Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

PM's resolve: Peace
and prosperity in J&K

By Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta

Under the inspiring leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji, the BJP led NDA Government at the Centre has completed four years of unprecedented ........more

World Food Day
International alliance
against hunger

Dr Rakesh Nanda

Unresolved issues of
Indian Islam

By Vibha Das

Terrorism in Kashmir, bomb explosions by Islamists in different parts of the country at the behest of the ISI, political utterances by the hardcore ........more

EDITORIAL

VHP’s tantrum

Ayodhya is to the Hindu psyche what Mecca is to the Muslim. Almost
every Hindu child grows up on the deeds of Ram, the ideal king of
the city on the banks of the Saryu river. Ram represents the best in a human being. An ideal son, a devoted husband, a flawless ruler. As it happens there does exist a city by the same name along the same river in Uttar Pradesh even today. It conjures up the vision of the mythological land and a benevolent ruler whose blemishless conduct puts him on the highest pedestal of moral behaviour as Maryada Purshottam. Millions of devotees throng the city every year. It is a matter of faith for them. Any debate whether there conduct is rational or not is meaningless. Perhaps it will be easier for us to understand why faith supersedes everything else. We have just to remember that the majority in our State views with great reverence the Prophet’s hair at the Hazratbal shrine. The historic phenomenon survives in full glory much to the discomfiture of Islamist zealots who look down upon such relics. However, when faith runs into conflict with the law of the land, it has to be judged differently. By ignoring such a confrontation, one would invite a threat to communal peace and harmony in the country. The widespread concern over Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s plans to hold a sankalp sabha in Ayodhya on October 17 has to be understood in this context. VHP wants its followers to take a dip in the Saryu river on that day. At best, it may pass a resolution for the speedy construction of the Ram Temple. On the face of it, it is a perfectly legitimate activity. People in a democracy, more so in our multi-religious dispensation, have the complete freedom to ventilate their feelings, good or bad. However, in this case, there are two reasons why many observers are keeping their fingers crossed about what may eventually happen. One is that the VHP has already set in motion the rabblerousing exercise of mobilising five lakh devotees for the occasion. It is a huge number to gather in the small town. It needs to be remembered that it was after a railway bogie carrying karsevaks was set on fire at Godhara in Gujarat that the shameful communal riots had taken place in the western state. The other reason why observers are skeptical is that on December 6, 1992 self-professed Ram bhakts had gone berserk demolishing the dilapidated Babri Masjid which was actually a makeshift temple. If they do a repeat, they will again be violating the judicial directive about maintaining status quo at the disputed site.

In such a situation the Government has only one option which is to strictly ensure the implementation of the court order. That is why the Central Government has quietly acceded to the request of the Uttar Pradesh Government headed by Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and placed more para-military forces at its disposal to deal with VHP followers. For public consumption, however, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wants everybody concerned to trust VHP’s assurance that there would be no breach of peace on October 17. In reality he knows as well as anybody else that just in case mob frenzy erupts there can be serious trouble with snowballing effect in other parts of the country. Therefore, he would not like the law and order situation to go topsy-turvy. It can’t be easily forgotten that 11 years ago then UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh had held out assurances galore including in the Supreme Court that come what may he would not allow the disputed Ayodhya structure to be touched. Instead, he had watched helplessly as the entire domed building was razed to the ground. As a fall-out from the demolition, the Bharatiya Janata Party might have been catapulted to power at the Centre but its ghost continues to haunt Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and many of their colleagues. Small wonder then that VHP is angry with what it feels the new-found enthusiasm of Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, the original author of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement, to maintain peace at all costs instead of allowing the Temple to be constructed.

Instead of ridiculing the compulsions of the Prime Minister and his colleagues, VHP leadership would do well to learn from their experience — it is one thing to kick up controversies as an opposition party and quite another to resolve them as the leader of the ruling coalition. VHP should exercise patience and restraint. If, indeed, it is true that the excavations in Ayodhya have revealed an ancient temple below the demolished structure, there is all the more reason for proceeding cautiously in this matter. In fact, had patience been shown right in the beginning things could have been entirely different. The demolished structure was actually used by the Hindu worshippers and not by the Muslims for offering prayers whatever its name and shape. As long as it was in sight, there remained an opportunity to convince the Muslims that a proper and imposing Ram Temple could be built in its place befitting the status of Ayodhya. By overplaying their hand, the Hindu zealots had just removed it lock, stock and barrel. There is no use persisting with the similar mulish attitude now to disturb the status quo in Ayodhya. Since efforts to settle the issue through a dialogue have not succeeded, everybody should await the judicial redressal. That would be the logical course to follow. The least that VHP is expected to do in the meanwhile is to stop throwing tantrums.

Sopore apple

Strange though it may seem fruit processing industry in Jammu and Kashmir has not been fully exploited so far. It will be wrong to blame militancy for this. Even before 1988, when the first bomb was exploded by the militants in Srinagar to announce their arrival, the situation could hardly have been called satisfactory. It is, therefore, heartening to know that attention is being finally paid to this neglected field. Sopore in the north of Kashmir is the apple basket of Asia. Recently it provided a perfect venue for Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig to offer a package of Rs 100 crores for entrepreneurs keen to work in the area of fruit processing. There can’t be two opinions that horticulture, given the vast potential in the State, can emerge as a viable industry. On one hand, it will generate employment. This will also, on the other hand, enable the State to earn foreign exchange for the country. For this it is necessary that processing industry is developed on modern scientific lines with the latest equipment. Quality control is absolutely necessary in this case.

Of late, Sopore has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The fact that it has survived as one of the major producers of apple has somehow escaped attention. It is good to learn that a Rs 17-crore project has been initiated now to develop the town’s fruit market as a national fruit market. About 80 fruit procurement centres have been set up in the district under the Market Intervention Scheme which is another wise decision and confirms the existence of vast potential. There is also reported to be a move to create a distinct trademark for Kashmir fruit in the international market. Although overdue, this step also needs to be welcomed. Better days, it seems, are ahead for Sopore apples.

PM's resolve: Peace and prosperity in J&K

By Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta

Under the inspiring leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji, the BJP led NDA Government at the Centre has completed four years of unprecedented achievements. This could be made possible through farsightedness, firm commitment, right direction and unique policy initiatives. By virtue of stable governance provided by the present Government, India has forged ahead in all the three critical areas of nation building - Democracy, Development and Security.

Thanks to some of the most ambitious and reform oriented policies and the vision of Atal Ji that the State of Jammu & Kashmir received Centre's attention as never before, Vajpayee Ji not only visited the state four times, but also has made most sincere efforts to restore democracy development and peace in J&K. He has assured the nation that the problems in Jammu & Kashmir will be resolved through dialogue and on the basis of the three principles of Humanity, Democracy and Kashmiriyat.

The Prime Minister had promised in his Independence Day speech in 2001 that elections to the J&K Assembly would be held as scheduled and would be free and fair. With the enthusiastic participation of the people, this promise was fulfilled. The ballot won over the bullet, enhancing the validity of India's position on Kashmir in the eyes of the international community.

So far, Prime Minister has given an economic package of approximately Rs. 10,000 crores to the people of Jammu & Kashmir. He announced a major development package of Rs. 6,000 crore for the State during his visit to Jammu and Srinagar in May, 2002. Its centerpiece is the construction of the Rohtang Pass Tunnel linking Manali to Leh and completion of the 287 km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramullah railway project linking the Kashmir valley to the rest of the country. The latter has been declared as a National Project, with a commitment to ensure that the first train rolls into the Kashmir valley before Independence Day, 2007.

The package includes specific relief and rehabilitation measures for the benefit of those who have been displaced from their homes by cross border terrorism.

During his recent visit to the State this year, the Prime Minister announced another package of Rs. 3, 500 Crores to ensure the creation of one lac job opportunities by 15th August, 2005 to tackle the problem of unemployment in the State of Jammu & Kashmir. A target of one and a half times i.e 1.5 lac job opportunities has been assigned to the various Ministries and Departments in the Union Government working jointly with the State Government.

At least Rs. 2,000 crores have been reimbursed to the State Government in past four years with respect to the security related expenditure which is much more than what it was since the onset of terrorism in the State.

Rs. 40 crores have already been provided to the J&K State authorities for releasing compensation to the farmers from the border areas whose profession was affected due to the Army build up along the borders.

A special package for improvement of Doordarshan and AIR services in Jammu and Kashmir at an estimated cost of Rs. 430 crore, is under implementation. Under the package, AIR and DD will set up new relay stations, transmitters, studios, earth stations etc., and also upgrade their existing facilities.

Govt. of India has also made a unique deviation from the existing norms in respect of Jammu & Kashmir by introducing news bulletins in two regional languages, i.e., Kashmiri and Dogri.

Prime Minister, during his visit to the State on 19th April 2003, made an announcement that a special target project for augmentation of drinking water supply in villages in Kandi area of J&K at an estimated investment of Rs. 175.10 crores will be taken upon priority basis over a period of three years. A time bound action plan is already getting prepared which is being closely monitored by the PM Office.

The upgradation of Govt. Medical College, Jammu to the level of All India Institute of Medical Sciences has been assigned top priority by Govt. of India.

The Airports including that of Jammu have been upgraded.

Not much headway could be made in the Jammu - Udhampur railway line project which was taken up way back in 1983. However, due to the efforts of the present Government, this railway line is scheduled for completion this year.

New trains on Jammu section, for example, Jammu - Haridwar Express have been introduced.

The National Highway is being 4 laned right from Pathankot to Jammu in the first phase. The bridge over river Ravi has been sanctioned. Earlier this issue remained cause of repeated agitations for the past several years as the State Government made only promises. Basohli - Bhaderwah road which continued hanging fire for the past about 30 years, has now been completed. Second bridge at Akhnoor has been sanctioned and process is on to start the construction work.

Funds through NABARD and other agencies are being provided to the State under the road connectivity programme. Several projects of road and bridges are being executed by the Border Roads Organisation.

To tie over the electricity crisis in the State, large funds have been provided. The Dul Hasti Hydel Power Project which remained only a promise in the last 20 years, is now nearing its commissioning. The work on five other Hydel Power Projects has been taken up.

Telecommunication, Electronic Media are getting utmost attention from the Centre. There has been incredible rate of growth of the telecom services in the state. The much wanted Mobile Telephone Services has already been introduced in the State.

Video conferencing facility has been set up at Ladakh Hill Development Council, Leh and Neuorna Blocks. This is the highest point in the world where online video conferencing facility has been made available.

Fulfilling an important assurance given by the Prime Minister, the Government has nominated an interlocutor to conduct talks with elected representatives, as also representatives of various organizations in the State.

Apart from the famous victory in Kargil War, our military and para military forces had gained major success in their relentless battle against terrorist outfits in Jammu & Kashmir.

Several steps were taken to seek the cooperation of the people to meet the challenge of Pak-sponsored militancy. Large number of Village Defence Committees were sanctioned. In addition to this, about 20,000 more posts of the Sahik Police Officers (SPO's) were provided.

The issue of fencing the border which was hanging fire for the past several years was taken up for execution in the right earnest braving all the threats from across the border. Significant progress has been made in this task.

Operation Sadbhavana was launched by Indian Army in Jammu & Kashmir to forestall militancy by winning the hearts of the people, especially along the Line of Control and militancy prone areas.

At least 14 recruitment rallies have been organized by the Armed Forces during the period October, 2002 to October, 2003 in J&K and for the first time, Air Shows were held to create awareness and motivate youths. Approximately 17,000 youths have been recruited to various ranks in Armed Forces during last three and a half years in J&K.

Three cantonments have been approved for the District of Doda. Large number of security posts have been created.

Vajpayee Government can proudly claim credit for having spent more money on the modernization and welfare of Armed Forces in the last four years than in the previous ten years put together.

The Government has approved Rs. 18,000 crore for construction of 3 Lac dwelling units under Defence Housing project, the biggest ever since independence.

To provide comprehensive medicare to Ex-servicemen and their families, the Govt. of India has approved the Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) at a capital expenditure of Rs. 122 crores with a revenue recurring expenditure of Rs. 354.5 crore per annum. The scheme has commenced from 1st April, 2003.

To honour and rehabilitate the family members of Kargil Shaheed under Operation Vijay, the Central Government has allotted 504 petrol pumps to the next of kin besides sanctioning thousands of gas agencies.

To instill a sense of active participation in electoral process and to facilitate effective exercise of franchise, the Central Government has decided for the facility of Proxy Voting for the members of Armed Forces.

The Centre remains committed to working closely with the coalition Government in the State to promote peace, normalcy and all round development. Kashmir remains the most integral part of India and the Government will crush any ugly design of the separatist and divisive forces both within the country and from across the border that threatens our national security and integration. The Vajpayee Government has resolved to defeat cross border terrorism with the support of the people of J&K and to establish social harmony based on peace and sustained development.

(The author is Minister of State of Defence)

World Food Day
International alliance against hunger

Dr Rakesh Nanda

World Food Day is a worldwide event designed to increase awareness and understanding to alleviate hunger. It is observed every year on October 16th. The first Food Day was celebrated in 1983. The World Food Day planning is done at the community level. Individual groups can hold a special event. Local coalitions representing the diversity can share ideas that will involve schools, business workshop centers.

Food Day aims to heighten public awareness of plight of World's hungry and malnourished and to encourage people to take action against hunger. More than 150 countries observe this event every year. A related initiative is the Tele Food campaign, in which television and radio broadcasts, concerts, celebrity appeals, sporting and other events pass on the message that it is the time to do something about the problem of world hunger. This year the theme is "World Food Day" building an international alliance against hunger.

National need to mobilize political will

The international alliance against hunger is a way to push aside apathy and indifference to decrease and ultimately eliminate the scourge of hunger. The UN agency said "To many children die before adulthood, too many adults never reach their full potential; too many nations are stalled on the road of development."

Nation need to mobilize political will and work harder to create the policy environment, provide funding and implement the programmes to allow people to overcome hunger and poverty. No this end, the international community has resolved to work together within an international alliance against hunger. A global partnership is needed to reduce poverty and guarantee the basic human right-right to food.

The alliance brings together many different groups including food producers and consumers, international organization Governments, agriculture business, scientists, academics, private individuals, policy makers, religious groups and NGO's.

Working together for an international alliance against hunger progress has been slow in efforts to reach the World Food summit goals of cutting by half the number of the World's chronically hungry and under nourished people by 2015. The good will not be met if we continue doing, business usual. Food & Agriculture, Organization estimates that 840 million human being on our earth remain chronically hungry. 799 of them in the developing world. The number has been decreasing by barely 2.5 million per year over the last eight years. At that we shall remove hunger by 2115. In year 2000, at the millennium summit, world leaders agreed to fight against hunger, poverty and disease. Placed at the heart of the global agenda, the goals of ending hunger and other development goals are now enshrined in the millennium development goals. In 2002, world leaders further agreed to match their commitments with resources and action. There is no doubt that Government have proclaimed their commitments to reducing hunger. But Government alone cannot solve the difficult problems of hunger and malnutrition. Many different groups must work together in a united effort. The International alliance will bring together the strength of food producers and consumers, International organisations and all other committed to reducing the suffering caused by hunger.

It is good news for today that leaders in an increasing number of countries are boldly putting the fight against hunger at the forefront of national priorities. These leaders recognize that only when people are joined together and make a collective call to make the international alliance against hunger working together, we must urge Governments to put in place the right policies and to implement anti-hunger programme. And, we should remind the international community of its commitments to make more development assistance available for fighting hunger. Let us all give priority to the war against hunger.

Unresolved issues of Indian Islam

By Vibha Das

Terrorism in Kashmir, bomb explosions by Islamists in different parts of the country at the behest of the ISI, political utterances by the hardcore leadership, has alienated the Muslim population from the mainstream of the national life. With the partition of the country, on the basis of the "two nation theory", it was the broad outlook of Indian leadership that a large chunk of the Muslim population remained within the Indian Union. But the relation between the majority and minority communities remains tense. A section of the followers of Islam still think that they can destabilise India. They are fighting over a trivial issue as in Ayodhya instead of engaging themselves in the upliftment of the community, which is educationally and economically backward as compared to other communities. It is a matter of regret that despite the intervening centuries, we are as far away from a resolution of these problems as when they were first articulated.

When Muslim rulers occupied the throne of Delhi way back at the beginning of the last millennium, they were immediately confronted with the question of the status to be accorded to their new subjects. Were they, according to Islamic terminology, to be categorised as (infidels) or dhimmis (people of the book)? There is a critical difference between the two terms. The former enjoined the rulers to wage a holy war against their subjects in conformity with the Quranic injunctions, while the latter obliged them to provide protection in return for payment of tax.

Among other factors, the very size of the native population vis-à-vis the new rulers inhibited the evolution of a definitive statement on the subject. So Hindus alternated between being kafirs and dhimmis right through the Muslim period. Mostly persecuted, but sometimes treated as second-class citizens, they were in either case, way below their rulers. This equation became firmly ingrained in the psyche of the rulers.

Besides the momentous decline in the status of Hindus, India in this period also saw the concept of the Muslim umma which served to further bolster the position of the political elite. The Islamic faith recognised no national boundaries and regarded Muslims everywhere as constituting one brotherhood.

Accordingly, the rulers of India kept open all channels of communication with their wider community, while the Caliphate at Baghdad existed, Muslim rulers devoutly paid obeisance to it. The steady flow of Muslims, who came to India, also provided a critical link with the "values and ideas generated elsewhere in the world of Islam". Muslim scholars and religious divines closely monitored developments in the universal community.

"The religious pre-occupations of the outside Muslim world became their pre-occupations; …controversies that wrecked the general Islamic world wrecked also the South Asian Muslim world." Pan-Islamism became an active and living force in the subcontinent from the time of the first Muslim conquerors. Not to mention the Delhi Sultans, even a ruler of the stature of Akbar valued such connections.

When Muslim power came under siege in the eighteenth century, leaders of the community unhesitatingly turned to their brethren across the border for succour. In the face of the rising Maratha power, Shah Waliullah solicited the intervention of the Afghan ruler, Ahmed Shah Abdali.

Likewise in the nineteenth century, Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan advised his co-religionists in India not to feel helpless. In the event of a British withdrawal, he said, "our Mussalman brothers, the Pathans, would come out as a swarm of locusts from their mountain valleys, and make rivers of blood to flow from their frontier in the north to the extreme end of Bengal."

In a similar vein, in the 1920s, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad said that the Sultanate-Caliphate in Istanbul was a valued potential support centre against the huge Hindu majority. In 1921, Mohammad Ali told the British that if the Amir of Afghanistan urged jihad against the British and approached India, the Muslims of this country should join him.

What is relevant for us today is that on the two issues of Pan-Islamism and the status of Hindus, Muslims of the subcontinent had not altered their position in the run-up to partition. Perceptive scholars have noted that this was the ijma (consensus) of the community. It is true that a certain amount of adjustment between Hindus and Muslims had taken place in the successor states that arose on the debris of the Mughal Empire but that had not fundamentally altered the power equations.

Since an alternative line of thinking had not developed, Muslims were unprepared for the changed reality when they became citizens of independent India in 1947. Questions that had dogged them in the past acquired an added urgency while equally critical new issues arose to confound them. Was India under its new dispensation Dar-ul-Islam (land of peace) or Dar-ul-Harb (land of war)? What was the correct Muslim response to citizenship in a non-Muslim state? How were Pan-Islamic bonds to be reconciled in the age of national boundaries?

Since the bulk of the Muslim political leadership had migrated to Pakistan, the Ulema (religious divines) inevitably stepped into their place. Their immediate concern was to keep their flock together and ensure that the Muslim identity remained firm in the new setting. This made them wary, if not outright distrustful, of fresh thought or change. By and large they kept the Muslims on the hold and tested path, unable to come to grips with the vastly changed scenario.

The community pushed itself into a corner, and felt itself trapped. It could, however, equally well be argued that the ijma of the community had voted against ijtehad (innovation), and that the ulema was merely voicing its sentiments.

The widespread outrage at the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano Case lends credence to this view, as does the near-absence of internal debate on the need to review age-old categories of thought in the light of present requirements. The community’s extreme sensitivity to even the most restrained external comments, as witnessed most recently in the reaction to an article by seasoned journalist T.J.S. George in The New Indian Express, also points to a similar conclusion.

But the hijacking crisis has brought to a flashpoint the very issues that Islam’s advent in the subcontinent had originally raised. The fact that at the height of the crisis the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, appealed to Indian Muslim leaders to use their connections with Islamic organisations, the world over, to press the Indiana point of view, is proof of the pull of the umma even today.

The suggestion of some Muslims that the Indian government use them to explain the Indian position on Kashmir and to counter the Pakistani propaganda that they were living under a hostile Hindu regime shows that the prospect of Muslims as subjects under non-Muslim rule is still unacceptable to the Islamic world. Finally, the Prime Minister’s call for a meeting of leading Muslim organisations to discuss Hindu-Muslim relations and the situation in Kashmir demonstrates the inability of the Indian Muslims to grapple with the meaning of partition.

Clearly India is at a crossroads. If she is to make headway in the new millennium she has to confront head-on and bring to a resolution issues that have dogged her for centuries. Her minority population needs to re-examine inherited modes of thought and reopen the doors of ijtehad. Jihad in its myriad modern manifestations has to be declared out of tune with the spirit of the times.

Hinduism must be recognised and declared a religion as valid as Islam. The sanctity of international borders must be acknowledged. Man’s political loyalties can no longer be a mere extension of their religious commitments. One hopes the Prime Minister’s initiative vis-à-vis Muslim leaders don’t turn out to be an exercise in escapism. INAV