Cong
loses more than power
From
Arun Nehru
We have
seen events in Goa BJP will sweep
elections as Presidents rule is imposed
and we have events in Jharkhand where the
Congress faced humiliation and sadly in
both cases Sonia Gandhi loses credibility
as 'loyal' Governors bend the rules and
sadly the Congress have lost more than
'power' in these states and was all this
necessary? Bihar heads towards Presidents
rule and I don't think that the BJP/JD[U]
or for that matter the LJP will be fooled
by the steps taken by the Governor, Buta
Singh. The print and electronic media
show their 'teeth' and it would be
difficult to do anything irregular at
this time. The verdict is clearly against
Lalu Yadav but he can attempt to topple
the UPA government at the Center if his
demands are not met and clearly the
Congress have limited options and will
now 'offer' Ram Vilas Paswan everything
'possible' but the problem is that 22 out
of 29 MLA'S are against any association
with Lalu Yadav and the RJD! Family
dynasty rule gets a setback as Lalu Yadav
and wife/brothers and their wives are
humbled, Shibu Soren 's sons are defeated
and Goa and Jharkhand were done to assist
the image of Sonia who made many a
election tours to both the states and the
results were negative and the
'alternative', Rahul Gandhi is simply not
in the political 'frame' at the moment.
The UPA
Government is now vulnerable and watch as
events are overtaken by political
'accidents' as many have to think of the
immediate future and their political
survival. Bihar will be a headache and
clearly Ram Vilas Paswan holds the
immediate future of the government in his
hands and events in Bihar in the next few
weeks will show the desperation of the
UPA. Mulayam Singh need no longer worry
in UP and Amar Singh will no doubt have
the last laugh as the Congress may not
make any more noises and may well agree
to induct SP ministers in the Cabinet if
Lalu Yadav and his 24 MP's give trouble
if the Bihar decision goes against Rabri
Devi, whilst in Tamil Nadu the DMK also
need not worry and can dictate terms as
Assembly elections approach and I wonder
what the Left will do as little happens
in the government without their consent
and they have elections in West Bengal
and Kerala.. The reality is that the
recent elections have shown the Congress
that they cannot treat 145 out of 542
seats as little more than a 'fractured'
verdict [second worst performance since
1952] and maintaining this number will
take a great deal of effort in the
immediate future.
Continuing
with the 'family' drama and events in
1979 I cannot but mention a few 'lessons'
in politics from Mrs Indira Gandhi during
this period as elections approached and
the lists were being prepared. She had
stressed that whilst running a political
party one cannot apply a single criteria
to everyone on the aspects of 'courage'
and 'loyalty' and they had to follow a
policy of forgive and forget as many in
the Congress had suffered and everyone
had a long list of 'tormentors' to settle
scores with but all this was put aside as
'vendetta' politics. Sanjay despite all
the success had his share of detractors
and after the Morarji Desai/Charan Singh
split it was apparent that elections were
around the corner and many a 'internal'
survey was conducted if Sanjay could win
from Amethi and whether his presence
would affect the chances of the Congress.
Sanjay himself was supremely confident
and was taking no chances and there was
no shortage of senior Congress leaders
who conveyed 'positive' signals to Mrs
Indira Gandhi and were very vocal with
the 'select' Brahmin lobby opposed to
Sanjay.
The
Brahmin lobby opposed Sanjay and it was
in Uttar Pradesh with 85 seats that the
major decisions were to be taken as all
85 seats were lost in 1977. The
charismatic HN Bahuguna returned to the
Congress and was without doubt a leader
of great talent and ability and he drove
a very hard bargain and got 8 seats for
his support and Mrs Gandhi personally
handled matters with Pt Kamlapathi
Tripathi and it was apparent a tough
fight was on the cards. Sanjay took few
chances in Amethi and Mrs Gandhi fought
from Rae Bareli and Medak in AP as a
precaution! The Congress party
traditional vote bank was the combination
of the Brahmins/Minority/Dalit votes and
the ideological thrust after the
struggles with the Syndicate and the
'have, have not' battle within the
Congress was Left of Center [Sanjay was
against Leftist thinking] and there was
fear that Sanjay would disturb the status
quo [very correct] as the. Brahmin
leaders who wielded power and authority
just did not deliver in 1977 and in the
fight back and Sanjay was clear that the
aggressive Thakur community should
balance this weakness in the coming
elections. The 'dual' power bases within
the family worked in total harmony and
clearly many a 'compromise' was necessary
to ensure electoral success and in the
Northern States in particular there were
'alliances' which insured that the old
guard retained their tickets at the
insistence of Mrs Gandhi whilst the
'others' which constituted the majority
went to Sanjay and he rewarded all those
who had fought during 1977-79 and
'punished' many a leader who had remained
silent. Sanjay was clearly the 'boss' and
he knew virtually every candidate by name
= the years 1977-79 had pruned the party
of 'alternative' power centers and Mrs
Indira Gandhi was more than content to
let Sanjay lead the charge.
Forget and
forgive was the slogan and whilst the
first was possible the second was very
difficult when it involved those who were
close and could be termed as 'friends'.
Sanjay said little but his thinking was
clear whilst Mrs Gandhi struggled but
found it difficult to fully forgive the
leader concerned and whilst she accepted
the fact that every individual could not
take the' pressure' there was still the
reality of those who had suffered along
with their families and continued to
fight! I am not sure if it would be right
for me to mention the many incidents here
but a few are necessary to mention as it
involved 'politics' within the family and
have a direct bearing on the future power
play.
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Election
brings little relief to Iraq
By
ALLABAKSH
The US and
its allies have expectedly hailed the
completion of Iraq's first election as a
victory for their efforts to bring in
'democracy' in the oil rich but
politically oppressed region. But
increasing sectarian strife has muddied
the scene in Iraq, already riddled with
daily violent protests against the US
presence and taking in its wake a heavy
toll of troops as well as ordinary Iraqi
citizens. Even as the champions of
'democracy' keenly await the freshly
elected national assembly to install a
Government and then approve a draft
constitution to eventually pave the way
for a full-fledged 'elected' Iraqi
Government, Baghdad appears to be fast
plunging towards a civil war with a real
threat of division of the country.
That is
not what the US had set out to achieve
when it sent its forces into Saddam
Hussein-ruled Iraq on what has turned out
to be a totally false premise that the
Iraqi dictator had built a stockpile of
weapons of mass destruction to target the
global cop. The US had vowed to usher in
democracy in Iraq, confident that after
the Iraqi dictator was deposed, democracy
will become sufficiently infectious to
spread across the entire Arab world where
the arid land has so far failed to see
democracy take any roots.
But
post-election, Iraq's worry has
multiplied. Insurgency has been stepped
up and the insurgents are now killing
American troops and an increasing number
of Shias who constitute the majority
population in Iraq. The targets of
insurgents include not only Shia mosques
and processions but also Shia funerals.
The joy among the Shias of Iraq that for
the first time in modern history they are
on the verge of ruling their country is
tinged heavily with worries about the
safety of their community and achieving
the difficult task of ensuring
participation of all sections of the
Iraqi society-Shias, Kurds, Sunnis,
Turkeman, Christians etc-in the interim
Government that is about to be formed.
According
to the Iraqi national security adviser,
Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie, militant leader Abu
Musa al-Zarqawi and Baathist elements are
behind the unstoppable chain of violence
against the Shias. The Al-Qaeda or the
Baathist elements loyal to Saddam Hussein
may be the villains but the fact is that
the effect of their acts of violence can
only sharpen divisive feelings in a
country that the Americans say is
standing at the door of democracy. The
attackers on Shias may have started
testing the patience of the majority
community and once that dissolves, a long
orgy of violence will follow and weaken
the Shia position to keep the country
united. Despite the fears of many
observers that the Iraqi Shias are, or
will be, influenced by their Iranian
neighbours the Shia leadership in Iraq
maintains at the moment that though
religion might guide the state, there is
no question of allowing religion to
govern politics in the country.
It is the
Shia community in Iraq that had
enthusiastically participated in the
recent poll that gave the Shias get 48
percent votes, followed by Kurds 26
percent and Prime Minister's lIyad
Allawi's secular Shias 14 percent votes.
Under the law that guided the Iraqi poll,
this translates into 140 seats for the
United Iraqi Alliance-also called the
'Sistani List'-and 75 seats for the party
representing the two main Kurd parties in
the 275-member national assembly. The
Sunnis had boycotted the poll in a
massive way and this will show in their
poor representation in the national
assembly and perhaps also in the interim
Government.
It is
almost certain that the two key posts in
the interim Government that of the
president and the prime minister will go
to Kurd and Shia representatives
respectively. The Sunnis cannot hope for
anything better than the post of one of
the two vice presidents. Names of
prospective candidates for the president
and the prime minister from the Shias and
the Kurds are already making the rounds.
Sunnis,
however, are not bereft of any bargaining
power in the national assembly because
despite their impressive show at the
hustings, the Shias have failed to obtain
an absolute majority in the national
assembly. They have to team up with the
Kurds and would like to look for Sunni
support to ensure that the draft
constitution gets the mandatory two-third
majority in the assembly and wins support
of all the major sections of the country.
Without that majority, another round of
poll may be necessary and this will
further push away the prospects of
heralding democracy in an Arab oasis.
Any
long-term arrangement between different
sections of Iraqi society will depend
upon the attitude of the fanatics in each
camp. The Shia leadership might say that
it will lead the Government as Iraqis and
not as Shias. But there are enough
fanatics within the ranks of the Shias
and other communities to make a mockery
of that profession. There are reports
that some of the 'enlightened' Shia
leaders are secretly aligned with the
hardliners in their community.
Then there
is a peculiar phenomenon in Iraq: many of
the Shia leaders in the forefront now are
actually seen as 'outsiders' who had
preferred the safety of long exile in
foreign lands to suffering under a
despotic regime at home. Needless to say
these 'outsiders' do not command
universal respect among their
co-religionists.
While
Sunnis may be getting restive at the
prospect of losing their grip on the
country's ruling dispensation for the
first time in modern Iraq, the dangerous
potential of the Kurdish factor cannot be
overlooked. The Kurdish parties say they
want to consolidate the autonomy that
their region has enjoyed since 1992. But
there is no doubt that the majority of
Kurds in Iraq want independence. That is
something that makes two immediate
neighbours, Iran and Turkey, uneasy with
their own minority Kurdish population
echoing the same view.
A big
question before the Kurds in Iraq is the
status of the oil-rich Kirkuk in the
north of the country where they want a
referendum conducted so that Kirkuk
reverts back to Kurdish control, undoing
the act of Saddam Hussein who was in any
case unfavourably disposed towards the
Kurds. A strong opposition to that
Kurdish demand comes not only from the
Arabs settled in Kirkuk but also from the
Turkemans.
The rise
of Shia power has raised the spectre of a
Shia 'crescent' of Iran, Iraq and Syria
in the vicinity of a largely Sunni Arab
world. The anti-US sentiments of the
Shias of Iraq might appear to be dimmed
at the moment but that will not sustain
long under the unrelenting US tirade
against Iran. The US might be hesitant
right now to do an Iraq in Iran, sending
its forces to 'liberate' the country. But
that alone will not ensure continuous
Shia support to the Americans in Iraq.
The
massive 'investment' that the US is
making in Iraq is to ensure that it
becomes a pro-American 'democracy'. An
Iraqi 'democracy' that refuses to kowtow
to US diktats will not be acceptable to
Washington. That has an in-built
potential of fuelling anti-American
sentiments in Iraq. While nobody will
dispute that democracy is the best form
of government whether in Iraq or anywhere
else, the Iraqi path to 'democracy'
appears to be strewn with too many
pitfalls.
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What
it means to be a Mayor?
TALES OF TRAVESTY
By Dr. Jitendra Singh
After a protracted
phase of uncertainty marked by hectic
politicking, lobbying and negotiation, Jammu has
finally found its first Mayor. A historic event,
indeed, both for Jammu as well as for the person
conferred with the rare honour of being
designated as the "City Father". While
one wishes that the new office-bearers in Jammu
Municipal Corporation would ably prove equal to
their respective assignments, it is also hoped
that they would always bear in mind what it means
to be a Mayor, a Deputy Mayor or a Corporator.
When the founding
fathers of Indian Constitution envisaged the
offices of President, Governors and Mayors, they
had sought to build these as symbols of highest
esteem which could serve as fountain-heads of
inspiration for the rest of the countrymen. It
was expected that anybody who is installed as
President or Governor or Mayor would already be a
person commanding such high reverence that he or
she would impart a distinct grace and dignity to
the post. Hardly could the unsuspecting founding
fathers of Indian constitution ever imagine that
50 years down the lane, these unblemished posts
will, contrarily, get reduced to lowly means for
blemished men and women to earn respectability by
shedding a part of their life-long blemish.
Take, for example,
the case of the first President of Indian
republic. When Jawaharlal Nehru expressed his
preferance for C. Rajagopalachari, popularly
called Rajaji, as the choice for post of
President, Rajaji was already acknowledged
worldwide as person who could be an asset to any
high office in any country of the world. In no
small measure was the stature of Babu Rajendra
Prasad on whom the choice finally fell to take
over as the first President in 1950. Eventually
when Rajagopalachari was requested to take over
the reigns of the then undivided State of Madras
considering the importance of this South Indian
State, it was Rajaji who appeared too tall for
the assignment and his acceptance of the offer
added to esteem and importance of the office.
Similarly, when Sarojini Naidu took over as a
Governor, she, in her individual capacity,
already enjoyed a stature which was taller than
that of any Governor in any Indian State.
In the same
vein, the makers of constitution believed that
the office of a City Mayor will be occupied by a
person who does not need to enhance his
credentials through mayorship but who has already
achieved a stature that enjoys distinct
respectability with or without conferment as a
Mayor so that his acceptance of the job adds to
the credentials of the office of Mayor rather
than his own credentials. Remember, for example,
the case of Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan who
could be easily offered the post of Mayor of
Madras city but he politely excused himself to
take up a teaching assignment in the Oxford only
to return later as the Vice Chancellor of Banaras
Hindu University before Nehru singled him out as
the most appropriate person to take over as the
first Vice-President of independent India.
The above
references may, nevertheless, sound out of
context in 2005 because much water has flown over
the years and Mother India, as indulgent as any
other mother, has also learnt to put up with the
fragile value-system practised today. Be that as
it may, the office of Mayor still continues to
hold its essential obligations which every
occupant will be looked up to live up. The
protocol lays down that in case of visit of any
foreign head of State, be it even Queen
Elizabeth, the Mayor and the Mayor alone will
enjoy the privilege of receiving her and hosting
her on behalf of the entire citizenry. Again, if
the citizens suffer any grievance, it is the
Mayor who will act as the legitimate spokesman
cum benefactor for redressal. In a way this
augurs well for Jammu because this might help
dampen the overenthusiasm of Jammu's self-styled
spokesmen, self-styled protagonists, self-styled
chief guests and self-styled
"prominent" citizens.
While the common
man in Jammu looks up to the newly installed
Municipal Corporation with a certain deal of
expectation, it is for the Mayor and his
colleagues never to risk forgetting even for a
moment that they are there simply by the support
and goodwill of the common man. Umapathy
has a stake in his Mayor with poetic conceit. "Shahar
Mein Mohtabir Woh Meri Gwaahi Se Hua ---".
Let the Mayor always bear in mind, what it means
to be a Mayor!
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Musharraf's
dilemma
By Samuel Baid
Once when Prime
Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, irritated by
persistent talk of his third secret marriage,
called Pakistan a land of rumours. But later his
confidant Maulana Kauser Niazi claimed he himself
had solemnised the secret marriage. This writer
has since made a study of kind of rumours in
Pakistan and has found that rumours have definite
bases and sometimes they form part of a
well-planned disinformation campaign.
The current rumour
making round of Pakistan talks of political
changes this year. The next general elections are
due in 2007. But the rumours say 2005 is the
election year and that Ms Benazir Bhutto, now in
self-exile, will be the next Prime Minister. Gen.
Pervez Musharraf vaguely denies it but,
nonetheless, the ruling Muslim League (Quaid)
stands unnerved.
The basis of these
rumours is the quiet diplomacy between Gen
Musharraf's men and former Prime Ministers
Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif who live in
forced or self-exile in Dubai and Riyadh. The
General has fully squeezed the utility of his
benami faction of the Muslim league to usurp
political powers. Now he has a difficult task
before him of cleansing Pakistan of the influence
of fundamentalists who support. Al Qaeda and
Taliban. This is the task he must perform in
order to remain in the good books of the United
States. But here he cannot depend on his Qaid
Muslim League. Nor can he make use of the
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), which the military
helped into power in North West Frontier Province
(NWFP) and partially in Baluchistan.
The Pakistan
People's Party (PPP) of Ms Benazir Bhutto is
considered to be secular party. Minorities,
women, workers, students, lawyers and rural poors
are its supporters. In the October 2002 general
elections, this party got the highest vote
percentage despite the absence of Ms Bhutto, who
was not allowed to contest, and despite massive
rigging in favour of the Muslim League (Q). Gen
Musharraf kept the PPP away from power sharing
although he badly needed its cooperation if he
was really sincere in his commitment to the war
against global terrorism.
Whatever Gen
Musharraf may claim he has not been able to
contol sectarian terrorism despite his loudly
trumpeted ban on sectarian militant groups. The
Al Qaeda and Taliban attacks on Afghanistan from
the soil of Pakistan have not ended all the
one-sided reporting of "successful"
military operations in South Waziristan and NWFP
notwithstanding. Gen. Musharraf told media
representatives in President House in Islamabad
last month that hundreds of foreign militants
hiding in the mountains had been eliminated. But
he also admitted that Al Qaeda had trained and
armed Pakistani groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed,
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Sipah-e-Sahba. These banned
goups freely operate throughout Pakistan and get
more recruits from madrasas and from disgruntled
sections of society. In January this year, the
Pakistani Army seemed all set to begin a
crackdown on the Baluch nationalists but it
didn't happen. One reason for this inaction was
the fear of Al Qaeda which could take advantage
of the situation and turn Baluchistan into a
battleground to avenge Pak military operations in
Waziristan against its activists. Moreover, the
Baluch said they were better prepared to fight
Pak Army than they were in the 1970s. Gen.
Musharraf, who had been threatening Baluch with
more deadly attacks than they faced in the 1970s,
suddenly mollified his language.
It will be absurd
on the part of Gen. Musharraf to believe that Ms
Benazir Bhutto or Mar Nawaz Sharif will jump to
help him out from the present crisis on his
terms. As part of the Alliance for the
Restoration of Democracy (ARD), their parties are
committed to the undoing of the 17th
constitutional amendment and Gen. Musharraf's
dual posts as the Army Chief and the President.
For the sake of their own credibility as
mass-based political parties, they just cannot
compromise on these two issues. The 17th
amendment, passed by Parliament in December 2003
with the support of the MMA, made all laws given
by Gen Musharraf after October 1999 (when he
staged his coup) as part of the constitution.
On other other
hand, Gen. Musharraf too has his own commitments.
The most important of them is his vow he made in
his first speech after his coup. He said Benazir
Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif would never be allowed to
return to power. He called them looters of
Pakistan's national wealth. Now he is seeking
their help but he has not given any hint that
they can return and fight the elections. On the
contrary, he told media representatives in the
President's House "If the enlightened
moderation objective is there in Pakistan till
2007 (when the next elections fall due) and
beyond, then the discussion (with Benazir and
Nawaz Sharif) is good.There is no discussion on
any one coming back." In fact Gen Musharraf,
unless he wants to commit harakari, cannot have
any deal with any parties if it affects the 17th
amendment or his dual posts.
But suppose under
pressure from Americans (Banazir is reportedly
going to Washington) or because of their own
concern for conditions in Pakistan, the two
former Prime Ministers return home to take active
part in politics to counter the influence of
terrorists and fundamentalist groups, what
political or administrative leverage can they
have? Akram Sheikh writes in Urdu daily 'Pakisan'
that if the so-called enlightened forces agree to
cooperate with Gen. Musharraf, under whatever
pressure, they will not be able to bring about
any difference or serve the cause of democracy
because since 1999 there has been no department
of the Government which is not under a retired or
serving Army officer.
The dilemma Gen
Musharraf faces today is - he is under increasing
pressure from the United States and the West to
eliminate religious terrorism. He cannot do this
without the cooperation of Benazir Bhutto and
Nawaz Sharif. But he cannot get this cooperation
without sacrificing himself. and he cannot go on
with present political status quo. Americans and
the West have given enough hints that will
ultimately use democracy and human rights as a
blackmailing tactics against him.
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Of
Regional Languages and Dogri
By Darshan Darshi
A regional
language is a true domicile of the region of its
origin. In terms of democratic parlance, it is a
true representative of the people and their
aspirations. This being so, why in several
regions of India, then, the people are saddled
with languages which don't hold local trade mark.
Why a regional language is sacrificed at the
altar of words, spoken and written not possessing
any matriarchal or patriarchal affinity with the
users? This, we all know, is done in the name of
progress, and prosperity, of the region as also
to open up wider vista's for its people. True. I
too candidly accepted this matter of factness,
till I came across a story, which I will briefly
narrate.'' A judicious and subjects loving king
had to seek medical support from aliens, for the
treatment of a mysterious disease, spreading
recklessly amongst its people. A patient will
suffer cruciating and bone cracking pain before
his foot will go limp and lifeless. The men of
medicine hit their heads hard but could not
arrest the trend of the disease and apprehending
further damages in the body of the patients,
commenced amputations of the walking limbs only
to replace them with the un-originals. The
artificial looked beautiful but the king was
horrified. On a saner advice, he dismissed all
these medical butchers who had not the patience
to study either the cause or the effect but
believed in quickies only. Then a saintly Hakim
came from nowhere and put all the ailing limbs to
the indigenous moulds of cow-dung, selected clay
minced with wild medicinal plants, under a
sustained temperature obtained through cakes of
cow-dung and wooden charcoal mixed in a specific
ratio. He did not resort to a single amputation,
the recovery ratio being full hundred percent.
The king and the kingdom lived happily
thereafter.''
A non-native
language is like artificial toes, beautifully
fixed on the amputated feet. But no Jaipur foot
can match the grace of the originals, which
otherwise may look unkempt and shabby. My story
and the statements, to some may look like a far
fetched similie of John Donne the poet. But the
truth was always nearer to the poet as it is to
me. Instead of putting the regional languages to
the indigenous treatment of the mother clay and
the father forest, we rode the horse of hurry in
the name of communication, competition and
progress. The result is that we have all snubbed
toes and disfigured feet in all those provinces
where regional language has been made subservient
and forced, to play a 2nd or third fiddle.
The two days
Seminar on Dogri language, on 2nd and 3rd of
March 2005, as organized by Dogri Department of
J&K in collaboration with Sahitya Akademi,
was essentially and inveterately, an exercise in
assessing the status, the growth and development
of a language which could dance on its full toes
only during a period as remote as Maharaja
Ranbir's. Thereafter, Dogri the regional language
of the vast Duggar Desh, the mother tongue of the
valiant Dogras, had to suffer all those razor
incisions and cuts which were rudely inflicted by
the elder languages on the heads and shoulders of
the younger ones. And this happened to Dogri
through the hands of Dogri speaking kings. The
result, therefore, in the case of Dogras was not
only a stinted growth of their language but a
personality chasm, too. The love of the native
kings for languages other than their mother
tongue, had inflicted double injury to its
people. As the agents of the higher languages
entered their lands, modest but temperamental
Dogras, started developing sagged psyches, their
warrior complexions notwithstanding. The
rejection of their Dogri (regional language) by
their own kings had not only torpedoed a
language, it had hit the free formation of a
self-confident society. A society which had to
retread a long passage on time, for standing
firmly again.
One need not read
between the lines to comprehend that not
developing a regional language does not only mean
the poor health of a communication skill, the act
has a direct bearing on the growth of the
communicators, as well. Thus the theory of
bringing in other languages; by essentially
marginalizing the regional language; for the
growth and development of a region, has no
empirical basis. Nothing can be further, fron
truth then such 'Pragmatic Sanctions'. Punjabi
alone is a big case in point. Agreeably, there
are no other alternatives. For the better
realization of the aspirations of the people, a
basic aim of any democratic polity, the regional
languages have to be nurtured, developed, made
proficient and propagated.
As of Dogri this
nurturing is nowhere to be seen. It must be a
rare language in the world which is taught
randomly and not gradually. No teaching in class
Ist to third, the student is introduced to this
regional language in fourth standard like the
English teaching used to come our way in good old
times. But unlike English teaching of the yore,
the poor Dogri evaporates from schools in 6th,
7th and eight class only to re-appear in ninth
high grade. Whether this erratic treatment of a
language educates or de-educates is itself a
point to be pondered at. The very fact of even
this half-hearted practice of education in Dogri
language teaching, being relegated to papers
often and generally, is surely a pain in the
neck. And the act of the private schools; a major
share holders in the education sector of to-day;
not, bothering to conform to even above said
apology of an education of mother tongue is a
double pain chilling down below the backbone.
But with an
unconcerned people and polity such pain float
galore. The props as provided by the Constitution
of India or the National Academy in the form of
scheduled listing and awards can only function as
propellers. They cannot become the engine. The
train, track and travel of a language is the
people speaking that language. However, laying of
a suitable track and facilitating the movement,
is also the job of those who are responsible for
the education of a State.
Dogri as a
language has suffered in the hands of its
royalty, it has suffered in the hands of its
democratic representatives and to-day it is
suffering in the hands of its people. So, users
and speakers of this language who are its sons
and daughters, simply by the drop of a hat, shift
their loyalties and pride in speaking
neighbouring regional language or national and
international language. The Seminars as mentioned
above will remain confined to auditoriums and
intellectuals only if we fail to initiate a
follow up. Only such theories survive which are
successfully implemented, rest only remain a
reading material of the erudite.
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