. |
. |
EDITORIAL After absorbing the initial fear psychosis generated by army takeover in Pakistan, political parties have mustered enough of courage to come out against the Army dictatorship and restoration of democratic ...more Despite unanimous and all round demand from all quarters State Government has failed to stop long curtailment of power supply to the hapless citizens of all hues. Instead of decreasing the hours of curtailments ....more |
|
Rescuing Bihar What ails our democracy Are we losing ground |
 |
||
EDITORIAL After absorbing the initial fear psychosis generated by army takeover in Pakistan, political parties have mustered enough of courage to come out against the Army dictatorship and restoration of democratic order immediately. This stands duly manifested when the largest political party Pakistan Muslim League has openly declared October 12 army-takeover as unconstitutional and undemocratic act. The party has also decided to challenge it in the Pak Supreme Court. It clearly indicates that people of Pakistan basically love democracy because it gives them liberty to speak out and do what they like. Under dictatorial order there is total suffocation and none dares criticise the rulers or say anything about their own plight. After all they are the same people which constitutes India where democracy continues to thrive year after year even as its economy and military might grows proportionately. People of Pakistan have also seen how democracies the world over have flourished and progressed. The greatest gift of democracy is rule of law and civil liberties which are snatched by some mindless Generals. Pakistan already have enough of it as out of 52 years of independence almost half the period has been wasted under army dictators. This explains why Pakistan continues to be economically backward and drifting towards fundamentalism at times when the rulers fail to be fast on delivery. Despite all this there is none in the world who wishes to be deprived of one's liberties and exposed to deprivations and humiliations. When PML comes out open against the army-takeover and seeks restoration of democracy, there is much more to it than meets the eye. Second thing that is also a clear pointer towards that relates to Pak President Mr Tarar who says future of democracy is bright in Pakistan and that it is only a transitional ‘experiment’ with mixed army-civilian governance. This clearly shows that even Pak President though agreeing to continue and reconcile with army rule remains committed to democracy. This is as much a message to the army as to the world that Pakistan basically loves democracy and people do not like any tampering with their rights as free citizens. Third aspect which is clearly visible relates to CHOGM nations unanimously declaring that they still recognise Nawaz Sharif as the Prime Minister of Pakistan and that military rulers should immediately restore status quo ante or face more severe sanctions from the 54 nation group. This statement has emboldened Pakistan's political parties to speak out their mind seeking civilian rule immediately. Such pressure leaves Pak military rulers no choice but to fall in line with what the people of Pakistan and world democracies demand. By far the largest headache and problem for Gen Musharaff's Government comes from UN Security Council sanctions imposed on Taliban ruled Afghanistan. These sanctions entail sealing off Pak-Afghan borders, stoppage of all trade and traffic between the two countries, stoppage of issuance of visas or providing any military and other help except with the proper permission of UN Security Council. General Musharaff is thus in Catch-22 situation. It can ill afford to annoy fundamentalists of all hues within Pakistan or across the border in Afghanistan. It tantamounts to stopping all help to many terrorist training camps located in Afghanistan or providing them transit facilities to infiltrate in other countries, J&K included. That is the last thing any Army dictator would do as Gen Musharaff is deeply and openly committed to extend all help to Mujahideens (terrorists to be precise). If he continues helping them in gross violation of UN Security Council sanctions, Pakistan shall have to face the combined wrath and punitive action of UN as has been meted out to Iraq and those who violated Security Council orders. Add to the above economic distress to which Pak economy is exposed. The people shall be the ultimate sufferers with more deprivations leading to chaotic conditions because Army is unanswerable to anyone while democratic govt howsoever corrupt and bad remains accountable to electorate during any trial at the husting. It is obvious that such a bad situation and opposition from the people as also most of the countries abroad leave very little choice with the Army Generals and they shall have to be moving swiftly to restore democracy in Pakistan. In the process, they may use ploys like escalation in insurgency to divert peoples attention but ultimately those who love democracy hate to see dictators rule them, particularly when Army is in no position to solve peoples mounting problems. India shall have to be very watchful during the next few days. Despite unanimous and all round demand from all quarters State Government has failed to stop long curtailment of power supply to the hapless citizens of all hues. Instead of decreasing the hours of curtailments as per the promises made to mitigate hardships of the people, the curtailments continue to climb upward with more and more disruptions all through the day and night. Incidentally, the justification for exposing the people to such shabby treatment is given as resource crunch and inability of the State to buy power from northern grid. It means its allocated power quota is being surrendered which has proved to be a boon to other neighbouring States which too face acute financial crisis. But surely such wrong ideas have not entered their heads. Long dark hours at night pose serious threat to life and property of the people and provide enough of fodder to the terrorists and other criminals to have field day. Long cuts during the day time have added tothe woes of the traders as also those prone to bronchial problems. One just cannot walk through smoky environs in all the roads of the city with generators on. Traders are not happy with it because they too face suffocation. The pollution rate must have become the highest in the country and all this because State Government refuses to buy required quantity of power to meet full demands of the consumers. Industry also faces the music for none of their fault. Their predicament is best reflected in that BBIA has threatened to wind up their activities in the State and switch over to Himachal if State Government fails to supply them full power at reasonable rates as also meet other commitments made to the industry from time to time. In fact, it is total chaos on the industrial front and all this because State Government refuses to supply power or charge reasonable rates. Any popular Government should be responsive and do anything that aggravates problems of the people. Here is a Government that intentionally orders curtailments without taking into confidence even the PDD whose employees have to face public wrath when they go for revenue collection. In fact, it was never so bad all those 52 years. God alone knows when wiser counsels would prevail and this Government begins to respond positively. This is by far the most unpopular step of the popular Government which will not be taken lying down by the harassed and hapless citizens, traders and industry. One expects that Chief Minister who also is the Power Minister would not sit on prestige and restore full power to all consumers immediately. |
||
|
||
Rescuing
Bihar There are two jokes doing the rounds about Bihar. The first is that, at an Indo-Pakistan summit the Indian Prime Minister agrees to hand over Kashmir to Pakistan provided it also accepted Bihar _ with the Pakistan Prime Minister declining the offer. The second is about a submission made by the people of other states to God. They complain that he has been partial to Bihar by giving it the bulk of the nation's natural resources. God assuage their resentment by saying that he has given Bihar people who would not be able to take advantage of those resources. These jokes are indeed a sad commentary on the present state of affairs in Bihar. Throughout history. Bihar had the distinction of showing the way to the rest of the country in several spheres of human endeavour. At the time of Independence, Bihar was one of the leading industrialised states. In the early fifties, its administration was rated very high by US expert Appleby commissioned by Nehru to report on the functioning of administration in states. Biharis have been doing exceedingly well outside the states in different fields. Bihari students have made a niche for themselves in universities at Delhi where they have often been toppers. Bihari labour was instrumental in bringing about the Green Revolution in Punjab. Despite all this, today, Bihar is the sick state of India. From whatever viewpoint one chooses to judge, be it per capita income, people living below poverty lone, rate of literacy, medical cover, electricity consumption and so on, Bihar figures at the bottom of the ladder. Its per capita income is Rs. 1331 against the national average of Rs. 2143 and Punjab's Rs. 4287. Literacy in the state stands at 19 per cent, against the national figure of 29 per cent. There are 32 hospitals per lakh of population against the national average of 70. It generates 1.5 MW of electricity, the lowest among the major states of the country. Per capita expenditure on development in Bihar during the Seventh Plan was Rs. 642 against the national average of Rs. 1022. In 1947 Bihar produced 30 per cent of sugar in the country and today it produces a mere five per cent. While new industries have failed to come up, the old ones like sugar mills, jute mills, Amjohar units and the one time flourishing Rohtas Industries have been withering away. The much-talked-of Ashok Paper Mills at Darbhanga failed to come off, the scooter factory at Fatuha closed down before a single scooter could roll off the factory, the HEC has been terminally sick and the fertiliser unit is threatened with closure. The electronic complex at Hajipur has been a non-starter. Acute and chronic power shortage plus widespread lawlessness have inhibited the growth of industries in the state. The only industry thriving in Bihar is the "kidnapping industry", whose annual turnover is said to be Rs. 50 crore. While Bihar's economic scene is dismal, its political and administrative scenario are disastrous. Politics is shorn of any ideology. Caste is the single most important factor in politics. Political rallies on the basis of caste are organised and casteism in the most virulent from is practised. Caste violence is a frequent occurrence in the countryside. The politician-criminal nexus is stronger in Bihar than in any other state. The number of history-sheeters in the state legislature has increased considerably. High-profile legislators with well known criminal record openly practise terror politics. There are frequent ugly scenes in the state legislature and at this rate it would not be surprising if one day there is shootout on the floor of the House. There are more killings taking place in Bihar than during the peak of terrorist violence in Punjab. The financial situation has been so critical that the salaries of Government employees are held up for months, official telephones get disconnected for non-payment of bills and Government offices complain of lack of funds for buying stationery. The plea that the financial crisis is due to the Centre's unfair policy towards Bihar as demonstrated by the coal freight policy is not very convincing. The Centre has invested over Rs. 4000 crore in public sector in Bihar. This is much higher than such investment in any other state. Financial allocations for development made in successive Five-Year Plans have remained unutilised. Between the first Five-Year Plan and the current plan Rs. 15,022 crore were allocated to Bihar, of which only Rs. 12,157 crore were utilised. The wasteful expenditure being incurred by the state is enormous. Financial profligacy is to be seen in the jumbo-size state Cabinet of over 70, generous allowances and perks for legislators including free government accommodation for life after relinquishing office for certain top political functionaries, a highly bloated and top-heavy bureaucracy in which certain officials do not have even ten minutes of work a day, and so on. All this has led to the jibe that Bihar is poorest state with the richest politicians and the most expensive administration. There is corruption in the state at all levels and in all spheres. There are no public servants but only Government servants and the latter have mostly become servile tools in the hands of the ruling politicians. As one enters Bihar from any neighbouring state, the roads suddenly deteriorate and conditions in Inspection Bungalows or Circuit Houses become abominable. Often railway passengers are warned to be careful as their trains enter Bihar. Civic administration everywhere is dead and urban centres have become huge, stinking slums. Patna was once one of the prettiest state capitals in the country, now it is the dirtiest and the most chaotic of them all. Bizarre incidents have been taking place at frequent intervals. A senior IAS officer was assaulted in his office in the Secretariat by an MP of the ruling party and his goons. No action was taken in the matter. The threatened strike by IAS officers fizzled out on account of caste differences! In another instance, an IAS officer who had the temerity not to surrender his berth to an MP was dragged out of the compartment and mercilessly beaten up on the railway platform at Dhanbad in presence of the police and railway officials. Again no action was taken in the matter. The police has become a tool of politicians and too often goes on the rampage on its own. Custodial deaths, police atrocitis and vandalism are on the increase in direct proportion to the ineffectiveness of the guardians of law in maintaining law and order. In 1999, policemen beat up mediamen in presence of civil and police officers. At the subsequent inquiry by a High Court judge, these officers declined to give evidence and strictures were passed against them but little appears to have been done in the matter. In another incident, a senior journalist was recently beaten up in the presence of the SDO and the DSP at Raxaul. In the state capital, the police entered a 60-year-old public library building and threw out all the books outside including the portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Jayaprakash Narayan. The newspapers published photographs of this desecration on the front pages. The district administration had committed this vandalism at the instance of the political bosses and this barbarous act was condoned. More recently, in a free-for-all between lawyers and policemen in the premises of the Patna district courts, the police is reported to have entered the courtroom and even roughed up the district judge. There are also instances of honest police officers finding it difficult to function in an ever-increasing environment of indiscipline, politicisation and criminalisation of the force. An SP trying to act impartially in a bye-election was unceremoniously removed in an arbitrary and arrogant display of authority, reminiscent of medieval days. When this was widely criticised the top police hierarchy, in an effort to prove that it was more Papist than the Pope, summoned a Press conference. It released an unsubstantiated complaint by an inpector against the SP submitted several months earlier which, on the face of it, was fantastic and unbelievable. It was discovered that the comments of the SP on the wild allegations had not even been called for nor had the so-called investigations been completed. INAV |
||
|
|
Are we losing ground "H. Q 15 corps attacked by militants", scream the headlines. "Army is feeling demoralized as a result of attack on HQ 15 corps" claims another headline. Yet another headline informs us that a solider has gunned down another soldier. What does all this indicate ? Does it represent failure of command, laxity in security, failure of intelligence, lack of professionalism in the army, psychological ascendancy of the militants or the wrong policies of the government. Above all, it raises the most vital and pertinent question ; are we losing ground to the militants ? With General Parvez Musharraf ascending the Pakistani throne in the rather novel avtar of "Chief Executive Officer", the complete conglomeration of Pak based anti India militant outfits are going to get a fillip in their activities. The architect of Kargil, being a Mohajir, has of necessity to be in a hawkish mode, in order to prove himself "more loyal than the queen". The recent congregation of Lashkar-e-Toiba at Muridke in Pakistan, coupled with large scale infiltration of a variety of charged and motivated filibusterers, as evidenced by the suicide attack on Srinagar based corps HQ are unambiguous indicators of the shape of things of come. With the Prime Minister and the president as the next professed targets of Lashkar-e-Toiba, the virus of militancy appears set to engulf the whole country. This, then begets the most crucial poser. Are we adequately prepared, do we have an appropriate response regimen in place to counter this imminent oncoming onslaught ? Going by pure arithmetic, we are apparently fighting a war of diminishing returns. There appears to be a fightening mismatch between the average number of militants killed and the number that infiltrates in a month. There being an unending supply of rapacious hordes, masquerading as Mujahideens, with a rather skewed construen as to what actually constitutes ‘Jehad’, the tables could be turned on these self appointed arbitrators of J&K people's destiny, only when the numbers killed every month exceed that of the number infiltrated. That is the simple albeit cold equation. And if the facts and figures speak a different language then the solution might lie in the answers to the questions raised at the beginning of this article. To go back to those questions, while the answer may be affirmative on all the counts, there could be no denying the fact that the whole problem stems from the flawed policies of the government. One keeps reading with sickening regularity about the government threatening to unleash what it euphemistically calls "befitting response to the militancy", every now and then, even though the situation on the ground hardly ever reflects the stated resolve of the powers that be. Shorn of rhetoric, one would certainly want to know as to what is the aim of government vis-a-vis the militants and what specific directive it has given to the army to counter the menace ? Does the government want to root out militancy or simply to counter it and whether the army has been given the requisite freedom to achieve that aim or has been, as usual, fettered with many does and don'ts ? On the face of it, a lot of ambiguity is discernible in the govt's policy towards Pakistan-with the self inflicted title of the mother of all militancy - often - oscillating between hawkish and dovish posturing. We often lament that our sportsman lack killer instinct. Apparently that is a part of our national psyche, as we all are afflicted with this debilitating trait. Steeped in the traditions of Ramayan and Mahabharat, we never go for the kill. Worst of all, we expect model code of conduct from our enemies, even when they have repeatedly demonstrated that they are rogues and are not at all amendable to reasoning. The most illustrative of this trait is the sage of Prithvi Raj Chauhan versus Mohammad Ghauri. Nine centuries down the line, the saga continues with the main characters having been substituted with India and Pakistan respectively. While deciding about the most appropriate and adequate response to Pakistani misdeamenour, the underlying motive must be to ensure that the enemy's adventurous streak is not only nipped, but also that his potential for causing mischief is eliminated altogether. For this to happen, our policy needs to be proactive. A look around, however, will substantiate that nothing of the sort is happening or is in the offing. The militancy is on the increase, the number of militants is increasing, they are continuously opening up new routes of infiltration and their plans as well as actions are turning audacious by the day. The initiative has all along been with militants-read Pakistan - and we are simply reduced to fire fighting as far as enemy's machinations are concerned. A God sent opportunity had arisen in the form of Kargil intrusions, where through a bold initiative, we could have prevailed upon Pakistan to resolve this problems for ever, but true to our national psyche, we fumbled, as we have always had, ever since we gained independence. That was the time when we should have undertaken territory grabbing mission in Pakistan, notwithstanding whether that territory had any strategic or even tactical importance. The vacation of that territory, thereafter, should have been made conditional to Pakistan stopping trans border terrorism. The gaffe is rather galling since it was known to the government during Kargil operations that even though Pakistan had moved nearly two divisions into the Northern Areas, viz, in and around Skardu, it did not have the infrastructure to launch these forces against India. The absence of direct route between Skardu and Pakistan also was a factor in our favour. With hawks in the establishment all set to nuke the Pakis and doves theorizing the dream concept of peaceful resolution of all conflicts with Pakistan, both appear to be living in a vacuum. The solution may lie in between both these extremities. A possible solution would be to beat Pakistan at its own game. It would be worthwhile to explore the idea of motivating and training personnel for similar operations in Pakistan,as the militants are carrying out in India. Several disgruntled groups and constantly persecuted minorities in that country, as well as the Ahmediya-Muslim and Shia-Sunni divide, besides the JKLF cadre, provide requisite openings to us for covert action. In the northern Areas itself ironically having no representation in Pakistan Parliament-there is plenty of discontentment and anger against Pakistani. They all must be encouraged morally, financially and with the required weaponry to establish a level playing field with Pakistan to demonstrate that this is a game which India could play as well. For all we know, we might be doing it, but as at present, it is apparently nothing to write home about. Having played it quite successfully in the erstwhile East Pakistan from Mar. 1971 till it culminated in the emergence of Bangladesh in Dec. 1971, we surely can excel in this art and we ought to join the party the soonest as we can. In the present scenario, while it may not lead to the break up of Pakistan, it certainly would give them quite a handful to keep their security forces and the powers that be, fully occupied. We need to understand the psyche of our enemy. The past fifty years should convince us that he understand only tough language. The war of 1971, where they were beaten decisively, kept them quite for 18 long years, the longest period of peace between India and Pakistan. That country's rulers are obsessed with India, so much so that they have no other topic to live for. Peaceful coexistence with India is far from their minds. The fact that the population of Muslims in our country is more than what they have, riles them no end. The argument put forth by some of their leaders during a discussion on PTV, that there was no rationale for creation of Pakistan, if they were to live peacefully with India, clearly demonstrates their mindset. Even General Musharraf is on record having stated in Apr. 99 that there could be no peace with India even if Kashmir issue was settled. Any talk of peace with India is considered passe and a treason. The toppling of Nawaz Sharif, who had won a substantial majority with one of his election plank as peace with India, should prove the point. It also proves the divergence of views between the majority of the public and their so called leaders. All this necessitates a reappraisal of our policy towards Pakistan. Instead of parroting the cliched, ‘A stable Pakistan is in our interest’, we need to evaluate whether a fragmented Pakistan may not be an even better option for us. The Indian psyche is amazing. We flatter ourselves with tough talking without demonstrating the corresponding action. In all our talks, we keep talking of reviving the Lahore process, even when Pakistan has already consigned the same to dustbin. Our qualifying sentence still remains, "But we must talk to Pakistan.’ Pray, what, why and how do we talk, to a country where anyone talking peace with India would most definitely be branded as a traitor ? As regards militants attack on HQ 15 corps, one would like to go long with the statement of its chief of staff, Maj Gen Mukerji, that one or two determined individuals would always manage to sneak through for such an attack moreso when they are on a suicide mission. It ought to be remembered that with the location of corps HQ alongside a busy highway and civilian localities all around, enforcement of strict security would always be problematic. But now that the unthinkable has happened, hopefully the army would draw the right lessons and take requisite remedial measures. Nevertheless, it was quite heartening to see the prompt response of young Capt Incharge of the Quick Reaction Team (QRT) and speedy arrival of Brig Tripat Singh on the scene alongwith the Battalion detailed for such an emergency. It needs to be borne in mind that the Pak sponsored militancy can be encountered only with an iron hand and with firm resolve. The tendency to look towards United States for solution to our problems, need to be curbed. For U.S., its own interests will always be uppermost in any conflict between the nations. Militancy is our problems and it has to be sorted by us only. This certainly cannot be sorted out if we are eager to project ourselves as goody goody boys in the eyes of the world in general and the U.S. in particular. |
|
|
|
