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EDITORIAL Attack on SOG headquarters in Srinagar by Pak-sponsored terrorists proves beyond doubt that security concerns are not being addressed properly. If headquarters are not safe, common man obviously loses faith in the system and those who are managing it. This is the worst thing that can happen to any state or country. Much more than that it causes tremendous demoralisation amongst the forces with repeated attacks by the determined and highly motivated militants oweing their allegiance to Pakistan and operating on their behalf to cause ....more As the nation enters next millennium in another three days time, it is apt to mention rapid strides made by Indian sicentists in marking its global presence in many areas. There has been all round development in crucial sectors that have been the monopoly of the industrially....more |
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Why India should not By Avinash Shirodkar Judiciary in its Saving our forest wealth The much hyped new millennium |
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EDITORIAL Attack on SOG headquarters in Srinagar by Pak-sponsored terrorists proves beyond doubt that security concerns are not being addressed properly. If headquarters are not safe, common man obviously loses faith in the system and those who are managing it. This is the worst thing that can happen to any state or country. Much more than that it causes tremendous demoralisation amongst the forces with repeated attacks by the determined and highly motivated militants oweing their allegiance to Pakistan and operating on their behalf to cause maximum damage and create enough of fear psychosis amongst the people and the cops so that they follow their diktats. This is not the first time state police has been targetted. It is now for the umpteenth time that cops have come under attack. Valley apart, hard-core militant outfits continue to call the shots even this side of Banihal. In Mahore house has been blasted. Mahore incidentally remains the favourite target of repeated terrorist attacks. Their ingress in Jammu stands manifested with attacks on cops in Vijaypur. Soon it could be Jammu city as well like it is happening in Srinagar. Indeed, security in its present form has more pot-holes for the security personnel than for the enemy. Incidentally, security forces face twin enemies- one from within and the other from outside. It is apt to recall that all the attacks on army formations, including Corp Headquarters and the latest SOG headquarters, have one familiar pattern. These attacks cannot occur except with active connivance of insiders. They do provide vital inputs to make the strikes a success. While doing so, vulnerable formations with least defence are identified and terrorists so time it when deployment is minimum. Such type of inputs can only be provided by the insiders. This proves that enemy operatives and intelligence is much more authentic than ours. One can surmise that our intelligence has failed to make any dent into enemy strongholds, hideouts and abettors. If only our intelligence was adequate and well coordinated, one would have known where the enemy intends to attack and when. As things stand element of surprise and consequent success of the suicide missions belongs to the ultras. It is equally safe to surmise that vital initiatives which were snatched from the enemy upto 1995-96 have been abjectly surrender and advantages squandered away during the last three years. This happens despite the fact that strength of the police and their weapon systems have been substantially augmented at huge cost. Even army strength has been increased with creation of additional Corp while para-military forces too stand replenished. Yet things have gone from bad to worse. The only visible response is visits of central teams after each such attack. One really wonders if it all it can be called security of any standard to deal with ruggadised enemy that remains on the offensive. It should not be difficult for any expert to analyse the causes of substantial slide-down in security concerns and the reasons responsible for frittering away the gains achieved at huge cost of sacrifices by the security forces. One is fed up with hearing that withdrawal of troops for fighting in Kargil and frustration of Pakistan resulting from Kargil debacle is instrumental in acceleration of militancy. This is all bunkum. The fact remains that there is sluggishness at all levels for reasons best known to those at the helm. There is clear lack of political will to call a spade a spade and then go about purposefully. It is indeed a sorry spectacle to see security forces, police included, playing only reactive game instead of chasing the terrorists to their graveyards. Now the state has demanded helicopters to take on the militants. It is sure that helicopters cannot help fish out terrorists operating right inside the summer capital. Srinagar was fully sanitised and declared militant free area in 1996. It is really not so now. Why and where things have gone wrong that has reversed the clock and brought the situation to present sorry pass. Where are these terrorists staying and who are harbourers and why they continue to operate with gay abandon and who facilitates their random attacks on police and security forces formations in high security zone areas. It is here that the answer has to be found and corrective action taken without any further delay. People are not interested asto which force is slack and which one active. They definitely want forces of anarchy let loose on the people of the state finished with determined pro-active onslaughts. Instead of enemy being on the run, these are the security forces on the defensive. There is limit to such defeatist mentality to always remain on the defensive. Vital initiatives must be snatched from the terrorists and they should be put on the run. How it is to be achieved falls within the ambit of political leadership which must give free hand to security forces without any conditionalities. It is also imperative that intelligence is revamped to thwart enemy designs and plans with pre-emptive strikes. Let there be no more inhibitions. If half-hearted approach persists it would be impossible to gain the upper hand. As the nation enters next millennium in another three days time, it is apt to mention rapid strides made by Indian sicentists in marking its global presence in many areas. There has been all round development in crucial sectors that have been the monopoly of the industrially advanced countries. Super Computer was denied to us by USA after prolonged negotiations for its sale. Our scientists produced an indigenous one Param-1000 that is more powerful that what was to be supplied by USA. Not only that. India has successfully sold these to Singapore and Russia. Such is the exellence of scientific and engineering marvels. India can rightly pride in having successfully test-fired Cryogenic rocket which is essential for launching geostationery satellites. It may be mentioned that Russia has supplied six of these without transferring its technology because of tremendous pressure from USA. Its military application can be for developing Inter-Continential Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) with a range of 5000 to 12000 kms. India has also proved its capability by manufacturing its own satellites that are now the mainstay of our satellite telecom system. India is now in a position to sell channels and many contracts have already been bagged from several countries. Today, even countries like USA. France and China have sought joint ventures with Indian companies in the most sophisticated fields of space, satellites and software areas. Many agreements are already signed and more are on the anvil. Besides peaceful uses of expertise thus gained military applications of several capabilities has propelled India to command respect amongst the big-wigs. Soon laser technology will be promoted for destruction of approaching missiles and controlling many deadly diseases with such technologies. Even in the bio-technical field, our scientists are making rapid strides so that the nation does not depend on others. In the atomic field and its peaceful applications, Kaiga-2 and RAPP-3 have gone critical even as simulators for nuclear tests are in place which obviates the necessity of conducting underground nuclear tests. Such expertise is available only with USA, France and India till date. |
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Why India should not roll back its nuclear programme ? By Avinash Shirodkar So engrossed is this country in its own affairs and pursuits ranging from Kalyan Singh's expulsion from the BJP to Yukta Mookhey's enthronement as the global beauty queen _ that it tends to overlook, if not to ignore altogether, international developments of the greatest import. The latest and instructive instance in point is the joint statement of President Boris Yeltsin of Russia and President Jiang Zemin of China bluntly telling President Bill Clinton of the United States where he gets off. Of this, not enough notice has been taken even by the Indian media, to say nothing of the government which presumably doesn't want to say anything that might cast a shadow on the ongoing Indo-US dialogue. After all, Jaswant Singh returned home only the other day after the ninth round of his talks with Strobe Talbott, and the tenth round is scheduled for the third week of January, also in London. None of this, of course diminishes the significance what the heads of state of China and Russia said, in a joint declaration, after an informal summit in Beijing. From their point of view, the summit could not have come at a better time. For, it took place in the midst of the crisis in Chechnya about which Clinton had warned Russia that it would have to 'pay a high price for the way it is waging war in Chechnya.' To this Yeltsin's retort was immediate and sharp. 'It seems,' said the ailing Russian leader, 'Mr. Clinton has forgotten Russia is a great power that possesses a nuclear arsenal. I want to tell President Clinton that he cannot dictate how the world should live, work and play. It is we who will dictate.' In the joint Yeltsin-Jiang statement, the Chinese side lent support to the "government of Russian republic's action in fighting terrorism and splittism forces." The word splittism means to the Chinese what secession means to us, and in its pronouncements Beijing always uses this expression in relation to Tibet. Two elements in the Beijing declaration are even more important than the foregoing, significant though that is. The first is the determination of both sides to oppose "the placing of human rights higher than state sovereignty and using human rights to interfere with or to harm an independent country's sovereignty." Secondly, for the first time Russia and China have jointly stated at the presidential level and in an official statement what has been said before less formally. Both sides have categorically opposed 'unipolarity', declared that they want a multipolar world and called upon the UN to play its assigned role. It should never be India's policy to either join Russia and China in an anti-American alliance or to side with America in any plan it might have to 'contain' China. But its preference for multipolarity, should surely be articulated. If China can sign a path-breaking trade agreement with America amidst their many differences, surely the useful search for a closer and more productive relationship with the productive relationship with the US can coexist with a clear statement of Indian interests. Those in this country who are running down last year's nuclear tests and want the Indian nuclear programme to be 'rolled back' would do well to pay heed to what Boris Yeltsin had to say about the meaning of the Russian nuclear arsenal. If the Russian Federation did not have this insurance, it would have been treated in relation to Chechnya the way Serbia was over Kosovo. There is another major, indeed historic, event round the corner in China of which greatest notice needs to be taken than has been the case so far. On December 19, the Portuguese enclave of Macau will revert to the mainland. The Portuguese had established it more than two centuries before Britain had got a foothold on the Chinese coast, and they are leaving two and a half years after Prince Charles had handed back Hongkong to its rightful owners. Thus, with delightful appropriateness, along with the end of the century, the last vestige of colonialism in Asia is also ending. The era of decolonisation that had begun with Indian independence has reached its fruition. Even so, Macau lacks the appeal of Hongkong. It is a small enclave with a population of 450,000, not an economic power house like Hongkong. In fact, Macau lives on casinos and accompanying flesh trade which also spawn the dreaded triads specialising in extortion rackets and crime. There is also the problem of illegal immigration into Macau from the mainland because it is much more accessible than Hongkong. However, these are matters to be settled by the new administration. The most important consequence of Macau's return to China will be that attention will new focus on Taiwan's reunification with the mainland. The issue has acquired greater urgency because of the attempts by the Taiwanese President Li Teng-hui to establish Taiwan's identity as a separate state. No wonder, the Yeltsin-Jiang statement reaffirms Russian support to the maintenance of "territorial integrity and unification of Taiwan with China." While expressing its preference for peaceful unification, China has refused to rule out the use of force for this purpose in the case of Taiwan. This can surely cause concern to China's neighbours which have disputes with it over the islands in the South China Sea or unstable land borders. But, in a recent TV interview, China's ambassador, Zhu Gang, made it clear that Taiwan, being an "internal matter of China," was a "special case." Disputes with China's neighbours were to be settled by peaceful negotiations, not by the use of force. INAV |
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Saving our forest wealth Questions that most urban people ask about villagers are these: Do rural people know about ecology? What do they know of forestry? This is despite the fact that a celebrated forest conservation movement like Chipko had its roots in rural milieu of Uttarakhand Himalayas. Gerald D. Berreman, who carried out comprehensive studies in the Uttarakhand Himalayas including the Chipko movement, has mentioned in one of his studies that by the very nature of its broad-based, grassroots support, realistic goals, democratic policies and participatory methods, idealism and responsiveness to issues formulated in the context of regional traditions, the Chipko movement sustained confidence among the people of the Uttarkhand Himalayas (mostly rural) and pride in their culture. The point is that rural people have accumulated real knowledge about their environment over generations through forbearance and sustained struggle. They know and understand their environment and thereby feel responsible to protect it. The chronicled history of the forest movements in several parts of the world speaks volumes for this. Historians know that such movements were ignited primarily as peasants' initiative against commercial forestry. Like Chipko which began in 1972, all forest movements have been joint efforts, utilising non-violent direct action to prevent the destruction of their forests and thereby save their environment. Undoubtedly, forests are one area which constitute an important part of the integrated rural development. Not only does the symbiotic relationship between humans and the forests need to be recognised by the prevailing laws, there is also a need for people's recognition as a part of the forest commune. How are forests an integral part of rural life and how do they affect the life of people in villages? Obviously, a forest is a major element in the upkeep of the economic cultural and spiritual life of a village, Rajiv Vora of the Gandhi Peace Foundation goes a step ahead by describing forests to be component of village life as they provide security to the villages as well. The organic and cooperative relationship should also be maintained and villages need to be equipped with legislative and administrative powers. Unfortunately, the so-called development activities have caused depletion of the forests, erosion of the soil, drying up of the water sources, preemption of the firewood, fodder and building materials, and destruction of much of the viable agricultural land and pasture. Deforestation at a fast pace has been widely recognised as India's most pressing environmental problem. The eminent environmentalist, Sunderlal Bahuguna, is right in thinking that soil, water and clean air _ uniquely offered by forests _ are surely more valuable than resin, timber and foreign exchange. There were times when two-thirds of the earth's landmass were covered with dense forests. Dreadfully, now the forest cover is less than 16 per cent of the land. The main reason for this mass destruction of forests has been human pressure on forests and their thoughtless use. According to a study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), of the 8,080 million hectare of forests in the world 8,000 years ago, only 3,044 million hectares remain today. Tropical forests are continuing to be destroyed at a rate of 17 million hectare per year and there are similar losses in forests of several countries. Unscientific systems like jhum (shifting) cultivation has also claimed large forests covers. In the north-eastern India, jhum cultivation has destroyed large forest areas. The fact remains that even after 25 years of Chipko movement in India, the rural masses have not seen any sincere effort being made to protect forests. There are no takers for Bahuguna's adage that forests are not just woods, they are home to many herbs, shrubs, medicinal plants, and wild life as well. There are people who have dedicated themselves to the cause of rural development through scientific and sustainable use of forest resources. Activists like Dr. B. D. Sharma (Bastar, MP) and Pandurang Hedge (Uttar Kannada, Karnataka) are already trying to transform the village life. In some remote parts of Uttarkhand, women have taken the lead in maintaining the symbiotic relationship between human life and nature. A women's organisation like Maiti has successfully motivated women to plant at least one sapling at the time of their marriage and later take care of it. Similarly, the Uttarkhand Van Panchayat Sangharsh Samiti has realised that forests were the basis of rural people's existence. The point is that there is an urgent need for bringing about a total shift in attitude if we wish to increase the forest cover. Also, there is need for re-defining the concept of people's involvement in the sense that the local people will have absolute rights over their forests and their resources. We need to adopt a radically different approach to managing our forests. The real understanding of resources ingrained in our tradition and management has been ridiculed and devalued systematically. We have to change it. The motive behind forest conservation will have to be strengthening of agriculture. Also, firewood needs to be replaced by alternative sources of fuel. A comprehensive national policy can help save forests and trees. The van panchayat system of sustainable forest management, prevalent in Uttarakhand, can be an answer, besides socio-economic reforms for a more egalitarian society. INAV |
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The much hyped new
millennium New Millennium, new millennium! What the noise is about. It is purely a mathematic event and who does not know that after 1999 it will be 2000. For many months it has been Y2K and now new millennium. Time is neither static nor divisible. It goes on irrespective of our wish. God Almighty has willed it like that way. Man has been on earth for a long long time so why deduct those years, centuries and just think of only two thousands years. Western powers can think so as their civilization is just two millennium old not India whose civilization has many more millenniums to recall, which can determine the age of our Himalayas, the Gangas, the Sindh and the Bhrahmputra, our Solar and Lunar races, our Vedas, Puranas, our holiest Bhagat Gita (The son divine), our saints, our prophets, our grand emperors, conquerors, reformers, our every piece of art and even our every inch of motherland. It is time for introspection what we have achieved and what we have lost. What is the fate of our motherland. What had we inherited and what has slipped away from our hands and why has it happened. Unlike China, we have forgotten our boundaries of our ancient land. Our new generation, so proud and whimsical but knowledgeable about Science and Technology. But still it appears that our smart alert and clever new generation lacks something. What is this? They are confident, self conscious and have very clear goals but they do lack some fundamental aspects of life. And these are their total lack of awareness of their past. Their civilizational background. For them money, status and selfishness is virtue. They want not only to retain their island of heaven but also expand it even if it means to encroach on the boundaries of hapless, weak and the deprived ones. Why our youngesters do not see their islands surrounded by those of hunger, disease, destruction? Swami Vivekananda, our own saint must have felt acute pain when he remarked that a person who gets educated at the cost of money but does not repay the gratitude, is a criminal. How prophetic he was. There is immense decline in moral character. Truthfullness, charity, affection, respect for elders and teachers are overshadowed by smartness, short cuts. When one tries to reason, the refrain is that the new generation knows too much, is not like their elders, there is explosion of knowledge as if there was no such explosion in the past. There are scientists, physicians, dramatists, painters. There were wars and war weapons. There were scholars who did not achieve degree through shortcut ways. They were proud people much more original. If their means of communication were primitive, their minds were fast. Among the great souls who can forget men like Chandergupta Maurya, Ashoka, Chandergupta Vikramditya, Lalitaditya, Awanitvarman, the Chollas, Chalukyas, Shivaji, Shankracharya, Maharana Pratap, Guru Gobind Singh, Swami Dayanand Sarswati etc. and above all Mahatma Gandhi. Why this man is chosen as man of century, is not clear, As he is above time, as was his philosophy of life. This man showed what a strong mind can achieve. He was no different from others but he led his life differently. Just one example would suffice to sum up this great man. He had instructed his wife to menage the Ashram funds and keep account of daily expenditure. The poor lady, one day, failed to keep track of 4 Annas (Present 25 paise). Mahatma Gandhi brought this to the notice of all his Ashram fellows. One can imagine the plight of this woman. But Gandhiji had his way to rectify mistake and the noble Kasturba did not rush to the lawyer for a divorce, or spoke ill of her husband. She just accepted her lapse of not keeping her accounts. Our heroes were real heroes. They were proud people who kept their honour above their life. No difficulty could block their path. No one could challenge their resolve. They moved with the waves of oceans of life. They put the interests of their country men above their own. They lived and died for a cause. But now people refuse to tell you the way to a house next door. They take pride in aloofness and splendid isolation. They live in posh colonies and have adopted the mentality of colony people. The fact is that when the Western imperial powers colonised weaker people, they kept themselves aloof from the natives whom they regarded inferior. But why our own people have adopted that culture of their enslaving masters. Qualities such as compassion, care for each other, responsibility towards hapless, deprived sections need to be rekindled. The children must be taught the value of truthfulness, caring, love for one's country, religion and above all one's values. American dance and fashion would not take us anywhere. Look at our new Indian face in beauty contest. When reminded of her preference for Thai food, she said that was not true. She likes Indian food but she spoke untruth and thus got a blot on her bleached face. What is the value of that beautiful face that cannot speak truth. The character building must be responsibility of both home and society. Clever, manipulative and liars can make progress but cannot make their country great. Where has the creative minority gone? Everyone seems to be in haste. Why, life is eternal, everything is present in the world. One can discover at ease. Why is everybody running without pause. If one has not enjoyed the present century what is guarantee that beginning of new millennium would bring happiness. One has to seek happiness in mind. Artificial behaviour, untruthful speech, manipulative cleverness do not bring happiness. Happiness results out of good Karmas. It must be resolve of all Indians to be truthful, patriotic and simply yet progressive, liberal and original. Only then one can anticipate the joy of new millennium. There must be no break with the past but the evils should not be taken into new century. Leave hatred, hypocracy, untruth here and march clean into the dawn of new century. |
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