EDITORIAL
Safety
and security
One of the
remarkable things that happened on the new
Government assuming the reigns of power was the
disappearance of the kale-kachhe gangs that had
been pestering the whole of the division for long
weeks. All of a sudden the men who had made the
people in different localities to do night-rounds
equipped with clubs and khukhries were heard of
no more. The night watches were called off and
the people heaved a sigh of relief. It is not
clear how much that had to do with some arrests
made in Punjab and elsewhere, but something saw
to it that the looters stopped. Probably, it was
the police. In any case it is the primary duty of
the police to see that the law, and order is
enforced. That does not mean ordering the crowds
around at political meetings or social gatherings
alone; it means making law a force that would not
be trifled with. And bringing to book who so ever
violates the settled order. Every violator should
know that law would visit him.
Of course, the
lawbreakers are always there, ever on the look
out to make a quick penny, to take a stealthy
ride in, but they must be sure of having to
reckon with the law and lawmen on every
infringement. Instead, the general impression is
that they get a colluding help from the lawmen.
That may not be always the case. The way some of
the-cases were solved almost on the spur would
bear witness that police is not always inactive
or colluding with the criminals. That the police
are vigilant, or at least there are officers who
would risk anything to discharge their duty. That
the impression still persists is something the
police free must seriously ponder. That would be
done by refurbishing the image and honing the
activities of the police on all counts. The new
dispensation in the state is an opportunity for
the police to recharge its activities and cadres.
It is also an opportunity for the Government to
show that it means the police to do the policing,
as policing should be done. The alacrity with
which the kidnapping of two children from
Udhampur was solved is a fine example, though the
‘disappearance’ of the kidnapper is
something that has raised some doubts about the
way the final outcome of the case.
There however, are
deeper concerns. How did a person dare, in a
small town like Udhampur, to kidnap two young
children in broad daylight? And, how did he
trudge the whole highway without being halted and
questioned at any of the dozen or so check-posts
along it? What were those walkie-talkie, and
wireless sets doing? Even more troubling is the
impression among the criminals that they can get
away either with aid or through the lenient nets.
The gruesome tandoori-murder of a person in
Chattha the other day and depositing the burnt
remains at the door of the person is a reminder
of this perceived, rather pronounced, laxity, on
the part of police. That such things should
happen when the police is already on the high
alert due to terrorists is vastly unsettling.
Then there is the case of street goons operating
on almost all the nooks. These nooks are not
dark, either. In fact, the goondas do business
very prominently in all parts of the city. They
beat victims, summon targets, extort money and
spread fear, openly without being intercepted. It
is difficult to accept that the police are
unaware of all this. Or, of the gang wars, which
are becoming so bold and menacing. Must the
people live with all that when the police is
prominently present everywhere?
Corruption
uncured!
The recent survey
conducted in five cities of the country has
thrown up very disturbing signs. For one, three
fourths of the- respondents said that they had
never reported the cases of corruption. That is
as good as an acceptance of corruption. But that
they did list these cases as instances of
corruption shows that corruption is not accepted.
Being resigned to corruption, however, is a
different thing. It is as vicious, but there is
hope. The question is whether that hope would be
turned into despair or cultivated to build a
corruptionless society. Another study, sometime
back, listed India as one of the most
corruption-ridden countries. International
investors coming to the country find corruption a
main hurdle. But most serious aspect is that
corruption is impinging on the day-to-day life of
the people. Thus almost all the organizations
directly concerned with providing civic amenities
and other services to the people stand on the top
as the most corrupt ones in the survey. Municipal
corporations, railways, customs and excise,
health services, electricity. all are there
sitting pretty in the notoriety.
And, none seems to
care. Other people know that almost all the
agencies and departments, all the people and
functionaries, are deep in the ditch. They too
don’t seem to care about how they are
affecting the overall promise and pledge of the
nation. The survey also reveals that the
anti-corruption drives and even the judiciary are
not helping to root out the menace. Indeed, there
is a feeling that the very drives signify that it
is only selective corruptions that are to be
rooted out. Else the drives would be a ceaseless
feature and the vigilances would be non-stop
round the clock, round the year business. Again
many analysts believe that the lenience shown by
the judiciary, or at least its not prioritizing
the cases of corruption and misdemeanor, have the
effect of practically shielding the corrupt
though the judiciary cannot be said to have any
such intents. It, indeed, is one last resort of
the people against the malice of corruption.
Others feel that if the courts could become
expeditious, making it a point to quickly dispose
off the cases of corruption brought before them,
more and more people would register their
plaints. A crusade against corruption could even
begin there. And, get this nation to enforce its
ethos. rededicate itself to probity and uproot
this evil.
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The
Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir-
A review
By Swami
Raj Sharma, IAS (Retd)
Assembly
Elections in Jammu and Kashmir were
completed on 8th October and results were
declared on 10th October, 2002. Every
citizen of the State and all the
countries of the world who feel concerned
about Jammu and Kashmir share the view
that elections were absolutely fair and
free and reflect the wishes of the
electorates. The voters who cast their
votes at the risk of their life and the
Election Commission deserve applause and
acclaim for this achievement. Why
National Conference which was expecting
absolute majority of seats got 28 seats
out of the 87 seats ? Anti-incumbency
vote is one factor in the matter. But
deeper we go more we discover that the
art and science of good governance which
is a very difficult task, had become a
major victim for the last some decades in
our State. Transparency and
accountability in public life were
followed more in breach than in
compliance. Day in and day out hundreds
of Writ Petitions were filed in the High
Court against backdoor appointments on
pick and choose basis, and more the
decisions were pronounced to depreciate
such illegal appointments more the
propensity on the part of persons at the
helm of affairs to enlarge the scope of
such unhealthy pitfalls emerged with
added strength. People want good
governance and good governers with humane
touch. Merely raising outworn and archaic
political slogans of restoring greater
autonomy of 1953 position to the state or
presentation of a tantalizing proposal to
create eight administrative divisions in
place of existing two divisions in the
J&K State against all administrative
norms. Enmeshed with communal overtones
would only add fuel to sharpen the
inter-regional tensions and conflicts
creating more unrest which would prove
highly detrimental to the overall
development of the State. The basic
administrative and political perceptions
of the people residing in Jammu, Valley
and Ladakh are different each complaining
against domination and discrimination
over the other, of late a hush hush talk
by some votaries of National Conference
has been projecting that the Muslims of
Poonch, Rajouri and Doda may ultimately
opt for merger with Kashmir valley (of
Greater Kashmir concept), leaving Jammu
and Kathua districts and half of Udhampur
district to constitute Jammu division. By
projecting such a concept, the think tank
of National Conference ignores the basic
historical fact that the absolute
majority of people living in Poonch,
Rajouri and Doda districts both Muslims
and Hindus want to have their
administrative, trade and constitutional
links with the present Jammu Division and
with Jammu City as the divisional
headquarter. Gojri and Pahari dialects
are the sisters of Dogri with common
ancestry. Even Kashmiri speaking Muslims
of these districts speak and understand
Dogri. In terms of culture an average
rural Muslim of every district in Jammu
is more akin to Dogras, and Himachalis in
dress and diet and in following the
professions of farming and animal
husbandry and in observing the local
fairs and festivals.
These hard
facts of history should not only be
accepted but encouraged and appreciated
to foster the secular fabric of Jammu
Division. Such hush hush compaign to
propose the merger of these districts
into greater Kashmir would sprout bad
seeds of communal tensions against the
unity and prosperity of the State. On the
other hand adoption of sub-federal
approach to meet the local aspirations
and problems of three regions by way of
creating statutory Regional Councils for
each region through election which may
ex-officio act as the Regional Planning
and Development Boards followed by
equitable funding to each region through
these Councils according to the area and
population of each region would be a
better solution and better approach.
Separate Recruitment Boards and Competent
Authorities for each region under the
administrative control of each Regional
Council will do away with the simmering
charge of discrimination in services and
professional trainings. Myopic counter
proposals to further sub-divide the
existing two divisions into eight
divisions and urging people to support
the conversion of the existing post of
the Chief Minister into Prime Minister
and substitute Election Commission of
India, the Supreme Court of India and
Auditor General of India with our own
Election Commission, Supreme Country and
Auditor General and go for top heavy
un-bearable administrative expenditure of
eight divisions will not be in the
interest of the people of this State. The
offer of such baits merits to be stopped
in future once for all. The election jolt
received by the National Conference
should not disturb their top leadership
too much. Change of Government is a
routine feature in Parliamentary
Democracy. With grace and sobriety let
National Conference work as a healthy
Opposition, clean its cadre of
inefficient elements, revitalise the
party from the grass root level and
reorient its policies for the healthy and
equitable growth of the three regions on
the basis of sub-federal approach. If we
examine the allocation of funds for
tourism sector alone from 1947 till date
between Jammu and Kashmir divisions the
charge of discrimination would speak
volumes against the Valley. If we examine
the composition of services in the Civil
Secretariat from the two divisions, the
same charge shall emerge very strongly.
If we examine the posting of senior and
middle level officers from the valley in
Jammu and vice-versa, the same charge
will surface without any fear of
contradiction and lastly if we examine
the intake of Medical students in Jammu
based medical colleges, the major intake
is from the Valley. If selection to
medical and other professional colleges
based in the Valley and Jammu is made on
the basis of merit separately for Kashmir
and Jammu divisions the inter-regional
conflict in such matters will be over.
The current Assembly election has shown
the fact that henceforth the monopoly of
National Conference as the single
Regional Party to rule the State will no
more be there.
It shall
be seriously challenged by the J&K
Peoples Democratic Party in the valley.
In Jammu division it is likely that
National Panthers Party would emerge with
more strength. The emergence of Indian
Congress in Jammu in the current election
is more due to political cracks created
by Jammu State Morcha headed by the RSS,
who stubbornly rejected the proposal of
National Panthers Party, Janata Dal and
many other smaller groups to constitute a
Hurriyat type Co-ordination Committee or
Ladakh type United Front of all like
minded parties and groups who support
separate Statehood for Jammu to select
common candidates for election and
jointly support them from a common
platform. The BJP talked with double
tongue. It said the demand for separate
Statehood for Jammu is basically not
illogical but they don't support it. The
party was toally confused and ineffective
in fighting the elections. Consequently
all these parties and groups fought
elections in competition with each other.
There was division of votes. The voters
got disillusioned with these parties and
groups and a good harvest was reaped by
Congress. The voters showed a definite
swing in favour of Congress Party. One
can say with certainity, that the
circumstances (mainly created by RSS)
have thwarted this attempt but destiny
points to the same goal.
It seems
likely that the Peoples Democratic Party
presently headed by Mufti Sayeed will be
a potential alternative to National
Conference and in Jammu region the
Panthers Party presently led by Bhim
Singh is likely to emerge a powerful
alternative to BJP, the RSS and the
Congress. However, the Congress is the
only National Party which can have good
footing in all the three regions of the
State provided it supports constitutional
sub-federal structure for the State
indicated above otherwise it will get a
serious set back from the Panthers party
in the coming future. The present
political scenario in Ladakh will
continue unchanged. All the political
parties shall have to take note of these
realities if they want to achieve
stability and prosperity for the three
regions of the J&K State. This
premise may be a humble piece of amateure
post election introspection made by the
author but it must generate adequate
debate on these projections by the
intelligentia of the State. The author is
also of the view that National Conference
may review its existing controversial
policies in tune with the emerging trends
and realities to ensure harmonous
relations between the three regions and
between different communities of
population living in each division. This
way National Conference will emerge as a
strong political party in all three
regions as a healthy alternative to
Indian National Congress including other
emerging regional parties in Kashmir as
well as in Jammu. These emerging trends
must convey the message to all the
parties that enough is enough, only good
governance with transparency and
accountability accompanied by humane
touch and following sub-federal
constitutional approach for the three
regions would be a rewarding course of
action. The sooner we adopt if the better
it would be.
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Responsibilities
of new J&K Government
By D.R.
Ahuja
It is a
pleasant development that uncertainty in
J&K came to an end and new coalition
Government has taken over the charge.
Congress party deserves praise that in
spite of being the largest party in the
coalition, it has accepted the leadership
of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Now Mufti saheb
should handle the situation with care and
display a sense of great responsibility.
He will have to deal with militancy with
an iron hand and take care that Jammu and
Ladakh regions receives full attention.
With the inclusion of Mangat Ram Sharma
as Deputy Chief Minister, the hope is
that Jammu region’s grievances will
be attended to.
The recent
elections in J&K have been most
remarkable one in the recent decades. The
Central Government deserves credit for
ensuring free and fair elections. No
doubt the Election Commission deserves
praise as it has given a message to the
world community that India is a nation
where the credibility of constitutional
institutions like Election Commission
cannot be challenged or questioned. The
Supreme Court has, by its judgement, held
its primacy in electoral matters.
Anyway the
new coalition Government has manifold
responsibilities. First of all, it will
have to see to it that militants do not
have a free run and common people, the
worst sufferers of terrorism, can go
about their work, live in peace or carry
on their avocations in peace without
fear, curfews, gunfire or bombs.
The people
expect that the coalition partners
resolve their contentious issues and
provide a clean, efficient, transparent
and good Government. The people, in a
democracy, are the ultimate judges. If
the new Government fails to address their
problems, people will not forgive them,
as they have not forgotten the actions or
inactions of the previous Government. The
electoral verdict was against the
National Conference, which re-emerged as
the largest party but failed to win a
majority. In fact it was reduced to half
its earlier strength of two-thirds
majority in the dissolved assembly and
has now decided to sit in the opposition.
It would have been better if the
coalition partners would have tried to
resolve their differences and their
problems quickly and formed the
Government soon after the elections. But
perhaps it is better "late then
never". The new rulers have to be
careful. They cannot allow their euphoria
of election victories and public
adulation for the moment to feel that
they can forget the people and behave as
masters rather then those expected to
serve. Terrorism and lawlessness has
reduced Kashmiris to a life of penury and
distress, wrecked tourism and sale of
handicrafts - the main bulwark of
Kashmiri’s economy and livelihood of
the poor, now impoverished beyond
measures.
The Mufti
has declared that the POTA will not be
used in J&K. It is his prerogative to
take such decisions but he will have to
see to it that he does not become too
weak and terrorism can be controlled
under existing laws. Leniency towards the
militants may push the common man to the
wall and give them a feeling that the
situation had deteriorated and militants
have an upper hand. However, Mufti is an
experienced and seasoned politician and
has been the Home Minister at the Centre.
One should hope that he will have a gut
over the situation successfully. To
restore the confidence of the people and
redress of their grievances should be his
first preference. But he is aging and is
known to enjoy a few good things. He will
have to gather around him a team of
dedicated advisers with guts to be firm
and push ahead decisions speedily.
The new
Government also plans to disband the SOG
and release political prisoners, which
may not succeed in curbing terrorism in
the State. But the new Government has to
address the real issue. What are these?
These are primarily: controlling
militancy, restoring normal conditions
and ensuring peace. It has to establish a
framework and set norms of civil society,
redress grievances of the people, apply
the healing touch, restore educational
activities, revive tourism and given a
fillip to the traditional industrial
activities, cottage and medium. There are
so many sectors in the State requiring
special attention including education,
health, tourism and cottage industries
which have been badly mauled by terrorism
and the people have been reduced to
penury, leave alone the fact that every
family has either lost the flower of its
youth or some dear ones. They have been
the main victims. The future of a large
number of students was ruined by
unfavourable conditions. Tourism and
other cottage industry came to a halt
leaving a large section of population
jobless. These are the core sectors,
which deserve to be rebuilt and revived.
The new
Government must do all it can to take the
administration to the people and win
their confidence by strengthening
institutions and give them a feeling that
the new ministers are not overlords and
bureaucrats all powerful, rude and ignore
people’s problems. The Centre on its
part will be expected to give full
support as promised by Prime Minister
Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister
L.K.Advani.
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Secrets
to attract international tourists
By Binay
Srivastava
World
tourism day that was celebrated recently
couldn't evoke the grand response of
yester years. Major culprits being the
devastation of World Trade Center in New
York and hatred-led political instability
in a number of zones. International
leisure and business travel suffered
bumpy rides. World tourism grew by 4.5
percent in 01-02 instead of the 10-12
percent witnessed normally. A number of
airlines shifted safer sectors. Nations
quickly advised their citizens against
venturing into certain areas where they
could be adversely affected. Courtesy
Pakistan, India found itself on the
receiving end for much of the time.
India's share in world tourism is no more
than 0.37 percent. Of 723 million
international tourists in '01-'02 there
were more Indians (3.7 million) going out
than foreigners (2.6 million) coming in.
In the
last 50 years tourism neither got the
status of an infrastructure sector nor
the focus of a national economic
activity. It meant monuments only and
that too poorly maintained. Investment of
Rs 10 lac in tourism-related activities
is capable of generating 47 direct and 11
indirect jobs, far more than the
manufacturing sector can ever do, but 9
types of taxes and 12 types of licenses
on it, tend to kill the goose that could
lay golden eggs. Offerings of ambience,
accommodation, travel facilities,
memorable sites, good roads, recreational
facilities besides a low tax regime are
important factors that help visitors in
deciding the choice of place from amongst
the competing destinations within India
and around South Asia.
A recent
study by London based WTTC (World Travel
and Tourism Council) says that given
safety and hassle-free reception, India's
travel industry could grow by over 8
percent per year during the next 10
years. However, due to the global
recession, Indo-Pak blow hot blow cold
over Kashmir and adverse travel
advisories issued by a few western and
other developed countries earlier,
tourist arrivals this year largely
remained confined to unavoidable and
business travels with very few leisure
travelers. For a country well-endowed
with a variety of geographical regions
(beaches, deserts, mountains), cultural
heritage (monuments, cuisines, spiritual
experiments) and adventure tourism,
analysts blame India's promotional
inability abroad to attract more foreign
tourists than even small countries like
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong
etc. let alone China. To promote India as
a tourist destination abroad, the
government has earmarked a sum of Rs $10
million. Recently initiated ''Incredible
India'' project is one such action.
Tourism
need not be seen in terms of dollars
only. What has escaped attention is the
fact that domestic tourism has grown from
64 million 6 years ago to over 194
million now. Even the lowest holiday
traveler helps the nation by paying for
boarding, lodging, shopping, bus, train
fare etc. As one moves up the ladder, the
expenditure on these categories increase
and new ones leisure, sports, sight -
seeing, entertainment, dining etc-get
added. States like Kerala, Maharashtra,
West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Uttranchal
and others have taken the lead in
cleaning up their memorable sites and
have announced attractive travel
packages. Economy hotels are coming up to
allure budget travellers both Indians and
foreigners.
India's
share for employment linked to tourism is
a low 2.9 percent of the work force
compared to the global average of 8
percent. WTTC study says that it can be
raised to industry average in about 10
years provided the government increases
spending in tourism related
infrastructure from the present 0.9
percent of GDP to about 3 percent and
commercialises tourism activity instead
of merely flogging it for taxes. States
like Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West
Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand etc have
increased their allocations to net both
domestic and international travelers.
They have realised that there are now
more people with the means and
willingness to spend on sight seeing not
only within the country but abroad also.
At a relatively younger age people are
acquiring disposable income and shooting
off on vocations. This should be tapped.
Unfortunately
most of our holiday destinations have
little to offer by way of entertainment.
These are mostly monuments, religious or
pilgrim places or plain old hills. It is
tough reaching these places because of
poor roads. But this may change once
highways on golden quadrilateral and
North-South (NS) and East-West (EW)
corridors get ready by Dec'03 and Dec'07
respectively. At present, airlinks,
seats, and airports are not enough,
Khajuraho, Vaishnav Devi, Ladakh,
Kamakhya Devi have languished for long
due to this. Hill stations like
Darjeeling, Shimla, Mussoorie, Ooty are
much crowded and polluted. If tourist
volumes are to rise, infrastructure in
the form of roads, transport, budget
hotels, power, clean water, shopping
malls etc need to be strengthened atleast
around tourist destinations.
It is time
to understand that tourism is a part of
the leisure industry which is itself a
product of the worlds' growing
prosperity. People work hard, earn money
and then take a break by going on a
vacations to recharge themselves. For
most people holidays have now become
synonymous with the word 'fun'. And
holidays in India offer little fun. There
are just a few economy hotels, bars,
restaurants, shopping malls,
discotheques, casinoes and such likes.
These have not been encouraged publically
in India because elders and those in
authority place innumerable puritanical
restrictions on these economic
activities. We cannot bring tourists this
way. Over 75 percent of the present day
travellers, both in domestic and
international segments happen to be below
45 and they travel for fun and pleasure.
Sight seeing may be enriching but cannot
bring back fond remembrances later.
Revisits can only be expected when sense
of fulfilment gets pampered.
Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong etc are
offering attractive holiday packages and
as safer and hospitable tourist
destinations have quality been diverting
international traffic away from India.
International
tourists and tour operators abroad are
still bypassing India but successful
elections in Kashmir and de-escalation on
Indo-Pak border is sure to perk up
interest of foreigners. Until this
happens the numbers game have been left
for domestic travellers to make up, which
they are doing despite being at the
receiving end for most of the time.
Domestic tourism has grown 40 percent in
01-02 over the previous year. Hotels and
airlines (Indian Airlines, Air Sahara and
Jet Airways) all have understood it well
and to attract domestic travelers, have
lowered their tariff by between 12-20
percent until at least March '03.
In the
light of tourism policy of 2002 it is
more likely that adequate attention will
be paid to promote tourism more under
domestic duress than on international
pressure. And once the domestic push is
in place, the international segment will
more or less take one of itself. This is
the only secret and nothing else.
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