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EDITORIAL National Conference General Secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmed confirms that the State cabinet is in for major changes. The exercise right now going on has two clear facets. First, State is exposed to unprecedented resource crunch which has no place for white elephants anymore. There is tremendous pressure on the Government and......more Although only four more ministers have been inducted in the Central cabinet, three of cabinet rank and one Minister of State, the point to be noted relates to allocation of portfolios. By far the most significant change is in allocation ...more |
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Kashmir Underground – I Stricter norms must The civilised jungle law FM's priorities for
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EDITORIAL National Conference General Secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmed confirms that the State cabinet is in for major changes. The exercise right now going on has two clear facets. First, State is exposed to unprecedented resource crunch which has no place for white elephants anymore. There is tremendous pressure on the Government and public opinion is in favour of having compact but small ministry which would not only save expenditure but also make it working team. As things stand and it has been mentioned in these columns several times, the size of the ministry for such a small backward State is quite unwieldy. Instead of yielding good results, there is all round deterioration in terms of public service, development and delivery. The second reason that necessitates pruning relates to the fact the incumbents are not competitive and knowledgeable enough to do any service to the State. During the last three years their performance came in for massive flak at all levels. Even Chief Minister is very unhappy and he has mentioned it at various forums. They have failed to interact with their respective electorate which explains why there is total disenchantment amongst the people against these incumbents. Besides, it has brought the party with mass base in all the three regions to a level where public acceptance has gone in for steep fall. This point has manifested its severity during the 13th Lok Sabha elections. One minister who was supposed canvass support for the ruling party could not move out guest house as he was threatened with dire consequences if he moved out. This is proof enough that present team, most of them, is more concerned with their personal and family safety rather than doing any service to the party or the hapless citizens. Such people obviously do not deserve any plus ministerial slots or any other office that demands total commitment and loyalty. It is apt to point out that repeated talk of reducing cabinet size has brought the administration to virtual standstill. Ministers are seen asking who is on the pruning list. Bureaucrats serving under them have also adopted wait and watch attitude and are not in working-mode because of the uncertainty haunting almost all ministers. It is therefore necessary to put an end to such flux situation when ministers are overworking to safeguard their gaddies rather than do their normal work. Unless they command the confidence and respect of the bureaucracy, they are as good as non-functional. Let there be no more dilly-dallying and whatever pruning is to be done must be done immediately. Earlier, Chief Minister had told that soonafter his return from abroad he would cut the size of the cabinet substantially. The figure mentioned was about 10-member cabinet. This means at least 20 ministers should be marking time for the marching orders. Chief Minister has no compulsions to retain incompetent hands nor the party has to fear anything from such pruning because CM enjoys more than two-third majority and remains unchallenged leader of the party. So there is no justification for dragging on and on. Sheikh Nazir is right on course when he says that every MLA cannot be a minister. This pruning exercise on the anvil shall remain incomplete unless all those given cabinet rank are also stripped off it without any further delay. Such ranks are totally unjustified because every minister costs the exchequer heavily. There is no justification in giving such ranks without being accountable to the people or the House. It is a totally wasteful expenditure that has no logic. It is purely a political game and expediency for which tax payers are made to pay heavily. It would be good for the State and its people as also the administration that whatever pruning is to be done must be completed so that it becomes a functional Government with every minister doing the job and every bureaucrat having total involvement. Right now, the flux situation has made it look like anybody's business and nobody's business as regards proper governance. It is neither the question of regional nor religious representation. It is the all important aspect of having a small compact cabinet that is fast on delivery. Otherwise credibility gap is bound to widen and the Government is in for alienation as regards suffering masses of the State. Although only four more ministers have been inducted in the Central cabinet, three of cabinet rank and one Minister of State, the point to be noted relates to allocation of portfolios. By far the most significant change is in allocation of Information Technology ministry to Pramod Mahajan in addition to continuing as Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. There is no denying the fact that Mahajan is quite dynamic with action-oriented approach. It was amply proved during Kargil war when mass audio-visual media did a wonderful job. Full of enthusiasm and work culture, he is entrusted with the plum slot of Information Technology which is slated for manifold expansion during the next few years. In fact, IT offers vast export potential and is already good foreign exchange earner. Over the years India is slated to become the largest exporter of IT technology (Software in particular) as also the manpower which is in great demand even in USA. The second noteworthy induction is Arun Shourie who has been entrusted with many vital departments which had normally remained with the Prime Minister in the past. These are planning, Statistics, Programme Implementation, Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances in the Ministry of Personnel. Arun Shourie with his wide knowledge and proven capabilities in various pursuits would be quite an asset. Another notable feature is the inclusion of Akali Dal SS Dhinsa. It may be mentioned that this important BJP ally in Punjab could not be accommodated in the ministry because AD could not find any fit person Dhinsa is a member of Rajya Sabha and will hold the charge of new Ministry of Works and Estates. Since AD has been an active partner in power with BJP both at State and Central level, failure to induct any Sikh during initial installation of ministry had raised many eyebrows and even talked of sour relations between AD and BJP. All such speculations are now set at rest. To appease Kalyan Singh, his major detractor, UP BJP President Raj Nath has also been inducted in the cabinet thus taking him off the party affairs in UP. In fact it was part of the deal before Kalyan bowed out. We had wanted shifting of some detractors from UP scenario. CP Thakur seems to have been inducted with an eye on the ensuing Bihar assembly polls. He represents the powerful lobby of Bhumidars in Bihar. There is no secret that elections in Bihar are decided by religion and caste rather than performance and other attributes. Another notable change in the allocation of portfolios relate to Ms Vasundra Raje who holds independent charge of Small Scale and Agro Industries shall also assist the Prime Minister in the departments of Personnel and Training, Pensions and Pensioners Welfare, Public Grievances besides Atomic Energy and Space. Taken in its entirety, these are the changes in important portfolios rather than expansion of ministry that is more significant. |
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Kashmir
Underground – I The Jamaat-e-Islami of Kash mir, universally known for its fully indoctrinated, dedicated and committed cadres, has rejected Indian system of governance in Kashmir. In fact, the fundamentalist organisation has repeatedly worked against India in the Muslim-majority State. It has rejected all that is Indian or pro-India. Significantly, however,it has not rejected one pro-India Kashmiri Muslim politician. And he is none other than former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Syed Mir Qasim. The Jamaat, which considers Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami an ideological parent, enjoyed considerable freedom with the assumption of office as Chief Minister by Syed Mir Qasim in 1971. The Jamaat got closer to him. And to widen his political base Syed Mir Qasim needed the Jamaat cadres. This finding is contained in the book titled ‘Kashmir Underground’, which is authored by Mr Sati Sahni, well-known journalist and former Director-General of Information and Public Relations, J&K Government. The new rural elite that had emerged on the political scene in Kashmir was heavily influenced by Jamaat ideology. And Mr Sahni has asserted that the Jamaat-e-Islami wielded lot of power in the Qasim Government. Mr GM Sadiq, during first three years as head of administration, tried to restrict the Jamaat influence. Mr Sahni says: "He put some restriction on the Jamaat schools. With the passage of time and to face the emerging problems at home and from New Delhi he came to terms with them and eased the restrictions. With the assumption of office as Chief Minister by Syed Mir Qasim the scene changed further". Mr Sahni’s book has recalled that while the subsequent events unfolded the real intent of the happenings of those days, many Jamaat activists were brought into Congress party by Mr Qasim to strengthen his own position. Mr Abdul Ghani Lone, a promsinent leader of All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), was Education Minister in the Qasim Government. And Mr Sahni has quoted Peer Ghiyasudin, vice president of the J&K Janata Dal and former Minister, as having stated: "Lone packed educational institutions, universities besides administration and judiciary with Jamaat cadres. These cadres exercised a powerful influence on media, radio and cultural academy". Mr Sahni’s finding number two: Since the Congress and the Plebiscite Front could nsot come to terms, Mr Qasim was successful in persuading the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership to participate in Assembly elections. The Plebiscite Front was banned. The Jamaat was able to secure 5 seats in 1972 Assembly elections. The Jamaat was opposded to Indira Gandhi-Sheikh Abdullah accord of 1975 because it would mean ascendancy of the Sheikh, who considered the Jamaat the biggest single enemy of Kashmir and Kashmiriyat. Recalling that Sheikh Abdullah used the Emergency to arrest Jamaat leaders and closed their schools, the book stated that when the Emergency was lifted the Jamaat leadership bounced back to activity. They also got back the control of their schools. In the Assembly elections in 1977 the Jamaat fielded 19 candidates but won only one seat. This, however, did not deter Jamaat from pursuing its political plans. Finding number three: For 1987 elections the Jamaat changed its strategy. With sother political elements not accepting Kashmir’s accession to India as final, the Jamaat floated the Muslim United Front (MUF). It put up 41 candidates in Kashmir constituencies and one from Doda district. They were allowed full freedom to propagate their views, even anti-national. They were allowed to use Islamic flag and the holy Koran to seek votes. They were allowed also to parade their candidates in funeral shrouds to convey their vow to "do or die". Four MUF candidates were elected out of which three belonged to Jamaat. The Jamaat-e-Islami has been severely criticised by Mr Sati Sahni. Stating that the Jamaat members claim to be honest followers of Islam, religious and steadfast, Mr Sahni has posed: "How come all their candidates In Parliament and Assembly elections from 1972 to 1987 affirmed their faith in the State and Indian Constitution and on election took oath to uphold it ?" Mr Sahni’s loaded comment: "Obviously, the true Muslims took false oaths". Mr Sahni has not stopped there. Indeed, he has raised questions: Is this the example they want to set for the coming generations of Kashmiri Muslims – one of dishonesty, deceit, falsehood and lies ? Can their professions be relied upon ? They seem to have put a question mark on honesty of a Kashmir, or his reliability and trustworthiness on his dependability. Is this part of Nizam-e-Mustafa that is being offered to Kashmir ? Mr Sahni’s yet another finding: Jamaat-e-Islami has four categories of members. There are ordinary members, sympathisers, influenced ones and those who accept the ideology. The number of each category, as per information available in 1987, was 10,000, 25,000 and for other two, over 60,000. And Mr Sahni has insisted: "There is no doubt that the number has gone up manifold in the past 8 years. Every category of member is expected to contribute to Jamaat funds at least 10 per cent of his earnings. Larger donations are not uncommon". The book has revealed that the Jamaat in Kashmir Valley and Doda district at its peak ran nearly 300 schools – big and small. Mostly religious instruction was imparted but in many a highly distorted view of public affairs and history was told to the students. They were told that material advancement, socialism, secularism, and family planning were anti-Islam. Commitment to jehad and glory of Islam was repeated till it became part of their psyche. Most of these schools, the
book recalled, were under the control of a separate
trust, known as Fala-e-Aam Trust. Dr Farooq Abdullah as
Chief Minister declared his intention to close them but
constitutional safeguards of minority denpminational
institutions stood in the way, the book said and added:
"However, Governor Jagmohan in early 1990 declared
the Falah-e-Aam Trust unlawful body and closed 157 of
their schools. Arrangements were made for admission of
over 15,000 students in Government schools. What would
happen to them with the return of normalcy is no easy to
predict". |
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The civilised jungle law For once the left and the right are united. For the wrong rea sons though. Both are vigorously campaigning against the ghotul system and mohua, an alcoholic drink, as corrupting influences in the tribal areas of Narayanpur and Abujhamra in north Bastar, Madhya Pradesh. What is a ghotul? It is an institution that defines the significance of what the forest dwellers consider "sacred." Run by adolescent boys and girls, the ghotul's rules and regulations define tribal social life and the relationship between genders. It is here that children grow into adults, acquire a sense of responsibility, of fair play and balance between individual interests and collective well-being. The institution negotiates the transition between childhood and adulthood. It regulates sexuality and takes it beyond the mere physical realm. It demonstrates that sexual behaviour is organically linked with the work culture of society. But both the Peoples War Group (PWG) and the Ramakrishna Mission are playing culture cops. They feel that the institutional arrangements of the ghotul have become obsolete and mohua-drinking is disrupting tribal life. They point out that in the past few years tribal girls have had promiscuous relations with outsiders, a fallout of the socialisation process in the ghotuls. The institution, they claim, only encourages loose sexual morality making the youth easy victims of the visitor's lust. These groups have already taken steps to eliminate the age-old system. In the process, they have terrorised the locals, who are now faced with the prospect of adopting an alien way of life. Ghotul does not encourage loose sexual morality at all. Rather it helps the adolescent satisfy his adolescent queries about sex and become a responsible adult. As soon as the child, whether boy or girl, begins to understand and participate in household work, he or she is sent to the ghotul. The children are given a ghotul name which defines their membership to an age group and initiates them into the ways of living. A ghotul member learns his lessons without losing his sense of identity. The ghotul comes alive after the sun sets and householders fall asleep. Boys and girls light up a bonfire, dance, sing and talk among themselves. Over a period of time, friendships develop. But in the process of making friends, the rules of kinship and marriage cannot be ignored. Boys and girls of marriageable clans can become friends. But when they belong to the same clan, they must relate to each other as siblings. Any violation of this rule is not tolerated. Between friends, there is a sense of commitment which more often than not comes in conflict with the norms of arranged marriage. The significance of sexual life in the ghotul can be understood from a comment made by a tribal girl. "By the time we get married, our curiosity regarding sexual matters have been satisfied. We are content and are ready to take on the responsibilities of married life." Their curiosities are more about the possibilities of playful interaction, not about exploring different ways of enhancing pleasure and satisfying lust. For those who have graduated from the ghotul, the body is just a subject of joke and laughter. A group of boys could not stop rolling in laughter when they were shown the sexual positions illustrated in the Kamasutra. On being asked what was so amusing, they said the figures looked very funny. For them, there is no distinction between sex for pleasure and sex for procreation. Pleasure is very short-lived if it is not linked to the creative process. All sexual life is understood as a metaphor for work and vice versa. The quality of social life in a village is judged from its ghotuls. An active ghotul is manifested in the participation of young boys and girls in ceremonies. This in turn is an indication of the active collective life in the village. All through the year, the youths sing and dance regularly, even prepare a special performance for religious festivals. This helps the village community to receive visitors and guests and extend appropriate hospitality. Ghotul members are responsible for serving food and drinks. The ghotul, therefore, is the centre of the village, a common space. Mother Earth is the resident godness and it is under her care and supervision that ghotul activities are conducted. If the ghotul is absent from the village, collective life becomes dull and the spirit of cooperation disappears. Interestingly, the elders of the village do not interfere with ghotul activities. They are called in only when the norms of social life are violated. Sexual relations before marriage are not taboo but part of friendship. There are instances of premarital pregnancies. And if the girl and the boy are not yet engaged, the boy is expected to take the girl as his spouse. For a woman, the simplest way of getting a husband is to carry water to the house of the man she loves in earthen pots. This is enough because the home is sacred and the family's ancestors had lived in them. She is then given a turmeric bath following which she gifts a piece of cloth to her mother-in-law. According to convention, the boy's family first goes to a girl's household to fix the marriage. The boy's relatives have to then make a series of visits with gifts before the marriage ceremony can be performed. The gifts include food items and of course mohua, a symbolic recognition of the efforts of the girl's parents to raise her. It is also a recognition of the girl's contribution to her household after marriage. If, despite her engagement, the girl wants to marry her former ghotul friend, a fine is to be paid, again in the forms of gifts. There is also a provision for girls and boys who find it difficult to find a spouse. The boy can, with the permission of the girl's relatives, choose her from the market place. The marriage ceremony is performed later. A friend once sought my advice on whether he could re-marry. I promptly asked him to ask his first wife. He did so and reported that she had no problems. Asked why she agreed, she said, "The second wife will be my companion. There is lot of work to do and she will be of great help." But wouldn't she be jealous? "That's not a problem as I am quite content," she said calmly. But when a man or woman begins to have relations outside marriage, he or she has to leave. The reason is not jealousy but the fact that such relations interfere with household work. Living out in the open enables tribals to share the process of physical growth. To them, the closed, dull and uninspiring living spaces generate boredom. Predictably, outsiders misconstrue playfulness for loose sexual morals. It is, therefore, easy for them to make a sexual advance or pass judgements condemning their way of life. A tribal elder once said, "There are no instances of either rape or molestation in our village. If a woman is not willing to be a partner then no man forces her even when drunk." The outsider in contrast thinks of sex with a sense of guilt. His sexual immaturity leads him to rape and molestation. Though an adult, he treats his sex life like a teenager. The tribal is the wise man, the urbanite still a child. INAV |
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FM's priorities for
quickfix solutions The second generation of re forms is the talking point these days. The Government is very keen to push ahead with the reform agenda. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha is naturally the toast of corporate India. He is not disappointing them with his "educative, business like discourses" - to quote Sudhir Jalan, the outgoing FICCI president. With his ears to the ground Sinha is better placed than some of his immediate predecessors to handle the task ahead. As he himself confessed before a who's who of the corporate world in the Capital the other day, his voters do not know what is a fiscal deficit. They want results "not tomorrow, today. They (people) are unwilling to wait for five years, ten years." Admittedly, Sinha's concern for the voters' interests is no sweet music to his audience in the airconditioned conference halls of the metros. They are looking for quickfix solutions, lower interest rate regime, lower tax regime, incentives for investments in the infrastructure sector and above all, flow of Government money into infrastructure to propel the economy to a higher trajectory. For this wish list to materialise, the Government has to slash the subsidies and cut down its own borrowings, which are carrying market determined interest rates for the past seven-eight years. Wasteful or unproductive expenditure that a Government often finds itself saddled with also needs to be pruned. Expenditure on administrative side is a wasteful item and it has gone up courtesy the United Front Government's willingness to accept the Pandian Commission recommendation on wage revision for Central employees only in part. The Commission, while calling for a steep hike in pay scales and increase in retirement age (to 60 years), spoke of the need to prune the bureaucracy. Both these steps should go hand in hand if one goes by the letter and spirit of the pay commission report. While the UF accepted the new pay scales and hiked them further to please various lobbies at work, the BJP-led NDA increased the retirement age to 60 years. Neither the present nor the previous Government attempted downsizing of the bureaucracy. In fact, the NDA regime has just created new ministries and new posts. That may be due to exigencies of coalition politics. There is nothing wrong per se in having a big ministry. More so since the overall size is within the ten per cent norm fixed by the Morarjibhai-led Administrative Reforms Commission more than three decades ago. The problem is that the Government's expenditure plans are bound to go haywire to the dismay of economists who prefer to remain true to the text-book they read and teach from. Be that as it may, what is really interesting in so far as the present Government goes is while it is conscious of the lack of its parliamentary majority to clear any controversial legislation, it has not given up the effort. The plethora of announcements about the impending "progressive legislation gives the impression that all is going to be hunky dory. Whether the impression is justified will be known when the IRA Bill, the FEMA Bill and Bank Denationalisation Bill survive in Parliament. From reports in the media and from the mood in the trade Union offices as also the camps known for their penchant to champion the status quo, this much is clear as of now: The country is entering a long winter of discontent unless statemanship is displayed in full measure to rise above the considerations of econometrics. Because the very purpose of reforms, in the words of the architect of first generation reforms, is to transform the society. P V Narasimha Rao did not get the credit due to him for that he had done in opening up the economy. For which the politics of the day is as much responsible as the emergence of passenger cars, televisions and refrigerators as the symbols of reform. From what he had said at the second Tata Memorial Lecture organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) the former Prime Minister appears to be duly conscious of the flip side to reforms in the public perception. Said Rao, "In my own assessment as a consequence of first generation of reforms, instead of a solid infrastructure, phenomenal multiplication has occurred in the manufacture of passenger cars, TVs and many other consumer items. While this may be good, it is not the basic philosophy of the Government behind the reforms". Admittedly, he was at his introspective best when he observed, "I want liberalisation to grow as a sturdy child; I look upon it almost with parental affection." Naturally, therefore, his strong plea that there should be an intensive lookback on the overall results and the benefits that had accrued to the people class-wise and section-wise, deserves attention not only from his successors on the Raisina Hills, but also from all students of economic reforms. Also worth paying heed to is his warning about the liberalisation and globalisation process benefitting only one kind of economy - the mainstream one-at the expense of the other, hitherto independent and insulated, minibarter village economy. From the public pronouncements so far, Yashwant Sinha appears to be too mindful of the danger zones ahead. He has not spelt out how he would try to skirt the potential minefield for his own survival and that of the ruling alliance, while ensuring sizeable and simultaneous benefits to the lower strata of people who wait for the trickle down. The just concluded national executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not thrown much light on how the party expects the Government to chart the new road map. What all one heard from the new leadership was the usual rhetoric about the need for hard decisions and to carry the masses along with the establishment in implementing the decisions. The quote P V Narasimha Rao once again, the package of economic reforms was conceived as a means to transform the society purely as a socio-political process than as a business policy or ploy. Sad part of the story at the end of eight long years of tryst with reforms is that the reform process is being considered as anything but socio-political process. At least as of now. At least, that is the general perception and impression! CNF |
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