Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL FOREIGN NATIONALS As per reports Home Ministry has at last moved seriously as regards presence of foreign nationals without any valid documents under Foreigners' Registration Act. Successive Governments have played nasty game with national security by observing three cardinal principles of the monkey 'see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil' as regards illegal . ....more OSAMA BIN LADEN The most-wanted top world terrorist Osama bin Laden is again in the news. Photographs of the dreaded terrorist multi-billionaire have been found from the four Pakistanis killed in action in Loran area of Poonch. Sometime back Laden had announced despatch of his ruggadised terrorists to J&K for giving fresh impetus to ongoing insurgency in the State. So much so that he had mentioned their route of infiltration as well having crossed the Pir Panchal ranges. This was however not confirmed by the security forces as they....more		A need to seriously relook at the edible oil industry -*Unnati- Women groups in Delhi's slums have been vociferously protesting against the ban on the sale of loose edible oil and the free . ... more* Of mind, conscience and consciousness By: R.N. Raina Modern mind is the marvel of the century. It is free and fearless. Fantastic too. It has travelled a long distance from the initial milestones of innocence and. .....more Sir Syed: The sheetanchor of Indian Muslims By: Tahir Khurshid Raina Some people never die and they live for ever. They are the peo-ple who don't do different things, but they do things differently. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan is one of those extraordinary personalities who are being and will be for ever remembered. Born on 17th of October, 1817, the day is celebrated all over the world by the aluminies of Aligarh ..more

EDITORIAL FOREIGN NATIONALS As per reports Home Ministry has at last moved seriously as regards presence of foreign nationals without any valid documents under Foreigners' Registration Act. Successive Governments have played nasty game with national security by observing three cardinal principles of the monkey 'see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil' as regards illegal overstayees particularly from Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is this monkey-business that has posed serious threat to our system and values besides compromising security. Their presence particularly in States bordering Bangladesh and Pakistan is all the more unwanted because low key-high intensity proxy war is on not only in J&K State but also in all the seven north-eastern States. Even in a small State like Assam there are reportedly as many as 30 lakh foreign nationals which have changed the demographic character of the border State to the detriment of Assamese in particular and the country as a whole. While all such illegal immigrants or overstayees may not be terrorists or ISI agents, it is well nigh impossible to discern between agents provocateurs/saboteurs and those behaving as peace-loving people. Even assuming majority of them are peace loving, they are indeed a massive drain on nation's economy as many petty employment opportunities have been snatched away by them by displacing locals. As long as they are in the country, they got to be seeking shelter, food and clothing. With nearly two crore such unwanted people present in the country with multiplier effect due to fresh influx as also increase in family size, something has got to be done about them. As long as they are not Indian citizens, they shall ever remain drain and unwanted and all our economic strides are bound to get neutralised. They are also a social burden because of diverse social habits and lack of security. They live under eternal fear of being identified and pushed back. Such insecurity breeds other evils like bribing the police of that area to ensure continued stay, doing many anti-social acts at the behest of their mentors and by forced circumstances which includes prostitution as one of their main traits. They also cause unbearable burden on the already acute housing problem besides giving rise to Jughi-Jhonpri culture. Many of them have fradulently become house owners, ration card holders and find their names even in the electoral rolls. It is strictly on the basis of such evidence that they succeed in thwarting legal means to deport them with stays from Court. As regards the impact on our security environs particularly in the border areas and other sensitive points in the country, there is enough of evidence to suggest that many of them if not all are indeed ISI agents engaged in anti-national and sabotage acts. No other country in the world would ever condone presence of crores of illegal overstayees/immigrants. It is in this country that jaundiced minds preoccupied with vested interests give go-bye to the security concerns. Nothing else can explain their continued stay in India. The warning to all the States to promptly detect and deport foreign nationals staying illegally in the country in known and unknown places or face unpleasant consequences should be read in the above context. The onus of such detection and deportation lies on the respective State Governments. If they willy-nilly condone their large scale presence particularly in the border States it tantamounts to their acquiesence. Some States are quite notorious for inaction, notable amongst them being Assam, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, W Bengal, UP and Bihar even when there are authentic reports about their malafide acts against the country. J&K State also happens to be a cause for worry in that there is abnormal movement of Bangladeshis on the borders either caught infiltrating or exfiltrating. Besides many of them have taken up petty jobs like labourers and rehri walas. There are also reports that many madrassas are manned by Pakistanis or persons trained by ISI but otherwise who do not hail from this State. They are also known to have been 'given' State subjects and thus enjoy all the 'hereditary' rights conferred on the State subjects. One really has no authetic picture in terms of their numbers because of the political connection wielded by them. All this is quite disturbing and have much more serious ramifications than even the decade long insurgency. The Home Ministry missive is the first step. Other steps have to be taken by the State Governments. Political expediency and vote-pocket culture should be put at the back-burner. Humanitarian considerations likewise have no scope because India alone cannot be the charitable and benevolent country. The fact is they have not been declared as refugees (Bangladeshis) to earn international aid under the auspices of United Nations. It should be realised that if country survives, then only such mentors survive. And with presence over two crore overstayees from Pakistan and immigrants from Bangladesh, the nation's security is perpetually in jeopardy. Let there be no more politicking and all that is needed to be done under national and international laws must be done forthwith. The law is very clear-India is for Indians and all others must be deported forthwith. It may be a long and laborious process but let some concrete beginning be made for their return journey. OSAMA BIN LADEN The most-wanted top world terrorist Osama bin Laden is again in the news. Photographs of the dreaded terrorist multi-billionaire have been found from the four Pakistanis killed in action in Loran area of Poonch. Sometime back Laden had announced despatch of his ruggadised terrorists to J&K for giving fresh impetus to ongoing insurgency in the State. So much so that he had mentioned their route of infiltration as well having crossed the Pir Panchal ranges. This was however not confirmed by the security forces as they did not have any unflinching evidence of their presence in the State. It needs to be mentioned that Osama bin Laden's links are quite widespread, courtesy ISI of Pakistan and other global terrorist outfits like Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. He is accused of having masterminded blasts in American embassies in Tanzania and Nairobi. Cruise missile attack was launched by American forces to destroy some of his camps in Afghanistan. Under advice from Taliban Islamic Government in Afghanistan, he changed tracks fast from targetting America and directing all his might on Kashmir. This was sort of appeasements of Uncle Sam when Kashmir proved to be the instant diversion and target. The fact that killed militants carried his photograph is in itself not strong evidence. They could be Osama's fans for his being the top terrorist. To that extent one can best regard them as mercenaries. It hardly matters whether they belong to Talibans or Osama bin Laden or ISI of Pakistan. As long as they are being eliminated by the security forces, no special significance need to be attached to photographs found on them. Terrorists are terrorists; the brand is consequential. The fight is on and as per Home Minister L K Advani there is no rolling back of pro-active measures until militancy is totally crushed.

A need to seriously relook at the edible oil industry -*Unnati* Women groups in Delhi's slums have been vociferously protesting against the ban on the sale of loose edible oil and the free import of soya bean announced after the mustard oil tragedy which shook the country in August and September this year. Over 40 people died and over 2300 were taken seriously ill after consuming adulterated mustard oil in the Capital. Mustard oil was found adulterated with the seeds of a weed-argemone mexicana- as well as diesel, waste oil and industrial oil. The women see the attempt by the government to protect the health of the people as anti-poor people and anti-women. The packaging order would promote an ''undemocratic control'' over oil production by a few big companies, taking it out of the small-scale sector and the free import of soya bean would ensure a foreign food culture. Moreover, they say they would now have to pay more for the same quantity of oil. Earlier they could buy it loose in small quantities from the neighbourhood ghani (oil crushing store) as and when they required. But now they would be forced to buy big packets which they can not afford. The decision to impose the packaging order in no way ensures that the oil would not be contaminated, for even reputed brands selling in packets and tins, were found adulterated, they are quick to point out. A group of women staged a protest demonstration in front of Super Bazar, an important government outlet, a few days ago where they dumped soya bean on the ground to mark their protest. ''We want our mustard oil back,'' they shouted. They lit mustard oil lamps to reaffirm that no one could snatch their food and social culture from them and departed with sacks full of mustard seeds which they planned to get cold pressed at the ghanis in an attempt to preserve their food culture. In fact, Vandana Shiva who has launched the Safe Food campaign, has been in the forefront of the protest against the import of soya bean from the West. She says the mustard oil tragedy was engineered and was part of a big conspiracy. It came close to the heels of Europe rejecting the genetically engineered soya bean export from the US. When India carried out nuclear tests in May, the US was quick to impose trade sanctions on India. However, an exception was rapidly made to exports of agricultural commodities as US agribusiness was interested in the Indian market. In July, India had announced that it would import 1 million ton of soya bean as oil seeds. But as there was no guarantee that this soya bean would not be contaminated with genetically engineered soya bean, some citizen groups had challenged the imports. And also that the import was not necessary. But after the tragedy began to unfold in Delhi, the government announced a policy of free import of soya bean, while earlier oilseeds were on the 'restricted list' of imports. Mustard is central to Indian culture, she says. It is the symbol of spring and renewal. Songs on the theme of mustard are an integral part of folk culture. Mustard oil is used extensively for flavouring and cooking in the states of Bihar, Bengal, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. Fish fried in mustard oil is the ultimate delight for Bengalis and the north Indians like their 'pakoras' fried in mustard oil. In South India, mustard seeds are extensively used for seasoning vegetables, upma and rice and are an important ingredient in a South Indian kitchen. Mustard oil is an important medicine in Ayurveda. And is used for therapeutic massages, muscular and joint pains. As mustard seed has high oil content and can be processed locally it is available to the poor at low cost. It is an integral part of India's food and health culture and food economy, having been integrated into cropping patterns over centuries. Soya bean on the other hand, cannot be pressed locally and bigger machines and plants are needed for extracting its oil. Who gained from the dropsy tragedy that affected thousands and has also nearly killed the domestic edible oil industry? she asks. First, adulteration by local traders is usually restricted to particular brands and remote and marginalised regions so that they go unnoticed, but this time it affected nearly all major brands and the capital Delhi was the worst affected region. The adulteration was done in order to be noticed immediately and get immediate response. Secondly, adulteration of mustard oil with argemone is an old practice in India, but the adulteration is never more than 01%. This time the adulteration had gone up to 10%-30%. Argemone is not in itself toxic. It is a medicinal plant whose roots are used to get rid of worms and stomach ailments. The high level of adulteration with argemone and other toxic substances such as diesel and waste oil clearly indicates that the tragedy was not a result of the normal business of adulteration but an abnormal occurrence with a clear motive. As Delhi's Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has stated, ''it was an organised conspiracy''. The adulteration was therefore done to kill people in large numbers so that an immediate ban on mustard oil and the free import of oilseeds including soya bean for oil becomes inevitable. Domestic traders cannot afford to destroy themselves through adulteration on such a large scale that the entire mustard oil trade and industry is forced to shut down, she says. The Rajasthan Oil Industries Association has demanded a high-level inquiry into the cases of adulteration and necessary punitive action against the guilty. The association claimed that a conspiracy was being hatched to undermine the mustard oil trade and felt that invisible hands of the multinationals were involved. For only multinationals have gained following the tragedy. Vandana says, Europe was forced to reject the genetically engineered soya from the US because of strong consumer protest and the demand for labelling of genetically engineered foods. In the US a wide ranging coalition of scientists, health professionals, consumers, farmers, religious leaders have filed a law suit demanding mandatory labelling. It is estimated that over 18 million acres in the US are planted with genetically engineered Round up Ready Soya beans in 1998. The soya beans are engineered by Monsanto's Corporation to contain a 'bacterial gene that confers tolerance to the herbicide'. Round Up is also made by Mosanto. The sole purpose of Round Up Ready Soya is to sell more chemicals for seeds tailored to these chemicals, she says. The mustard oil tragedy provides a perfect market opening for US agribusiness corporations to sell g.e soya. The fear created through life threatening levels of adulteration would ensure that the Indian consumer becomes dependent on soya bean. If traders cannot sell mustard oil, they will not buy mustard from farmers and farmers will stop growing mustard. This will lead to the extinction of a crop that is central to the country's farming system and food culture. Once mustard oil has gone out of cultivation, even if the ban is lifted on mustard oil, dependence on soya bean for edible oil will continue, or imported genetically engineered mustard varieties would have to be introduced, she says. Ironically, Calgene, now owned by Monsanto, has patented the Indian brassica. Therefore India would be dependent on Monsanto for patented seeds of soya bean and mustard. The free import of soya bean is the main outcome of the mustard oil tragedy. Now that import of oilseeds has been put on the 'Open General List', it is no longer restricted, and a large scale dumping of imported oilseed will destroy the rest of the domestic edible oil industry. Further, while the domestic industry is being killed, food safety is not ensured. One form of adulteration is being replaced by another form of adulteration. There are major food safety concerns about genetically engineered foods. In 1988, more than 37 people died and more than 1500 were permanently disabled due to a toxin present in genetically engineered tryptophan, a food supplement. In May 14, 1996 issue of the New England journal, Medicine, a study from the University of Nebraska was reported which showed that genetically modified soya bean with Brazil nut genes created allergies. Health professionals are also concerned that the mass consumption of genetically engineered foods could make treating infections more difficult because most genetically engineered foods contain antibiotic resistant genes. Further, genes from viruses and bacteria introduced into genetically engineered foods could interact with bacteria and viruses in our bodies and create super bugs and super viruses. As genetically engineered foods use genes from animals and microorganisms, this also violates the ethical and religious principles of the Hindus, Jews and Muslims who need to avoid foods with substances from specific animals, or of vegetarians who want to avoid substances from any animal, she says. Mixing animal genes in plants is clearly adulteration from diverse religious perspectives and such adulteration should be totally banned both for health and ethical reasons. Laws for the Prevention of Food Adulteration need to be redefined and strengthened taking pollution and adulteration related to genetically engineered foods into account. *Unnati Features*

Of mind, conscience and consciousness

By: R.N. Raina
Modern mind is the marvel of the century. It is free and fearless. Fantastic too. It has travelled a long distance from the initial milestones of innocence and simplicity. Away from compassion and contentment. Out of sight from truth and austerity. It is now an altogether dissimilar commodity from the original. It is now innovatious and deceit. Duplications and fabrications. Mischiefs and manipulations. Be it the hoarding of onions to exploit scarcity or adulterating edible oils to kill the customers. Be it the duplication of detergents or baking fake biscuits. Then there are also higher leaps. Working out a decoity. Planting explosives at sensitive sites. General loot of public funds. Seeking cabinet breaths or else pulling the rug under the feet. Withdrawal of support, from outside, not now but then.

Imagine a Tantric practitioner, amassing wealth from all over and yet posing as one more addition to the list of Indian Gods. Look at two governing States unable to arrest one forest smuggler for more than a decade. Then the high profile public men consuming huge quantities of fodder worth the Taj. That is the modern mind and much more.

There are some intellectual advances however. Yes, there is the computer boom. The TV cablet net work and now the Internet. Significant progress has also been made in medical research. Organ transplants and inplants. Surgery the powerless way, subtle and swift.

The mischievous minds negates all this. Look for instance at the computerization of railway reservations. There are huge waiting lists alongside empty compartments. Watch the medical research, an achievement of tremendous dimension in fact. And the organ transplants being converted into a trade of human degradation. So the dupes that the common man is experiencing or the mischievous mind is working out seem to be drifting a civilisation towards a catastrophe. There is, however, a factor, a significant one, which could turn out to be a saviour. The conscience. It is supposed to monitor these deeds or misdeeds. It could register reprimands and admonitions. But the mind wont care, recalcitrant as it has turned. The poor conscience wriths in pain and penitence like the historical King Dashratha of Ramayana. The Shakuni of Mahabharata, the mind, has succeeded in corrupting the conscience. Look, what is right for the robber, suits t he policemen too, the keeper of law. Sharing the booty makes the compromise. What may seem wrong to the philosopher may not find favour with the politician. Sold scruples have it.

Modern mind has maligned man's conscience too immensely. It has made it a corpse. As a result the mind, maintains the sway. It works havocs. The terrorists are thorough with it, undettered. The thief has qualified for the Master's degree. And the politician, the representative of the people, is the Chief Cratsman. Money is the Prime Mover. Drugs and drinks are the additives. In sum, the fountain head of all vicious minds and confused consciences is the lure and luxury of the Mundane. Avarice. In this quagmire, hopes are elusive. Reality and realization are invisible. And destruction seems the destination.

With all these wild adventures can there be happiness? Or is there any? Bungalows, cars, estates, farms and opulence are all there. Has satisfaction arrived. Has happiness been achieved? Is it so far no more stage? Most of us are still for more. There is no end to desire. Mirza Ghalib is the poet witness. 'Bahut nikle mere armaan Lekin Firbhi Kam nikle.

So, where is the escape route from this suffocation? Which way is the exit towards happiness? Or where is the entry to pleasure? Let us search out the Hope. Assiduously. To come out of the quagmire. To freshness, flavour and joy. Life has it. In enough measure, but the material mind has obfuscated it. Locate the joy in sports. In music. In the nature around us.

Look at a cricket match, your fond game. A fielder receives a brilliant catch. That gives 'Out' to a top batsman. The fielder is in ecstasy, racing with all the energy in the world. Rising up in air, Jumps and leaps. The Captain and other colleagues embrace him, passionately. There is joy in all hearts. In the air. On the ground. In the sky. Among the crowd. What is it all? Wherefrom that tremendous joy. Is it not that energy which transcends the mundane mind and jumps above the conscience in coma? Is it not the spirit? The soul? The consciousness awakened.

You see the mountaineers vying with one another to scale the Mount Everest, the world's highest point. Why is there so much joy at the thought of it. You are aware very well indeed of the risk of life. Falling from a cliff right, into the bosom of death. It is extremely hard, hazardous and exhausting. There are terrible blizzards, avalanches, bitter biting cold, frost bites. And all these go to make it the most miserable enterprise. An awesome adventure. Why still so much of enthusiasm? Men reached the top. Women also did it. What for? Fame? No, Money? No. It is all for the joy and thrill of it. Joy supreme, unknown to the rich man or even a commoner. And when you are standing at the top, just for a few moments, after a long arduous adventure. It has taken you several weeks. But the exhilaration and joy, the Ecstasy for those few moments, mind you, you cannot have picnic at that heart-throbbing height; is the joy of the three worlds put together. What is this all from? Is it not the spirit? The consciousness.

Consciousness, the sages say is that State where the mind vanishes. The mind becomes a rat before a cat. Disappearing. It is as if a seed has burst out into a plant. Consciousness is the brilliance of the spirit where the darkness of mind and smoke of conscience vanish. The man awakens to his Real Existence. Love blooms like a vast mustard field in golden glory. Like man getting wings and would like to fly, the Tagore way. I have no trace of wings in me. But I had my flight. The memorable experience in a song-Gitanjali consciousness is joy in abundance. It is peace intense.

Sages have propounded various methods to achieve consciousness. Meditation is the fore most. Other methods prescribed are prayers and righteous deeds. Still more and easier too, truthfulness, selflessness, simplicity and innocence. Oracles of 'Bakhti', have advocated. Love, Devotion and dedication, the Meera way. As Kabir sang, and as Nanak taught. Benediction comes in a whisper, like the gentle breeze that kisses the rose. The rose receives it. The breeze steals it. They make love in solemn silence. None knows there lies the secret of life. The purpose of existance. Enlightenment. So descended the wisdom from sages. So received the aspirants. Let us make a move. A deviation towards fullfilment. Away from the art of artificiality. Towards realization of the Reality. Back to the abode of the Absolute. The soul, supreme, The consciousness.

Sir Syed: The sheetanchor of Indian Muslims

By: Tahir Khurshid Raina
Some people never die and they live for ever. They are the peo-ple who don't do different things, but they do things differently. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan is one of those extraordinary personalities who are being and will be for ever remembered. Born on 17th of October, 1817, the day is celebrated all over the world by the aluminies of Aligarh Muslim University as the Sir Syed Day. He died in the year 1898 so this year assumes much significance in the sense that this years falls the death centenary of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.

"Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, India's greatest nineteenth century Muslim Leader.'' These are the words which are attributed to the founder of Aligarh Muslim University in an encyclopedia published a century after his demise. Infact, no one can deny the genunity of this tribute paid to the great reformer.

Extraordinary people always come to the fore when there is an extraordinary situation. Same is exactly true about Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. His benignant mission started in the most topsyturny situation of the Muslim community. I am referring here the 1857 revolt popularly called the Indian Mutiny. In it the Muslim were the worst sufferers. The entire episode gave a strong jolt to Sir Syed and thus he came out as the sheetanchor of the Muslim community. He decided firmly to bail out the community from the cloak of ignorance, illiteracy and poverty. Firstly, to tide over the turbulant situation of 1857 and its aftermath which made the Muslims the direct victim of the wrath of Britishers army, he published a book 'Causes of Indian revolt' in which he challenged the Britishers for their wrong policies and set them fully responsible for the revolt. In this attempt he exonerated the Muslims from any blame of the conspirators of the revolt and tried to restore their image in the eyes of Britishers. What he felt and felt correctly that he will not bring the desired change in the community if it remains at logger heads with Britishers.

Being true leader and reformist, he was well versed with the developments going all over the world. Through his keen and meticulous observations he came out with a message for his community that modern education is going to play a pivotal role in the years to come. He started a strong campaign among the Muslims, for seeking modern education which till that time was a taboo for the Muslims. The first formal attempt in this direction he made in the year 1864 by opening a modern school at Ghazipur. His subsequent efforts were translation society, Scientific society and Mohmadan Educational Conference. For the social and intellectual reform of the community, he started publishing a magazine named 'Tehzib-ul-Ikhlaq.' However, in late 1875 he consolidated his all efforts at Aligarh and laid the foundation of MAO college which later became the Aligarh Muslim University. In all of his lofty endeavours, he was brutaly victimised by his contemporaries but he never compromised with his mission. Unlike them, he tried to search out advantage from the disadvantage in which he succeeded. He endured all the ordeals and challenges in such a way that he set an example for the generations to follow. Time has today now proved what Sir Syed stood for over hundred years ago was true in every respect. It is in fact the education which is the fountain head of every success. This year now when we have the death centenary of the great philanthropist, reformist and benevolent leader of the community, it is an appropriate time for making a review whether the message he gave, a century ago, has to which extent been appreciated. At this moment I make here a reference to one survey conducted by Friends for Education'' an organisation working for the upliftment of Edu. According to their study about 92 per cent illiterate Muslim women and 82 per cent illiterate Muslim men are there in the northern India. Same is the situation in other parts of the country with a slight difference. Due to this dismal position in literacy, the Muslim utterly failed in entering other effective circles. Their percentage in all the prestigious national cadre services is 2-3 per cent. Media which is the most potent force of the present society, here too, their role is negligible. And in politics their illiteracy and ignorance directly become responsible for their exploitation. Situation has worsened to such an extent that today in this age of science and technology when competency and capability is playing the prominent role we are in search of some crutches to move ahead. What this bleak scenario of Muslim reflect is a blot on the mission of the Sir Syed. Even it is the stigma on the very institution which he himself established for the socio-economic and educational upliftment of the Muslims.

Thus what exactly, I like to submit is that the Sir Syed's mission and message is yet to be appreciated in its true spirit. Here only lies the penacea of our ailings.

Celebrating and remembering great personalities on some special occasions is in fact laudable. But, the real tribute to them will be if what they said and did in their life be made the part of our own life style as well. Unfortunately, it is only the former style of paying homage which is mostly common in the whole sub-contingent.