Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

By Inder Singh Bhatia

It would have been ironic if an actor who has come to be associated in the popular mind with the slogan of Gandhigiri were to be convicted of terrorism. Thus, it will be a relief to many that the actor, Sanjay Dutt, was acquitted of the serious charge of conspiracy in the 1993 bomb blasts in Mumbai. The court, however, found him guilty of illegally possessing arms. This, on the face of it, is a minor offence. It is important to note, however, under which clauses of the Indian Arms Act Dutt was found guilty.. ...more

The Nepal truce ….

By Tushar Charan

Needed: A land
reclamation exchange

By Dr Bharat Jhunjhunwala

EDITORIAL

Shoddy probe

One will be surprised by shoddy probe into militancy-related offences. This is all the more shocking in matters in which police men are directly involved. How else can one explain acquittal of the accused in a 16-year old case of violent attack on State Vigilance Commissioner Ashok Bhan when he was Senior Superintendent of Police, Anantnag? Mr N.D. Wani, Presiding Officer of the Special Designated Court under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, has found no evidence against the alleged aggressor. In fact, he has put it on record that no witness has in his statement identified him. One who had done so has not been examined. This is astounding. According to the prosecution theory the alleged accused had indiscriminately fired upon Dr Bhan and his bodyguards with the intention to kill them. This was on August 3, 1990. The ghastly scene had occurred in the local court complex. Dr Bhan was injured along with at least five of his junior colleagues. They were rushed to hospitals. None of them mentioned their tormentors by names for, they had not been able to see them. Evidently the incident that had created quite a stir has not been thoroughly investigated subsequently as well. The facts are within the domain of public knowledge. Indeed, Dr Bhan and his men had narrowly survived. The militancy was at its peak those days. It is not a secret that anybody wearing a uniform ran the risk of his life. This in turn made it absolutely necessary that they were careful in their functioning. They ought to have adopted means not only to defend themselves but to rip off masks from faces of militants who managed to camouflage themselves in the first instance. Admittedly, it has taken them time to come on top of the ground situation. Clearly, however, they still require honing their investigating skills to perfection. The failure to diligently look into attacks on their own associates is bound to tell on the morale of the people at large.

At the same time it will have a negative influence on innocent persons who are dubbed as criminals and murderers. It is the "Maachis" effect so vividly captured by Gulzar in his thought-provoking movie. The scarred psyche of such people may well lead them into the hands of terrorists. Sixteen years is too long a period for a person to have a Damocles' sword of litigation hanging over his head. For that, however, the police is not to be entirely blamed. For various reasons the wheels of justice move slowly in our country. But they move surely. Only recently we have been witness to this phenomenon at a different level. Judicial verdicts after years have created ripples in the national politics. These have resulted in one leader walking straight from the Union Cabinet into the jail and the exit of another from Parliament.

Justice delayed is not always justice denied but it is not a healthy situation. Everybody admits it. The problem can be tackled to some extent by a quick and fair probe, timely presence of investigating officers in courts and speedy justice. Effort should be to ensure that no innocent person is pointlessly harassed and no criminal goes unpunished. This balance is essential to achieve everywhere more so in terror-ridden societies.

Matter of concern

Suicide by Lt Col Pankaj Jha in Mahore in Udhampur district will shock many. It is unbelievable that a senior Army officer should have found his life unfit to live. He shot himself with his service pistol within hours of returning to the duty from leave. The first impression is that a domestic problem may have driven him to take the extreme step. The cause of concern is that such happenings have become quite frequent in the elite force during the current year. These are to be distinguished from fratricidal killings. More than 125 suicides have already taken place in the Army in 2006. Their number is the maximum so far in a calendar year taking the total to about 500 after 2003. Before the latest incident five officers including a gallantry award winner, five junior commissioned officers and 118 jawans are reported to have bid goodbye to the world out of desperation this year. The comparative statistics for the last three years are: 2005: 120, 2004: 116 and 2003: 119 (including 15 attempted suicides). We have often discussed an unpleasant phenomenon like this in these columns. It can always be argued that these figures are not frightening in view of the total size and strength of the Army. However, this detail is not as important as the reality that people trained to accept every challenge in life should be acting to the contrary. Why should they adopt this course? Personal and family problems, marital discords, medical troubles and depression are among the reasons held responsible for the dastardly occurrences. The possibility has not been ruled out of sensitive persons being unable to tolerate too much bossism in a hierarchical order. That is why perhaps one of the steps the Army has conceived, to quote a newspaper report, is "to reduce the semi-feudal relationship between officers and men by stepping up interaction, improved accessibility of commanders and prompt response to grievances." This measure is apart from a liberal leave policy and counselling of soldiers posted in militancy-affected areas. There is another development which indicates that officers in all three services are being tempted to join the more lucrative private sector. As many as 708 of them had left their jobs in 2005 as against 649 in 2004, 634 in 2003 and 318 in 2002. There has thus been a steady increase. The number of applicants seeking to leave the service is much more. Last year alone, for instance, more than 1000 officers wanted to quit the majority of them from the Army followed by the Air Force and the Navy in that order. The Government does not agree to relieve all of them since there is shortage of officers. The entry of competitive private airlines operators has witnessed a step-up in the demand for pilots. As a consequence there is some pressure on the Air Force which has given permission to 246 of them to give up service in the last three years. It has not made any significant difference so far as the Force by and large retains its sanctioned strength.

In brief all modern trends and influences are taking their toll of the armed forces. One finds only one area of deep anxiety: the tendency to throw away live for nothing. It must be overcome.

More courts for undertrials ?

By Inder Singh Bhatia

It was the submission of the Central Bureau of Investigation that another AK-56 had been destroyed by melting it in a foundry. Two of Dutt's friends have been convicted, inter alia, of destroying evidence. These two pieces of information read together are rather suggestive. Dutt may not have been party to a terrorist plot but the nature of the arms he possessed leaves certain important questions unanswered.

The judge accepted the stand taken by Dutt's counsel that he had acquired and possessed these arms for self-defence. What the actor did wrong was that he did not get the necessary permission for owning the arms. The AK-56 rifle is a prohibited weapon, which means that no civilian can possess or own this gun under any circumstances. The plea that Dutt possessed an AK-56 for self-defence is thus a spurious one. The acquiring of such a gun and then the possession of it point to a trail of acts that are not permissible under the laws of the land. Thereby also hangs the question why Dutt possessed such a weapon and how he came to acquire it.

The lightness of the verdict on Dutt - a violation of the Arms Act carries a minimum prison term of five years - must be seen in the light of these serious and unanswered questions. The entire legal process concerning the blasts in Mumbai highlights the question of time. From the event to the verdict, it has taken nearly 13- years; cases like Dutt's can also go on to appeal in a higher court. There is cause to ponder what this length of time does to the legal process, to the accused, to the investigating agencies and to the counsels of both parties.

All that matters is that for 13- years Sanjay Dutt's name has been associated with a crime he did not commit. And that is a fate, as one of his co-stars put it, that should not befall anyone. The trouble, of course, is that it does. And quite routinely. The time courts take to decide cases means individuals can be associated for several years with crimes they did not commit. When the bandit Veerappan was running amok in the forests of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu there were tens of women, including grandmothers, who were arrested on charges of having provided food and shelter to the bandit. It was more than a decade before it was declared they were not guilty. And they were too poor to get the benefit of bail that Sanjay Dutt had.

If the courts are too busy to complete cases quickly enough, get more courts. And having more courts and judges will certainly help. But the problem may be more than just another infrastructure constraint. There are aspects of Indian legal procedure that aid the creation of vested interests in delaying cases. Where a defendant is guilty and gets bail there is a vested interest in delaying the process. Indeed, the greater the evidence of guilt the greater is the interest in delaying the legal process.

The only one in this system who does not have a stake in delaying the entire process is the judge. But his ability to intervene is constrained by the nature of the system. The Indian legal system is adversarial. It is based on the principle that if the prosecutor prosecutes as aggressively as he can and the defendant's lawyer is committed only to protecting the interests of his client, the conflicting arguments will necessarily throw up the truth. The role of the judge then is often not all that much more than that of an umpire who ensures the rules are followed, and then finally decides whether the prosecution has succeeded in proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

In a system that depends primarily on the prosecution or the defendant to come up with the evidence, the judge has to make sure he has given both sides all the room that is provided for in the rules. This would very often include the extra time that is asked for. The importance given to rules could even override the judge's own view of the truth of the case. The case where a judge insisted he believed the accused was guilty of murder but was released because the evidence did not meet the technical requirements may be an extreme example. But in a crime short of murder it may not even have been noticed.

One way out could be for the judge to be given a more active role in procuring evidence. The prosecutor could then act as a friend of the court and provide the evidence that is asked for, if it exists. The judge could also decide more actively whether the defendant deserves the extra time that is being demanded, depending on the facts, available to him, rather than simply following rules.

The case for greater judicial activism is already being recognised by the judiciary. But it has tended to have an ad hoc character, with the judiciary taking suo motu action as and when it thinks fit. Providing judicial activism a more clearly defined role in legal procedure should also make it possible for the judiciary itself to introduce the necessary checks and balances to its actions.

Such a system would place greater emphasis on the wisdom of the judge than the present one where the conflict between prosecutor and the defendant is expected to make the truth obvious. In its original form the present system was expected to make the truth obvious not only to a judge but even to a jury of laymen. It took a dramatic case of a handsome naval officer shooting his wife's lover and still being acquitted by a jury for the judiciary to recognise the folly of the jury system. It is time for introspection how the judiciary should expedite trial in which many innocent people are likely to face mental torture, and finally acquitted. The judicial infrastructure in terms of more manpower will mitigate the sufferings of people who face trial for years. INAV

The Nepal truce ….

By Tushar Charan

Despite all the scenes of jubilation on the streets of Kathmandu and elsewhere in Nepal after the Government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) signed the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) a lot of people in and out of Nepal are keeping their fingers crossed. The CPA brings to an end the decade old guerrilla war by the Maoists that had taken thousands of lives and converted the once idyllic Himalayan kingdom into an almost failed state. It looks too good to be true that everything is going to be alright from now onwards.

Here in India too while there has been a general welcome of the peace accord, it will not be wise to expect a swift end to traditional hostility towards among certain sections in Nepal. Some of the words spoken by the Maoists leader, Prachanda, when he was in New Delhi, did indicate that he wants continued good relations with India. New Delhi must have also noted his efforts to distance himself from Indian Maoists. But it will be too early to predict the future course of Indo-Nepal relations. It has to be seen how right Prachanda has been in describing the CPA as 'the biggest miracle of the 21st century' that would help Nepal being showcased as 'the abode of peace and development.'

Significantly, amidst the celebrations in Nepal, came reports that some Nepalese were demonstrating against the Maoists who were demanding forced hospitality as they started to arrive in the capital for a rally. The Americans, not surprisingly, are more circumspect about the Maoists' inclusion in mainstream politics than others. But Washington would be ill advised if it seeks to get too tough with the Maoists or adopts a rigid line against them.

There were also accusations that the Maoists cadres have not given up the practice of extortion and abduction and were still recruiting child soldiers. If these reports did not really dampen the joyous spirits or elicited a strong reaction from officials the reason could be that such transgressions could not be attributed to any diktats from the Maoists commanders.

Reaction against the erring Maoists does, however, show that a great deal of mistrust about them remains. It is also possible that the Maoists on their part still harbour a lot of misgivings about the 'mainstream' political parties and their leaders who in the past six years of parliamentary democracy brought credit to neither themselves nor democracy and took their poor country further downhill. Perhaps, the misrule by politicians was a more important reason for pushing Nepal towards anarchy and on the path of a failed state.

The Maoists' contribution to the travails of the people was continued violence, use of strong-arm tactics and an undisguised disdain for democracy which precluded their joining the mainstream of politics. The significance of the CPA is that it has bound the Maoists to mainstream politics and they stand committed to renounce violence as a means to their end of establishing an egalitarian society in impoverished Nepal.

One of the stumbling blocks in concluding a peace deal between the government and the Maoists in the past had been the refusal of the Maoists to give up their arms. The CPA has apparently removed that obstacle and the Maoists, as also the Government's Army, would deposit their arms in cantonments which would be monitored by the United Nations.

On the face of it no better disarmament arrangement could have been made and there is little to doubt that the Maoists must have gone through many agonising moments before agreeing to that arrangement. But disarmament would not have been possible if the government too had not agreed to allow its Army's arsenal to be kept in safe custody of the UN while the country prepares for electing a new national assembly.

The Maoists in Nepal, who had long believed in the now dated slogan that power comes out of the barrel of gun, must have come to realise that senseless killings serve no purpose. Ostracised for their penchant for violence the Maoists had long worn the tag of being a 'terrorist' organisation. Now they have been bestowed the status of respectability and recognition. That is some gain for them and should encourage them to respect a multiparty political system in Nepal.

Maoists should know that despite the euphoria in the country and generous praise that they have received from many quarters, there are people who genuinely disagree with whatever the Maoists stand for. The Maoists may hate the monarch from the bottom of their hearts but a sizeable section in Nepal seems to think that the 238-year old Shah dynasty that ruled them should not be abolished. But even many among those who favour continuation of the monarchy want to see the king's powers considerably clipped. An even larger number of people would seem to dislike the present king's son because of his rash ways.

Though belatedly, King Gyanendra has welcomed the peace accord, which he said, would herald 'a new era of peace' and holds 'a lot of promise'. The peace deal was possible, he said, because of 'sincerity and dedication' of everyone. The King's reaction, which came in the form of a written statement, followed the report of a government -appointed panel that had held him responsible for excesses committed on demonstrators who were protesting against his 'misrule' in summer.

The King's gesture might not be enough to save him or the institution of monarchy. It would have given strength to the now suppressed 'royalists' who were conspicuously kept out of the talks between the Government and the Maoists. The 'royalists' have not been happy to see the legitimacy and respectability accorded to the Maoists, who they say, have blood on their hands. Prime Minister G. P. Koirala thinks that the institution of monarchy should not be abolished altogether and could be retained as a ceremonial head of state. Suffice to say any decision on the future of the monarchy has the potential of dividing Nepal.

There are perhaps two more serious but immediate problems facing the country. One is to ensure that the ever-squabbling politicians do not squander the opportunity created by the peace accord and work with some understanding and trust to rebuild their country. Then there is the lurking fear of violence resurfacing from among the rogue Maoists.

The quarrelling mainstream politicians had utterly failed to govern the country, thus allowing the king to take control of the country by dismissing them. On his part, the king too had failed to 'deliver' on his promise after acquiring full powers to run the country.

While a verdict on King's future has to wait till after the June parliamentary election, one thing that many will be waiting to see is how well or quickly does the Maoist leadership learns to live with others who differ with them and the fact that dissent is an essential content of democracy. The onus of honouring the CPA will be as much on the Maoists as the mainstream politicians. Undoubtedly. (Syndicate Features)

Needed: A land reclamation exchange

By Dr Bharat Jhunjhunwala

Trinamool Congress and other parties are opposing the West Bengal Government's efforts to acquire 1000 acres of cultivable land at Singur near Kolkata for the establishment of a car factory by Tata. The argument is that such factories can be easily established on barren lands. There is no need to uproot farmers and also endanger the food security of the country. The land at Singur is especially productive. Some farmers take six crops in a year while four crops is normal. On the other hand Tata says that Singur is best suited for the plant because it is located on the Golden Quadrangle Highway, it has flat land and it is located near to the metropolitan city of Kolkata. It is necessary to provide facilities such a planetariums, broadband Internet and airport in order to attract the best managers. Thus it is not feasible to establish the factory at Durgapur or Kharagpur where large tracts of barren lands are available.

Tata's argument cannot be wished away. Every rupee saved matters in the globally competitive world. The location of a business enterprise is very critical to its success as we find some good shops tucked away in the side streets are forced to close down. There is a field of economic known as location economics. The location of a factory has to be decided keeping various factors in mind such as distance from highway seaport and airport, availability of water and skilled personnel, distance from nearest market and electric substation, willingness of local entrepreneurs to establish ancillary units, suitability of weather for the good health of the workers, etc. It does not pay to steer the boat against these considerations. Thus we see that a rice mill established in the village fails because it has to pay for the transport of paddy from the village and again of rice to the mandi. It is better to establish it near the mandi in the city. Similarly a sugar factory is better established in a rural area where the cost of transporting high volumes of sugar cane is more and the cost of transporting smaller volume of sugar is less. The market does not tolerate any inefficiency in this regard. Thus it appears to be appropriate to allow Tata to establish their plant at Singur.

The question of loss of cultivable land remains, however. The main argument is that the factory could just as easily be established on barren lands. The assumption is that the cost of production would not be affected by locating in such area. This argument is not acceptable as mentioned above. Why would Tata insist on establishing the factory at Singur if the cost of production was less at Durgapur? Let us not forget that Jamshedji Tata established Tata Steel on barren lands of Jamshedpur only because coal and iron ore were available in close proximity.

Truly, reduction of cultivable land and displacement of farmers are not as intractable problems as made out to be. Agricultural land is not an item like diamond that cannot be manufactured. Farmers have converted large tracts of marshlands in the terai area of Uttaranchal and large tracts of deserts in the Indira Gandhi Command Area in Western Rajasthan into highly productive land. It is similarly possible to convert the barren lands of Durgapur and Kharagpur into cultivable area. The cost of such reclamation can be paid out of the taxes obtained from the cars produced. That would lead to no loss of cultivable land and also promote industrialization. In fact it can be provided that two acres of barren land will be reclaimed for every acre of cultivable land acquired. That would lead to increase in the cultivable land as well.

There is a need to establish a land reclamation exchange in the country along the lines of carbon exchange established at the global level. It is possible today for an industry located in United States to buy carbon units from a plantation owner located in South Africa. The plantation owner plants trees that absorb carbon from the air and the industrialist pays him for this. This trade is managed by the carbon exchange where buyers and sellers of carbon units meet each other. In this way carbon emissions are added to the atmosphere by the industry in United States but an equivalent amount is removed from the atmosphere in South Africa. There is no increase in the total carbon load on the global atmosphere while we also get industries. Similarly ten trees are planted for every tree felled to make a road. In the end we have more trees as well as roads.

The Government should establish a similar Land Reclamation Exchange in the country. Cultivable land is being used for various purposes such as making of dams, canals, roads, colonies, malls and amusement parks. These users can be required to buy specified number of units at the Land Reclamation Exchange. They should pay for reclaiming say five acres of barren land for every acre of cultivable land diverted for non-agricultural uses. This would arrest the reduction of cultivable land in the country.

The final assessment of an action should be made on the criterion of evolution of higher consciousness. The establishment of a factory on cultivable land provides opportunities for donkeys to carry sand, for taxi drivers to ferry personnel, for brick makers to fire their kilns. The increase in consciousness of these people more than compensates for the loss of consciousness of the farmers. If larger area of barren land is reclaimed elsewhere then the total farmer consciousness also increases and this becomes a win-win situation.

Perhaps the problem at Singur is that of implementation. A professor of Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata remarked that the Bengal government was trying to destroy the people of Singur because they are supporters of the Congress. The editor of a prominent Bengali Daily published from Kolkata expressed apprehension whether the farmers will actually get the promised compensation. The track record of the Bengal government was poor in this regard. Previous oustees have got meager compensation and that too was paid after much delay. The Principal of Ramakrishna Mission College at Belur, however, told of Singur farmers' sons seeking admission in the college being happy with the compensation package that is offered. The acquisition of their land is a boon in disguise for these lads. Just as the frog is forced to flee his drying well and finds heaven in a tank, likewise these lads are able to escape the drudgery and pessimism of farming and are forced into new vocations.

Instead of opposing the acquisition of land for industries, our effort should be to reclaim more barren lands and convert this crisis into an opportunity for increasing the total area of cultivable lands. Part of the compensation can be earmarked to train the oustees into sunrise vocations like online provision of services, beauticians, taxi operators and the like. Let us make industrialization a win-win proposition.