Daily Excelsior... Editorial

International Ethiopia-
Eritrea at war again

By: Hari Sharan Chhabra

Barely three weeks after Ethiopia declared "total victory ......more

No copters hopped
to Senari, eh!....
Yours Randomly

By: Dr. R. L. Bhat

No, Senari is not a helipad in Bihar that every eastbound.......more

MEN AND MATTERS
Parties in honour of the uncrowned queen

From B L Kak

It could have been an official visit by the Head of State of ......more

Pre-determined ethnic cleansing ?
Men, Matters, Memories

By : M.L. Kotru

Let me start by sharing the agony of Bill Clinton and......more

EDITORIAL

Double role

Minister for Information & Broadcasting has rightly described frequent prickings by Jayalalitha as ‘double role’ which is so pronounced in films. Ramakrishana Hegde who also has been a famous actor like Jayalalitha besides having remained Chief Minister of Karnataka talks of collective leadership and responsibility once it comes to taking important decisions. At the partners level the forum is the Coordination Committee. At the Government level it is the decision of the cabinet. There may be differences openly voiced at such meetings but ultimately it is the fundamental rule of majority in any democratic set up that proves the clincher even if the majority be by a solitary vote. To that extent it is a decision that is binding on the parties that are partners or otherwise supporters from outside. It was decided in the Coordination Committee that no JPC probe is justified in Vishnu Bhagawat's case nor the removal of Fernandes from Defence Slot. That also happens to be the cabinet decision wherein Prime Minister ruled out either reinstatement of Bhagawat or change of portfolio for George Fernandes. Yet Jayalalitha chose to change her stand which is against the spirit of coalition culture and joint responsibility. AIADMK is part of the Government and to that extent cannot play the role of the opposition. Such double role spells death for democracy as also mockery of coalition culture that has come to stay and all National and regional parties must adjust their mindset to such culture.

As regards some plain speaking by Kumaramangalam about Jayalalitha's double role of being in the Government and playing the opposition game, he is as much free to ventilate his personal views as Jaya herself has been doing about one or the other Cabinet Ministers. She started it with demands for R K Hegde's and Advani's exit from the Cabinet when one of the AIADMK cabinet minister had to go in the wake of court strictures and corruption charges. Obviously, she faced quite vehement retort from Hegde which was declared ‘foul’ by her and her party stalwarts. Her latest target happens to be George Fernandes whose exit from the defence slot has been demanded by her on the basis of frivolous charges levelled by Vishnu Bhagawat. It is good that George yet met her in good faith but others in his Samata Party dislike the manner in which Jaya tends to order about things as if she is the Prime Minister. She is only the leader of 18 member AIADMK group, herself facing many corruption charges in several courts. Other allies in the ruling alliance have also criticised Jaya for putting up these types of demands every now and then thereby sending wrong signals to the Nation about the stability of the Government.

History is replete with examples about the role of ‘double agents’ who acted as spies both for USSR and America simultaneously Recently, we have in news these players also playing the ‘double game’ for money by ditching their own team at the most crucial juncture. This aspect is the subject of high level enquiry in many countries. Such double agents bring bad name to themselves, to the sportsman spirit and to the countries they represent. Once you are part of the Government you have to share the collective responsibility and behave as responsible members of the ruling coalition. Otherwise, there are frequent signals of destability that is harmful to the country and its economy. Contrarily, if you can't own responsibility and share the burden of being part of the Government or its policies then the next best thing is to join the opposition ranks. There also all are expected to play fair game. Such double role in opposition ranks is as much counter-productive as being in the ruling camp. That happens to be the exact position in the opposition as well which is the direct result of hung verdict. To that extent, Jayalalitha sharing a cup of tea with Sonia in a social get-together is fine but when she says that her seven minute talks with Sonia are going to cause ‘political earthquake’ it does her no credit. If opposition could not cause such earthquake before 12th Lok Sabha election or during the last one year of Vajpayee Government it is mainly due to double role being played by all the opposition parties. The CPI (M) has its secret agenda, Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh accuses Congress of treating them as enemy number one, DMK can never be part of Congress led coalition because it was here in Tamil Nadu under DMK Government when Rajiv Gandhi was brutally assassinated. Laloo's RJD could be with Congress as long as it bails Laloo out and corruption remains in place. Then there are many small parties who could change track at random. All this is no good news for Jayalalitha because alternative Government is just not around due to lack of the magic figure of 272 MPs and that too if 22 parties join hands.

It would thus be more beneficial for AIADMK supremo to continue with the present alliance and stop playing double role.

Exim policy

Exim policy changes announced by the Commerce Minister Ramakrishana Hegde has been welcomed by the industry and exporters alike. This shows Government is alive to the revival of exports. He has been able to announce changes despite opposition from Finance Minister as also the Planning Commission. The policy allows immediate additional subsidy amounting to Rs. 2000 crore to exporters. Even this may not be enough but as long as it reflects Government's intentions to check negative growth of exports it is bound to be welcome. Ultimately, only exports can maintain favourable balance of payment position. Right now it is disfavourable to India to the extent of 8 billion dollars. So mass correctives have to be introduced to reduce the BoP to tolerable level. With this concession of another 2000 crore, the revenue loss on export promotion schemes will go up from 14000 crore to 16000 crore. The changes effected in the export promotion schemes basically relate to schemes being made more flexible, zero duty EPCG schemes extended to more sectors, rationalisation and incentives for EOUs/EPZs and liberalisation of thresholds for exports of samples. There is encouragement to major current and future exports to include brand exports, export of services, small scale sector exports and Gems and Jewellery exports which are going to remain major thrust areas.

There is simultaneously attempt to liberalise import regimes as well. The banned list of imports has been thinned down by as much as 894 items. Another 414 items can be brought in by exporters. This mass transfer leaves only 668 items on the prohibited list. All these undoubtedly can be brought in after payment of prevailing custom duty. This liberalisation is in tune with the requirements of WTO. To be precise, India has overstepped the obligations as WTO had prescribed liberal imports of only 400 items. The present figure is more than double of this. It reflects the confidence of the Government in going global for reaping maximum economic dividends in shortest possible time. There is another good news from the Finance Minister where he informs that Forex Reserves have now touched an all time record figure of $ 31 billions.

The future programmes are going to add pleasantness to export effort. It includes computerisation of export related procedures and electronic communication between exporters and Government agencies. There will also be an Export Ombudsman.

International Ethiopia-Eritrea at war again

By: Hari Sharan Chhabra

Barely three weeks after Ethiopia declared "total victory in its war with neighbouring Eritrea, saying that its enemy had suffered "a monumental and humiliating defeat," the two combatants are fighting again.

Eritrea on March 18 attacked Ethiopian territory claiming big gains at the battlefield. And, though both sides were boasting victory, in a report Eritrea made an astounding announcement that 10,000 Ethiopians were killed.

According to analysts two assumptions can be drawn in the resumption of fighting between these neighbours in horn of Africa. First, that Eritrea will keep on attacking Ethiopian territory in the Badme area, some 990 km north of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. But Eritrean intentions are not clear, given that Ethiopia is militarialy and economically much stronger.

Secondly, this conflict situation will keep on adding to the headaches of the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the two having jointly worked hard for brokering peace.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after the Eritrean Liberation Forces fought valiantly to liberate their territory. Interestingly, the Eritrean liberators worked in tandem with Ethiopian liberation forces to end 17 years of dictatorial military rule in Addis Ababa.

Eritrea and Ethiopia parted company in a friendly manner, known as "velvet divorce". Since the creation of Eritrea six years ago as a new country, landlocked Ethiopia has cooperated marvellously with the former by conducting all its maritime business through Eritrean ports. But when hostilities began last year, Ethiopia has had to change over to facilities in the Djibouti port.

In the process Eritrea spoiled its relations with Djibouti as well. The latter severed diplomatic ties with the former after authorities in Asmara (Eritrean capital) accused their smaller neighbour of supporting Ethiopia in its border dispute.

The two neighbours have fought bitterly since May last year, having been locked in a dispute over parts of of their barren and largely uninhabited 1,000 km border in the Badme region. Ethiopia regained in February its lost territory, which Eritrea had occupied in a surprise attack last year.

Drought-prone and one of the poorest countries in the world, Eritrea is not only having bitter relations with Ethiopia and Djibouti, but since 1995 it has also locked horns with Yemen by invading the Hanish islands in the Red Sea, claiming sovereignty over them.

President Isayas Afewerki of Eritrea and President Ali Abdullah Salih of Yemen are in touch with each other and an international arbitration tribunal is working on the disputed islands issue, but there is little doubt that this is another flashpoint involving Eritrea.

The resumed fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea is going to involve the OAU again and the UN security council has strongly supported the earlier OAU peace plan of November last year.

The plan calls for Eritrea to withdraw its troops from the Ethiopian territory it had occupied since May 12 and the return of the Ethiopian administration in Badme region.

President Blaise Compaore Burkina Faso, the current OAU Chairman, has sought the support of UN in the dispute, which might bring in UN peacekeeping forces on the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.

Reportedly 40,000 Eritrean troops are deployed on the border region. There are 100 kms of trenches on the border surrounded by anti-personnel landmines laid by Eritrea.

Even as Eritrean forces were badly defeated in February, President Afewerki appears in no mood to give up fighting. He is on record having said that expecting Eritrea to withdraw from the disputed border territory "is as unlikely as the Sun never rising again."

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has been calling on Ethiopia and Eritrea to cease hostilities and give diplomatic solution a chance. The Secretary General has been distressed that these two countries which had so much to gain from working together towards economic prosperity in the horn of Africa, should instead be locked in battle. Meanwhile the security council has strongly urged all states to immediately halt the supply of arms and ammunitions to Ethiopia and Eritrea.

It is well worth noting that the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has approved a 24.3 million dollar emergency operation to feed some 272,000 Ethiopians internally displaced due to the country's border conflict with Eritrea.

The Rome-based agency announced in March that it was launching the operation in response to Ethiopian Government's request to assist people displaced by the conflict and ease the burden on neighbouring host communities and families who themselves have experienced food insecurity.

The WFP operation is scheduled to last nine months, from March through November 1999. But the resumed fighting, most unfortunate under the circumstances, may enlarge the army of refugees and displaced persons in the region. PTI Feature

No copters hopped to Senari, eh!....
Yours Randomly

By: Dr. R. L. Bhat

No, Senari is not a helipad in Bihar that every eastbound helicopter that cuts its rotor should land there. Indeed no copters, no flaged carriages, no rulers no administrators, should have been visiting the sleepy villages in Bihar's Jehanabad. Like thousands of other neglected villages in the Indian countryside, these villages too would have been living out their sporific existance had no marauders struck them and killed scores upon scores of people there. The marauders struck, and gave them a fame they did not want. But, renown especially for Indian villages, comes as an accident, through an accident. It comes unwanted, unasked and puts a forgotten village on the map of a new, remarkable India that is beginning to identify its landmarks in massacres, bloodshed, roits and destruction. Unless a havoc befalls, nobody is ready to attend, to see and survey the India outside the civil secretariates and administrative blocks. Narainpur earned attention with 22 deaths.

Senari with the blood of 33 of its sons, earned even a lesser notice. No fullscale Sonia; even the low profile Shivrajpatil-Meerakumar visit was put off. Does in the computation and calculation called Bihar, 33 make a lesser count them 22? The reason may, however, be in a national desensitisation. Probably, the other village had exhausted the quota of sympathies. So, when the new killings surfaced, it did not move any august hearts. Now that comes from getting too of many of your people killed in too short a span. Perhaps, the Senari villagers should have told the killers: "Hey, stay a while. Sonia ji is tired right now and not particularly inclined for another helicopter tourney to another good-for-nothing (save-killing) - village, Rabri Devi is still taking up the lost threat of Government, the PM and his cabinet are busy celebrating their anniversary, and in any case they have done their bit by once dismissing the Government. And, therefore, in view of this non-favourable atmosphere, pray uncrook your fingers from the triggers and go away. Do come back when the situation is right and the leaders have had their seistas and completed their ceremonies." None of the villagers of Senari had this needed wisdom and fortitude and ended up getting their men killed. For nothing. No fault. No use.

But, did the villagers lose much save the lives of their brethern? The publicity hype, the media noise, the VIP traffic, the swarming of officers, is all for the sake of these men, agencies and official factotums. Even the name and fame" that the bereaved villagers gets is for the gangs of politicians to capitalise on the blood and bones of hapless villagers and build their political careers. In a fortnight the dust settles, Soniaji forgets that the Government that allows dastardly massacres to take place has no right to rule, the Prime Minister and his cabinet reckon that they have done their duty, the President is snug that his sign was given, the media high priests have sold their papers, and "all is well with the world". In a fortnight Narainpur is forgotten. In a week Senari is forgotten. The red circle is wiped off the map to be laid around another luckless village to have its moment of "glory". The great India goes on carrying its fouled stream onto the vistas of pristine future. Blotching it in turn? Who cares!

Yes, nobody, not even the people who get killed and maimed, orphaned, widowed and bereaved, care. The old Mrs. Gandhi, rode her elephant, had her mileage, probably wiped a few tears too. But did it benefit those luckless men and women? Did her subsequent 5-year rule banish the massacres from the Indian village's destiny? Did Rajiv Gandhi's much publicised inspection of development schemes uproot the brazen loot of poor Indian villagers' due. Did Sonia's copter visit make any difference to the life of people of Narainpur? Is Laloo's Bihar any different from Jagannath Mishra's? Or, from that of Gaffoor, for that matter? Is a dalit widow any less disadvantaged than a Brahmin widow? Or, a Brahmin orphan less pitiable than a dalit orphan? Political advantage, politicians to build their fortunes. Commissions of enquiry, yes Emloyment for the retired judges and bureaucrats. Both, a wide canvas for the media-men to try their pens upon and earn their salaries. But people, the common Indian, the poor India, is no better, may never be any better, in the political modus that has come to prevail over the country.

But, somebody, somewhere must be hearing the tolling bells. And they are tolling for all. The question begs an answer: How long shall this apathy, usurpation continue? And shall India, this battered, tattered, shattered India live? Shall the national politics be always a calculation, always a consideration, always a selfish reckoning of political, party, personal gains? And, unresponsive to the larger concerns of humanity, values and truth? Senari may be in Bihar, but it could, any day any time, be anywhere any place in India!

Pre-determined ethnic cleansing ?
Men, Matters, Memories

By : M.L. Kotru

Let me start by sharing the agony of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair over the fate of the unfortunate Kosovo Albanians, some 70,000 of whom have been driven out of their homes in the Kosovo province of the Republic of Yugoslavia during the past ten days. Many more had opted out of the province much earlier, running away from what Clinton and Blair see as pre-determined ethnic cleansing undertaken by Slobadan Milosevic, the Serb President of Yugoslavia. Clinton and Blair may not know, but I do, what it means to be driven out of your home. The plight of 350000 Kashmiri Pandits forced out of their centuries old home of Kashmir, stares me in the face everday of the year. The "ethnic reengineering", to use the phrase given currency by the NATO spokesman, taking place in Rajouri, Poonch, Doda and Udhampur districts of Jammu and Kashmir, with Hindus being systematically driven out of their villages, has become so routine that nobody even cares to mention it any more. Nobody, for instance, is asking the question how come even now, when Indo-Pak relations are supposed to be on the mend, foreign mercenaries continue to pour into Jammu and Kashmir from the Pakistani side of the Line of Control. Or, why only Hindus are being thrown out of their mountainous hamlets ?

That's your problem, someone might shoot back. And it indeed is our problem just as Kosovo is the NATO's problem. Milosevic, to be sure, is nobody's cup of tea. He is arrogant, authoritarian and unbending when it comes to having his writ run. Furthermore, he is one of the last Communist rulers in the world. He won't tolerate opposition even as he goes through the motions of getting himself re-elected President of the country one term after another. Most objectionable, as Clinton and Blair will bear out, is his refusal to resist any attempts to tamper with the territorial sovereignty and integrity of his country. This, last one, to my mind, is the only laudable trait in the man's character but then Clinton has his own agenda to pursue. Mind you, I am not for a moment endorsing Milosevic's handling of the Kosovo problem. The way he has gone after the Albanian Muslim majority of the province is most reprehensible; it may even be barbaric to go by what the CNN and BBC have been telling the world for the past few months.

The devil called Milosevic, however, says he has seen the Yugoslav federation's break up from close and how the West and others had stood by to see the nation put together by Marshal Josip Broz Tito at the end of a long and painful resistance movement led by him throughout the years of World War II falling apart. You may or may not agree with him when he says Kosovo represents yet another attempt to chip and chop the federation. The Kosovo Liberation Army is indeed an organised band of secessionist terrorists funded by a flourishing drug mafia, a fact that has been acknowledged even by the moderate Kosovan liberation leadership. Even Clinton and Blair, in their less charged moments, accept this as a fact. Milosevic, on the other hand, knows that if he accepts the presence of NATO peace-keepers in Kosovo, the province will be a separate nation soon enough. He sees the KLA and its agenda, funded, as I said before, by drugs trade, as a threat to the integrity of what remains of the old Yugoslavia. And against that background he believes he is well within his rights to protect the sovereignty and integrity of his country.

The fact is that the Serbs, of whom Milosevic is one, are a fierecely patriotic people. During the years of World War II the Serbs resisted the Germans till the very last, even when Yugoslavia as a nation had come under Hitler's iron heel. Those were the days when the Allies hailed Tito's bravery. If a Yugoslav leader today says that he sees no difference between the bombs Hitler showered on them and those being thrown at them by NATO planes, he is only airing the irony of the situation. And it's not as if Yugoslavia, or even the brutal Milosevic, have attacked another country or committed aggression on a neighbour. As the Yugoslav government puts it, it is only trying to defend the country's territorial integrity.

Whether you agree with the Yugoslav view of the Kosovan situation or not, the stark reality is that the NATO's attack on Serbia (Yugoslavia) is the latest example of the era of international disorder which Clinton is hellbent on leaving as his legacy to mankind. After his latest exploits in Iraq he has shown yet again that he has scant regard for international law and that, when it suits his interests or his whims, he has no use for the United Nations and its Security Council and not even for the NATO charter itself. By roping in his Western Allies and illegally invoking the NATO charter he has set a very dangerous precedent, one which the international community can ignore only at its peril. To restate my point, the attack on Serbia clearly violates the UN Charter to which all NATO members are signatories. The charter forbids any use of force except in self defence, unless it is specifically authorised by the UN Security Council. NATO's bombing attacks on Serbia are clearly not an act of self defence and nor had it been ordered by the Security Council. As in the case of the unilateral decision to attack Iraq, China and Russia, two permanent members of the Security Council, had opposed action against Serbia. Contrary to the explanation offered by the US and Britain there was no UN dispensation favouring military attacks on Serbia unlike in the case of the Bosnian conflict when the Security Council had approved air strikes against Serbs but only in support of the UN peacekeeping force operating on the ground.

NATO has supposedly intervened in Kosovo to stop a disaster. In the event, it could only precipitate one. There is also the danger of the NATO action destroying the fragile peace in Bosnia. Its Serb minority has been forced to accept a peace agreement that forces it to remain as part of Bosnia. If the Kosovans of Yugoslavia are enabled by the NATO action to gain independence, then the Bosnian Serbs will feel free to ask why they do not have the right to independence.

The question also arises must the NATO continue to exist. Its creation was viewed as a bulwark against Soviet expansionism 50 years ago. With the demise of the Soviet Union what is NATO supposed to be doing. In any case throughout the first 50 years of its existence it was never really called upon to intervene in any military action. By bombing Serbia, NATO may have achieved a first. Or it could well be an opportunity for Bill Clinton to uphold the relevance of NATO when he presides over the 50th birthday bash of the organisation to be staged, very appropriately, in Washington later this year.

Forget the birthday bash for a while. It's time for the international community to ponder the consequences of the US and some of its cronies acting as the world's lone cop, accountable to none except the whims of the US President. Unnoticed by many Washington for the first time since 1945 has involved German troops in an operational mission. Ironical, that German troops, who devastated Yugoslavia during World War II, should be seen in action in the same region again. As one report has it even the former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl did not anticipate that German troops could be used against the places once devastated by Hitler.

The Kosovan crisis has a particular message for countries like India which are faced with secessionist activities fuelled by other countries. NATO's intervention in a civil war, which the Kosovan crisis in reality is, can only be seen as its support to the so-called liberation movement there. By the same logic it can be said that by offering air support to further the objective, the NATO is in effect providing an air force, as it were, to the Kosovan liberation army. It may seem far fetched but given the twisted logic of the West, it might well decide one day that to support secessionist movements in this country is a moral obligation which it must fulfil. In that context it might even justify direct foreign intervention in a situation like the one obtaining in Kashmir. Do try to remember the overwhelming welcome the Pakistani government gave to the NATO intervention in Serbia. Don't also forget that one nation's terrorists are other nation's freedom fighters. The sensible way to deal with ethnic problems, as pointed out by a French authority on the subject, is to accept the fact that there are about 5,000 peoples and ethnic groups in the world. "The difficulties involved in managing the planet if each one had its own nation-State are obvious. The solution is to reinforce the concept of the nation-State where everyone regardless of their origin can live in harmony and freedom". This may not necessarily make sense to people to whose ears the roar of the B-2 and Stealth bombers is like music. They, like Bill Clinton and his cohorts, believe in might being right.