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EDITORIAL Extension of ceasefire by another month beyond January 26 has to be viewed from several angles. There has been enough of debate at all levels. Within the ruling apparatus there are doves and hawks. Within the State position is no different. Within the country also different perceptions exist vis-a-vis opposition parties. The very fact that Cabinet Committee on Security deliberated on the subject for 3 hours indicate varying perceptions. At this stage it would be correct to separate individual perceptions and discuss ramifications of the extension of ceasefire in its totality i.e.what is in the interests of State and what subserves national interests better. First, it is good that India's foreign policy for a change gets integrated with defence, commerce and internal security. Unless all these aspects work in tandem no purposeful foreign policy can click. This explains why Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh briefed the press after the lengthy meeting. It should have been either Defence or Home Minister instead. It manifests the weight thrown by Jaswant Singh behind extension of ceasefire. For a ....more |
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Islamic Township By K.N. Pandita Man does not live By Dr Bharat Jhunjhunwala Shabana Azmi- A catalyst for change ? By Pamela Bhagat Emerging fuel By Satinder Singh |
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EDITORIAL Extension of ceasefire by another month beyond January 26 has to be viewed from several angles. There has been enough of debate at all levels. Within the ruling apparatus there are doves and hawks. Within the State position is no different. Within the country also different perceptions exist vis-a-vis opposition parties. The very fact that Cabinet Committee on Security deliberated on the subject for 3 hours indicate varying perceptions. At this stage it would be correct to separate individual perceptions and discuss ramifications of the extension of ceasefire in its totality i.e.what is in the interests of State and what subserves national interests better. First, it is good that India's foreign policy for a change gets integrated with defence, commerce and internal security. Unless all these aspects work in tandem no purposeful foreign policy can click. This explains why Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh briefed the press after the lengthy meeting. It should have been either Defence or Home Minister instead. It manifests the weight thrown by Jaswant Singh behind extension of ceasefire. For a change Chief of Army Staff was also present and various heads of intelligence agencies gave their respective assessment. Army Chief is on record of having supported extension giving reasons thereof. This is despite the fact that major brunt of hostile acts of terrorists is being borne by the security forces which are restrained to engage in active combat operations. But then ours have been an army that obeys the civil command. It is good that Army is also involved in active discussion before announcement for ceasefire extension is made. Second, there is no denying the fact that militancy has shown upward trend during the two months of ceasefire. To be precise this spurt was anticipated in the light of rejection of ceasefire by mercenary outfits active in Jammu & Kashmir. The magnitude however may be slightly more than what was thought initially. So here is a situation when security forces have to restrain while terrorist outfits go for random attacks on civil, political and military targets. There is nothing new in it. Overall, situation is not that critical. Civil authority is in place. Police personnel are very active. Para-military and army have also been responding effectively like the elimination of six mercenaries near Mishriwala camp on Sunday last. Such blood spillage is the trait of these. They have been doing it all these twelve years. But as Army Chief says no time limit can be placed for elimination of any insurgency because none can guarantee total stoppage of infiltration. Here the overall assessment is that situation is manageable and slowly but surely these mercenaries can be largely neutralised even without pro-active operations. Present level of insurgency is bound to be reduced during the next few days. Third, reaction of the people has been positive. Irrespective of their loyalties and commitments, they are all for extension of truce. Border people are happy that guns are silent and there is ray of hope for making it back to their hearths and homes. As per reports Pakistan is building concrete bunkers on their side of LoC and IB. It is possible that our side is also engaged in putting their act together for forestalling any mischief from Pakistan. In fact, certain things are indeed happening which are possible only when there is no crossfire. These are mostly security matters that cannot be discussed in these columns. But it should be taken for granted that Pakistan will not be allowed to take any advantage of the extended ceasefire. Just as Musharraf is interacting with his army top-brass our side is as well busy in taking all possible steps that come under the ambit of guaranteeing invincibility of our borders. As expected reaction from mercenary and other outfits has been quite blunt. They reject ceasefire in toto and pledge to continue engaging in terrorist acts. Be it Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Al Badr or Hizbul Mujahideen, their stand can be understood in as much as they are paid killers. To that extent they are most un-Islamic. Here statement of Pak Interior Minister is quite relevant in that he has asked all religious organisations not to fund militancy and channelise donations for humanitarian pursuits. Similar voices are now increasingly being heard from intelligentsia and political leadership in Pakistan. Haider also wants all those wielding guns to surrender the same since such gun-totting soils the image of Pakistan in both local and international esteem. He wants Pakistan and its people to be recognised as civilised and part of civilisation and not as brutes and killers. Whatever the reason that prompted Pak Home Minister to criticise such militants active in Kashmir, within Pakistan and in other countries, it is certain that sanity has begun to prevail upon brutal and sinister minds. Here one need not go what these mercenary outfits say but what the local leaders think. They have welcomed extension and want the peace initiative pushed further until positive results manifest abundantly. Fifth, and none should ignore this aspect, pro-active foreign policy demands further pressure on Pakistan from international community. Had the ceasefire been abandoned borders would have become alive overnight. There would have been widespread condemnation from those countries that have belatedly thrown their lot behind India resulting in Pak isolation. At this point, approach has to be very cautious. Peace initiative cannot be wasted. Onus of proving sincerity has been put on Pakistan when India asks it to rein in Pak-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad etc so that constructive dialogue can begin. Pakistan will come under more pressure from Washington and other countries troubled by terrorism. Right now Pak stand is to have talks first and then terrorism could come down. India wants terrorism to stop forthwith and create conducive climate for talks. It is the expectation that Pak will have to show its sincerity or face more international isolation and the resultant economic chaos. Already, Pakistan has been compelled to implement sanctions against Taliban Government of Afghanistan. Lastly, it must be borne in mind that both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers. Peace on borders is indispensable. Even if borders are kept frozen on pattern similar to Sino-Indian border, it is a step forward towards peace. It is of course without prejudice to respective claims. It seems by extending ceasefire India has in mind this aspect so that more urgent problems facing the country can be addressed constructively. One need not get unduly perturbed about isolated subversive acts of the terrorists. Our security forces are under restraint only as far as search and cordon operations are concerned. It does not bar them to take on mercenaries. They have no business to be in Jammu & Kashmir State. None would shed even crocodile tears if they are eliminated ruthlessly. In the same vein State police is free to deal with any such act purely as law and order problem. Anyone violating the law of the land or challenging its sanctity with bullets obviously cannot be allowed any liberties. In the light of the above, Prime Minister AB Vajpayee shows the way by taking this bold step. But as pointed out by Leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi necessary precautions must be in place while dealing with Pakistan. Peace is given another chance. It is upto Pakistan to rein in mercenary outfits based in Pakistan that have been infiltrated in Jammu & Kashmir for blood spillage and sabotaging peace initiative. |
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Islamic Township in Islamic Republic By K.N. Pandita After Commander Tariq conquered Southern Spain in the early phase of Islamic conquests northward, the city of Cordova (Qurtaba in Arabic) became the Moor capital in Spain. Students of English literature know the Moors through Shakespeare’s Othello. The students of Urdu literature also popularly know Qurtaba. Allama Iqbal had visited Tariq’s famous mosque at Cordova and had offered prayers in it. That visit had made him emotional and he composed the famous poem Masjid-e-Qurtaba in which he spoke of the glorious history of Islamic conquests and the spread of Islamic civilization. In fact, he must have been reminded of the celebrated Persian poem Al-Madayan of versatile Khaqani, who, in identical manner, had become emotional after visiting the demolished and ruined capital of the Iranian Zoroastrian monarchs at Ctesiphone (on the banks of Tigris) called Al-Madayan by the Arabs after the historic defeat of the Persians in the battle of Qadisiyyeh. To the students of European history General Tariq survives in the name he gave to Gibraltar the Jabal-al-Tariq. Recently, Jama’at-i-Islami organised its grand annual congregation at Qurtaba, its proposed township in the proximity of Islamabad. Very little was known of the site of the proposed township, when suddenly the military administration announced its decision of investigating the Jama’at’s recent acquisition of 6,000 kanals of land at Chakri near Rawalpindi. The land is estimated at billions of rupees. According to reliable sources, the land situated near Chakri exit on the Motorway was purchased at the rate of 10,000 rupees per kanal. The land bought at Qurtaba is being plotted into five and ten marla plots and is likely to be marketed at Rs. 400,000 per kanal. This would earn the Jama’at a fabulous amount to the tune of rupees 2.40 billion. In reply to a question about who funded the Qurtaba project, JI central secretary information, Ammeru’l-Azim said that the project was run by the Madinatu’l-Ilm Society, which was a registered housing body. He said the society had so far bough around 3,000 kanals and intended to buy another 3,000 kanals. He said that the money was collected from the interested parties The deal now called by the government officials as the ‘Qurtaba scam’ came to light as a result of very curious and almost dramatic development. In a recent statement, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, the Amir of JI lashed out at General Musharraf, the military ruler of Pakistan who wrested power from the elected Prime Minister in October 1999 through a coup. The Qazi has been rabidly critical of the General calling him a "security risk". He had also accused him as the agent of the Americans. Qazi Hussain also demanded the replacement of General Musharraf by other Generals in the Army so that the country was relieved of the risk it is facing with Musharraf in the driver’s seat. Ahmad virtually sent a message to other Generals to revolt against Musharraf. The Qazi has also ventilated his ire against the Corps Commanders calling them "crore commanders" He accused several Generals of acquiring residential plots at throwaway price. The Army intelligence suspects that Qazi Hussain Ahmad would not be so bold as to adopt a direct antagonistic posture against the Chief Executive unless he has a clout among the top brass of the army. Rumours are afloat that there are rumblings among the top ranks of the Pakistani Army. Recently Akram Awan the chief of the Tanzimu’l-Ikhwan, a religious organization with deep penetration in the hierarchy of the Army declared in his Manara convention that they would force Islamic law on Musharraf’s government. Qazi Ahmad immediately joined hands with him so that he was not left behind. In this way a holy alliance has been formed against the Chief Executive. It is well known fact that the Ikhwani influence in the Army has been deep and subtle. This is the tablighee institution with a clear agenda of Islamising the Army and raising the Islamic legions out of a combination of regular and irregular jehadis with the sole purpose of carrying forward the Islamic agenda. Observers bring in the army magazine Al-Hilal to reinforce the suspicion of the pro-Musharraf elements in the army that there are indications of Islamist elements having penetrated the military. It is intriguing that despite making provocative assertions since the days of General Karamat, no army chief has been able to silence it. Apprehensive of these antics, the military administration thought it feasible to strike back at the Jama’at-i-Islami and tarnish its public image. Annoyed with Ahmad’s remarks, authorities called it " a brazen attempt to create fissures within the army". As a retaliatory measure, the military administration has ordered investigation of acquisition of 6,000 kanals of land by the JI, the sources from which funding has come and the related matters. Informed circles are reported to be making a strange and interesting observation in this context. They say that the selection of the site for Qurtaba township is very significant. According to their analysis, the JI has the ulterior motive of besieging Islamabad some day. The JI could use the strategically located place as a persistent threat to pressurize any government in the capital. Analysts and Pakistan observers consider it a seesaw battle between the military ruler and the leading religio-political party in Pakistan. It will be recalled that during the second stint of Benazir Bhutto, a rebellion staged by some jehadi officers in Pakistan army had been immediately suppressed. But it is difficult to say that that was the end of it. In this scenario of a tug of war for power, either General Musharraf must tow the line of the religious fanatics and sit pretty in his seat of power or he has to come out openly against them and challenge them for an open confrontation. In either case, Pakistani civil society is faced with disintegration. |
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Shabana Azmi- A catalyst for change ? By Pamela Bhagat Catalyst for change', is the sobriquet that Member of Parliament and actor Shabana Azmi, has bequeathed upon herself. And she feels that she has enough reason to do so. In 1998 Azmi was nominated as the UNFPA's (United Nations Population Fund) Goodwill Ambassador for India. Since then she has not only supported and highlighted population and development, reproductive health and gender issues- as she was mandated to do- but has, self-confessedly, taken up the gauntlet for women's health. ''Women's issues like health, education, economic independence, communalism and homelessness are agendas which I have set for myself. I have an understanding of these issues because I have been involved with Nivara Hakk, an organisation which concerns itself with the rights of slum dwellers,'' says Azmi. By any standards an extraordinary woman, Azmi could always pull a crowd whenever and wherever she wanted. Now, with her growing commitment to social issues, she is juggling her myriad worlds with punishing work schedules. With fierce determination she pursues her agendas in Parliament, continues to win awards and accolades for acting and is increasingly being identified with activism in the field of social justice. She is the most excited about her work as UNFPA's Goodwill Ambassador. "Health is on nobody's agenda in India and women's health even less. When it comes to women, we talk about empowerment, about education, about economic independence but we are completely silent about health. After 50 years of independence, more women die from pregnancy-related complications in a week in India than in the whole of Europe in one year,'' she says, adding that 70 per cent of these deaths are avoidable if proper ante-natal and pre-natal care is provided to the women. ''In rural areas, health services are supposed to be delivered through the Primary Health Centres (PHCs) but these seldom function, medicines are never available and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) have no access to transport or other resources,'' says Azmi. She relates an experience in Mijwain, a small village in Azamgarh where her father has set up a Welfare Society. ''The ANMs in the village tell me that while earlier they were supposed to meet family planning targets, now the new Population Policy is stressing on health delivery but where is the training of the personnel? There is a move to encourage a parallel system of 'dais' to assist in safe deliveries and there is even a suggestion that they should be paid Rs 25 per delivery. But the administrative machinery required to implement this makes the government throw up its hands,'' she says. According to Azmi, partnerships need to be forged between the government machinery, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the field and the local community. ''The new Population Policy reflects the role that women's activists have played in raising consciousness about safe motherhood. Now we need to change the mindset of those people who are going to implement this legislation,'' she adds. Azmi is planning to do this by raising the issue in Parliament and doing advocacy at the Gram Panchayat, state and national levels. ''I have even done a feature film on women's reproductive health called 'Hari Bhari,'' she adds. There is a lot that Azmi finds wrong in the way in which the government is implementing policies on reproductive health. Says she, ''The National Population Policy's doing away with disincentives at the national level is a good thing. But this is not happening at the State level.'' Azmi cites the example of Madhya Pradesh that has a policy according to which everyone with more than two children will not be allowed government employment after January this year. According to Azmi what needs to be released is that disincentives have not worked anywhere in the world and enforcing them is against the Constitution. ''I believe that we have to push the agenda of women's reproductive health and safe motherhood. Women's health has to become an emotive issue,'' she says. (WFS) |
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Emerging fuel options for automobiles By Satinder Singh Surging oil prices as a result of frequent 'petro-quakes' and environmental concerns have renewed the interest of the oil industry to seek viable alternatives to substitute petrol and diesel oil for transport vehicles. The gaseous fuels from petroleum sources like compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid petroleum (LPG) are emerging as first alternatives. While LPG and CNG are proven environmentally cleaner fuels than petrol, fuel supply storage and distribution infrastructure and more importantly safety considerations require closer attention. For equivalent range of distance to be covered, the CNG has an additional fuel volume capacity of nearly 4.3 times than diesel while in terms of additional weight, the factor would be about 3.7 with a corresponding penalty in the passenger or load carrying capacity. For buses and trucks, the diesel engine has been adapted to the new fuel namely CNG instead of the fuel being adapted to the engine. In simpler terms, the diesel engine compression ratio has been reduced to that of the petrol engine, while at part-loads the lean burn characteristics of the diesel engine has been sacrificed. It is no wonder that in a stop and go driving situation seen in a city the engine rejects lot of heat to the exhaust calling for a radiator of extra effectiveness. On the contrary, if the fuel were adapted to the diesel engine, the superior features of the engine would have been retained. There are diesel engines working with neat CNG or with some assistance for ignition with a pilot injection of small quantity of diesel fuel in the production stage. Eventually, the switch over from liquid fuel from petroleum source to the gaseous fuel from the same source is no permanent solution to the ever-spiraling petroleum prices. A renewable source for vehicular use would be a long-range solution. Based on renewable raw materials and ecological balance, the fuel of the future seems to be ethanol. Ethanol for transportation vehicles has been successfully implemented in Brazil. Fundamental and developmental work in U.S., Germany, Japan, Sweden, India and other parts of the world have generated a valuable experience for implementing clean burning and renewable future transportation fuel. Ethanol or ethyl alcohol can be produced from biomass and hence it is called renewable fuel. Variety of feed stocks from agricultural and municipal wastes, cellulose, any starch yielding agricultural products like corn, sugar beets, potatoes and more extensively from sugar cane molasses yield ethanol. In Brazil, where ethanol is the most widely used fuel, the natural source is sugarcane. India too has excellent potential for this resource. Use of corn in the U.S. is the most favoured choice. Ethanol as a sole engine fuel in spark-ignited engines is clean burning with no deposits whatever. Hence particulate emissions associated with petroleum fuels is totally absent. "The blue flame special" is the apt name for ethanol-powered car given by Professor R.K. Pefley, the former president of Alcohol Fuel Systems in California! The nearly invisible flame may be a source of danger for extinguishing fire in case of inadvertent accident. Hence it is customary to add about 15 per cent of petrol to make the flame luminous for easy visibility. This fuel formulation incidentally helps in cold starting since ethanol has more than three times the latent heat of vapourisation in comparison with petrol. This high latent heat is an advantage as less nitrogen oxides are formed during combustion and therefore low in nitric oxide emissions. Additionally, the high latent heat gives a cooler and denser charge as a cylinder feed and this increases power. Hence alcohol fuels have been favoured for racing engines in the past. It has a high octane number and can permit higher compression ratios promoting increased energy efficiency. Amongst the disadvantages, ethanol has lower heat value slightly less than 70 per cent of the heat value of diesel or petrol. Though this does not affect in terms of thermal efficiency, which is actually higher for alcohol engines, it affects in terms of the range of the vehicle per unit volumetric capacity of the fuel tank. About 1.68 litres of ethanol would have the same energy as a litre of diesel oil. Ethanol is more corrosive than diesel or petrol and hence the fuel system is to be made of ethanol compatible materials. It has poor lubricity and suitable lubricants may be necessary in fuel pumps. On the emission side, it has a tendency to produce more aldehydes, a product of low temperature oxidation. It must be noted that partial oxidation of CNG too can produce formaldehydes. But all these problems have been solved over years of research and development and ethanol technology is mature and ready for implementation. Flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) are already in the market by the brand names like E-85 meaning 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol. Before using as a sole fuel in spark-ignited engine, it can be gradually introduced as an admixture with petrol. Called as gasohol in the U.S., it is a mixture of about 10 per cent ethanol in petrol. This will enhance the octane number also and there is no necessity of blending aromatics in petrol to upgrade the octane number. Aromatics like benzene are known to be carcinogenic. One disadvantage of ethanol when used as a mixture is the problem of phase separation when water is present in alcohol. The presence of water is a blessing in disguise in case of accidental fire. It can be readily extinguished with water. Again, accidental spillage during transit by sea, will not cause damage to marine life because of its ready solubility. In sum, India has a good potential for implementing ethanol as a substitute to fuels from petroleum sources. Far reaching research results have been generated in India and this is the time to take advantage of this valuable human resource and develop self-reliance by using fuels like ethanol from renewable sources. INAV |
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