Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

From Arun Nehru

By Sarwar Kashani

March 15 was celebrated as consumers day by Governmental and voluntary agencies. But do the celebrations lead to anything? Doesn't seem so! . .......more

Wildlife, myths and legends

By Dr Pragya Khanna

Ancient Indian religious texts clearly express the view that man is an intrinsic part of his environment. Although the most superior of all of God's creatures, . .......more

Reforms, BOSE need
to initiate

By Dr R R Dubey

J&K Board of School Education is an important institute of the State. It is headed by the Chairman at State level. However, for the entire functioning .., . .......more

EDITORIAL

Need for restraint

There is no secret about the intentions of miscreants who desecrate a holy book or a place. Their evil aim is to create communal tension. We have seen this happening only recently in the Ladakh region. The defilement of holy Quran coupled with that of a Buddhist monastery had led to a volatile situation. If one looks back one will come across numerous instances confirming that these dirty tactics are actually very old. Perpetrators of mischief employ them to ignite detestable passions. In the State we have witnessed the most shocking theft of the Prophet's hair from the Hazratbal shrine in the past. Terrorists have employed every trick in their unholy book to create cleavage among people of the State. They have attacked shrines and congregations of all religions. It is a matter of satisfaction that almost every time they have failed. People have clearly seen through their game particularly in the cases where they have resorted to bloodshed. It goes to the credit of this city especially that it has withstood such undesirable pressures on many occasions. It has become a sterling example of harmonious relations. In a way it has erased the bitter memories of 1947 when it had become an inferno. Unfortunately, on the other hand, things have gone terribly wrong in the Kashmir region. It was an oasis at the time of Partition. In fact it had no serious problem with respect to social and communal harmony till 1989. Now it has to live with the bitter truth of exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit minority. It has yet to devise a method to reverse the process. The least it can do for the moment is to ensure that it observes utmost restraint and patience. After all it is an eye-witness in turbulent nineties to the trauma of seeing the Charar-e-Sharif, of all sacred institutions, virtually going up in flames. It is necessary that the inhabitants of the region are able to distinguish between myth and reality.

One is constrained to make this observation in view of the contemptible sacrilegious in the uptown Barzulla. There was not only desecration of Quran but also an attempt to set a mosque on fire. Thousands of people reacted angrily by forcing the closure of the airport road recently. Their anguish is justified but they need to have second thoughts about their manner of ventilating it. How does it meet their objective of securing punishment for culprits by blocking a passage meant for innocent passengers? A better course always is to register protest in a manner that is not at the expense of others. Everyone should also pay heed to the call by quite a few Muslim religious heads and scholars to the terrorist outfits to shun the use of Islam in their names. They have made an important point. Their remark is apt that these militant organisations are "defaming the entire Islamic community by carrying out terrorist activities in the name of Islam which preaches peace and brotherhood".

Is Lashkar-e-Toiba "the army of the pure" or that "of the righteous"? Is Jaish-e-Mohammad the "army of the Prophet" which its name means? Nearer home one knows that misguided Hizbul Mujahideen is anything but the "party of holy warriors". It makes sense to see the whole picture as it exists.

Dam(ned) Gilgit

The proposed Bhasha dam in Gilgit is not only a bone of contention between New Delhi and Islamabad. It has also triggered a heated controversy on the home turf. People of the part of the State under Pakistan's illegal occupation are up in arms. They are angry on more than one count. First, they resent that the Pakistan Government has taken the decision to construct the dam without taking them into confidence. Secondly, they don't like the name (Bhasha is a village in the adjoining Kohistan district of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province) which they feel should be Diamir after the name of the district of the Northern Areas in which it is to be located. Thirdly, they want their rightful share in royalty as they see a conspiracy to pass off total gains to the NWFP. The entire land belongs to them but the NWFP is being made beneficiary for having an online power station. Therefore, they view it as an assault on fundamental rights. According to available reports, the local elected representatives have already met in the district headquarters of Chilas to formally adopt a unanimous resolution pressing their demands. They have threatened to launch a movement. About 40000 people are likely to be affected because of the reservoir. However, Pakistan's Water and Power Minister Liaqaut Ali Jatoi's assessment based on the feasibility study is that 24000 people will be displaced and at least 1600 acres arid land submerged because of the project. There will be electricity generation capacity of 4500 MW making it the largest power station in Pakistan (the Minister has confirmed that it will be situated in NWFP which will get a regular percentage the amount of which is yet to be determined). The Pakistan Government does not share the anguish of natives of the territory. In fact it holds a contrary opinion. It feels that the "Bhasha" dam is the best option among all its proposed schemes. Its reasons for this belief are the possibility of minimum human displacement, land submergence and the maximum power availability. The dam will be built on the Indus River 165 kilometres from Gilgit. It will inundate 110 kilometres of the Karakoram Highway (popularly known as KKH) and every low-lying village in Diamir from Raikot Bridge next to the Fairy Meadows right below Nanga Parbat. Northern Areas will thus suffer socially, economically and ecologically. However, just because the power station will be in NWFP it will be entitled to a fee under Pakistan's Constitution. For its part Pakistan obviously is not bothered as much about Gilgit as for NWFP whose voice is louder. An attempt made in the nineties by the neighbouring country's Ministry of Kashmir and Northern Areas Affairs to find an amicable settlement had failed to yield any breakthrough.

Clearly this is one more instance of Pakistan's brazen attempts to seriously harm the interests of Gilgit and Baltistan. Who is not aware of its vicious plan to alter the demographic profile of Northern Areas? It has deprived the people of their democratic rights at all levels. A demand by the Shia majority to remove offensive portions from textbooks has been ignored. For 58 years now the helpless citizens are being perpetually pounded into submission. Presently they have more salt being added to their wounds.

Languishing in law courts

From Arun Nehru

The media both electronic and print is full of the Jessica Lall case and along with this case are the cases pertaining to the murder of Nitesh Katara, Priyadarshini Muttoo and the BMW case where the 'car' was transformed into a 'truck'. The Bombay blast and Sanjay Dutt affair lingers on for a decade and many other high profile 'celebrity' cases like Salman Khan will come under public scrutiny. The print and electronic media is perhaps only highlighting the public anguish against the 'system' where the rule of law and justice is only applicable to those who have the resources, the muscle and the political backing to sustain a 'decade' or two in the law courts and this is what we see in most of these cases and the many million cases languishing in the law courts. We can play the blame game and the three wings of governance can blame each other, we can use authority to silence dissent but can we ignore the reality of the situation? Look at the Jessica Lall case where the Delhi police give a 228 page report and the 92 points listed in the report clearly indicate the 'guilt' factor and it is difficult to understand as to why the accused were acquitted! The public outcry on this may well result in changes to the CrPC and IPC but let us focus on the case on hand and the 'others' which come into public scrutiny. The accused will no doubt be held accountable in these cases but look at the many others who had assisted in 'covering' the tracks of the killers and the numbers can well go into a 'hundred' individuals with resources and political reach and they need to be punished and punished severely as a lesson for the future. The Supreme Court and the High Court judges will no doubt see the media reports based on the police appeal and clearly the action required goes well beyond matters pertaining to a 'individual' case. The issue of political power with close criminal linkages, extortion and threats from Mafia elements, reforms and better accountability standards in the judiciary besides a change in the 'laws' cannot be overlooked for very long. The reality is that in governance [all three wings] the vast majority of those in authority have very high standards of competence and integrity and a small numbers of individuals with 'clout' are creating a adverse impact in the public mind and this is a 'opportunity' for the 'good' to prevail over the 'bad'. All credit to the media and to a handful of very brave and courageous people who have fought the 'system' against terrifying odds and to those who have found the courage to expose criminals and officials in illegal acts by 'sting' operations.

We are looking at the tip of the iceberg! I have seen the political system evolve over three decades and as the cost of elections has literally exploded [ 1 crore for Lok Sabha, 10-50 lakhs for a Assembly seat] and there is no transparency in political collections and accountability by political leaders is absent and the dependence of 'finances' by dubious elements [contractors, liquor dealers and bidders for contracts, smugglers, theft of excise and sales tax] results in the current chaos. Look at each case and you will see the political nexus and sadly the 'influence' is always negative. The Jessica Lall case is a classic example of this and now after this has become a 'public issue' everyone in authority has little choice but to be seen to do the right thing! The economy grows at a dizzy pace and so does criminality and unless we reform the archaic laws which govern us we have little hope for the future in terms of timely settlement of legal issues of a criminal nature and this will effect all of us at some stage. Trial by media is not a good thing and 'sting' operations have several negatives [entrapment] associated with them but when the system of governance in all three wings of governance responds in a sluggish manner then these measures are more than justified and credit is due to those who have the nerve and the courage to fight against frightful odds.

Great changes are coming into our society at all levels as the economy grows at a dizzy pace. Political management is becoming extremely difficult and as we go into the future we need great talent, intelligence and energy to meet the political challenges of the next decade. The media 'explosion' plays a decisive role as 'TV' antennas and the print media reach almost every home in the country and we may well see greater anti =incumbency trends in future elections. The Left may well have the last laugh as the 'have' and 'have not' syndrome persists and as we grow in economic terms and the middle class prospers we also see increased expectation levels and a great deal of resentment by the weaker sections. Honesty, self sacrifice and basic integrity continues to be a asset and look at the political success of Narender Modi, Naveen Patnaik, Shiela Dixit, [have won two State elections] Nitesh Kumar, Tarun Gogoi, Virbhadra Singh and Raman Singh to name a few and I think that as we see election results in 2006 we may well see some 'surprises'. There is little excitement in West Bengal and Kerala where the Left should win in comfort and my reading for Tamil Nadu is a win for the AIDMK and in Assam we may well see the AGP/Left winning from the Congress. There is turmoil in Uttaranchal as ND Tewari sends his resignation to the High Command and clearly the Congress stand to lose the state to the BJP unless they can forge a understanding with the UKD/BSP. Harish Rawat MP may well be the natural successor to CM ND Tewari but sadly many groups exists and deferring a decision will cause great damage. ND Tewari may well be a asset for the Center and for planning ahead but in Dynastic structures 'political' logic is often a casualty.

Consumer yet to be a king

By Sarwar Kashani

March 15 was celebrated as consumers day by Governmental and voluntary agencies. But do the celebrations lead to anything? Doesn't seem so!

In our own state the rights of the consumers, apparently, always are in unsympathetic state of affairs, though the programmes organized by the governmental and voluntary organisations time and again vowed to safeguard the consumer rights.

In the emerging liberal and open markets though consumer is phrased as "KING", but what is true is that consumer continues to be enslaved, at least we know it in our own state of Jammu and Kashmir. Trapped in the hegemony of producer, seller or the service provider, the consumer always feels suffocated in the city of darkness, more shady than the ANDHER NAGRI of children's tale.

While State Government has launched Jihad against corruption to uphold the rights of the citizens, however, much more needs to be done in a situation where consumer is treated as deaf, dumb and purblind. Leave aside the accountability at any departmental level, the roadside markets have become so rotund in the absence of proper checking to uphold the rights of the consumers that insecurity creeps in at every bend to shelve the hard earned money.

Even at the Governmental level the consumer rights are read out of the church. Power crisis, water supply, essential commodities, like ration, LPG etc and much talked about mobile and telephony services are some of the glaring examples. Consumers have been whining and protesting against either faulty services or the unsafe commodities bequeathed upon them and the protests have always fallen to the deaf ears.

In a truly functioning democracy, citizens should be considered masters and bureaucrats and Government employees as servants. Unfortunately, the present day reality is totally different.

Unfortunately the citizens in a real picture are treated as servants in the Government offices. Though consumer movement once tried to solve this problem by adopting charters of consumer rights for different departments but with very little results.

See the erratic power supply. People have been crying for the better service but to no avail, that too despite metering system and promises of 24-hour uninterrupted service. Then the mobile service, it has been skimpier since the day it was switched on in the state. The complaints about the faulty services are lapsed from the consciousness of the service providers.

Then a scene at roadside markets, the sellers every day in and day out break the records of violating consumer rights. Visit even a green-grocer. Leave aside the uniform fixed rates, you don't even have the right to choose. And then when a consumer wants to complaint, where should he. A man in Khaki standing right there has had his share and he cares least to save the KING CONSUMER.

Concept of billing and getting proper receipts, even after the VAT was implemented is far from the reality. To hand over you a receipt against what you have bought and for how much you have bought it, is the last thing that seller does. And why should they? When the authorities don't enforce the laws, the issue is of course far neglected.

This is not to say that the Government is entirely callous to the plight of consumers. The consumers themselves are quite unwilling to spend their time on the finer aspects of their rights. And you can hardly see a consumer consciously caring for his rights.

Then the issue of rate lists, which otherwise are obligatory to be displayed at the visible on the shops and retail outlets. However, in our case the rate lists are either not displayed at all or at the best pasted at the most invisible spots.

It seems reasonable that every consumer should have the awareness of protecting their own rights and interests, and not infringing upon the rights and interests of others.

Unfortunately, infringement upon rights and interests has become a common concern for the general public.

It requires efforts from almost all areas to create a sound environment for consumers.

For authorities, ineffective supervision or administration causes trouble for consumers. For service providers, inadequate procedures or loopholes make things inconvenient for consumers. For consumers, they need to be better equipped with legal knowledge to fight for their rights. The message is that everybody needs to contribute to the creation of such an environment.

Wildlife, myths and legends

By Dr Pragya Khanna

Ancient Indian religious texts clearly express the view that man is an intrinsic part of his environment. Although the most superior of all of God's creatures, he is, nevertheless, conditioned by and dependent on all the forms of life that surround him. Each aspect of nature which plays its own special role in the cosmos is worthy of worship. Ancient Indians had recognized the animals' right to co-exist with man and therefore they were loved, nurtured and even worshipped. In order to impress upon the commoners about their importance, the animals were given the status of gods and goddesses. They declared that Almighty incarnates in different animal forms. The kings and the emperors opted different animals in their emblems. Many festivals were/are observed in honor of several animals. In order to inculcate love for animals among children, animals were made heroes in stories. The rulers gave them prime position in art and architecture.

Two thousand year old Panchatantra contains numerous stories in which the animals have been given prominence. This collection of stories is also the basis for 'Aesop's Fables'. Even today, children as well as adults find great excitement in reading these animal stories. Talkative turtle, stupid frog, rat and lion stories are too well known. Similarly all grandma stories have crows, sparrows, snakes as main characters. The court poets have written numerous collections in which the animal life has been described in minute details. Kalidasa and Bana give a vivid picture of a variety of animals that lived together at ashrams.

Buddhist Jathaka stories attach great importance to rebirth. The elephants and the monkeys come across a variety of animals in different re-births. During his long vanavasa, Lord Rama developed special relations with different animals such as Jatayu, Sugriva, deers and monkeys. Lord Krishna was also an animal lover. In order to protect the animals that he loved , from heavy rains and thunder storm he lifted a huge mountain and came to be known as Govardhana Giridhari.

Often fish are mentioned in our mythology. Certain animals have been especially sacred to the Hindus. The naga, or the serpent, is an intrinsic part of the iconology of various divinities. Lord Siva and Ganesh always wear the serpent around them as an ornament or as a sacred thread. Lord Vishnu is often depicted reclining on the serpent Adisesha afloat on the ocean of milk. Lord Krishna dances on the head of the five-hooded serpent Kaliya whom he subjugates. The cow is symbolic of the Mother Earth since it gives of itself generously and takes little in return. The monkey is associated with Hanuman, the monkey God, who is the epitome of devotion and is always depicted in an attitude of reverence and devotion before Lord Rama.

Similarly, from the earliest of times the tree was worshipped in recognition of its role as a giver of shade, fruit, flowers, as a source of wood, for its medicinal properties and so on. Virtually every Hindu deity is associated with some particular tree or plant. The tulsi (sacred basil) is special to Vishnu, as the Peepul (Ficus religiosa) is to Siva and the banana tree to Ganesh. The Lotus is the most auspicious of flowers and is the seat of many deities. Also, each deity has its own particular animal mount which is symbolically representative of its functions and powers. Siva rides on the bull, Nandi, Vishnu rides the eagle Garuda, Agni, the God of fire, sits on a goat, Vayu, the wind, rides an antelope, one of the fastest of creatures, the lion is the mount of the Goddess Durga and so on and so forth.

From this belief stems respect for all forms of life. Since man has the most superior mind of all the earth's creatures he also has the greatest responsibility. Unfortunately, today we are neither adopting ancient Indians' compassionate attitude, nor scientific approach of the westerners towards these animals and hence we are heading towards a catastrophe. The activities of ancient Indians were woven around the animals. Therefore, they knew the happenings of animal world as much as today's ardent student of Zoology. Man must live in equilibrium with his environment only then it is possible for man to strive to attain his final destiny.

Reforms, BOSE need to initiate

By Dr R R Dubey

J&K Board of School Education is an important institute of the State. It is headed by the Chairman at State level. However, for the entire functioning of Divisional level offices, the Secretary Board of School Education along with abundant Joint Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries and Asstt. Secretaries have been bestowed with powers to take decisions or to settle issues at their own level after proper examining of files, taking down notes by the staff and adhering procedural approach with codal formalities etc. To my mind, the State Government is absolutely right in awarding state cadre to the Chairman of Board of School Education on the pattern of Chairman of Public Service Commission, Chairman of SC, ST, OBC, Chairman, Minority Commission J&K, Chairman, Accountability Commission, Chairman, Pahari-Gojri speaking areas etc. These are the key posts of the State level equal in status.

By and large, the BOSE has attained a landmark success in achieving its main target of examing the students of Government and Private schools at Matric and +2 stages throughout the State with the mutual co-operation of general masses, Govt. representatives and that of police personnel. The untired efforts of the Chairman deserve appreciation for curbing the menace of copying and declaring the Board results well in time. In order to expose more efficiency and efficacy of the BOSE, the examination for ninth may be entirely shifted to SCERT/SIE both in Jammu as well as Kashmir provinces. Even the work of middle standard test term II may be assigned to SCEMAT (An institute under SSA to be established) both for Jammu and Kashmir provinces separately to be located in the campus of SCERT/SIE instead of loading every Chief Education Officer who is frantically busy with multifaceted issues. However there is a need to revitalise the Academic cell to be developed in full fledged components Viz; (i) Pedagogy and projective techniques. (ii) Review of textbooks and curriculum Development (iii) Supervision of School and Action Research and (iv) Examination reforms and application thereof. There is ample of significance in providing short-term and long-term orientation to the Academic Officers with the mutual collaboration of NCERT, NIEPA, National Institutes of Education, Linguistics Laboratory at Hyderabad besides their deputation to some national programs or arrangement of some visits to other SCERT's outside Jammu & Kashmir so as to give them knowledge of projective devices and subject expertise besides pedagogy skills. It is better if BOSE adopts one high as well as higher Secondary School in each District as pilot project schools for the experimentation works of implementing innovative practices and to persue research work so that the problems can be identified and their causes and effects can be studies after collection of data and its interpretation under controlled environment while administering some variables when other things remain the same to base true conclusion. The daily work of academic officers may include the study of textbook one by one with critical review related to various subjects and standards. After a month or a quarterly period, a review workshop may be held in which subject teachers must be invited and their views should be incorporated in the curriculum review report so that after having the healthy discussion at close of the calendar year, the outdated chapters or a portion of it may be deleted from the syllabus or some thing new may be added as per need of the situation. Even the textbooks need to be revised at least after the five years, if necessary. There should be a good rapport between SIE/SCERT, DIETS and BOSE (Academic cell). Some conferences of subject experts of high caliber may be organized by the BOSE for such Teachers/Masters/Lecturer who have shown good results for the last three yeas in teaching Board classes. Similarly, these academic officers may be registered with NCERT/National Institute of Education/UGC for seeking expert-guidance for their research work. During their tenure of two years, if these officers publish good deal of articles in leading journals, reviews and encyclopedia etc besides a project report, they may be recommended for the award of additional increments or may be selected as senior academic officers in senior scale irrespect of seniority, age and cadre to lend their services permanently to the J&K BOSE. Otherwise those who remain deadwoods may be repatriated on their substantive posts.

In order to develop Tourism as an Industry in Jammu and Kashmir State, the Chief Minister has recently expressed his desire that the students should study by and large the subjects like Food Technology, Fruit and Food Processing, Flouriculture, Soil Conservation and Echology, Disaster management, Study of medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Gypsum, limestone, marble, cement, crushing technology besides study of Art & Local crafts & cultural heritage for holding festivals & fairs in the entire India. The BOSE needs to introduce these subjects at school level keeping in view the present situation of Jammu and Kashmir State.