EDITORIAL
STALEMATE AT SUMMIT
As Monday's night
descended on Agra after two day's whirlwind of rumour,
speculation and fact settled down, Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee and General Parvez Musharraf retired back
to their bases without much to show by way of achieving a
breakthrough on the vexed issues confronting the two
neighbours. The only saving grace was that the two
leaders agreed to meet again in the near future to pick
up the threads of negotiations. The failure of the
summit, ironically over failure of the two leaders to
accommodate each other on the contentious issue of
Kashmir and the related problem of cross-border
terrorism, came after two day's of high drama in which
hopes alternative with despair. In fact, a mood of
pessimism set in late last night itself when the Pakistan
spokesman issued a strongly worded statement which
indicated that the summit had failed to make any headway.
Pakistan had taken umbrage to the Information Minister,
Ms Sushma Swaraj, not having sufficiently highlighted the
fact that Kashmir dispute had dominated the one-on-one
discussions between Mr Vajpayee and Gen Musharraf.
Pakistan President made matters worse when at a breakfast
meeting with senior Editors, he asserted that there could
be no progress in talks unless the Kashmir dispute was
sincerely addressed. At this joint, it appeared as if the
talks had ended in a stalemate. However, Gen Musharraf's
comment at his tete-e-tete with the Editors that he would
not insist on calling the Kashmir problem a
‘dispute’ and would be amenable to use the
world ‘issue’ if it took care of the
sensitivities of India. This revived hopes of a damage
control exercise and the two sides engaged themselves in
sorting out issues. The top aides of Mr Vajpayee and
General Musharraf then went into a marathon exercise to
draft a document which would put down in black and white
the viewpoints of the two nations on vital issues and
their shared desire to find mutually acceptable solution
within a definite framework. Unfortunately, while the two
sides were busy drafting the ‘Agra
declaration’, an element of uncertainty crept in
when the Prime Minister's Office released the text of a
strongly worded "opening statement" handed over
to Gen Musharraf by Mr Vajpayee at the beginning of the
summit on Sunday morning. The Prime Minister, in his
statement, had impressed upon President Musharraf that
while India was wiling to hold dialogue on all issues,
including Kashmir, cross-border terrorism from across of
line of control was the key issue as far as India was
concerned. Vajpayee made it plain that India had the will
and capability of dealing effectively with the
terrorists. The PMO was reacting to Gen Musharaf's
hard-hitting remarks at the breakfast tete-e-tete with
the Editors this morning. Obviously, both Gen Musharraf
and Mr Vajpayee had engaged in convicing their respective
constituents back home that they had firmly struck to
their declared standpoints and had made no compromises.
The failure in drafting a
declaration is understandable because it involved an
interative process of narrowing differences by showing
flexibility on some issues and unwillingness to
compromise on others. All this had to be designed to make
the summit appear as focussed and meaningful as possible.
On the fundamental issue of Kashmir, the two sides not
only remain far apart — that was only to be expected
— but were predisposed to follow incompatible
strategies for addressing it.
With failure to achieve a
breakthrough at Agra, all the old reasons for distrusting
each other will continue to persist. The hope that this
meeting would have proved the beginning of the end of
enemity between India and Pakistan were belied. The
reason is that beneath the surface continuity, literally
everything has changed. Today, it was just not desirable
or advantageous but essential for both the countries to
resolve their differences. For Pakistan, in particular,
it was a matter of life and death. Pakistan's public
stand today may reflect that of 1990. Its aspirations too
may not have changed. But its capacity to realise them
has. There is no secret the frailty of its economy; its
national debt is 106 per cent of the GJP; 75 per cent of
last year's federal revenues had to go into servicing
this debt. Its growth has fallen from 6 per cent in 80's
to below 3 per cent in the past two years. Its foreign
debt exceeds $ 40 billion. In per capita terms, this is
three times India's debt. There is also tremendous
resistance within the Pakistan military and nationalist
establishment to accepting that this change impinges on
its relations with India in any fundamental way. But
there is one place where there is no room for
self-delusion. The buck stops at Musharraf's office.
Musharraf has not cracked down on the jehadis directly
because this would deprive him of the only lever he
possesses against India in Kashmir. But the longer he
didn't do so, the more did the jehadis entrench
themselves and gain legitimacy in Pakistan society as the
saviour of the people of Kashmir. This is catch-22
situation from which he had to wriggle out. This perhaps
was the reason for him to appeal repeatedly to drop its
pre-conditions and start dialogue on Kashmir. In the past
month-and-a-half, Musharraf has made sustained effort to
make his countrymen come to terms with their country's
weaknesses and vulnerability, and the limitations these
impose on its options. But he had also been forced to
walk a tightrope and show that while he was prepared to
move from the frozen positions of the past, he is not
going to betray Pakistan's essential interests. If he
cannot keep his domestic constituency convinced of his
patriotism and concern for Kashmir, he will not gain
acceptance at home for any deal he would have brokered at
Agra. Prime Minister Vajpayee too could afford to give
the impression that he compromised with the national
interests and conceded too much without securing anything
in return from the adversary. Therefore, the firm demand
that the "key issue" of stopping border
terrorism should figure in any accord.
Therefore, the stalement
at Agra is a serious setback for both Gen. Musharraf and
Mr Vajpayee. The loss of the latter is perhaps greater
because returning back to Islamabad without having
achieved anything will put him a tight spot. The failure
of the Agra summit may also see a fresh spurt in
terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
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India:
Take Heart, Woman
By
Benita Sen
Phool
Mashi was crossing the road to the
medicine shop when the world closed in
around her. Passers-by picked her up and
took her to the chemist she had been
headed for. Rummaging in her purse for
identification papers, they found a
prescription for heart medicines.
Ironically,
it was for her husband, recovering from a
heart attack. While he waited in the
hospital, Phool Mashi, who never guessed
she had a heart problem, succumbed to a
massive coronary attack.
Like most
of us, her husband and children were
surprised to hear that coronary heart
disease (CHD) is increasing its hold over
women, considered the bravehearts among
homo sapiens. In America, CHD takes away
33 per cent women - a figure higher than
cancers, accidents and diabetes combined.
In such a
scenario, the propensity to look at heart
disease as a largely 'male disease' is
being replaced by awareness that by the
time a woman reaches 65, she has a 33 per
cent chance of developing cardiovascular
disease. And that, given different body
mechanisms, there are differences in a
man and a woman's heart health. Men are
more likely to be stricken with heart
disease in their prime middle years,
while women are generally more affected
after menopause.
The
symptoms of a heart attack can be
different in women. Coupled with
society's indifference to female health,
lack of medical information an her own
diffidence, a heart attack in a woman is
often mistaken for heartburn. Women can
experience pain in their lower jaw and
teeth, both arms, shoulders and back, or
suffer palpitations, sweating, vomiting
or fatigue. And women's heart problems
generally develop over a longer period of
time.
However,
post menopause, women's heart problems
can accelerate because of the lack of
estrogen. By 70, both sexes are equally
susceptible to CHD. Happily, growing
awareness and resultant research has led
to declining death rates from
cardiovascular disease in both men and
women, although the decline is slower in
women. According to one estimate,
cardiovascular disease kill more than
500,000 American women a year, compared
to about 450,000 men. The human body is
much like a plumbing system. Too much of
cholesterol, especially the 'bad' low
density lipoproteins or LDL in the blood
clogs the walls of arteries with plaque
and increases chances of developing CHD.
As long as women are in their productive
years, estrogen acts like a drain shield.
The most heartening news about heart
disease, however, is that a correction in
lifestyle could lower cholesterol.
However,
there are other stumbling blocks.
Genetics or family history, blood
pressure, body build, smoking, stress and
lipid contents, for example. According to
Dr Anil Singh of Max Healthcare, high
blood pressure in women can lead to
kidney damage, which in turn puts
pressure on the heart. Just as important
is the wellbeing of the liver and lungs,
which can be crippled by too much
drinking and smoking. Generally, it is
believed that slim is in for health. But
there's a catch here, too. Women,
especially those who are slightly built
and are sedentary, have thinner arteries
that find it more difficult to withstand
the load caused by a block, and succumb
more easily to less strain. Smokers --
and a growing number of women are turning
to smoking -- need to know that the risk
of dying from a heart attack is tripled
for them. Add to that a stressful
lifestyle and you have a heart gasping
for existence. A materialistic,
performance-and deadline-oriented
workplace is the ideal breeding ground
for stress and a weak heart. Even for a
homemaker, the pressures are mounting.
Living like the Joneses, growing
awareness of 'living better' and tackling
marital discord place her undertremendous
stress.
Although
the reproductive years are when a woman's
heart is least likely to suffer,
pregnancy does exacerbate some heart
problems. A pregnant woman with a
congenital heart problem needs to be
monitored. Adult diabetes causes general
debility and can affect a number of
organs, including the heart. Diet, then,
can be a make-or-break factor in heart
health. Apart from sensible, balanced
meals, fibres and natural foods can be a
naturalprotection against obesity,
diabetes and heart disease.
And what
is important is that one can begin as
early as childhood to prevent CHD. And
even if you're older, it is seldom too
late. Forty per cent of women with heart
disease may eventually die of it. But
with growing awareness, both women and
the medical fraternity are beginning to
tackle CHD early. Since heart disease is
preventable and treatable, it can only
augur well for the world. After all,
women make up half its hearts. (WFS)
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Genesis
of political crisis in Manipur
By
Sanchet Barua
Government
decisions cannot be taken in isolation,
they have to be placed in context and
coordinated and correlated to a host of
factors. It was no secret that the Union
Government was negotiating through its
representative, former Home Secretary K
Padmanabhaiah, with the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland
(Isak-Muivah) group leaders, T Muivah and
Isaq Chisi Swu. The talks with the
dominant Naga group were nearing a
deadline. The extension of the four-year
long ceasefire to a general ceasefire
without territorial limits was one of
subjects under discussion. But the manner
of the announcement of the ceasefire
extension after the June 13-14 talks in
Bangkok led to an immediate crisis in the
north-eastern states, while Manipur was
engulfed in widespread violent protests,
which are continuing.
In the
states of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal
Pradesh, where there is a sizeable Naga
population, there is general apprehension
that the extension of the ceasefire to
these states would give a fillip to the
Naga demand for Nagalim or greater
Nagaland, including all
"Naga-inhabited areas". The
obvious reasoning for the extension of
the territorial limits of the ceasefire
is that it makes no sense to fight the
militants outside the state while holding
a truce in Nagaland. But the extension of
ceasefire has its repercussions in the
adjoining states which have a sizeable
Naga population. Even Meghalaya has faced
the effects of Naga insurgency and the
support they have provided to local
militant groups. During a meeting with
the Prime Minister last year, the chief
ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur and Meghalaya had expressed their
disapproval of extension of the ceasefire
to their states.
NSC(I-M)
general secretary, T Muivah’s
statements since the agreement was
concluded have not dispelled the doubts
in the region. The 66-year-old leader,
who is facing trial in Thailand for
travelling on a fake passport, said :
"We Nagas are not living in
anybody’s territory, we are in our
own territories. We have just the land
that belongs to us," so there was no
question of claiming any territory. His
group had not given up its demand for
Nagalim or greater Nagaland, he said.
Since the Thankhul tribe to which the
NSCN leader belongs lives in the Manipur
hills, his statements raise the level of
apprehension in Manipur with regard to
his intentions.
There was
an immediate adverse reaction to the
ceasefire extension in Assam, Arunachal
Pradesh, Manipur as well as Tripura and
Meghalaya, where the NSCN activists have
supported local militants. Assam Chief
Minister Tarun Gogoi met Home Minister L.
K. Advani and was assured that the
extension of the ceasefire without
territorial limits did not in any way
affect the territorial integrity of any
of the north-eastern states. Union
Minister of State for Food Pressing
Choaba Singh also met Mr Advani and
handed a letter demanding the withdrawal
of the extension of the truce. "The
NSCN(I-M) could be sole beneficiary who
may build up their organisation,
utilising the time of the ceasefire, in
the Naga inhabited areas of Manipur. All
the districts, including the four valley
districts in Manipur are inhabited by
Nagas. This may subsequently lead to the
demand for greater Nagaland and division
of Manipur."
Other
political parties, including local BJP
politicians, blamed the Union government
for not consulting them before making the
announcement. They charged the Centre
with not doing enough to allay the
apprehensions of the people in the
region, that the ceasefire extension was
a prelude to the division of Manipur on
ethnic lines.
Manipur
was without an elected government since
Mr Radhabinod Koijam of the Samata Party
had lost majority support in the
legislative Assembly. The inner tussles
between the Samata central leadership and
the BJP had ensured that no new
government could be formed in the State.
It was decided in Delhi that a spell of
President’s rule would allow
political passions to settle down in
Imphall and lead to a realignment of
political groups, However, it has been
the experience on several occasions that
dismissal of a government and imposition
of President’s rule has a negative
effect on the people of the State, even
if they had been fed up with the
political instability and administrative
inefficiency of the government .
Incidentally, Mr Koijam had also alleged
that the Centre had removed this
government in order to have a free hand
to extend the NSCN ceasefire to
Naga-populated areas of Manipur.
It is in
these circumstances that the ceasefire
extension was announced, without
sufficient groundwork to explain the
parameters of the agreement and its
implications to the states where the
ceasefire would be imposed. Without a
political leadership in the State that
could give voice to the misapprehensions
of the people, as well as allay their
fears, it was a situation ripe for
disaster. The Union Government has not
been able to send the message across to
the people to remove their suspicions
regarding any further agreement with the
NSCN.
The
people’s anger erupted, and the
rampaging mob set fire to the Legislative
Assembly, the State Secretariat and
attacked the Raj Bhawan. The Union Home
Ministry’s belief that vested
interests, such as some disgruntled
politicians, MLAs and insurgent groups,
had incited the violence, may have some
validity. But it was the absence of a
State Government that provided the
political vacuum in which these vested
groups could operate successfully and
with impunity. Nor can it gainsay that
the protests were a manifestation of the
tremendous anger and fury of the people
of the State at the Centre’s
insensitive handling of the Manipur
problem.
The
credibility of the local leadership has
eroded in the long spell of political
instability in the violence-prone State.
Manipur’s politicians have not shown
themselves in good light since the
elections to the State Assembly has been
in a mess, and its employees have not
been paid salaries for several months.
The current agitation is spearheaded by
the All Manipur Students Union and four
other student groups, whose leaders have
been taken into custody. Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s assurance to
an all-party delegation from Manipur that
a review of the ceasefire is under way
has not had much impact in the troubled
state, what with the sharp differences
between the Valley areas and the
Naga-inhabited hill regions. This has as
its repercussions on the political
thinking of the people.
The
protests should have been foreseen and
adequate preparation in terms of firm
reassurances of the Central
Government’s stand on not changing
State borders in the North-East, was the
minimum requirement of Government
management.
The Naga
problem cannot be seen in isolation. The
Centre has to work out a practicable
agreement with the Naga militant groups,
but at the same time it has to take into
account the fears and wishes of the other
north-eastern states. INAV
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India:
The Tale of a Storyteller
By Lalitha Sridhar
The crocodile
swishes to the left, and then to the right. And
so
does the audience. In retelling the old favourite
'The Monkey and the Crocodile', UK-based Vayu
Naidu is fulfilling what she dubs her 'calling'
as a storyteller. The slight, simply dressed
forty-something woman is transformed into a
performer who positively crackles with energy.
The tale everyone
has heard a million times comes alive. The monkey
is pure mischief and the morality cloaked in
contemporary (and even more remarkably,
extempore) humour. Add dashes of interactive
questions and colourful names, zany acting and
warm wit and you have before you an artiste who
is concocting a roomful of concentration with
loads of chutzpah. Surprisingly, she says most of
her performances are for adults -- she appeals
not only to children but also to the child in all
of us.
What is the story
behind this storyteller? "While acting in
Hindi drama, I was fascinated by the role of the
'sutradhar' or the narrator. Here was a director
on stage, presenting the play, interacting with
the audience and the actors simultaneously,
stopping and restarting, even rewinding and
fast-forwarding the action in the play while
posing significant questions to the audience and
of his actors! I was very excited by this and
wanted to understand it some more," explains
Naidu.
This former
marketing executive with the Taj Group of Hotels
in Chennai went on to do a Ph.D. in oral folk
traditions -- Europe's first -- at the University
of Leeds in Britain. She also studied the
itinerant storytellers in India and became
"very enriched with what they shared".
Naidu then proceeded to develop a practice
derived from their artistic inheritance. This has
evolved to engage the contemporary urban
listener. "A storyteller is a time
traveller. Travelling through a geography of
emotions that populate human nature, across
history and myths, to make the meaning of life
accessible and clear to our own time," says
Naidu, who calls herself a 'mythological
journalist'.
Naidu founded the
'Brumhalata Intercultural Storytelling Company'
in Birmingham and is now setting up the Vayu
Naidu Company in Canterbury which commissions
performance storytellers, works in schools and
prisons besides doing consultancies. She speaks
with the passion of someone who loves waking up
to her job when she says, "Storytelling
cannot be rehearsed the way a piece of theatre
can be. Its freshness goes. You also have to
create the space for chance and inspiration to
strike you."
According to
Naidu, when there is a greater challenge, the
expectation of the audience too is greater. So
this versatile storyteller makes more physical
gestures during the performance, is more
rhythmical in text and improvises by interacting
with the audience. "Their gaze conveys so
much love for the stories and that gives you the
adrenaline to go on," says Naidu, describing
the listener's response.
Now appointed a
Post Doctoral Fellow in Creative and Performing
Arts with the Department of Drama at the
University of Kent, Canterbury, life itself seems
like a very interesting story with Naidu. She is
very much in her element when she says,
"Storytelling is about bonding. You can be
shy or private but a story offers the objectivity
to keep your space and yet embrace another human
being because stories are about us - human
nature, its intelligence, its stupidity, its
refinements, its bestiality.
That still time of
the day when a parent can be with one's children
can be treated like a treat rather than a
chore." Naidu has also worked with political
prisoners and says, "I've often been told
that it was their grandmother's stories from
childhood that made them endure solitary
confinement." Another heart-warming true
story comes from a prisoner jailed for 25 years.
After three months of attending Naidu's workshops
he told her, "I used to get so depressed
about not being able to get out. But now with
learning how to make stories, I just run images
through my mind. I always see a golden bird
sitting on my window. I can become that golden
bird in my story and fly free."
How Naidu - who
says she was herself a shy and inarticulate child
but a very good mimic who got into a lot of
trouble - "discovered poetry and saw life in
a totally different way" is, as they say,
quite another story. (WFS)
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Literacy
as investment
By Uma Ramachandran
Our national
literacy rates have been a cause for both concern
and embarrassment for many years now. When the
decennial census was carried out in 1951, we
could and did blame the abysmally poor rate of
18.2 per cent on the "British Legacy".
As the years
passed, however, and our progress maintained a
modest average growth of 8.5 per cent per decade,
we soon began to run out of excuses. By 1991, our
literacy rate had almost tripled to 52.2 per
cent, female literacy was growing faster than
male literacy and for the first time, the number
of literate people outnumbered the illiterate.
The flip side however remained more formidable.
We had the world largest pool of illiterate
humanity (328.88 million); the gender gap in
literacy rates, remained consistent at around 24
per cent the urban-rural differential showed no
signs of abating from around 29 per cent; large
regional disparities prevailed - Kerala 90 per
cent, Bihar 38.5 per cent; literacy in some
districts was as low as 15 per cent with female
literacy at sub-ten per cent.
Educational policy
makers and planners have pursued a two pronged
strategy - more allocation for primary education
in order to enhance access, enrolment and
retention and a greater stress on adult
education, specially targeting the productive and
reproductive age group of 15-35. In the latter
area, a significant thrust was imparted with the
formation of the National Literacy Mission in
1988.
What impact have
educational initiatives had on literacy rates in
real terms? What success has the National
Literacy Mission had in spearheading the literacy
movement in the country? Quite remarkable going
by the data just released by the Registrar
General Census. It comes as no surprise, of
course, that we now officially a nation of more
than one billion people and still growing at an
annual exponential rate of almost 2 per cent. Yet
despite this, the literacy rates for the persons
in the 7-plus age group grew by a phenomenal
13.17 per cent - from 52.21 per cent in 1991 to
65.38 per cent in 2001 (75.85 per cent for males;
54.16 per cent for females). This means that the
three-fourths of the male population and more
than half of the female population in the country
are literate today.
In the preceding
decade, literacy had improved from 43.5 per cent
in 1981 to 52.2 per cent in 1991, up 8.7
percentage points in 10 years. The provisional
Population Results of the Census of India 2001
now reveal an increase in of 13.17 per cent over
the last decade. That represents the fastest rate
of literacy growth in Indian history! At this
rate, literacy will cross the sustainable
threshold level of 75 per cent by 2008 and if
efforts are further stepped up, probably by 2006.
Second, and
vitally important, the gender gap is closing
faster than hitherto. It had stayed persistently
at around 25 per cent over the decades '71-81 and
'81-91. That differential has dropped by over 3
percentage points to 21.7. This has been possible
because the female literacy rate has grown by
14.87 per cent as opposed to male literacy rate
which has grown by 11.72 per cent.
One of the most
significant aspects of the literacy data thrown
up by the Provisional literacy data thrown up by
the Provisional Population Totals of the census
2001, is that for the very first time the
absolute number of illiterates has shown a
decline - and that too, a significant one. Our
total illiterate population in 1991 was 328
million. Although our population has now crossed
the one billion mark, yet the total number of
illiterates has dropped by a whopping 32 million,
touching a new low of 296 million.
Among States and
Union Territories, Kerala is still king. For a
while, it was believed that Mizoram may have
overtaken Kerala; but the results now before us
reveal that Kerala is at 90.92 per cent whereas
Mizoram stands at 88.49 per cent. Among southern
states, Tamil Nadu has continued its inexorable
march jumping from 62.7 per cent to 73.5 per
cent. AP and Karnataka too have done well moving
respectively from 44.1 to 61.1 and 56.0 to 67.0.
Maharashtra has moved from 64.9 to 77.3 and
Gujarat from 61.3 to 69.9. There are significant
quantum jumps in the east where the performance
has been quite remarkable - Sikkim going form 57
to 69.7, the red fortress of West Bengal from
57.7 to 69.22 and Assam from 53 to 64.3. Orissa,
which at one time was thought to be doing badly,
has in fact shown good progress moving to a very
creditable 63.6 from the abyss of 49.1.
But the real
surprise lie in the oft-maligned BIMARU states
which have fared well in this decade. Rajasthan
has shown dramatic improvement pushing forward
from 38.5 per cent to a remarkable 61 per cent -
a jump of 22.5 percentage points. Something to
really crow about ! UP has moved from 41.6 to
57.7, MP from 44.2 to 64.11 - both praiseworthy
performances. Only Bihar still brings up the rear
going from 38.5 to 47.53 - an increase, well
below the national average, of only 9 per cent.
What significance
do the Census figures hold for us? First, that
the decision to continue literacy efforts in the
mission mode is fully justified. Second, that the
low-cost education as imparted under the National
Literacy Mission (per head annual average cost is
a mere Rs 80-less than US $2!) can prove
extremely effective. Third, that the stress on
girls and women is paying rich dividends. Fourth,
the campaign approach has proved its worth and
Total Literacy Campaigns must now be followed by
intensive post-literacy and continuing efforts
with a major emphasis on vocational inputs. And
finally, that whereas much has been achieved, any
slackening in our efforts can still have
catastrophic consequences.
Nobel Laureate
Amartya Sen's principal thesis is that literacy
and the spread of primary education enhance the
investments made in almost every aspect of
development, be it the anti-poverty programme,
family planning, health or the emancipation of
women. In most cases literacy acts as a catalyst
for social upliftment with its attendant benefits
such as local self-governance and reduced
exploitation of weaker sections.
At a more
practical level, literacy helps people acquire
and use information, understand themselves and
the world around them and most importantly,
improves the choices they make as consumers,
producers and citizens. The denial of this
ability to any human being is both a shame and an
injustice.
Our success in
literacy are a fulfillment of the spirit of
Vinobha Bhave's words : "If you just help in
creating an atmosphere, the rest will be done by
the people themselves. Even the wingless leaves
rise high like birds when a powerful storm
comes". India can say with some pride now
that the atmosphere is being created for its
non-literates, rendered wingless for too long, to
launch their flight to liberation. INAV
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