nation building. For reasons that remain unclear, the U.N. wanted and was given a light footprint. The result, much to the evident frustration of its senior leadership in Afghanistan, is a one-third unfilled number of U.N. vacancies there and even those who go are not always the best, for the U.N.'s best are not attracted to a mission of playing second fiddle to the Americans.
Another lesson from the history of counter-insurgency is that insurgents cannot be defeated if they enjoy sanctuary and strategic depth in a neighbouring country. After all, Washington used Pakistan as a sanctuary for the mujahideen to devastating effect against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The battle space in Afghanistan today straddles the border with Pakistan. Each passing year, the West has become increasingly blunt and public in pinpointing Pakistan's troubled northwest regions as safe havens for insurgents who launch increasingly daring raids into Afghanistan. Unfortunately, they are becoming just as frequent in launching raids deep into Punjab, Pakistan's heartland. As long as Pakistan feeds on its own paranoia of India being the greater existential threat, both Afghanistan and Pakistan will remain volatile.
Knowing what we do of Taliban rule in Afghanistan for many years, having been given a foretaste of what to expect in Pakistan if they manage to capture power there with the stomach-churning video of the young woman being publicly flogged for immoral acts real or imagined, bearing in mind that Pakistan has nuclear weapons, and mindful also of the grave threat that a Taliban-ruled Pakistan would pose to India with its own 150 million Muslims, the one option we do not have is to give up.
(Ramesh Thakur is the founding director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Canada.)
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THE HINDU
BJP'S FACE, MESSAGE, STRATEGIST, AND ORGANISER
NARENDRA MODI AND THE BJP HAVE REDUCED THE LOK SABHA CONTEST IN GUJARAT TO A REFERENDUM ON THE CHIEF MINISTER.
HARISH KHARE
Narendra Modi has come to represent an interesting and, to some, a troublesome model of control and charisma.
Even before the mysteriously timed judicial intervention materialised four days before Gujarat went to the polls, Chief Minister Narendra Modi had come to define the election scene in the State. His personality, political persona and administrative performance have fleshed out the Bharatiya Janata Party's electoral strategy to enhance its tally of 14 out of the 26 Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat. Even L.K. Advani is precariously dependent upon Mr. Modi's charisma to beat down an unexpectedly strong opposition from a young, local Congress MLA in the prestigious Gandhinagar constituency.
"Narendra Modi is the BJP, and the BJP is Narendra Modi," argues a former Chief Minister. And, a senior political aide of the Chief Minister agrees heartily: "We are able to seek and get votes only in Narendrabhai's name."
Nowhere in the country has a regional leader dwarfed the national party so decisively. Kalyan Singh of the 1990s is perhaps the only other man who became similarly critical to the BJP's electoral fortunes and political appeal.
IN-YOUR-FACE CAMPAIGNER
Mr. Modi is the face, message, strategist, and organiser for the BJP in the battle for Gujarat's 26 seats. And he does make an indefatigable, imaginative, and in-your-face campaigner. Explained a senior aide: "He is constantly finessing his rhetorical pitch. Every night there is a review session; there is a discussion of which lines, phrases, and images have worked; there is a lot of homework behind all those seemingly effortless but evocative sentences."
In Ahmedabad, it is mostly Mr. Modi's visage that dominates the billboards. The message of "strong leader, decisive government" — designed nationally around Mr. Advani — finds perfect resonance around Mr. Modi. And, though there is no visible Hindu-Muslim tension, there is invocation of terror, nationalism, patriotism, all weaved in to pander to the Gujarati middle classes' incipient regional parochialism.
Realising Mr. Modi's overwhelming presence in the Gujarati political discourse, the Congress has devised a mostly non-confrontational approach. The refrain is not to attack the Chief Minister, not to give him any opportunity to play the victim, and to let him overtalk himself into fleeting sound-bytes. It is almost as if the Congress has applied "closure" on the 2002 riots.
Instead, its accent is on questioning Mr. Modi's claims on performance, as also on selling the Manmohan Singh government's achievements, on the Prime Minister's reputation as a good manager of the economy, and on the party's sales pitch of stability and growth. What is more, the Congress has refused to be provoked even as the Chief Minister tried to hit its national leaders below the belt. On their part, the Congress candidates have concentrated on local issues, thereby diluting Mr. Modi's pan-Gujarat appeal.
LARGER-THAN-LIFE PROFILE
While this larger-than-life profile has enabled Mr. Modi to elbow other "generation next" leaders such as Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh out of the BJP's picture frame in Gujarat, he has also taken a calculated risk: he needs to demonstrate that given a free hand, he will be capable of winning votes and seats for the party. The Chief Minister's media managers whisper: "20 to 22." The BJP spin-doctors insist that there is no way the Congress will secure more than four seats. Unless the BJP wins at least 20 seats, questions will be raised about the advisability of converting the election into a referendum on Mr. Modi. Any tally below 20 would, of course, have consequences for the Chief Minister's leadership claims beyond Gujarat.
And that is where the problem begins. Even Mr. Modi's admirers are flummoxed by how he selected BJP candidates. Many of them have just crossed over from the Congress, some have a definite tainted past, and, some were involved in a cooperative bank scam a few years ago. The choice of such dubious characters has distracted from the Chief Minister's image as a no-nonsense man, besides putting the onus on him to see the chosen ones through.
Admittedly, if Mr. Modi has prospered politically it is only because the BJP enjoys a decisive edge over the Congress in terms of organisational presence and resourcefulness in Gujarat. Still, the party has become totally synonymous with the Chief Minister; the electorate has to be appeased with the promise — even if a distant one — of his becoming Prime Minister.
Nonetheless, this total focus on one man has reduced other senior leaders to virtual non-entities. And the Chief Minister's own preference to rely on the government's machinery to build up his image has left the cadres somewhat out of practice for the gruelling electoral scrimmage. The outcome will have lessons for other Chief Ministers, too.
Mr. Modi has come to represent an interesting — and, to some, troublesome — model of control and charisma. A senior ministerial colleague recently compared him to a ringmaster who has competently tamed the corporate lions. The entire bureaucracy has cheerfully slipped into the role of the Chief Minister's cheerleaders. All State-level BJP leaders have faded into political irrelevance. The media too have been made to appreciate the advantages of appreciating the Chief Minister. It is this model of control and charisma that is on test in the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat. The outcome will be of interest way beyond Gujarat.
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THE ASIAN AGE
EDITORIAL
RISK-AVERSE BANKS RETARDING GROWTH?
The pressure on banks to lend, particularly to the micro and small and medium industries (SMEs), is increasing but the banks appear unmoved. But unless they lend to the manufacturing sector, there will be no real growth in production and consequently in the economy. Small and medium industries comprise the bulk of the manufacturing sector. Both state-owned and private sector banks complain that there are hardly any viable projects to lend to, an argument which industry leaders are quick to dismiss. The viability of a project is not that easy to assess, they say, asking in turn that if the bankers' logic was true, and they lend only to "viable" projects, then how do the banks end up with so many non-performing assets (NPAs)? The entrepreneur is not the only one to blame if a project fails; there are other factors such as technical and labour problems, besides loan delays! One estimate has it that lending to the small and medium sector has fallen from 12 per cent to nine per cent — which is alarming as unlike the big corporates, who can always tap other credit channels, including the capital markets and external commercial borrowings, the SMEs are not so privileged. A member of
Parliament, making a fervent plea to banks to lend more to SMEs, observed recently that the banks' lending policy was not in tune with efforts by the Reserve Bank to spur banks to lend more.
In his last credit policy statement, RBI governor D. Subbarao had said that since mid-September 2008, the central bank's measures had resulted in augmenting actual and potential liquidity by Rs 5,61,700 crores. This liquidity expansion has been consistent with the Reserve Bank's efforts to ensure a policy regime enabling credit expansion at viable rates while preserving credit quality. But as they say, you can take the horse to the river but you cannot force it to drink water, so it is with the banks. Their credit deposit ratio is 69.39 per cent as on November 6, 2009: which means that for every Rs 100, Rs 70 is lent. But the banks prefer to park their surplus funds with the RBI instead of lending to industry, particularly the manufacturing sector. It is estimated that banks keep over Rs 1,50,000 crores with the RBI on any given day even though the interest rate they earn is minimal. But for risk-averse banks, the big thing is that it is totally risk-free.
The banks, of course, have their own compulsions. They are risk-averse because their NPAs are increasing, and the RBI recently asked them to increase provisioning for this, which means the banks will have to freeze around Rs 30,000 crores for this. Banks must bring down gross NPAs to three per cent and net NPAs to one per cent by March 1, 2010, so the pressure is there. The NPAs are increasing partly due to the recession, and so they are even more cautious now, particularly on home loans and other personal loans. Credit defaults are huge in this segment as in the good times the banks lent to the aspirational middle and lower middle classes, which drew high salaries. Realty is another sector where the banks landed in a mess despite the RBI's controls. The only solution to this impasse between borrowers and lenders is really for the government to set up a monitoring committee which would examine proposals in minute detail, assess the feasibility or otherwise of projects to ensure that deserving ones are not denied credit and that manufacturing activity begins to pick up.
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THE ASIAN AGE
EDITORIAL
OF LEAKS, LIES AND LIBERHANS
SHIV VISVANATHAN
One of the most sacred forms of trusteeship is the act of storytelling. Storytelling expresses ways of telling the truth. It realises truth can be told differently and that truth needs to be seen differently. But such differences never destroyed the power of truth or the integrity of the storyteller.
The power of the story emerges in one of Anna Akhmatova's stories. The poetess writes about a group of people hanging around a prison camp, waiting day after day for news of their beloved. A line of grim committed people standing in the cold. It is at one such desolate movement that a woman turns around to Akhmatova and asks "can you describe what you saw?" The poet nods. A smile spreads over both faces because they realised a story told and retold becomes a pathway to justice.
One discovered that same moment of epiphany in the reports on Watergate or the Pentagon report on the Vietnam War. A lie was exposed and truth recited across a variety of perspectives. It is these moments that made journalists like David Halberstam, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein storytellers who kept the myth and social contract of democracy alive.
As one watched the leak of the Liberhan Commission report, one was left with a different feeling. The report of the destruction of Babri Masjid has been told in many ways. There was lot that was not clear about the behaviour of both Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). When the media and the politicians got together to discuss the leak, what one missed was the integrity of the storyteller.
There was something belated about the report itself. The Liberhans Commission had 47 extensions and cost Rs 8 crores. This fact itself is surreal. What adds to the comedy was what was a still-life suddenly erupts into frenzy by being leaked.
A leak is an amazing moment. It valorises a report, adds dignity, an explosive charm to its contents. What is a lame-duck report suddenly flickers to life by asking each man to invent his own story. Liberhans raved not because of the leak but because he had been demoted to a pretext to a set of imaginary texts. Politics and media jumped into the fray replaying Babri again.
Listening is a crucial part of storytelling. One listens so can tell the story. There is an ethics to listening. What one witnessed was the claim that the leaders were not responsible. The leak and the injustice of the leak dominated over the truth of the story. Responsibility is denied, remorse erased. But behind the consternation was the fact that the greatest hard-sell of the Babri story cracked like a China vase. Atal Behari Vajpayee was no longer the innocent he was presented to be. Whether it was the nuclear bomb or Babri Masjid, his claim to exoneration was always the rhetoric of regret. A Macbeth hides his crime borrowing the poetry of a Hamlet. His poetry might be fine, but his ethics never rises above the level of a limerick.
Then there is the Punch and Judy performance of Lal Krishna Advani and Vinay Katiyar. The first said that it was "the saddest day of his life", the second "the happiest". Between the two, one was a troubled Quixote, the other as a happy Sancho. They articulated the paradox of the BJP. The crowd destroyed the temple. Yet at that very moment, it also destroyed the BJP. It was no longer a cadre-driven party working on disciplined lines. It was the mob and not the leaders who created history. The Masjid fell but along with it crumpled the myth of the BJP as a controlled vehicle of politics.
The third specimen was P.V. Narasimha Rao, the Machiavelli of the non-decision. Some claimed he was in collusion, some felt his hands were tied by the governor's advice.
But what is interesting in all these stories is the notion of responsibility. But what intrigues is the manner of the white wash. Rao hides behind a constitutional caveat, Mr Advani behind over-enthusiasm and Mr Vajpayee claims absence. It is as if politics is no longer about responsibility. And it is this that makes the report such a joke. It becomes an empty Crapps Last tape of Indian politics, a masterpiece about delay.
What was cynical and sad was that all sides knew it was a sordid joke. Cynicism provided the common weave, the unity of response. Each journalist acted as if he was privy to this before the other. Two thousand people die and each mediaperson like a narrator in a post-modern play says no one was really responsible. Babri just happened. The mob did what the politicians wished to but dwandled over. The intent to kill and destroy was all there but a hiccup overwhelmed the act.
Subsequently the hiccup becomes the alibi. The citizen does not know which is more obscene: the demolition or the report which produced a still-born piece after the longest investigative pregnancy.
Watching TV one feels media, politics and the bureaucracy conspired to create a cynical joke on justice. One felt one was watching a group of club members toasting a common story. One felt soiled watching the piety of politicians and the cynicism of journalists. What is worse is that this new media's Orwellianisim reveals some are more cynical than others. While the press boasts of access to truth, it is precisely truth that becomes a disabled entitlement. We do not need a Goebbels to destroy truth, only those who destroy the truth of storytelling by realising that a lie is a truth postponed long enough. It is the reverse of the Akhmatova anecdote. When a listener asks our media, "can you describe it?", our cozy coalition of media-lovelies will look blankly.
The truth that emerges is not about communalism or governance. It is what I call the complicity of the political. The Congress, the BJP, the Muslim leaders might be allies or adversaries. But there is an uncanny unity in the pursuit of power. It is the ultimate construction of cynical reason to explain away an empty politics.
Shiv Visvanathan is a social scientist
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THE ASIAN AGE
EDITORIAL
PM'S FAITH IN US IS STRONGER THAN EVER
PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unlearnt his socialism after he advised Indira Gandhi during her garibi hatao days in the early-1970s. During his recent visit to the United States, he emphatically endorsed American-style capitalism and his faith in the once-mighty greenback. At a time when many around the world are not merely questioning their faith in free enterprise and the alleged self-correcting abilities of markets, Dr Singh's hosannas to the "entrepreneurial spirit" of a country where socialism is still a dirty word make it clear that his belief in the virtues of American "model" of development has become stronger than before.
In an interview with Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek that was broadcast on CNN on November 23, the academic-turned-technocrat-turned-politician said that his own feeling "is that we have not entered an era of irreversible shift in the economic strength of the US". The Indian Prime Minister added that the economic crisis in the US — for which the rest of the world is suffering for no fault of theirs — is a "temporary setback" and that America "has shown remarkable capacity to bounce back". Pooh-poohing the suggestion that there has been a sharp decline in US power and prestige across the globe on account of the recession, Dr Singh had "no doubt that these things are not permanent".
He believes the US dollar will remain the reserve currency of the world for some time to come. He said that "as far as I can see right how, there is no substitute for the dollar" and added that as far back as the late-1960s, Yale University economist Robert Griffin had incorrectly predicted that the days of the dollar as the reserve currency of the world were over. Dr Singh stated that the fact that China had not withdrawn "even a fraction" of its $2.5 trillion of reserve assets in the US Treasury bonds was "a measure of the confidence that the world has in the dollar".
It is a separate matter that China — and Russia — have for long been expressing their dissatisfaction at the pre-eminence of the dollar as a reserve currency. Before the first meeting of the heads-of-state of the four Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries at Yekaterinburg, in June 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had remarked: "There can be no successful global currency system if the financial instruments that are used are denominated in only one currency…"
Faced with terrible recessionary conditions, many countries are frustrated at their powerlessness in influencing the exchange rate of the American greenback while remaining vulnerable to its fluctuations. At the end of March, China reportedly held US Treasury bonds worth nearly US $770 billion, Russia held securities worth $139 billion and Brazil had $127 billion worth of official American paper. The Reserve Bank of India does not provide a currency-wise break-up of foreign currency reserves but this country's total foreign exchange assets are currently close to $300 billion. There is no unanimity as yet, within the Bric nations and elsewhere, about how the dollar could be replaced as an international benchmark currency. Still, the debate on whether "special drawing rights" issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could become the new reserve currency has certainly intensified.
This was hardly the first time that Dr Singh lavished praise on the US. After he decided to jettison the support of the Left for the first United Progressive Alliance government on the India-US nuclear deal, on September 26, 2008, he sat beside George W. Bush Jr. in the Oval Office and said: "Mr President, this may be my last visit to you during your presidency and let me thank you very much. The people of India deeply love you. And all that you have done to bring our two countries together is something history will remember forever".
He didn't stop there but continued gushing: "In the last four-and-half-years that I have been Prime Minister, I have been the recipient of your generosity, your affection, your friendship. It means a lot to me and the people of India".
It did not matter to the Indian Prime Minister that at the time he uttered these sentences, George W. Bush had become one of the most unpopular American Presidents in that country's history. The then foreign secretary of India Shivshankar Menon — who was handpicked by Dr Singh superseding a number of other officers of the Indian Foreign Service — had claimed at that time that "the ratings for President Bush are higher in India than in any other country".
Prakash Karat, general-secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), later quipped that the Prime Minister should not have brought the people of India in-between his friendship with Bush. This expression of love surprised many of Dr Singh's colleagues in the Congress who realised that then outgoing, lame-duck President of the US did not have too many supporters in India. They attributed the Prime Minister's outpouring of affection to the long battle he had fought against the Left to conclude the nuclear agreement, a deal on which he had staked not only his personal reputation but that of his government as well. Yet, the nuclear deal — or for that matter, US imperialism — did not evidently matter much as an issue for Indian voters.
Till the point he became finance minister in the Narasimha Rao government in June 1991, Dr Singh was seen as an economist who had endorsed the "socialist" policy framework of the Indian government. Even as the South Commission's secretary-general in the late-1980s, he had articulated the economic aspirations of the developing countries and been critical of the IMF and World Bank. He did surprise many when he espoused a sharp rightward shift in India's economic policy regime as finance minister between June 1991 and April 1996. Even as Prime Minister, Dr Singh is still seen as among the more right-wing leaders of the Congress as far as his economic ideology is concerned.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta is an educator and commentator
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DNA
EDITORIAL
DESERT STORM
The request for restructuring the debt of Dubai World, which includes the real estate subsidiary Nakheel, is connected with the financial meltdown in the western markets in 2008.
It is a curious coincidence that even as the sub-prime bubble in the housing sector in the United States was the root cause of the mayhem in the financial markets in the capitalist countries, it is the over-ambitious — to put it mildly — real estate projects in the flamboyant emirate that triggered the tremor that could turn out to be a major market quake.
It was natural that following the recession in western markets, Dubai's own projects would grind to a halt. Until and unless western financial markets recover and the funds start flowing, Dubai would not be able to get on with its grandiose building projects.
Unlike other Gulf countries, Dubai's economy was not built around petro-dollars because the emirate does not have oil resources. That is why, the ruling family, the Maktoums, had taken the diversification route with the intention of making Dubai an international hub for trade and services.
The plan seemed to work and paid dividends as well. Spurred by this initial success of the economy freed from its dependence on oil revenues, the planners in Dubai went into overdrive.
While the Wall Street managers committed the excesses of greed that led to the recession, in Dubai it was an excess of the extravagance — supported and abetted all the while by a less than mediocre western expatriate crowd of advisers and promoters — that has unhinged the economy.
Dubai has been indulging in capitalist excess for nearly a decade now, but westerners and those at the helm of western financial institutions with an uncanny combination of cynicism and naivete performed the role of cheerleaders and pumped in money.
Now, western market analysts are screaming murder, and expressing disbelief and rage at the disaster which was waiting to happen. They are pointing to the lack of transparency in Dubai's make-believe financial world with its false glitter. Until now they have been willing participants in the most immature capitalist pantomime.
This is the painful reality check that Dubai badly needed. It could not have sustained longer the vaulting Las Vegas dreams. It is going to be a painful climb back to economic stability but Dubai is sure to emerge an economy anchored in reality.
As a result the emirate would be better integrated with the regional economy and the focus will hopefully shift from the western to Asian economic partners.
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DNA
EDITORIAL
FAMILY FEUD
There appears to be some sort of churning within India's political arena as all the parties with a "difference" now find that they are truly different — and at odds with the expectations of their voters and their members.
The elections this year appear to have set off a process of churning which is far from over. Just as the Bharatiya Janata Party lurches from one crisis to another, its alliance partner in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena, finds that life is a non-stop obstacle course.
The problems in the party reflect the fissures in the Thackeray family, since the family is the bedrock of the Sena. This weekend saw another crisis brewing as one more family member — after the defection of Bal Thackeray's nephew Raj three years ago — made clear her disillusionment with the Sena.
Smita Thackeray, a daughter in law of the house and once considered a party powerhouse, now says that she cannot in good conscience support the parochial politics practised by both the Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Instead, she finds that she greatly admires Sonia Gandhi for the leadership direction she has given the Congress and that she is impressed with the dedication shown by Rahul Gandhi.
What is immediately evident is that more and more people are frustrated with divisive politics. After all the problems that the Congress went through, from the latter part of the Indira Gandhi years right up to when it lost power to various coalitions through the 1990s, it now appears to have come full circle in people's minds — a party for all seasons.
This does not imply the Congress is the answer, so much as it reflects on the inability of its political opponents to read and understand the popular mood. Hate politics has a limited place and time and by its own nature, burns itself out.
For the Shiv Sena, though, the blows are coming thick and fast — the defection of Raj and the threat posed by the MNS, the ill-advised attack on Sachin Tendulkar, the constant harping on the Marathi manoos while providing Maharashtra no constructive game plan for improvement and now a very well-argued criticism of the short-sightedness of pro-Marathi politics by Smita Thackeray.
The obvious target will be Uddhav Thackeray as the leader of the party. But the actual problem lies deeper, with the Sena's past, its history and its idea of its own ideology. An object lesson here for all Indian politicians.
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DNA
COLUMN
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ANGER, POST 26/11?
KALPANA SHARMA
The little girl selling candles outside the Taj Mahal hotel on November 26 was having the best time. No one quibbled when she asked for Rs10 for each candle.
All kinds of people bought candles from her and lit them ritualistically outside the hotel.Candle lighting is now standard practice for all such anniversaries.
But this anniversary went beyond such symbolism. Assorted groups with their own agendas used the presence of the media to put forward their messages. So while a group from the BJP shouted slogans like "Phansi do, phansi do" demanding that Ajmal Kasab be hanged, the Hare Rama Hare Krishna brigade danced around singing bhajans.
Next to them stood a woman with an old poster, created after the 1992-93 communal riots by a garment manufacturer in Dharavi, the late Waqar Younis, showing four young boys depicting four different religions under the slogan "Hum Sab Ek Hain".
It was a mela of personal messages and agendas.And somewhere in the background was the memory that a year ago the structure before which all this was happening had been under siege in one of the most spectacular terror attacks seen in India.
The odd slogans apart what one did not sense was any anger.Disappointment, yes.But not anger.Not of the kind expressed a year back. So what had happened? Had people changed?Or had the anger drummed up at that time subsided because it had not been channelled into anything constructive?
Of course, if you believed what you heard on television, Mumbaikars apparently were angry.Some of the talking heads on TV declared repeatedly that they were angry and fed up with the government and the political class. Venting is the easiest form of expression and the electronic media, in particular, now gives everyone a chance to do that.But what is achieved at the end of all that except some hot air?
Strikingly, those who said they were not angry were people who were still grieving a personal loss.People like Ragini Sharma, the wife of a ticket collector who was shot down at CST station. Or slain journalist Sabina Sehgal Saikia's brother, who suggested that people needed to move on beyond anger.
The elite and the middle class in this city seem convinced that if they speak, the rulers must listen. So if they shout and say they are angry, those in power should shake in trepidation and immediately set about making changes.
If they ask questions like "Why didn't the NSG use tear gas in the Taj while tackling the terrorists?" they must be given a studied response even though the question arises from complete ignorance about how such situations are handled.
In between such questions being raised on prime time television, there is little or no engagement with the realities of the city.Some are engaged, but their numbers are few, not enough to make a dent in the city's development plans, to break the growing and obvious nexus between builders and politicians, to impact the course of decision-making on issues vital to people's daily existence.
The exceptions are where people have decided not to sit back and protest but to organise and resist. Thus the residents of Gorai, for instance, successfully prevented land acquisition for an SEZ that would have destroyed the lives and livelihood of thousands of fisherfolk and farmers.
But apart from a handful of such examples of successful interventions in changing policy, Mumbaikars continue to demonstrate amazing indifference to their surroundings and only wake up periodically when disasters hit them -- a flood, a bomb blast or a terror attack.
The problem with the hype around anniversaries like November 26 is that it is only hype. When anger does not lead to constructive engagement, it dissipates and results in nothing changing. If there is anything we should learn a year after November 26, it is this, a truth that has been evident for decades in this city.
The writer is is a Mumbai-based independent journalist and columnist
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DNA
MEANS OF LIBERATION
Compared with all other means, knowledge is the only direct means to liberation. As cooking is impossible without fire, so is liberation impossible without knowledge.
Ritual cannot dispel ignorance, because they are not mutually contradictory. But knowledge destroys ignorance, as light destroys darkness. The self appears to be conditioned by virtue of ignorance. But when that (ignorance) is destroyed, the unconditioned self shines by its own light.
Having purified, by repeated instruction, the soul that is turbid with ignorance, knowledge should efface itself. The world, abounding in desire, hatred is like a dream. While it lasts, it seems to be real, but, when one awakes, it becomes unreal. Like the (illusion of) silver in mother-o'-pearl, the world appears to be real until the immutable reality behind everything, is realised.
Like space, the Lord Vishnu, coming in contact with various conditions, appears to be different by reason of their differences, but is seen to be undifferentiated when those (conditions) are destroyed.
Only by virtue of varying conditions are caste, name, periods of religious life, etc., imposed on the self, like taste, colour and other distinctions imposed on water. The place for experiencing happiness and misery, which is made up of the fivefold compounds of the great elements and is obtained as the result of past actions, is called the (dense) body.
The instrument of enjoyment, which is made up of the uncompounded elements and which consists of the five life-forces, the mind, the consciousness, and the ten senses, is the subtle body. The beginningless illusion that is indefinable is called the causal body.
One should understand the self as other than these three bodies (or conditions), the pure self, by the relation of the five sheaths appears to assume their respective natures, like a crystal reflecting a blue cloth.
Select Works of Sri Sankaracharya
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DNA
BJP'S TRYST WITH DISASTER
AMULYA GANGULI
History repeats itself, first time as a tragedy and the second time as a disaster, as Karl Marx did not say. For the BJP, revisiting the Ramjanmabhoomi movement via the Liberhan report may well turn out to be the second denouement.
It is not only that a replay lacks the excitement of the original event. It can also highlight what went wrong. This educative aspect of a second look holds considerable significance for the party. It took only four years after the Babri masjid demolition for the BJP to realise that its Hindutva agenda had led it into a cul-de-sac.
The realisation dawned when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government failed to secure a majority in Parliament in 1996 despite 13 days of wooing of possible allies.
As it reluctantly offered its resignation, Vajpayee announced that the BJP was putting the temple issue on the back burner along with the two other favourite subjects of the saffron brotherhood, the introduction of a uniform civil code and the scrapping of Article 370.
Even before this retreat in 1996, the party had lost the UP elections, where the Samajwadi Party and the BSP had formed the government. It was another matter that this alliance of the subalterns soon fell apart. What was more relevant was that the temple issue had not yielded as much political mileage as the Hindutva brigade believed.
Instead, it has been a millstone round the BJP's neck. It is only the cynical tactic of shelving the project of building the temple which has ensured the party's survival at the head of the NDA. And it is only by remaining in this position that the party can ever hope to regain power at the Centre.
However, a renewed emphasis on the temple following the Liberhan report will only accelerate the NDA's disintegration, whose latest signs were the desertions of Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee. Earlier, of course, a host of others like Chandrababu Naidu, Ramvilas Paswan and Farooq Abdullah had left the alliance.
Yet, despite the writing on the wall, the RSS continues to insist that it is the shelving of the Hindutva agenda which led to the BJP's defeats in 2004 and 2009. Now, the revival of the memories of the Ramjanmabhoomi agitation has brought the saffron hawks again to the fore.
While Kalyan Singh's proud announcement of his lack of remorse for the demolition can be dismissed as an act of expediency after the snapping of his ties with the Samajwadi Party, this cannot be said of similar assertions by Giriraj Kishore, Pravin Togadia, Vinay Katiyar and others. These are the saffron storm-troopers who have again seen an opportunity to take up their favourite chant.
Since the entire top leadership of the BJP has been indicted in the report, the party has no option but to claim that it did no wrong. The resultant endorsement of the temple project entails a denial, therefore, of the 1996 pledge, if not an outright rejection.
As a consequence, LK Advani's recent attempts to don Vajpayee's moderate mantle will no longer carry much credibility. As it is, the move never seemed too convincing in view of Advani's longstanding hardline image. Instead, it was seen as a pre-poll ploy to woo the minorities. After the defeat, Arun Jaitley also played the moderate card by saying that the party had to abandon its shrill tone.
But these voices will now be stilled, as Jaswant Singh's was for his book on Jinnah and for having said that Hindutva needed a new definition. Since the moderates are a minuscule group in the BJP, the hawks will not find it too difficult to corner them with their strident justification for the demolition.
Besides, as Advani has never been a fully paid-up member of this group, the chances are that he will return to his combative days of the early 1990s, with a nudge and a wink from the RSS.
There may not be a formal restoration of the three shelved issue — temple, uniform civil code and Article 370 — on the BJP's list of priorities, but the ascendancy of the hardliners, evident in the shouting of the Jai Shri Ram slogan in the Rajya Sabha and the extolling of December 6, 1992, as a memorable day for Hindus, cannot but unnerve the BJP's sole remaining secular partner, the Janata Dal (United).
The BJP will have to relive, therefore, the crucial days of 1996 when it had to make up its mind on persisting with its fiery rhetoric or become less shrill. But now, the RSS's greater control over the party means that it has much less room for manoeuvre.
Besides, it does not have someone of Vajpayee's stature to navigate through the choppy waters. Yet, the few saner elements in the party know that a return to the earlier combativeness will forever close its doors to power at the Centre.
The writer is a Delhi-based commentator on social and political affairs
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THE TRIBUNE
EDITORIAL
RBI'S CAUTION
DUBAI CRISIS MAY NOT AFFECT INDIA SERIOUSLY
Like beauty, economic recovery, lies in the eyes of the beholder. Those who see the glass half full are upbeat about the state of the Indian economy and believe the positive reports emanating from the US and Europe that the worse is over. Since the stock markets have been on an upswing, fuelled by usually optimistic media reports about strong economic data, RBI Governor D. Subba Rao has thought it fit to send out a note of caution to the over-enthusiasts. India's recovery from the slowdown, he says, is "still fragile". And to back his claim, he has pointed to (a) the decline in exports for 12 months in a row (b) the lower demand for non-food credit and (c) an 18 per cent dip in the kharif output.
The RBI Governor's sane advice came on a day when the stock markets the world over were rattled by the debt woes of the state-owned investment conglomerate, Dubai World, currently saddled with $59 billion worth liabilities. Experts are still assessing its impact on global financial institutions and the nascent global economic recovery. Banks and reality companies are expected to face the heat. The RBI has asked the banks about their exposure to the troubled West Asian city. Unofficial reports put India Inc's risk at Rs 7,000 crore. Speaking in Chandigarh on Saturday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee ruled out any major impact of the crisis on the Indian economy, which is quite resilient. Even if there is no serious damage, the positive sentiment has definitely given way to fears of another Lehman Brothers in the making.
In an increasingly inter-connected world, bad news anywhere hurts everyone. In a belated admission, the RBI Governor said India was affected by the global crisis "because we were more globally integrated than we consciously recognised". To strengthen the recovery, the RBI and the government will have to support the engines of growth and continue the fiscal stimulus until the country is on a firm ground. Quite an optimist, Mr Pranab Mukherjee is seeing "a beginning of the end of the financial crisis".
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EDITORIAL
INDIA'S STAND CONSISTENT
THE VOTE AT IAEA REFLECTS A COMMITMENT
India's vote at the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA) governor's meeting for the third time last Friday against Iran's controversial nuclear programme reflects the country's consistent stand on the issue of nuclear non-proliferation. New Delhi is in principle committed to the cause of non-proliferation, which was the reason why it was seen on the side of those opposing Iran's nuclear ambitions at the IAEA in September 2005 and February 2006 also. India has been maintaining an impeccable record on the non-proliferation front as a responsible nuclear power all these years. No responsible nation would like any new nuclear weapon state to emerge anywhere in the world in the interest of peace. Also, India does not want another nuclear power in the neighbourhood.
India has always had friendly relations with Iran. There is no reason why the two countries should not remain friends today also despite what has happened at the IAEA. India has, after all, opposed the imposition of fresh sanctions against Iran. Voting against the Iranian nuclear programme along with 24 other nations at the IAEA headquarters at Vienna, India stated, "This resolution cannot be the basis of a renewed punitive approach or new sanctions." India has been consistently arguing that a sanctions regime, even a crippling one, cannot help find a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.
There is no better alternative to dialogue. The US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany have had two meetings with Iranian representatives at Geneva and Vienna in the recent past. The renewed engagement with Teheran has been encouraging. This must be continued till a final solution is hammered out. Of late, Iran has also been cooperating with the IAEA in the inspection of its nuclear plants. Teheran needs to show transparency while trying to convince the international community that its nuclear power programme is not aimed at making the weapon of mass destruction, as it claims. Iran must keep in view that it has certain obligations to fulfil as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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EDITORIAL
DEATHS ON ROADS
INDIA HAS A WRONG KIND OF RECORD
The Minister for Surface Transport, Mr Kamal Nath, was not there at the first global summit on road safety which concluded in Moscow recently. The UN meeting, attended by ministers from over 70 countries, had been planned a year ago and the next summit is expected five years later. India's representation needed to be there at a senior level mainly because of our vast experience of neglecting road safety over the years. India, which has just 1 per cent of the world's vehicles, actually accounts for 10 per cent of the deaths on roads every year. It has actually overtaken China in recording 1,14,000 deaths last year while China, despite having more vehicles than India, reduced the number of deaths to 90,000.
While the Moscow declaration has approved a "decade of action" for road safety and calls for greater political commitment, different studies in the past have established that the problem is acute in developing countries in Asia and Africa. The concern of the Western world is also prompted by the increasing number of people moving into these regions for travel or employment. While developing countries are preoccupied with widening highways, laying better roads and ensuring greater speed for vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, rickshaws and bullock carts have been left to fend for themselves.
Several studies in India also indicate that a majority of the road accidents, a whopping 77 per cent, according to one of them, are due to mistakes made by drivers. Absence of rear reflectors in vehicles and road signs, faulty signals and other factors are some of the reasons which call for intervention by government agencies. But bad driving and the plight of the accident victims are yet to be paid much attention by the Indian authorities. One hopes the Centre and the state governments will wake up soon for preventing deaths on roads.
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THE TRIBUNE
COLUMN
A TALE OF TWO VISITS
USE SYMBOLISM TO IMPROVE TIES WITH US
BY ARUNDHATI GHOSE
Clearly nothing succeeds like success. President Obama's swing through East Asia appeared high on symbolism — US "continued interest in Asia, reassuring allies in South Korea and Japan and, as culmination, a visit to the Middle Kingdom. To the Chinese, it must have seemed fitting that the once sole and now declining super power was calling on China in need. Whether in fact the US is a declining power or not, it is at the moment trammeled sorely by problems at home and abroad. At the very least, the US is, in its own words, seeking "strategic reassurance" from the Chinese. Issues such as China's military modernisation, trade issues, China's undervalued currency, human rights and climate change were probably raised, but what appears most important is the formal recognition by the US of China's emergence as a great power.
Coming at a time when India's own relationship with China is under strain as the rising great power flexes its muscles, this recognition can only be a source of discomfort in New Delhi. Not that India should grudge the Chinese their magnificent growth, but there is no doubt that such recognition might make Chinese posturing on our borders more rigid and uncompromising.
Working out a modus vivendi with China, an essential element of India's own hopes of building a more prosperous economy, will become that much more difficult. I am not here referring to the not-so-innocuous reference to South Asia — no doubt insisted on by the Chinese to "balance" the reference to Pakistan's role in terrorism in the region, and agreed to by the US as not of great consequence — but to the appearance of the sole super power concurring in China's approaches to not just President Obama's programme while in China but also to those relating to China's "core issues". Whether difficult or not, India, a growing rather than a rising economy, will have to accept that it will have to contend with a not-so-friendly neighbour for the immediate future.
Almost immediately after President Obama returned to Washington, he had to receive Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. While the importance of this visit to the US was nowhere near that of the Chinese meeting, it was also full of symbolism. India's democracy has been, no doubt, lauded — somewhat patronising I have always felt — as was New Delhi's strategic importance. But does anyone stress Japan's democratic credentials? Even in an interview given by the Prime Minister to The Washington Post, he shed light on the issues which were likely to be discussed and these were bilateral ones — we seem to be still building the relationship. It is now clear that there were no grand initiatives, and that is perhaps just as well. There are still too many disagreements on issues such as non-proliferation and climate change, not to mention protectionism and, of course, the implementation of the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement.
The Prime Minister rued the fact in the interview that the US was still unwilling to give India the access to technology that had been the basis of that agreement. At the same time, in other areas such as defence and cooperation on counter-terrorism after 26/11, matters appear to be moving ahead. There is no doubt the relationship has "normalised", with areas of agreement and disagreement; perhaps we should work on keeping it that way. After all, one of the most important issues for the US at the moment lies in our neighbourhood, in the Af-Pak region. Had we really been of strategic importance to the US, surely there would have been more consultations on the way ahead? Instead, the US has chosen to depend on the analysis of the Pakistani Army, including on the usefulness or otherwise of India's advice.
It would be well to recognise the close relationship, even at the personal level, between the US military and intelligence services and the Pakistani Army — it is a decades' old relationship and has been cultivated assiduously by both sides over the years. The developments immediately after the passage of the Kerry-Lugar Bill, granting Pakistan massive and badly required aid, were telling. The Pakistani Army objected to some sections of the Bill, which they felt affected its role in the governance of the country; a US Senator, one of the authors of the Bill, was rushed to Islamabad to "explain" the motivations behind the Bill. Yet the Pakistan Army had accepted US largesse over the years. According to a book written by the now much-maligned (in Pakistan) Pakistani Ambassador to the US, such largesse was one of the reasons why the Pakistan Army had, from Ayub's days, cultivated the US.
The argument I would put forward would be that, instead of looking beyond symbolism during the Prime Minister's visit, India should have used the symbolism to strengthen the relationship, and not try to break any new ground with what appears to be a less than comfortable relationship. India needs to bide its time till the US has figured out how important New Delhi is in its geopolitical vision. That the US will remain important to India is obvious.
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THE TRIBUNE
COLUMN
MBA MADE EASY
BY V.S. CHAUDHRI
Managing time after retirement is a real problem, especially for those who are not club-minded, who do not play bridge and who do not drink. There is always enough time left after a morning walk, yoga, reading newspapers and magazines and watching TV.
Whenever two old friends meet, the usual topic for discussion is "how do you spend time".
Some people have done a good deal of research on the subject and devised novel ways and means to kill time without shedding any blood, for which they deserve to be honoured with nothing less than a Nobel Prize. They have tried these recipes themselves and they claim a 100 per cent money-back guarantee in case of their failure.
One of my colleagues says that after getting ready and taking breakfast, he asks his wife if she needed anything to be brought from the market for the day. She would be pleased to name two or three things. The gentleman would go to a general store in the neighbourhood market which he has patronised and purchase one thing.
He would come back and say, "sorry dear, I forgot to bring the other two items." After about an hour, he would go again and bring one more item and make the same excuse. He would make a third trip after some time and bring the third item. This is his routine.
This exercise enables him to spend some time. The shopkeeper addresses him as 'Sir' every time he visits the shop and this reminds him of the good old days. His spirit gets a boost and he feels elated. The rest of the day passes cheerfully.
Another colleague has made it a point to go out at about 11 a.m. to the mini secretariat or some other office complex. He would spot some officer who is seemingly not so busy. He would introduce himself, sit down and narrate some interesting incident of his career to impress him. The young officer might start addressing him as 'Sir' and offer him a cup of tea. He has cultivated 4-5 such contacts and he frequents them according to the degree of their hospitality and regard shown by them.
Here is a third colleague and his modus-operandi is most interesting. He met me at a marriage party. After exchanging pleasantries, I posed the same question to him. He said, he was doing his MBA. I was astonished and asked him if he had gone mad. MBA required so much labour which was not possible at this age.
He said, "nothing to be afraid of. It is all very easy. I will tell you the trick, if you are interested to know." He walked away in the crowd shaking hands with other acquaintances and friends. My eyes were following his movement as I was anxious to know the trick of doing MBA — a much coveted degree in this age. After some time, he returned to me and took me aside. He said, "I will now tell you what an MBA is. MBA means Marriage, Bhog and Akhandpath."
While taking leave, he spoke in an authoritative tone: "Do not miss the opportunity to show your presence whenever there is such an occasion."
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THE TRIBUNE
OPED
SUSTAINED DIALOGUE SANS MEDIA GLARE IS THE KEY: OMAR
AMIDST REPORTS THAT THE HOME MINISTER HAS BEEN HOLDING SECRET TALKS WITH THE HURRIYAT CONFERENCE, HOW DOES THE CHIEF MINISTER OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR REGARD THE PROSPECT OF SUCH CONTACTS? THAT IS THE KEY QUESTION KARAN THAPAR ASKED
Omar Abdullah in his incisive programme "Devil's Advocate" on CNN-IBN. Here are excerpts from the interview:
Q: Chief Minister, there are widespread reports — first broken by The Hindu — that the Home Minister had two secret meetings with the Hurriyat leadership, and in particular with Mirwaiz Omar Farooq. If these reports are accurate, do you as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir welcome such talks?
A: If they are accurate then yes we certainly do. We have been advocating a sustained dialogue between New Delhi and various shades of political opinion that is not represented by the mainstream political parties. I think the best way to carry out the initial stages of that engagement is away from the glare of the media. I think it is unfortunate that we already have this story break on the front page of The Hindu but I hope too much damage has not been done by that.
Q: You began by saying if they are accurate, but you ended your answer almost as if you believed that they are accurate. What is the truth? Are they happening?
A: I think it would be futile to deny a story that has not been denied by anybody else. We have been advocating a dialogue; the Home Minister has recognised the need for a dialogue and he has talked about quiet diplomacy. When you put these three points together, I think the answer should become self-evident.
Q: I will take that as confirmation. Let me raise with you the manner in which the talks are happening. The Home Minister has emphasised silent talks away from the glare of the media, but members of the Hurriyat Conference — like Naeem Khan himself — have said quiet diplomacy could lead to deceit, transparency is a more honest and accountable way. Do you think that there may be truth in that, given the awkwardness of the Kashmir situation?
A: Certainly. If quiet diplomacy was to suddenly result in an outcome I would be suspicious as well. I think quiet diplomacy is necessary for both sides to feel each other out, to see where the lines in the sand can be d