Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

Forgetting Sheikh Abdullah at 100 !
Men, Matters, Memories

By M L Kotru

By Jagjit Singh

''Instruments of political oppression still threaten many thousands of people. The number believed to be incarcerated without a fair trial is quite high in some countries. In many cases oppressive states use the police and military to repress people in their struggles for rights and freedoms''- United . .........more

Dual Power Centres

By Arun Nehru

EDITORIAL

Wise choice

It has been a good decision on the part of Congress President Sonia Gandhi to spend her birthday with the sufferers of the October 8 earthquake in this State. Arguably she is not the first leader to have fruitfully utilised the day to make it memorable. In fact President A.P. J. Abdul Kalam always makes the best use of personal and festival celebrations by sparing a thought for the needy and the poor especially children. There are many other leaders as well who shun ostentatious display of every kind. In the case of the Congress President, however, it is not easy to do so. For, over the years the office has come to be associated with a culture of sycophancy. Not surprisingly the moment Ms Gandhi let her decision to avoid merriment be known the first reaction in the corridors of power in the national capital was that many cake and bouquet orders must have been cancelled. Why can't such occasions be simple? Viewed in this background too Ms Gandhi has indeed shown a fine gesture to be with people in distress. This departure from pretentious routine must be welcomed. She has succeeded in sending a message that her party heading the ruling coalition in the State indeed cares for its inhabitants. This has also given her an opportunity to undertake a first-hand review of the relief and rehabilitation works in freezing cold. This experience must stand her in good stead in her capacity as chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance at the Centre. It has been a severe calamity worse than the all-round havoc caused by snowstorms early this year. As many as 1216 civilians and 120 defence and Central para-military personnel had lost their lives in the State in the wake of the tremor.

In addition there was a large-scale dislocation of the human population with 39182 houses having been fully damaged and 71078 partially smashed. There has been a liberal inflow of financial help. The President and the Prime Minister, apart from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), have kept in touch with the situation and personally visited the affected regions. Off and on the reports nevertheless indicate as if there has been delay in constructing temporary shelters. Despite the loss of its own men and damages to field defences, bunkers and posts the Army has done a praiseworthy job in rushing to the help of the ordinary citizens.

One feels that instead of making it an occasional affair the leaders regardless of their politics must make a conscientious choice to observe their birthdays and other personal festivities in a plain way. They must also encourage such austere but meaningful exercises by others. Five-star extravaganzas are best left to film stars and the others who believe in living up to an image howsoever different it may be from social realities. There is little reason for political leaders to take time off for catering to this trend. Their basic concern must be addressing miseries of the people. They must honour those who truly believe in simple living and high thinking. If they merely shed tears in this behalf while acting to the contrary in real life they will not be taken seriously. One hopes that Congress leaders at least will catch the hint given by Ms Gandhi.

Too precious to lose

There are two reasons why the focus is again on the depressing phenomenon of infant mortality in the country. One is, of course, that right from the Prime Minister downwards the political leadership has been concerned about it. The other is that Microsoft founder Bill Gates who along with his wife runs a health foundation has announced a grant of $24.3 millions for preventing such undesirable occurrence in at least two states. Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has correctly portrayed the gloomy picture. There is no doubt as he said "much progress has been made in checking this trend since Independence" but nobody will disagree with him either when he adds: "still we have a long way to go" He has listed "lack of resources, illiteracy and most importantly, slackness in the right to claim healthy birth" as the factors responsible for "maternal mortality rate of 400 per lakh live births, an infant mortality rate of 60 per thousand live births and a neonatal mortality rate of 40 per thousand live births". In actual terms it may well seem to be a frightening situation with 529000 women dying during childbirth each year and 10.6 million children failing to reach their 5th birthday. According to the 2005 Worth Health Organisation report on global scenario the under-five morality rate in India is 87 per 1000 live births. The comparative official figures for three years as maintained by the Registrar General of India show a decline in IMR (infant mortality rate) from 68 per 1000 in 2001 to 60 in 2003 in the country as a whole. This is too poor a progress to please anybody. Our State is not in the best of companies in this sphere. With an IMR of 44 per 1000 it is actually among the worst affected and leaves even far bigger states like Maharashtra (42 per 1000) and Tamil Nadu (43) behind. The latest statistics tabled in the current session of Parliament show a marginal improvement in Jammu and Kashmir in 2003 from 48 in 2001. One is in for further disappointment if one learns that 47 per cent children in the country below three years of age are undernourished while 18 per cent are "severely undernourished" (the corresponding figures for J&K are 34.5 per cent and 8.3 per cent, respectively). The obvious conclusion will be that the Reproductive Child Health Programme (RCH) aimed at reducing infant and child mortality and morbidity in children is slow in delivering the necessary results. The ongoing RCH Programme is a component of the National Rural Health Mission and is being strengthened through implementation of fresh measures. The new features that have been added include the Janani Suraksha Yojna (JSY) under which cash incentives are being given to pregnant women belonging to families Below Poverty Line if they deliver at a health centre or a hospital. Among other things it has been planned to improve access of rural people especially poor women and children to "equitable, affordable, accountable and effective primary healthcare".

Clearly there is the need not only to arrest this trend but to completely reverse it. Women and children are extremely precious parts of our society. They must be protected and nurtured. After all they together hold the key to the quality of our life.

Forgetting Sheikh Abdullah at 100 !
Men, Matters, Memories

By M L Kotru

''It happens only in India'' That's the refrain of a song picturised some years ago on the late Amrish Puri. It was an extremely warm-hearted tribute to the genius of India which the late actor had lip-synched, taking a day off as it were from his villainy. Amrish Puri, do I need remind you, was one of the great character actors of the Bollywood who developed villainy into a fine art, somewhat akin to that grand dad of Bollywood villains, Pran Sikand, popularly known as Pran.

I am not concerned just now with all the glorification of India that the song in question did, most of it not untrue, as any Hindi film buff would say. What concerns me is the other India that is at once callous and could well give a blind eye to something that was not considered to be the done thing at a given time. I am referring to the 100th birth anniversary of the Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah which fell on December 5 and went almost unnoticed except for a brief report which I read in one of the Delhi papers. (For the rest it looked as if the great Sher-e-Kashmir had never existed. Yet, the truth is that the Sheikh dominated the Kashmiri scene like none before him, from 1930 onwards until his death. That he limited his canvas to the princely State of Jammu and Kashmir was a matter of choice for him. For the first Kashmiri Muslim youth to earn his Master's in Science in the late 20s of the last century, the young Abdullah was appalled by the condition of his people. So much so that he quickly gave up his newly acquired job as a teacher and plunged headlong into a struggle that was to consume the greater part of his life for the emancipation of the people of the State.

From 1927 onwards the man began his search for like-minded young men, his prime concern at the time being to rally the Muslims in the State against the oppressive rule of the Maharajas. So it was as a youthful Muslim leader that the Sheikh made his initial mark. A few years later he decided to widen his horizons and the Muslim Conference which he had formed with the then Mirwaiz of Kashmir made way for the National Conference which became the spearhead of the movement against oppression through the late 30s to 1947. Sheikh Abdullah had in the meantime become and integral part of the country's freedom movement and was accorded a place of honour in the pantheon of its leaders including Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad and Ghaffar Khan to name a few. Nehru, of Kashmiri lineage and with a distinctly noticeable passion for anything Kashmiri, became Sheikh Abdullah's friend and indeed persuaded the Sheikh to succeed him as the President of the All India States People's Conference, an organisation representing the people of the 600 odd princely States of India, in opposition to the Princes' Chamber representing the Nawabs and Maharajas.

The Sheikh had simultaneously built up his movement against the ruling family of his own State which was climaxed by Quit Kashmir (asking the Maharaja to leave the State) movement. He was promppy jailed. Nehru, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Acharya Kripalani and even the Mahatma came calling (Nehru was arrested near Uri near today's LOC). Sheikh Abdullah had by then become a nationally recognised political heavyweight which indeed he was.

His commitment to secular democratic values was beyond question. He had earlier rebuffed Qaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on one of the latter's visits to the Valley. He was to rise again against the raiders backed by Pakistani Army regulars who crossed the State borders to grab Kashmir as if it were a piece of cake.

The Sheikh curiously was still in the Maharaja's jail when the first rumblings of the Pakistani invasion came to be heard. His wife took to organising peace committees all over the valley to prevent flames of communal hatred from engulfing the State while his comrades like Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, Mr G M Sadiq etc joined hands to build up the resistance to the raiders. How Kashmir came to accede to India, with the Sheikh's assent becoming a part of the instrument, is well known. The rest is history.

Sheikh Abdullah soon came to be harried by the new rulers in New Delhi. He continued to be irked, as Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, with missives that reeked patently of communal undertones. Some of these even mentioned some communities by name which should be discouraged from joining ''sensitive'' services. Ironically one such ''service'' was Post and Telegraph Department !

More needling by the Centre via undue interference in day to day administration in spheres clearly allotted to the State Government and the Sheikh raised objections. He was deposed and arrested on August 9, 1953 and spent the next 11 years in jails across the country. He was tried for treason with the former Law Minister and later Vice-President G S Pathak leading the prosecution. The case was eventally withdrawn and the Sheikh was released.

Nehru, for whom the Sheikh's arrest had been a personal blow, greeted him and I recall the Sheikh telling me how an emotional Nehru, tears welling in his eyes, greeted him and sought the Sheikh's forgiveness. He contrasted the scene with his meeting with Mrs Indira Gandhi, by then the Prime Minister of India. The Sheikh had come out of another prison term to meet Indira. ''There was no regret, not a trace of remorse in her unlike in the case of Jawaharlal'', the Sheikh recalled. The Sheikh was in Pakistan as Nehru's envoy to talk to Gen. Ayub Khan but Nehru died and the Sheikh had to return.

Yes, the days of the Plebiscite Front were also there but the Sheikh who had been undone by the very people whom he had trusted had to tell his pople that he had not betrayed them. In the many rounds of talks in subsequent years including the final ones between Mrs Gandhi's emissary G Parthasarthi and Sheikh's nominee Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beg an accord was reached between Indira and the Sheikh. This also was breached but the Sheikh regardless decided to give it a try. The ageing Lion of Kashmir was now thinking aloud about the accession, the relationship prior to 1953 between Srinagar and New Delhi and on many occasions on the need for autonomy for the State. He was looking forward to an era of prosperity. Only a man like the Sheikh could have told Kashmiris, when he had the subsidy on rice withdrawn, ''where is your pride gone; eat potatoes if need be ''.

I flew into Srinagar from Delhi to attend his funeral and never before in my life had I seen such patent grief. Almost the entire population of the valley appeared to have converged on Hazratbal on the banks of Dal Lake where his body was laid to rest. This is but a peep into the historic, yet chequered career of one of India's finest sons. A pity that his 100 birth anniversary should have gone unnoticed. Not even a postage stamp as a remembrance.

Rhetorics and reality of human rights

By Jagjit Singh

Since the adoption of Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) on 10 December 1948, human rights have received unprecedented global attention and support. In Vienna Conference on Human Rights in 1993, it was felt clearly that the areas of protection had become increasingly specific which included preventing genocide, abolishing slavery, combating torture and eliminating all forms of discrimination based on race, sex, religion or belief. In the same way, the beneficiaries of human rights had become better defined: women's rights, rights of indigenous people, protection of refugees, stateless persons, children, religious and linguistic minorities, physically and mentally disabled persons, protection of detainees and victims of enforced disappearance, protection of the rights of migrant workers and their families.

The UDHR was intended as a common standard of achievement of all rights for all people. Its 30 articles spell out basic civil and political rights and fundamental economic, social, and cultural rights that human beings in every country should enjoy. Many newly independent countries have cited the UDHR or included its provisions in their basic laws or constitutions.

Despite this, violation of human rights remains one of the biggest challenges in the 21st century. ''Gross violations of human rights continue-both loud and silent'', observes a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report. ''They are loud in Rwanda, where a million people died, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an estimated death toll of 150000-250000......There are also silent violations: about 790 million people not adequately nourished, 250 million children used as child labour, 1.2 million women and girls under 18 trafficked for prostitution each year, more than 150 million people living in income poverty in OECD countries'', elaborates the report and expresses deep concern over the fact that while world is often aware of loud violations, it is not necessarily so of the silent violations.

The extent of violations of human rights is evident from the fact that the UN Commission on Human Rights receives, every year, over one lakh complaints of rights' violations from individuals and institutions. The UN's special rapporteurs and independent experts issued, between June 2001 and June 2002, over 945 immediate appeals to 56 states on the charges of torture, arbitrary detention, putting restrictions on the freedom of expression, extra-judicial execution, etc. ''In many countries those responsible for administering justice are violators of law, not its guardians. Police are viewed with hostility because of their brutality, their involvement in the drug business, their mistreatment of prisoners and their failure to protect the people who need their protection most. Rapes by prison guards have been reported in many countries- in prison and outside,'' observes a UNDP Human Development Report.

In the recent past, we saw gross violation of human rights by US led forces in Iraq. Despite unprecedentedly massive anti-war condemnation and protest worldwide including America, the United States launched multi-pronged attack on Iraq accusing Saddam of stockpiling the chemical weapons of massive destruction Essential services like water and electricity supply were discontinued. Like any other war, women and children in Iraq have been in Iraq have been the biggest victims of unmindful attacks. Hundreds of innocent civilians were perished in air attacks. Many lost limbs and rendered crippled for life. Fearing death, Millions of people were forced to leave their home for a 'safer' place. Though the war is over the trauma created by it would haunt them for years to come.

While any individual's rights can be violated anywhere citing any or no reason, women and girls constitute the most vulnerable group or human rights violation and abuse allover the world. Whether it is health education or political/economic empowerment in every area their access to their rightful rights is a far cry. The demon of violence follows them from cradle to grave. This violence has many faces female in- fanticide, dowry deaths, rape, foced intercourse, forced abortion or forced sterilization, trafficking of adolescent girls and women for commercial prostitution, witch-hunting, honour killig (especially in some Islamic countries), circumcision, devdasi system, etc.

Being a signatory to the UDHR, India and its constitution gives equal rights to all. Over the years human rights commissions have been constituted at central and state levels to look into the complaints of rights' violation and redress the grievances of victims. Despite these laudable steps, violation of citizens' rights is a common thing in the country. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took up, between 1st April 1998 and 31st January 1999, 30844 cases of rights violation for consideration whereas number of such cases in 1997-98 was 36792. With 17638 cases, Uttar Pradesh remained number one in human rights violation in that year. As many as 177 persons died in police custody in 1999-2000.

Undoubtedly and undeniably, judicial system in many countries has done exceedingly well to protect human rights and ensure freedom. In India, public interest litigation cases in education and environment have been important milestones in securing people's economic and social rights. However, in many countries, access to and administration of justice remains elusive due to multiple reasons such as poverty, inadequate infrastructure, unwarranted interference into the working of judiciary by the executive, confrontation between the judiciary and the executive and last but not the least corruption in the judicial system in many countries. In fact, judicial system's fairness itself, according to UNDP, is in question in many countries which ultimately leads to the denial of justice. In Bangladesh, a national survey of corruption by the local chapter of the Transparency International (TI) in the 1990s found that 63 per cent of those involved in litigation paid bribes to court officials. In the United Republic of Tanzania, 32 per cent of thoe surveyed in the same decade reported payments to persons (supposedly) administering justice. ''Justice has become a commodity that often only the rich and powerful can afford''- a dismayed UNDP observes.

In the Vienna Conference on Human Rights, there was a general consensus amongst the participants that the existing body of law be backed up by vigorous operational activities undertaken by the United Nations to ensure that these laws be carried out by the respective Governments. The Vienna Declaration proclaimed that ''democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing''. Continuous violations of rights is indicative that the enforcement of various declarations on rights protection has been half-hearted. Unless this approach is changed, enjoyment of all rights by all will remain a distant dream for millions of people.

Dual Power Centres

By Arun Nehru

Natwar Singh has resigned but look at all the pain and suffering over the last forty days as confusion and chaos prevails between the dual power center's = PM who has no power to 'act' and another power center [Sonia Gandhi] who runs away from 'accountability' and 'scrutiny' ! The 'confusion' is obvious if you go through the media statements by the Congress party in the past month and the chaos was evident as the Congress spokesmen threatened to sue the United Nations and sadly things have just got out of hand and the 'comic' drama continues with a very heavy political cost. A political issue requires quick political responses not twisted legal arguments by clever lawyers and after the defeat in Bihar the message is still not understood as the opposition is revived, the Third Front is a reality and clearly the 'weakness' of the UPA is obvious. I have written for the past year that dual power centers cannot exist and you need a full time PM and sadly Manmohan Singh by this incident loses stature and relevance. There are occasions in 'Dynastic' politics when the senior leaders have to 'fall upon the sword' to protect the Dynastic head who is always credited with everything good [followers must pay for the mistakes] and in this case both Natwar Singh and his family 'resist' and may get the 'full treatment' to prove that this was a individual indiscretion and not a party matter. Politics has little sentiment and this issue is far from over!

Natwar Singh has resigned and there will be many a 'story' of his excesses and most of these will be leaked by the MEA and many of his friends in the Congress and the extent of this will depend how he is treated by the party in the immediate future and in the manner he reacts to the investigations. The opposition has a major issue and clearly investigations in the Oil scam can only be done by the CBI as a FIR has to be filed to get details of bank accounts and diversion of funds in Switzerland and Jordan. The situation can get ugly and clearly whilst the opposition will try to involve Sonia and the Congress party the aim of the party will be to project that individuals acted on their own and the party was not involved! The damage in the public domain however is 'huge' and I think Sonia Gandhi to maintain her position and to protect the party will have little option to ensure that the truth should surface at the earliest [this will be the action if the party is not involved]. There are fall outs at every level and things will be difficult to predict in the immediate future. All these events have political ramifications but sadly it is individuals and their families who suffer and hopefully there will be no vindictive acts in the future.

The BJP part company with Uma Bharti and the 'timing' was almost perfect as the Oil Scam and the Bachhan illness devoured the media headlines. The Bihar victory has closed the ranks between the RSS/BJP and the warring factions and the change in MP was smooth with little dissent and handled firmly by Arun Jaitly and Pramod Mahajan and clearly the BJP is showing signs of a great recovery as the Congress suffers electoral and other 'damage' as we have seen in the Volcker issue. The BJP have little stake in West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and have a few months to organize their efforts for the next three elections in Assam, Uttaranchal and Punjab. A alliance with the AGP can sweep the Congress in Assam whilst in Uttaranchal I can predict a landslide victory for the BJP and in Punjab the balance in a tough election will tilt towards the Akali/BJP combination if the Congress suffers a string of defeats. The BJP need 'alliances' and many of these will come naturally as the mood changes but they have a great deal of work to do in critical states like Uttar Pradesh where they have shrunk from 62 seats to 10 over three General Elections.

The Oil scam over the last forty days has many lessons for the future and look at the responses of the party and the daily contradictions as events overtook decisions. PM Manmohan Singh loses heavily in terms of credibility and clearly 'servility' and 'survival' is no substitute decisive leadership. Sonia Gandhi and the family enjoy the 'fruits of office' but tend to shy away from political governance and responsibility. The elections in Bihar were a disaster and will Sonia Gandhi/Rahul lead from the Front in West Bengal/Kerala where the party is heading for a huge defeat and what of Tamil Nadu which suffers from one natural calamity to another and the only one visible in the field is the AIDMK. The coalition has a dozen Central Ministers and all the important portfolio's from Tamil Nadu but where is Sonia Gandhi and where is the Grand coalition as the people of Tamil Nadu look for support. Elections are six months away. Political battles are no different from real battles and the leader has to lead from the front and is this the position today in the Congress party? The PM cannot be a 'proxy' of a hidden power base and political events cannot be manipulated by a few friendly media barons and editors or by select officials and politics has moved beyond the control of a select coterie. Coalition politics is here to stay and no regional leader can survive unless he or she has the ability to win elections and things for both the BJP/Congress will become very difficult unless they have charismatic leaders who by personal example can reverse a election trend by their ability and charisma. Numbers will determine coalition patterns and the numbers favor the regional forces.