Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

For a number of days it is all about animals of the protected species dying so unceremoniously. Never before so much front page slots have been occupied even on the death of human beings. Some days back so many died in remote village due to gastro-entritis but it could at best get space on inner pages in the national dailies. Likewise, most of the militancy related deaths and massacres are not being given coveted slots in the print media because it has become one of those routine things. Even population control programmes and themes have not got due importance for the very simple reason that none is genuinely concerned with addition of another 26 lakh to the tally after Astha's birth, the so-called ritualistic billionth child born in Safdarjung hospital. Deaths occured due to illicit liquor or due to consumption of contaminated water or any other killer bacteria. But that is that. Neither their visceria is sent for finding the causative factors nor remedial measures go in place. Such is the tragedy of belonging to the human species.

The BJP Panacea for Political stability
The German Model

By V N Gadgil
Former Union Ministers & Former General Secretary AICC)
The Sangh Parivar always has had a strange and strong fascination for all things....more

Making the army attractive

By Bimal Bhatia
As a career option the army's attractiveness has taken a considerable beating. Offered by the corporate sector ....more

Pakistan : Six months
into the Jackboot

By Gurmeet Kanwal
Six months after Pakistan came back under the jackboot, initial public support for the army has waned and the people. ....more

What has Farooq
gained from all this ?
Tales of Travesty

By Dr Jitendra Singh
On the one hand, the common refrain is that Farooq Abdullah has buckled under the Centre's pressure. On the other hand, ......more

Whither General English?
Academic Pulse

By Prof. S. K. Bhalla
In the world of technology whizkids, computers and robots where the underlying aim of the General English course.....more

EDITORIAL

PROTECTED SPECIES

But come protected species, it makes front page news with a lot of pictorial depiction. White tigers undoubtedly belong to the rarest of rare animals, the total world-wide being paltry 105. They happen to be the delight of millions that go to view them in natural habitats or zoos. Not one, two or three but 12 die one after another allegedly due to a strong injection given on the fasting day of the animals in Nanadankanan zoo in Orissa (Mondays happen to be fasting day for all the zoo animals). Many causes have been quoted for their abrupt demise. It all started with injections that should have been administered on full stomach and not on empty stomach. It is equally on that syringes used were ‘contaminated’ or one of those recycled. If this can be done in Government hospitals, why not in zoos on animals. And those injections. If spurious drugs can be found in hospitals, it is safe to surmise that animals just cannot protest. They take it whatever is given. It is just as well that contaminated meat was served to the animals. One theory making the rounds relates to the recent cyclone in Orissa which left many animals dead. Experts opine that tigers might have picked up infection though belatedly. Looks stupid but then there is no end to thoeretical treat. Yet another opinion relates to lack of cross-breeding which has produced weak and disease-prone tigers. If that were true, all tigers and all animals in all the zoos would have become imbecile and died prematurely. Again, if indeed cross breeding results in stronger breed, all these animals confined to zoological parks should have been interchanged frequently with those living in protected natural habitats. By far the funniest reason is quoted in consumption of TB inflicted cheetals. This theory is derived from the death of 10 spotted deers (cheetals) in Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan round about the same time tigers died in far away Orissa. Cheetals happen to be the most favourite prey of the tigers. They might have preyed on deseased cheetals. If cheetals could die why not those who might have consumed them ! Ridiculous indeed for the very simple reason that white tigers are captives in zoo and eat only what is given to them. Incidentally, not a single zoo official is suspended or even partly held responsible for the gory episode. Specialist teams have been assigned the task to investigate and give appropriate recommendations. Till recently, Apex Court has been intervening in all types of issues and directing the executive to carry out cleanliness drive, check pollution, shift factories and all that relates to failures on the part of the executive. Now the Apex Court directs investigating team to report back to it with its findings on tigers death. In the din and noise of tigers and cheetals death, peacock which is a national bird is relegated to insignificant slots. Many of them died due to consumption of Bajra treated with chemicals. In all likelihood it is rampant corruption that has hit the animals fatally. Thank god, there is no zoo in J&K State, only shahtoosh-shedding antelopes !

The BJP Panacea for Political stability
The German Model

By V N Gadgil

Former Union Ministers & Former General Secretary AICC)

The Sangh Parivar always has had a strange and strong fascination for all things German. In the decades of 1940s and 1950s, the Boudhik (intellectual discourse) given to the Swayamsevaks in its officers training camps held in the summer invariably used to contain a detailed reference to the first world war German WW Plan which was praised sky-high as the greatest and the most brilliant strategic military plan ever devised by human imagination and ingenuity for conquest of Europe. It failed because of the treachery of the Jews. The RSS was unashamedly patterned on Hitler's Nazi Party. Its extreme ideology, its military like uniform, its drills and accompanying bands, military like parades to demonstrate and display its strength, its philosophy, policy and programs, its attitude towards minorities and its organizational structure, its principle of one supreme leader (Ekchalakanuvartira) absence of internal democracy and organizational elections and its slogan of "one nation, one people one culture" bear strong impress of the Nazi Party. In fact the slogan finds an honoured place in the manifesto of the B.J.P. Its admiration for Germany and the Nazi Party did not diminish even after the world wide publication of atrocities and fortune committed on Jews by the Nazi storm troopers. Indeed Guru Golwalkar wrote approvingly of Nazi action and observed that India must learn from Germany that two cultures and two civilisations cannot co-exist in one nation.

During the Ayodhya crisis, the then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had a meeting with Hindu Sadhus and they gave him three months time to find an amicable solution. During this period of three months, a top RSS leader came to see me and discuss the issue. Towards the end of the discussion I asked him "Do you realise what you are doing ? It will cause large scale communal riots. It may even lead to a civil war between the Hindus and Muslims". He just laughed and said, "Now you have caught the point. That is precisely what we are aiming at. All the Muslims will be finished and no Muslim problem will remain. Is not that what happened in Germany. There is no Jewish problem in Germany now !" The Sangh Parivar had a similar if not equal attraction for Mussolini's Fascist Party. In the Boudhik to the Swayamsevaks the most repeated illustration for unity and strength was a favourite quotation from Mussolini's speech to his partymen "Each one of you is a log of wood with little strength but if all the logs of wood are bundled together it becomes a mighty force. Let RSS become such a bundle of wooden sticks.

It should not therefore come as a surprise that the BJP which talks of Swaedeshi all the time, in its pursuit of political stability has not thought of any model from Vedas, Upanishads, Manushriti, Ramayana, Mahabharat, Kautilya's Arthashastra or Shukra's Rajniti but puts, its faith in the German model o constructive no confidence motion.

An essential feature of the British Westminster model, that we have adopted is that the Govt. is collectively responsible, answerable and accountable to the Lok Sabha and possesses at all times its confidence. During the last fifty years twenty five motions of no confidence and nine motions of confidence were admitted for discussion. Out of the 25 no confidence motions debated 24 were negatived and one led to the resignation of Morarji Desai. Five out of nine confidence motions were adopted and four resulted in fall of Govts of Shri Charan Singh, V P Singh, Atal Behari Vajpayee and H D Devegodwa. Everyone knew that it is highly unlikely that motion of no confidence will be passed against Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi yet one motion was moved against Sh Nehru, three motions were moved against Lal Bahadur Shastri and as many as fifteen were moved against Indira Gandhi.

It is obvious therefore the main purpose of moving no confidence motion is not to topple the Govt. but the purpose is to give the opposition chance to say what it finds wrong with the policies of Govt. and what it would do instead. In this way the voters can see what the alternative to Govt. party would be. On the election day the choices are thus clear.

The idea, the method and the machinery for constructive vote of no confidence is contained on article 67 of the German Constitution which reads as follows - In Bundestag (Parliament) may express lack of confidence in the Federal Chancellor (Prime Minister) only by electing a successor with the majority of its members and requesting the Federal President to dismiss the incumbent. The Federal President must comply with the request and appoint the person elected. This article must be read along with article 68 which provides us follows - where a motion against the federal chancellor for a lack of confidence is not carried by majority of the members of the Bundestag the federal President may upon the proposal of Federal chancellor dissolve the Bundestag within 28 days. Both these motions can come for voting only after 48 hours have elapsed.

The constructive vote of no confidence has been attempted twice and only once in the last fifty years it has succeeded. In April 1972 use was made of this devise with a view to present a new Govt. However the opposition lacked mysteriously two votes to get their motion through. The old Govt. continued in power. In other words constructive role of no confidence does not prevent defection because abstention in such circumstances is nothing but defection. The Govt. that continued, was a Govt. paralysed because the parliament had practically expressed no confidence in it. We have witnessed such a non Govt. after the fall of Charan Singh and Atal Behari Vajpayee. A developing country like India cannot afford paralysed non-Government. Article 68 which provides for dissolution of Parliament if alternative Prime Minister has not been elected, has been misused. When the Chancellor desires dissolution of Parliament he cannot get it done through the President on his recommendation. All he has to do therefore is to move a vote of confidence and see that it is defeated. The federal president has then no option but to dissolve the Parliament. Thus political trickery is solemnly sanctioned by the constitution itself.

The only time the devise has succeeded was in 1976 not so much because of Article 67 but because Public opinion had gone against the Govt. on the issue of Ostpolitik - the policy of normalisation of relations with the Soviet Union, Poland and G.D.R.

The political systems of India and Germany are so unlike that it is highly unlikely that the method of constructive vote of no confidence will succeed in India. There is a world of difference between the nature of German politics and the nature of Indian politics. In Germany the Chancellor is elected by Parliament but the other Ministers are not. According to Hans Joachim Veen several "efficient secrets" external factors contribute to the success of coalition Governments, German public opinion, German media, German politicians, German legislators and German intellectuals do not like single party Governments. Even when a single party obtained an absolute majority in Parliament in 1957 coalition Government was formed. In United Kingdom whenever no party gets majority the outcome is a single party minority Government but never a coalition. Coalitions in Germany are based on coalition agreements between parties. These are in writing and are published. These agreements set the policies of the Government. The practice of coalition committee although not a constitutional institution is a highly effective constitutional practice. The provision for constructive vote of no-confidence for from guarantees the chancellor ability to lead the nation. As pointed out by Turg Steinwin "European Democracy" one peculiar feature of the German system is the power of the Chancellor to give directives to Ministers. Another feature emphasised by Gordon Smith in Democracy in Western Germany is that there is no fusion of Government and the Legislature Government is a distinct agency in Parliament.

One of the important factors leading to political instability in a multi-party system is the existence of large number of small parties leading to factionalism. The German system is plural but not multiparty because the law provides that no political party is recognized in Parliament which gets less than 5% of popular vote. India lacks all these factors particularly the political culture of coalitions. Mere introduction of constructive vote of no-confidence without the coalition culture will not succeed in ensuring political stability.

The Sangh Parivar is obsessed with the problem of unity of India and rightly so. But Mr L K Advani assures us that no charges are necessary in the constitution of India to ensure unity of India. In his remarkable pamphlet - The Constitution of India and national unity - published by Bharatiya Janata Party in 1947, in a language reminiscent of the language used by the President K R Narayanan, Mr Advani further States that if after five decades we find this unity gravely threatened by separation subversion and violence the fault lies not with the constitution, but principally with the manner those at the helm of affairs have been operating the Constitution".

For his conclusion Mr Advani quotes the words of Dr Rajendra Prasad from his valedictory speech in the Constituent Assembly "after all the Constitution like a machine is a lifeless thing. It acquires life because of the men who control it and operate it. India needs today nothing more than a set of honest men who will have the interest of the country before them". We may think in terms of making changes and amendments in the constitution but we must always remain mindful of the profound wisdom contained in Rajenbabus speech". If these are the views of the Home Minister of the BJP-led Government, why appoint a Constitution Review Commission. The only possible answer is that the Sangh Parivar wants it and neither Vajpayee nor Advani any longer represent, the views of the younger generation of Sangh Parivar. The hidden agenda is therefore to be found in a pamphlet "Constitution of Bharat" written by Anil Chawla a young lawyer and published by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. In its preface it criticises the Supreme Court for its ruling that the basic structure cannot be changed. It accuses the Supreme Court that it will allow basic changes only after we become slaves once again.

The amendments proposed some of which are very strange and queer include (1) Practical abolition of adult suffarage (2) Deletion of the words socialism and secularism (3) Description of India as Bharat that will be a union of citizens of India (4) Religious freedom will not include attempt to propagate the religion (5) Parliament to have right to modify fundamental rights (6) Rajya Sabha to be abolished and to be replaced by Gurusabha and another new body Raksha Sabha to be created (7) Attorney General to be re-titled as Advocate General. The President to be ex-officio member of the Lok Sabha and the Guru Sabha (9) Vice-President to be elected by Guru Sabha and to be ex-officio member of the Lok Sabha and the Guru Sabha. (10) Vice-President to appoint Supreme Court and High Court Judges. (11) All bills including money bills to be introduced in Guru Sabha (12) Prime Minister to be elected by the Lok Sabha (13) Guru Sabha to consists of 300 elected members, 12 to be nominated by the President on the advise of the Raksha Sabha and 12 on the advise of Lok Sabha 20 to be nominated by the Vice President rest of the members to be elected by teachers right from primary school teachers to University teachers (14) Vice President to appoint advisers to Guru Sabha. (15) Guru Sabha will make rules regarding the judiciary (16) Raksha Sabha to consist of Chiefs of Army Navy and Air-Force and one person to be recommended by each one of them. (17) The President to be elected jointly by the Lok Sabha and Guru Sabha. The President to deal with defence matters in consultation with Raksha Sabha.

Here then is a hidden agenda which the BJP led Government can never get passed. The Sangh Parivar needs time to gain necessary strength. Its aim is not political stability but its plan is to perpetuate itself in power for at least ten years. Hence the proposals for fixed term for Lok Sabha, constructive vote of no confidence and all manner of concessions to its allies.

Making the army attractive

By Bimal Bhatia

As a career option the army's attractiveness has taken a considerable beating. Offered by the corporate sector are lucrative jobs which satisfy the pecuniary ambitions of young men and women, allowing them to step into lifestyles that the military cannot offer. But, not all the reasons for the army's declining popularity relate to enhanced career options available elsewhere.

Within the defence services the army is perhaps the most weather-beaten. The navy and the air force being more glamorous have always carried and portrayed a positive image. Afflicting the army has been its continuing involvement in internal security duties and lingering counter insurgencies on the country's peripheries. That the army gets sucked into a bad situation, caused in part by the failure or inpetitude of other state organs does not help matters.

Job-seekers now look upon the army as any other calling, albeit with attendant risks and turbulence in life. Even the top brass within the services do not encourage their sons to join the army, and most youth sign up only as a last option. Preferred by the youth are other professions such as the civil services, engineering, medicine, advertising, public relations hotel management or teaching. Most of those who fail to make the grade in these preferred options come to the army as last resort.

In the British times or in the period following independence, well-heeled young men from the society's upper crust came to the services for the broad range of activities it offered, like sports, hunting, travel, apart from wide-ranging social opportunities. Now, while the public- particularly the less educated-- hold the armed forces in high esteem, the military is seen as another career opportunity, but which also offers social mobility for the middle or lower-middle class.

This results in a vastly diminished intake because young men with the right calibre and potential for ''officer-like qualities' do not show up and the army will not dilute its intake standards. To overcome the continuing shortage of almost 13,000 officers in the army, the slashing of training period at the Indian Military Academy is a decision of consequence which the top brass would have recommended after deep consideration.

No commander- least of all the Army Chief himself relishes the prospect of greenhorns being pushed into battle or a low-intensity conflict.

But concerned with the shortage, the entire chain of command felt flustered. The Military Secretary does not have enough junior officers to post to units in Kashmir or the North-East or other field and high altitude areas like Siachen and Kargil. Because of the high rate of casualties/disabilities, there is a sizeable number of officers in low medical category who cannot be posted at operational areas. To top this, the requirement to give a reasonably balanced field-peace profile, puts the overworked Military Secretary's branch in a tizzy.

Bearing the brunt are operationally deployed units with close to 50 or 60 per cent of its authorised officers, in some cases. It obviously tells on the efficiency and morale when officers cannot get their entitlement of leave because they must 'share the poverty' and put in extra operational hours, even though in the military one is expected to be on duty for 24 hours. A flustered commanding officer flashes signals up the chain for deficiencies to be made up, and because the Military Secretary cannot make available any more officers, the Adjutant General is egged to do something about the dwindling intake.

What you then see flooding the glossy magazines is an advertisement blitz asking young men whether, ''Do you have it in you?' Costing over a crore rupees, these advertisements obviously fail to motivate the youth as expected.

To sell the army as an attractive service the recruitment specialists in Army Headquarters may have missed the crunch issue. Research has shown that promotion and pay act as only temporary motivating factors. A true and eternal motivator is job satisfaction. Maslow divided man's basic needs into five main categories in ascending order physiological, security, social, esteem and self-actualisation.

Physiological needs relate to basic requirements for survival and acceptable standards of comfort. Adequate pay and decent working conditions are provided by the army, though prolonged operations in counter-insurgency impinge on the latter. Security needs relate to job security, which in the army is assured but physical safety in a low-intensity conflict is endangered. Army officers do not mind being killed but do not relish the prospect of being maimed.

Social needs are adequately met in the services and this remains a good selling point to motivate the young and ambitious particularly within the lower-middle class. Respect and recognition from fellow workers are again organisationally assured for those who demonstrate leadership qualities and the zeal for performance in adverse conditions.

Topping Maslow's hierarchy of needs are self-actualisation needs. This is what lies behind the desire to do the work which provides job satisfaction. Having achieved high performance ratings, most officers peak at the level of their 'esteem needs' being satisfied. With little scope and avenues for the satisfaction of self-actualisation needs, the man in uniform looks sideways at his civilian counterpart-- not exactly for his pay and perks and lifestyle, but for what the man is worth. He looks beyond an honour and award, to something in the intellectual plane that will sustain him and Maslow's theory.

Not all officers can get this ultimate phase right, and when service conditions do not match their expectations, it frustrates them. Thus, a large number of promising and brilliant officers are opting for premature retirement and plunging into a second calling halfway in their career. This way the army has been losing a sizeable portion of its manpower trained at great cost, causing considerable concern at the Military Secretary's branch. Tightening the norms for premature retirement result in the retention in service of highly qualified but disgruntled personnel. No amount of modernisation will pay unless we have the right man in the right frame of mind manning the system.

Trained within the army at great cost are professionals in diverse fields. In areas of management, logistics, planning, technical expertise and leadership potential the army has a lot to contribute to society. The new and enlarged tasks of the military require a more intimate interface between the civilian and military sectors.

It is, therefore, worth considering the deputation of army officers to the corporate sector and civil services for short tenurs. In this cross cultural flow of ideas, the military will gain a wider perspective, apart from imparting to it an attractiveness that cannot be got by advertisement campaigns. It will also bring with it a larger gain of integrating the military with the society it serves, an imperative in the context of a developing country like India facing insurgencies on two fronts.

PTI Feature

What has Farooq gained from all this ?
Tales of Travesty

By Dr Jitendra Singh

On the one hand, the common refrain is that Farooq Abdullah has buckled under the Centre's pressure. On the other hand, a section of the NC rank and file secretly opine that Farooq has dithered in order to make sure that his son does not lose his job because it could be quite difficult or even impossible for young Omar to get such a magnificient political break second time in life.

On the one hand, the Kashmiri people do not seem impressed by the much hyped drama which has ended in an anti-climax. On the other hand, the NDA Government at the Centre does not seem deterred from its bid to court the Hurriyat leaders.

In other words, the Autonomy resolution and the subsequent sequence of events has inadvertently exposed for all times to come the National Conference's inherent incapability to enter into a head-long confrontation with New Delhi notwithstanding Farooq Abdullah's loud rhetoric that he can go to any extent and make any sacrifice to seek the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. In the process, this has also given credence to the widely held belief that devoid of any significant mass base in the Valley, the National Conference survival today rests on the patronage offered by the powers-that-be in New Delhi. In addition, quite contrary to Farooq Abdullah's vehement assertion during the special Assembly session on Autonomy where he forcefully declared that he did not care for the "chair", the sequence of events that has unfolded gives the impression that neither Farooq nor the son Omar are in any mood to leave the "chair".

The sad demise of Begum Abdullah, the mother of Farooq Abdullah, and the condolence visit to Srinagar by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister followed by Vajpayee's invitation to Farooq to come to Delhi for discussion has in a way served as a respectable interlude to an unsavoury impasse, but will this help to enhance the National Conference image in the public eye ? That is the question.

Speaker after speaker at the NC executive meet was at pains to describe the rejection of the Autonomy resolution by the Union Cabinet as a conspiracy of the Sangh Parivar and the Shiv Sena. However, the fact that was conveniently ignored was that much before the Union Cabinet had met to reject the Autonomy resolution, the resolution had already come under severe criticism from the country's major non-BJP political parties like the Congress and the Communists. Several prominent non-BJP leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Chandra Shekhar had openly denounced the J&K State Autonomy resolution. As far as the response of the prominent regional leaders is concerned --- Jayalalitha has demanded the dismissal of the Farooq Government, Prakash Singh Badal has stated that he is not bringing in a similar resolution in the Punjab Assembly, Praful Kumar Mahanto has spoken against the J&K State Autonomy resolution and Chandrababu Naidu has chosen to remain indifferent.

Meanwhile, the entire exercise has inadvertently exploded before the international media the myth that Farooq enjoys a mass support in all the regions of the State including Jammu and Ladakh. The point is more than substantiated by the tit-for-tat rebuff held out by the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Council which lost no time in passing a similar resolution demanding Ladakh's separation from the Jammu and Kashmir State and creation of a Union Territory.

With the State Assembly elections just two years away, it is the prerogative of every contending political party to try every trick in the book to make a favourable impression in the public. Nonetheless, as the National Conference party's much generated hype over the autonomy issue gradually weans away, it is for the party stalwarts to sit back and think "what have they gained from all this or have they at all gained anything ?"

Autonomy is not a substitute either for good governance or for a corruption-free polity. Would it not be more profitable for the National Conference to approach the voter for a mandate that promises fair, just and orderly dispensation ? Will the common man vote for the National Conference in the next election simply on the basis of the NC's abortive campaign on autonomy ? Will Umapathy be moved by the long-long but inconsequential speeches delivered by the NC protagonists, a La, "Bahut Sunee Hain Aapki Takreeren Maulana, Badli Nahin Hai Apni Taqdeer Maulana !" And, to that extent, the question that would finally be asked is "What --- after all --- what has Farooq gained from all this?"