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EDITORIAL Kerala Chief Minister EK Nayanar has stirred hornet's nest by saying that all Chief Minister except him, Nomboodripad and Achuta Menon have been corrupt. It is open to question whether he has in mind only Kerala State or his reference is to every State in India. When questioned why these three are ‘clean’, pat comes the reply, "Because they were Communist". This means that all non-Communists are full of corruption. If that happens to be true of the Communist CMs, it is as well applicable to Communist cadres as also the bureaucratic hierarchy under their respective jurisdiction. If that be true, only two States ruled by Leftist parties are supposed to be corruption free i.e. Kerala and W. Bengal because both of them are led by CPI(M) Chief Minister. During the search for Prime Ministership when United Front was invited to form the Government at the Centre with outside support of CPI(M) and Congress Jyoti Basu was offered the coveted slot to lead the country. CPI(M) however did not allow Jyoti to run the slow. Subsequently Jyoti Basu mentioned it as the Himalyan blunder and expressed his willingess to lead the nation if approached again. That has not happened. Instead Jyoti is all set to say goodbye to the Calcutta throne as age has begun to tell upon him. Had he become Prime Minister of India he would have been existing on the support of the Congress Party which has many scandals to its credit during 46 years stint at the Centre. Again, it is one thing to be in the company of leftist parties; it is quite another to be with the ilk of Janata, Samata, Mamta and Lalitha. The last one forced Vajpayee to be on the right side of her corrupt practices or else she would withdraw support. In fact, Vajpayee continued to meet all her demands....more |
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Time
running out in Kashmir Tales of Travesty By Dr Jitendra Singh The Kashmir crisis, whatever its tragedy, has rendered atleast one commendable service. It has exposed the ..more The rupee is living on borrowed
time Millennium's First ''Global integration or
economic exploitation? S. Sohan Singh : An able
administrator Jammu, Ladakh
& KPs By O P Modi |
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EDITORIAL Kerala Chief Minister EK Nayanar has stirred hornet's nest by saying that all Chief Minister except him, Nomboodripad and Achuta Menon have been corrupt. It is open to question whether he has in mind only Kerala State or his reference is to every State in India. When questioned why these three are ‘clean’, pat comes the reply, "Because they were Communist". This means that all non-Communists are full of corruption. If that happens to be true of the Communist CMs, it is as well applicable to Communist cadres as also the bureaucratic hierarchy under their respective jurisdiction. If that be true, only two States ruled by Leftist parties are supposed to be corruption free i.e. Kerala and W. Bengal because both of them are led by CPI(M) Chief Minister. During the search for Prime Ministership when United Front was invited to form the Government at the Centre with outside support of CPI(M) and Congress Jyoti Basu was offered the coveted slot to lead the country. CPI(M) however did not allow Jyoti to run the slow. Subsequently Jyoti Basu mentioned it as the Himalyan blunder and expressed his willingess to lead the nation if approached again. That has not happened. Instead Jyoti is all set to say goodbye to the Calcutta throne as age has begun to tell upon him. Had he become Prime Minister of India he would have been existing on the support of the Congress Party which has many scandals to its credit during 46 years stint at the Centre. Again, it is one thing to be in the company of leftist parties; it is quite another to be with the ilk of Janata, Samata, Mamta and Lalitha. The last one forced Vajpayee to be on the right side of her corrupt practices or else she would withdraw support. In fact, Vajpayee continued to meet all her demands until it became beyond tolerance. Corruption amongst Chief Minister is nothing new. The first one to manifest its ugliness was Punjab Chief Minister Pratap Singh Kairon. He had to put in his papers. He also is perhaps the first in the electoral mal-practices. His son Surinder Singh Kairon made the Returning Officer to declare him elected by 36 votes even though it was sure defeat. It was no ordinary victory though. Surinder held the threat of using his gun as well. So kins syndrome is also an old phenomenon. Amongst other CMs, Laloo Prasad stands tall in terms of corruption and his wife, another Chief Minister, refuses to resign even when chargesheet is filed against her in the Disproportionate assets case. Yet another Chief Minister is the tall man of Maharashtra Abdul Rehman Antulay who too had to surrender the coveted seat on the basis of corruption charges. Of course none is guilty until proved as such by the court. But then there is something called morality. It continues to be at a discount. Amongst the Prime Minister there is the late Rajiv Gandhi accused of involvement in the Rs. 65 crore Bofors kickbacks. The case registered in 1967 is still bogged down more in politicking than lack of evidence. It is all there with the Government. The second Prime Minister is Narasimha Rao which is involved in Saint Kits case and who is the initiator of hawala rocket. Besides the financial crook Harshad Mehta who alleged payment of Rs. 1 crore to Narasimha Rao himself remains scot free even nine years after the largest financial scam. EK Nayanar is thus right on course to say that all are corrupt except him Former CMs like Achuta Menon, Vasudevan Nair and Mohd Koya or their respective kins besides AK Anthony describe Nayanar is too old to have the balance. They say his mental health is worse than Jyoti Basu. Any comments, Dr Farooq Abdullah about Nayanar's dispensation of ‘holder than thou’ when he say, "Except me.....". |
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Time
running out in Kashmir The Kashmir crisis, whatever its tragedy, has rendered atleast one commendable service. It has exposed the essential weaknesses of a flimsily balanced, clumsily managed democratic system. At the dawn of the new millennium eight months ago, I had written in these columns that the time was fast running out in Kashmir. Today, I have no hesitation to humbly opine that the time has already run out in Kashmir. Events are overtaking individuals at a rapid pace. We, who are witness to this tumultuous phase of history, may carry on for a few more years or decades. But, sooner or later, our day will be over and we shall yield place to others. How fairly, conscientiously and seriously we played our part ? Others of a later generation will judge. One only hopes that this self-introspective thought also occurs to those whom destiny has rightly or wrongly placed at the helm of affairs as the present rulers of the beleaguered State of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a sad irony that those who preside over the destiny of India refuse to be shaken by the tragedy of Kashmir. Kashmir cannot be rescued as long as the polity is controlled by small men perverted by blatant pursuit of power and lack of sincere will. The remedy of the Kashmir imbroglio is not to be expected from those who wish to solve the tangle without risking their privileged positions, who want to have the cake and eat it too. Hard decisions need to be taken --- this way or that. More than the merits of the final decision, it is the clarity of approach and firmness of resolve that will be the yardstick. Kashmir can no longer afford the luxury of the present turmoil. Nothing is more imperative than the basic prerequisite of restoring peace in the strife-torn Valley. No double-faced approach can last; it should not ideally last. No dilly-dallying. It is high time the violence in Kashmir is immediately put to an end. If it is foreign infiltration, it should be dealt on a war-footing. If it is disenchantment among the masses, it should be redeemed by creating conditions conducive for holding fair free elections with a wider participation of the political parties and the voters. A tired, demoralised, betrayed nation can take it no more. It can no longer be held to ransom by self-seekers trading in the name of Kashmir. Peace and democracy in Kashmir must initiate from the banks of river Jhelum; these have to be nurtured by Kashmiri soil, these cannot be fed on the manure imported from outside. The test in Kashmir is also in a way a test of the common man's judiciousness. In the present world, no political arrangement can survive for long without the ultimate approval of the common man. The nation faces an unenviable ordeal. To put it in the words of Allama Iqbal "--- Manzil Yehi Kathin Hai Qaumon Ki Zindagi Mein". And, Umapathy is the final arbiter. |
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Millennium's First
Teachers' Day Millennium's First teachers' day falls on Sept. 5-2000 to mark the birthday of the teacher of the genre of Sarvapalli Dr Radha Krishnan who would be turning in his grave that the present-day teaching profession in general betrays scant hope for the posterity. Way back in 1925 what Gandhi wrote is still relevant for the bulk of our teachers -- "The unfortunate position is that educated Indians take to teaching not for the love of it, but because they have nothing better and nothing else for giving them a livelihood". So the day is not for ritualistic celebrations as we witness in our schools and Colleges every year but for an introspection. In the 21st Century peoples needs and expectations have soared so high that they are still awaiting eagerly revolution in the method of teaching and a revolution in teachers' outlook. The need of the hour is to bring quality and meaning into our educational system. Unless the Government authorities, the planners at the top and above all teachers themselves address to the expectations of the society the young unsuspecting students in their formative years would be left at the mercy of a few whose minds lie some-where else but not in the classrooms. These are very serious and uncomfortable issues which need a lot of critical analysis of situation obtaining and the directionless approach which has become our fate. In this context, it shall be apt to quote Dr P Raj Behl who writes in Saudi Gazettee" No nation can ever progress if its teacher....... is corrupt. A teacher has in his hands the tender buds of a nation, their hearts are pure, their supple and malleable minds are innocent, unpolluted and clean like slate, their thinking is lucid, they are full of enthusiasm to learn and are true embodiments of propriety and unselfishness. The teacher can mould them in any way he wants to. But today's teacher whatever his constraint and compulsions, encourages private tuitions at his house rather than doing his duty at school". The aforesaid frank assertions of Dr Behl may not be construed as one more volley of criticism but the concern as also expectations of an NRI from the teachers'. We teachers' are expected not to impart routine instructions to students but teach them to wonder of books and tell them to find time to ponder over the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hill side. Above all we are to guide pupils in what the famous American President Abraham Lincoln expected "that a dollar earned is of far more value than five pounds and it is far more honourable to fail than to cheat". How many of us are conducting ourselves on these lines? This is a billion dollar question to which all of us including myself shall have to address without any bias. It is only then the pristine glory of this profession will be revived which at present has suffered a setback. Let us resolve at our own individual level to address to the issues raised with an open mind. But chances are minimal. |
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''Global integration or
economic exploitation? Failure of communism in erstwhile Soviet Union and its dilution in China has put an end to major economic ideological rift in the world. Capitalism has come to rule the roost and people have almost forgotten about communism and the utopian picture it painted about the world. But as if to counter-balance the proletarian outlook of communism, governments with the capitalistic system of economy, particularly in the west, have been showing greater concern for affirmative action and other welfare programmes for the less privileged and weaker sections of society. The industrialised countries have since realised that investment in health and education and other basic services for even the poorest sections of the society ultimately adds to the prosperity of the country as a whole. As leader of capitalism the industrialised countries have been making high promises and singing paeans about economic liberalisation and globalisation, but in actual practice they have not shown any genuine seriousness in sharing their sophisticated technology and other resources even for environmental protection with the developing and poor countries. Actually they have resorted to selective, discriminatory and ad-hoc technology regime for developed countries. This does not augur well for global economic integration, the cause loudly espoused by the developed world. The decade old economic reforms and liberalisation reveal that industrialised countries have demonstrated greater sensitivity towards protecting their own economies, maximising their own commercial interests and removing the pockets of poverty within their own four walls. These countries have shown little sensitivity towards appaling poverty in many developing countries. At the world summit for Social Development at Copenhagen in 1995 the industrialised countries had pledged 0.7 per cent of their GDP for social development and eradication of poverty in developing and eradication of poverty in developing and marginalised countries. They have yet to implement this decision. Debt relief too has not been provided to the developing countries. The result continues to be that while rich people of the world enjoy the best ever quality of life, poor suffer from want, sickness and mal-nutrition. Marginalisation of poor developing countries had paradoxically occurred at a time when tremendous technological progress is demolishing the physical barriers between the countries. But there is also an apprehension that the digital divide if not bridged properly may lead to further marginalisation of the poor countries. Technological revolution as such poses a challenge for mankind for decades to come. The apathy of rich countries towards poverty eradication and overall development and growth of developing countries and selective transfer of sophisticated technologies are causes potent enough to deny genuine international character to the new world economic order and globalisation. But there are many more equally potent factors which stand in the way of global economic integration. International trade is one such factor which has proved to be a stumbling block. Various trade and other agreements signed a Marakesh on 15th April, 1994 following the marathon Uruguoy round of General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs envisaged trade opportunities to developing countries. But at the same time some limitations ''were put on these countries particularly in the fields of patent protection and import curbs. Six years later a feeling has grown that while the developing countries in general have been faster in throwing open their economies and trade, the developed countries have not been fair enough to them. In addition to tariff escalation and quantitative restrictions they subject their imports from developing and poor countries, at times, to anti-dumping and counter-vailing duty. Without helping in social development of the developing countries, the developed countries even lay stress on social standards of labour and without technological transfer invoke environment protection issues. the developed countries appear to forget that during their long march to development, they have enjoyed and reaped the benefits of various policy options and choices for centuries. Surely the developing countries too need some time to adjust to change with a freeier access to the markets and technologies of the developed world. Almost all the developing and poor countries have attained independent and sovereign status only during the last over half a century and in m ost cases it is now only for the last few decades that these countries have actually started to apply these policy options and choices to reshape and develop their economies after centuries of colonial yoke. Intellectual property rights and patents are yet other potent factors that lead to the inequitious trends in the new global economic order. For developed world these rights entail protection of intellectual property rights of private individuals without due regard for sovereign rights of developing and poor countries. Developed countris have also to take note of compulsions of developing countries to exercise policy options and choices in sensitive sector like agriculture and pharmaceuticals for some more time. Some of these issues and many other issues like financial and services sectors and FDI and short term investments were taken up in detail at the 10th G-15 summit in Cairo in June this year. The Vice-President of India Mr Krishan Kant who led the Indian delegation at the summit referred to the Asian economic crisis which powerfully illustrated the impact of premature and unprepared integration of developing countries into the world economy on poverty, employment, social integration and basic social services. Favouring intensification of south-south dialogue, the leader of the Indian delegation also called for an endeavour to move the dialogue between the G-15 and G-8 groups of countries to a higher level of inter-action. The feelings at the summit against the discriminatory western attitude were so high that the Jamaican Prime Minister Mr J P Patterson even remarked that the rich countries were creating conditions which could consign the developing countries to the graveyard of pennury. With the second generation of reforms now on, India has considerably diluted socialistic pattern of economy and is well-poised for global integration. Capitalism offers unlimited entrepreneural scope, but it carries an unmitigated evil of ignoring the poorer strata of society which generally lack means and will to take initiatives. A comprehensive social security plan for poorer sections with proper stress on employment, health and education and other basic services could ensure homogenous economic development. Unlike reservations income could be the main criteria for determining the persons who could fall in this category. Free from many chores because of liberalization, the government could devote more time to start employment providing ventures and education and health programme completely devoted to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward communities. In general while providing skills and professional training, our human development effort has to be geared to the development of a work culture based on our spiritual ethos. Such a culture pre-supposes an ethics based on trusteeship where any laxity in implementation of a job or allotted duty is considered a wastage of tax payers money and a dereliction of spiritual duty towards our country men. As an officer I have had a personal experience and feeling that most of our developmental plans have floundered on the rock of work culture and corruption. As such all our developmental programmes need to be re-arranged, pruned and consolidated with an appropriate agency to implement them. It may be worthwhile to mention here that a UN Funded report last year has categorised the South Asian countries including India as most corrupt and poorly governed. Though the Human Development Report---2000 has some good things to say about India, but we cannot ignore the earlier categorisation. |
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S. Sohan Singh : An able
administrator S.Sohan Singh was born on 2nd May, 1920 at Mirpur. One of the legendary figures of the Century, he possessed a splendid wisdom. A courageous Administrator, impervious to Political interference he was deeply religious, sympathetic and helpful to common man. A Law graduate with a gold medal, he started his career as a Deputy Assistant Controller with Government of India prior to partition at Karachi. After partition, he joined as a Naib Tehsildar in the State and rose to the highest Cadres, as Health Secretary, Commissioner rehabilitation, Divisional Commissioner Jammu and Secretary Red Cross. His services for Rehabilitation of refugees and red cross have left a mark and will be always remembered. He was a descendant of Bhai Daya Singh Ji, the first among five Piaras (beloved ones) who had offered their heads to Guru Gobind Singh Sahib on 30th March 1699. Eighth in succession to Bhai Daya Singh Ji, S Sohan Singh imbibed in him the true spirit of Sikhism and was deeply religious and sympathetic person, who radiated love, affection and hope amongst his relatives, friends and other persons around him. His family members suffered maximum loss of life during 1947. When his elder brother Bhai Mohan Singh, Martyred his mother, Sister and other Women folk of the family at their request to save their honour and finally shot himself dead while heroically fighting and when besieged by a brutal enemy force at Mirpur. His revered father Bhai Sardha Singh Ji and illustrious younger brother S Sohan Singh remarkably discharged their duties towards left overs of his family and other near ones in their upbringing and settlement. The void created by his departure from the arena of the society is difficult to fill. His relatives, friends and admirers remember him day and night and pay their respectful homage to the departed soul on his second Death Anniversary. Jammu, Ladakh
& KPs By O P Modi Mufti Mohammad Syed, former Home Minister of India and the president of People's Democratic Party, in one of his TV interviews said that as Kashmir is a Muslim majority state it had to be accorded a special status. Similar sentiments have been vehemently expressed by National Conference leaders while supporting their demand for State Autonomy and the continuation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. Another oft repeated refrain of the leaders from the valley is that if the Kashmiris have to live in India they would do so with dignity (Izat). On the same analogy some people justify their demand for a ''special status'' for Jammu; it being a Hindu majority region. The same factor may have prompted the Ladakh Buddhist Association to demand a Union Territory for their region. Panun Kashmir's movement for carving out a Union Territory for Kashmiri Pandits, inside the Valley, may have the same roots. All of them, too, would like to live with Izat in Jammu & Kashmir. However, the very basis of the argument of Muslim, Hindu, or Budhist majority state or region is not only erroneous and misleading it is also against the secular spirit of the Constitution of India. Yet the profound ground realities existing in the three regions cannot be wished away. These are : (a) majority of the people in the valley feel ''alienated'' from rest of the country and would like to have greater measure of freedom, (b) people in Jammu region, on account 52 years of regional bias by successive Kashmiri dominated Governments, want to shape their destiny by having political power in their own hands, (c) Ladakhis want a Union Territory status for their region and (d) the Kashmiri Pandits desire to go back to their beloved Kashmir but only when their life and honour is made fully secure there. So long as these aspirations of the people of all the three regions are not favourably met with there can neither be peace nor amity in the state. Kashmiri Sooba As early as 1963 a poster with the title ''Kashmiri Sooba'' appeared on the walls of Jammu city. A demand for reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir state on linguistic basis was made in the poster. It said that the valley be separated and made into Kashmiri Sooba. The sponsors pleaded that the state be divided on linguistic basis in the same way as East Punjab had been divided into three states viz Haryana Pradesh and Punjab. It is a well known fact that after the division of East Punjab into three entities all the three states have thrived by leaps and bounds not only in agriculture and horticulture but also in the industrial field. While Punjab and Haryana, today, are among the leading industrial states of the country Himachal, where only thirty years back, not a single apple was grown, has been giving tough competition to Kashmir in fruit production and its marketing. Is there anything wrong if Jammu and Kashmir state too is reorganised into three linguistically based entities? The fact is that people of Jammu region speak a language akin to Punjabi though in its districts the dialect is somewhat different. While a Gujjar or a Bakerwal or a person from Rajouri Poonch or Doda district can easily understand Dogri and vice versa, a common Kashmiri cannot understand any of the dialects of the above stated communities. Neither the majority of persons from Jammu region can understand Kashmiri language. Similarly a person from Ladakh does not understand a word of either Kashmiri or the language spoken in Jammu region. The dress and customs of the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions, too, are totally different from that of the Kashmiris. Dignity insulted The blunder that New Delhi has constantly committed in kashmir since 1947 is to accord undue, extra ordinary and undeserved importance to every Kashmiri leader at the cost of Muslim as well as Hindu leaders of Jammu region. This has been going on without exception, whether it was Morarji Desai, V P Singh, or I K Gujral in the saddle at the Centre. Earlier in 1947-48, due to intransigent attitude of Jawahar Lal Nehru to towards Jammu province, many leading Muslim figures left Jammu to settle in Pakistan. It was hoped that the BJP led government would have recognised the fact that it was the unwarranted pampering of the Kashmiri Muslim leaders of all hues, which led to massive corruption, nepotism and rigging of the elections and ultimate alienation of the Kashmiri masses with India. Unfortunately the BJP too has been no different than the Congress, or any other national level political party, in this respect. The same wrong policy of ignoring the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions is followed even by the BJP led government at the centre when the future of the state is discussed. While Jammu region is larger than the Kashmir region in area and its population is almost equal to that of the valley, the people of the region have felt insulted every time when in any national or international fora only Kashmiri figures, as if Jammu and Ladakh do not exist in the State. No one has bothered to ascertain the views of the people of these regions or give any weight to their wishes and aspirations. The ''special status'' demanded by various Jammu based political parties, whether it be in the form of an Autonomous Regional Council, a separate Jammu state, a sub-Assembly, or centrally administered Union Territory, is the result of people's complete disillusionment with successive Kashmiri dominated governments. The passing of Autonomy resolution by the state Assembly has further distanced the people of Ladakh and Jammu from the valley. Continued militant clamoring in the Valley for Autonomy, Azadi or merger with Pakistan, involving inhuman terrorist violence, which remained confined to the Valley for some years and which spilled over to Doda district latter and recently to Rajouri and Poonch, has strengthened the movements for separation from Kashmir in Jammu and Ladakh. It is realised by the people of Jammu region that for the past 52 years their fate has remained sealed due to its remaining attached to Kashmir. It can be changed, tremendously, because of its nearness to the vast markets of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. On account of the railhead in Jammu (soon Udhampur too will be connected by rail with rest of the country), transportation of raw materials and finished goods becomes quite easy and economical. Jammu region has great potential for industrial development on account of its nearness to the markets in the country. The people regret the regional bias of the state government which has resulted in repressed growth of industries in Jammu. Some large and medium scale industries in Jammu have been shut down due to indifferent treatment by the State authorities. A large number of small scale industries, which once flourished as ancillaries to the large and medium industries based in Jammu, have turned sick or are dead. On account of huge mineral wealth and forest products Jammu region as a whole can become a hub of industrial activities if it has the political and economic power. There are hundreds of tourists spots in the region but the State Government has not, deliberately, developed them for fear of loosing tourist business in the Valley. How can the dignity, identity and respect for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh be restored without harming the interest of the people of the three parts of the state? How can peace be restored in the State ? How can the unemployment be ended here? How can the vested interest of the Kashmiri elite in continuation of the violent strife in J&K be ended? There is only one answer to all these questions: fulfill the aspirations of the people of all the regions by turning them into federating entities of the state. |
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