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Home Minister L K Advani
during his day long visit to the city of temples has made
three aspects amply clear as regards troubled State of
J&K. He is quite emphatic and forthright that J&K
State was, is and shall ever remain integral part of
India like any other State. Its wider connotation imply
that plebiscite, secession, independence and such bunkum
being frequently raked by our enemies within and outside
bear....more The urgency and indispensability of giving massive boost to power generation in the country is best explained by the 12 year perspective plan which creates target capacity of 80,000 MW of power by the year 2010. 12 year time for such herculean task is quite on the lower side but the manner in which target is sought to be achieved does give a ray of hope that power would be available in the country on demand in any quantity within this period. It has been realised that power generation is the key to success of economic progress of the country fast enough.....more |
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Tamil Nadu: Caste Haunting images of hounded
herds, abandoned calves and ravaging bodies of
magnificent tuskers -- slaughtered...more |
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EDITORIAL Home Minister L K Advani during his day long visit to the city of temples has made three aspects amply clear as regards troubled State of J&K. He is quite emphatic and forthright that J&K State was, is and shall ever remain integral part of India like any other State. Its wider connotation imply that plebiscite, secession, independence and such bunkum being frequently raked by our enemies within and outside bear no relevance either to the legal position or the factual one. Legally all princely States were free to accede to either of the two countries of the sub-continent. Maharaja Hari Singh of the State did sign the instrument of accession voluntarily and with full knowledge that future of the State was safe and naturally lies with democratic India and not theocratic Pakistan based on two-nation theory. Factually, two-third of the State has consistently remained with the country, the remaining one-third having been occupied by force by Pakistan. If Pakistan had any locus standi as regards claims on Kashmir it would not have resorted to tribal invasion of 1947 for annexation of Kashmir by force. Similar invasions in 1965 and 1971 bear ample testimony to Pak mentality based on outdated theories and unacceptable themes. In the process of making abortive attempts to annex Kashmir, it lost eastern wing of Pakistan to what we call as Bangladesh. The question is Bangladesh is also a Muslim Majority nation. Why Pakistan has not been able to incorporate it back into its fold by means fair or foul. It is for the simple reason that Pakistan invariably treated East Bengal as its colony and its large troops hailing from Punjab making Bengali women as their object of lust, loot and whatnots. The second point mentioned by Advani relates to Shimla Agreement of 1972 as the only basis for resolve of any contentious issue, Kashmir included. It rules out any third party mediation. This is the clearest rebuff to Pakistan and her mentors abroad who have been fishing in troubled waters of Jhelum for the last five decades. It hardly matters whether such problems take years to get resolved. If Pakistan yet persists in keeping Kashmir on boil for internationalising the issue through indiscriminate firing from across the border there is very little India can do to change their jaundiced mentality. As regards persistent firing, India has the capabilities to silence their guns. Pakistan knows about it so well. Third aspect mentioned by him in the press conference relates to ISI activities not only in this State but also elsewhere in the country. He reassures the nation that such activities would be ruthlessly eliminated. He has already mentioned that many ISI modules in the country have been wiped out recently and that pro-active plan shall be given fresh impetus by inducting more forces wherever needed. The figures indicate good rate of elimination of mercenaries as also seizure of weapons, the latest catch being the pilotless planes smuggled from Pakistan. The fight is on and there is no going back on it. As regards development works and financial assistance to the State Advani says that requirements of J&K continue to occupy top priority and that a meeting would be held in Delhi in December to draw tentative plan for accelerating development of the State. The thrust of his perceptions is to tell Pakistan and those backing her up like China and USA that there is no question of giving any concession to Pakistan at the cost of national security and integrity which remain sacrosanct and non-negotiable. The urgency and indispensability of giving massive boost to power generation in the country is best explained by the 12 year perspective plan which creates target capacity of 80,000 MW of power by the year 2010. 12 year time for such herculean task is quite on the lower side but the manner in which target is sought to be achieved does give a ray of hope that power would be available in the country on demand in any quantity within this period. It has been realised that power generation is the key to success of economic progress of the country fast enough. This reality did dawn on the previous Governments as well particularly during the last eight years but they did too much politicking like the Enron project which was almost finished by such negative tactics by the self-seekers. That explains perennial power shortage all over the country despite five decades of Independence. Power Minister Mr P R Kumaramangalam not only reflects confidence to achieve the desired target of adding 80,000 Mega Watts over the next 12 years but also describes how the Government intends arranging investment for the same. First, the thrust is in Mega projects which ensure economies in terms of cost which in turn is directly co-related to the location, sources and contiguity of inputs and evacuating power and feeding national grid to transfer power from surplus to deficit regions. Second, the emphasis on such mega projecs is on thermal power based on coal or gas. This course is being adopted because these power stations come up quickly and to that extent cost effective. The country needs power as quickly as possible to give massive fillip to economic activity. Mega power stations meet the economy factor with generation cost becoming very competitive. Third, it has been decided to give counter guarantee which has been the bane of contention and heart burns. This is meant to invite foreign capital in particular as multinationals invariably insist on counter guarantee to put billions of dollars investment in power sector. Indian industrial giants shall have some preferential treatment with 15 percent price preference and deemed export benefit. Fourth, income tax exemption for any 10 years during the first 15 years is also offered as reckonable incentive. Besides, sales tax and local levies exemption on supplies to Mega Projects would also be available. There shall thus be three vital sources of financing such gigantic scale of adding 80,000 MW of power in a short span of 12 years. The first source is foreign investment from multinationals. The second one is the Indian private sector giants who have started evincing interest in mega power projects. The third happens to be levy of cess on power generation in the country. The total realisation from such Central levy are going to be enough to achieve targets. It is envisaged that accruals from such levy would be spent on thermal power mostly i.e two-third while only one-third is earmarked for hydel power generation. The States would be fully involved in augmenting their capacities from this cess. Money shall also be readily forthcoming from Resurgent India Bonds which have notched up more than 4 billion dollars from its issue abroad. Most of RIB money is meant for infrastructural development and power happens to be the top priority because unless power is available other sectors cannot improve. One hopes necessary movement forward in implementing the 'Power Vision-2010' plan would not be exposed to politicking and/or extraneous considerations |
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Tamil Nadu: Caste cauldron on the boil By: Jayant Muralidharan Without liberating the Harijans, the Panchamars, there is no real liberation for the non-Brahmin Tamils, Periyar EVR had declared repeatedly. But the founder of the Dravidian movement had little to be happy about when he died in 1973, though the DMK, an off-shoot of his Dravidar Kazhagam, had by then been in power for six years. The Dalits felt more alienated than ever from the rest of the Tamil society. The recent clashes in Ramanathapuram, claiming more than 11 lives, perhaps mark yet another peak in the troubled relationship between the Dalits and the intermediate castes. When Chief Minister M Karunanidhi regrets the eruption of such caste conflicts in the Dravidian land, he is only admitting the signal failure of the Dravidian movement on the score, but what he would never concede is his own role in the sorry saga. Unlike Jayalalitha, whose regime was marked by a pronounced bias towards the Thevars, a dominant intermediate caste of the southern Tamil Nadu -- thanks to the Sasikala factor --- he had never overtly encouraged Dalit-bashing. Still his 1969-75 reign had contributed in its own way to the alienation of the Dalits. With an increasing democratisation of the administration, local leaders gained power everywhere and the Thevars, who had come to occupy key party posts in the southern districts became virtually the arbiters of the destiny of those people living in their region. Imperceptibly, the reign of untouchability intensified and officialdom was constrained to look the other way. Inevitably the Pallar segment among the Dalits, found in large numbers in that area, came to resent their situation though they were helpless given the economic domination of the Thevars, not to speak of their political clout. It was the MGR rule for over a decade since 1977 which sought to mitigate the situation to some extent by keeping the party functionaries on a leash and allowing the district administration to intervene whenever the Dalits were wronged. In fact, the Dalit vote-bank is believed to have swung in a big way to the AIADMK from the Congress at the time. The Karunanidhi interregnum of 1989-90 was grappling with the Vanniyar issue in the northern districts and there was no significant thrust on the Dalit front, one way or another, at the time. Most certainly it could not be called anti-Dalit. But the Jaya-Sasi duo reversed the clock in 1991, with devastating effect. With increasing political awareness, and the Pallars finding a way out of the oppression in jobs in the Middle East, the social situation in the southern district has undergone a dramatic change. It should also be noted that large-scale conversions to Islam took place only in this region. That was under a relatively benign MGR regime, showing the way the Thevars were a law unto themselves even then. "All political parties have let us down badly. They have only used us as a vote-bank just as they done in the case of the minorities. There is new awareness among the Dalits now. We're not going to be pushed around, won't allow ourselves to be taken for granted, this is our turn to fight for our rights and we'll fight, undaunted, whatever the consequence," declares Dr K Krishnaswamy, leader of the Pudhiya Thamizhakam, and considered the new messiah of the Dalits. Recently, he thundered at a convention of his party at Ramanathpuram, "defend yourselves, go on the offensive if necessary. Never mind how others see us. It's a fight for survival. We'll establish the Ambedkar rule by 2001, don't you worry." Pray what does he mean by Ambedkar rule? What else but making a Dalit (who else but he himsself?) the Chief Minister of the state. "We have ruled this state once. We must prove to everyone that we are capable of doing so once again. I'm preparing my cadres for that purpose," he said in an interview to this correspondent. It is such sabre-rattling that unsettles the Thevars. Denounced as a criminal tribe during the colonial days, the Thevars have since made rapid-strides and one can find a large number of big, medium and small landowners among them and they have in a way entrenched themselves in the state administration too. More important, by claiming kinship with a couple of other backward castes like the kallars and the Agambudiyars, the three together are called the Mukkulathor (the three-sect community), they seek to project themselves as the most dominant backward caste in the state and demand appropriate privileges. And nothing could be more anathematic to them than the claims of the Dalits for their own place in the sun, leave alone the right to rule. Pon Paramaguru, a former Inspecter General of Police and a key leader of a Thevar association, prefers to blame Krishnaswamy for all the violence and even bemoans that the Dalits have become a pampered lot. "It looks like they can do anything in the name of asserting themselves and others are supposed to keep quiet. That's very unfair. We form one-thid of the state population even as per Mandal. How can our own rights be ignored? It's this Krishnaswamy who is instigating the innocent Dalits. We have no problems with them at all." But Shanmugaiah Pandian, the fire-spitting young leader of the Thevars, seen as their answer to Krishnaswamy, has no qualms about asserting that the Dalit challenge will be put down firmly. His latest demand is that the Protection of Civil Rights Act be scrapped altogether as he says the Act is misused by the Dalits to harrass the other castes. He had called on Jayalalitha only last month and in an interview to a Tamil magazine he confirmed that he had extensive discussions with both Jayalalitha and Sasikala though he would not reveal any details. At the same he had also sworn to overthrow Karunanidhi whom he branded as being anti-Thevar. There are strong rumours that a recently retired IAS official, Malaichamy, who had been very close to Jayalalitha at one point of time and who had sought to embarrass the Karunanidhi regime through some contrived confrontations, is doing his bit to rouse the Thevar passions. And so Karunanidhi's charges that those opposed to him are ganging up and are inciting the clashes are not altogether without any foundation. Interestingly, Kula Shanmuga- sundaram, a noted Tamil correspondent from the southern rejoin, told INAV that in his round of clashes it was the Thevars who suffered heavily. In an ironic reversal of roles, the Thevars fled their villages in panic wherever they were in a minority. In fact, the fate of a group of Thevars who were intercepted by Dalits on their way to Ramanathapuram and abducted is not known. Many fear they might have been killed. Pandian himself, for all his bluster, found it prudent to stay in hiding in Rameswaram island and had to be escorted out by the police after the clashes died down. Observes Kalyanan who has
done a stint as a correspondent for an English newspaper,
"The situation is fast deteriorating. What with the
Thevars becoming saffronised fast and an alliance between
the Dalits and the Muslims taking shape, not to speak of
the violent clashes engineered by the likes of
Krishnaswamy and Pandian, I'm afraid we have not heard
the last of the confrontation. Bloodier battles could be
ahead. ........" (INAV) |
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