Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

A joke indeed

Be human

Welcome to election season

By Arun Nehru

Sadhbhavna benefits
common people

By Prof Barkat Singh Azad

Polonium-210, friendly killer

By Dr K S Parthasarathy

’’Polonium’’ which Madame Curie discovered over a century ago, and named after her motherland, is currently in the news for the wrong reasons. The bizarre story of the fatal polonium poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko an ex-Russian spy in England reminds us of smokers, the other not so ....more

EDITORIAL

A joke indeed

Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front leader Amanullah Khan's assertion that Mohammad Ali Jinnah was in favour of an independent Jammu and Kashmir is a cruel joke. It is a travesty of history. According to a New Delhi newspaper Mr Khan has contended that the founder of Pakistan had never opposed the option of a Kashmir independent of India and Pakistan. He has challenged his critics to produce evidence to the effect that Jinnah had described J&K as the jugular vein of Pakistan before his death on September 11, 1948. According to the JKLF leader, "as President of the All-India Muslim League the Quaid (Jinnah) declared in his policy statements of June 17, July 11 and July 30, 1947 that the Indian princely states had every right to declare independence in addition to their right to join India or Pakistan." He has recalled Jinnah's meetings with the Kashmiri leaders on July 11, 1947. In these get-togethers, according to Mr Khan, the Quaid-i-Azam (as Jinnah is referred to in the neighbouring country) had said the Maharaja of Kashmir should think not only of his benefit but also that of the State's Muslim majority. It was not in the interest of the Hindu ruler to join Pakistan and the Kashmiri Muslims to opt for a Hindu-majority India. Therefore, Jinnah visualised an independent J&K with which Pakistan could enter into a mutually beneficial agreement. "How could a man like Jinnah say two contradictory things at the same time?" Mr Khan has wondered. He has expressed the view that crediting Jinnah with the "jugular vein" theory was "a concoction by those wanting to misuse the respect in which the Pakistanis held their Father of the Nation."

Jinnah must be turning in his grave at this crude attempt to delink him from his two-nation theory. He might not have used the expression "jugular vein" but he has been quoted as having remarked: "Kashmir is in my pocket."

In any case his actions spoke louder. It is a matter of record that Jinnah had visited the State but his was a desperate bid to woo the Kashmiri leaders. He had met an ideological foe to reckon with in Sheikh Abdullah who found no merit at all in Jinnah's penchant for building a theocratic state. It was not for nothing that the Sheikh had converted the Muslim Conference into the National Conference. There is enough contemporary evidence to establish that Jinnah's "mission Kashmir" had flopped. Mr Khan has also said --- perhaps the first person to do so --- that Jinnah had advised Maharaja Hari Singh to balance his aspirations with those of the local Muslim majority and stay aloof. Mr Khan himself has given no proof in this behalf. Unless he does that he is liable to be blamed for having put words in Jinnah's mouth. For, it is only too well known that the Maharaja was keen to maintain his independence after the emergence of India and Pakistan as separate dominions. With this objective in view he had offered the Standstill Agreement to both India and Pakistan. While New Delhi had looked the other way Pakistan lost no time in accepting the Maharaja's offer. However, instead of honouring its commitment Pakistan triggered the tribal raids on the State through Muzaffarabad with the evil intention of forcibly grabbing it. Even then India had not intervened leaving the issue to be decided between Pakistan and the Maharaja. The Maharaja had turned to India when he found himself stabbed in the back by Pakistan and signed the Instrument of Accession (the National Conference as the State's No 1 political organisation had acquiesced in the decision). It was only after this that the Army had flown in to protect the State, its land and the people.

If Jinnah was indeed keen that J&K should remain independent why had his country dishonoured the Standstill Agreement? Why had he sent armed marauders to play havoc with the lives of innocent people of the State? Mr Khan is right to the extent that Jinnah wanted the erstwhile princes to have their say about the future of their territories. But it is to be noted that he has not made this comment specifically with respect to Maharaja of J&K. He can't be oblivious that Jinnah was not prepared to concede the same right to Maharaja Hari Singh which is also proved by subsequent happenings. Mr Khan is an extremely well-read person. It is possible, therefore, that he has twisted the historical developments by design. The proponents of "a united, secular and independent Jammu and Kashmir" like him are seeing a chance for them after Pakistan has categorically stated that it had never claimed J&K as its integral part. It is ironical that they are losing their focus while Pakistan is correcting its. One hopes that in the days to come the JKLF leader does not tell us that Jinnah was actually kept in the dark by leaders who had ruled Pakistan in his name in the turbulent later half of 1947.

Be human

The plight of a resident of this region who has been released along with a few other Indian prisoners from Pakistani jails makes a heart-rending reading. According to a report in this newspaper he has been brutally treated to the extent that he is unable to walk. Quite understandably, his relatives are shocked. In fact, anyone who believes in respect for human dignity will be upset by such cruel display of brusque authority. One will notice that it is a universal phenomenon to treat imprisoned rival soldiers especially with an iron hand. One has come across examples galore in this behalf in Iraq. The people in the United States, who pride themselves in being constituents of the world's most powerful democracy, have been angered and anguished by the beastly manner in which their soldiers have treated their Iraqi counterparts as if they were caged animals. Chaining prisoners is inhuman. To do so after stripping them is an outright insult to humanity. They are already in dread after their arrest. It should not surprise anyone that many of them develop neurological disorders and suffer from memory loss. By all means they should be subjected to the judicial scrutiny. Any other method of dealing with them is grossly unfair. The way Pakistani prison authorities have behaved lends credence to reports that they are wilfully denying the presence of Indian men in uniform in their precincts while torturing them.

How should we behave in such situation? Should we regret that we set free about one lakh of them after securing their surrender in Bangladesh?

Welcome to election season

By Arun Nehru

We are going into election season and there are several political questions which need clarification for the future and I think it is time to reflect on the emerging future patterns in terms of coalition patterns, the trends on political fortunes of the major contenders along with leadership patterns for the future. Little happens in politics by a 'plan' [very similar to the stock market] but it is interesting to see the changing equations as we peep into the future. The first thing we should accept is the fact that with time [every decade] a set of leaders fade into the sunset and a new set of leaders emerge for the future and this has nothing to do with success or failure but is essentially related to 'fitness and ability' to weather the rigors of a 18 hour work day with very few vacations. We often talk of 'collective' leadership but on a practical level and this is applicable to both National and Regional parties the role of the 'individual' is very often the difference between victory and defeat. The Dynastic virus affects almost all parties besides the Left and we will discuss the future taking this factor into consideration.

The Congress party has Sonia Gandhi and there are few who would dispute her authority on a public platform [privately most are critical] and the succession for the future is clearly in favor of Rahul Gandhi and in Dynastic terms other members of the family would follow and whilst talent in the party exists in abundance they have no chance for the future. The Congress is no longer in the 'majority' syndrome as neither Sonia or Rahul singly or jointly have the ability to scale the balance between victory and defeat by political charisma and ability [both continue to read speeches] but in a Coalition formation for a National party they have little to do [the best thing is to nothing to disturb allies] and will lead the Coalition as long as they can win in excess of 125 seats and this in the current situation will not be difficult. The complication can come if the 'allies' consolidate within a 'single' block but this will only effect the position of the Prime Minister and since neither is a candidate in the immediate future this will not be a problem. Rahul Gandhi has yet to fight his political battles and we wish him well. There is no substitute for public acceptance and Rahul Gandhi will have his opportunity in the three State elections in the next few months. Security considerations are relevant as we have increased criminality in politics [UP is as bad as Bihar] and clearly leadership is established by your ability to do political battle in adverse conditions. The 'cheer leaders' and the family retainers can arrange for favorable public relations and media coverage in select newspapers and magazines but this does not help in the election arena. The Congress despite the anti incumbency trends in Uttaranchal and Punjab [can lose both] and having a marginal presence in UP will retain their position within the Coalition and on a internal party stage they have few problems as they have a Supreme Leader and the succession is clear and on one has the political muscle to challenge the situation. The 'time' factor is also favorable for the next decade.

The BJP continue to suffer from the last defeat in 2004 and also suffer from the 'time' factor is not in their favor and clearly 'new' leadership has to emerge for the future and unless this happens the current confusion will prevail. The BJP after fifty years of opposition had five years of governance and the subsequent defeat has not been easy for many to adjust to the political reality. Atal ji has great respect but at 85 years cannot battle for the next decade and neither can LK Advani and as things stand the leader with a following for the future in the Gujarat CM , Narender Modi. The BJP may well shrink between 80=100 seats and will only revive if they function as a 'team' and this has not happened. There is no shortage of talent and Murli Manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh, Yeshwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, Arun Jetly and Raj Nath Singh Singh to name a few will all rank with the 'best' but sustained governance goes beyond individual brilliance. The fact is that sometimes the concept of collective leadership becomes a excuse for collective confusion. The BJP should win Uttaranchal on 'trends' but they can lose this by allowing internal dissent to fester and allowing the RSS to interfere in the election process. Things have changed and Uttaranchal is a state on the move and a 'new' approach is necessary. Maj Gen Khanduri was a brilliant Cabinet Minister, has a very high image on integrity and seems the logical choice but will the BJP leadership with their 'past trends' look at the future? Punjab is also difficult as the 'new' leaders ignore the 'old' and clearly in all these situation hopefully Raj Nath Singh will have the final authority to take the right decisions. The BJP are not in a position to 'head' a future Coalition but can become a 'balancing ' force in many states.

The regional forces require a different article and I will do this next week in some detail. The important thing to remember is that in the current Parliament the Congress/BJP have 260 seats and this number will not change to dramatically in the next election [Congress may increase, BJP may dip] and the others will have 270 seats plus! There will be many new 'alliances' in the future and Coalition governance has to reconcile with power equations in the States and there are some 'allies' who can dramatically change the 'numbers' in future equations and 'numbers' rather than ideology determine political stances. Politics rarely takes a vacation and nothing can be taken for granted as we look for the future

Sadhbhavna benefits common people

By Prof Barkat Singh Azad

The Army which was once considered the bullet shooting force is doing yeoman services to the people. The role of army is to defend the borders of their country so that no external power can endanger the sovereignty of the nation. The army always tries to keep watch on the nefarious designs of the enemy so that no attack is made, no intrusion takes place and the people of the country may live in peace and harmony. The Indian army while fulfilling all these traditional duties efficiently has proved itself best in the world. The Indian army proved loyal to the democratic Governments elected by the people in general elections after every five years and have never tried to overthrow elected democratic Government or to usurp the power by coups as is done in many countries. It has also maintained the democratic and secular traditions and allowed all popular institutions to grow peacefully. This force of disciplined soldiers while doing their assigned duties have done much more to make the life of common man more easier and comfortable.

The Indian army comes to the rescue of people when they are confronted with any natural calamity such as sea Tsunami, snow Tsunami, floods, fire incidents, earth quakes etc. Some times army also maintains internal security when it is endangered by certain factors. In this the examples can very safely be quoted when army helped the people such as in Gujarat earthquake, coastal sea Tsunami, Snow Tsunami in Jammu and Kashmir in floods in different states and during the killer earth quake of October 8, 2005 in Jammu and Kashmir. The role of Indian army is commendable during such natural climates. The civil administration and Governmental agencies reach very late to the victims of these furries of nature but it is the Indian army who reaches first to evacuate the people to safer places to provide them required shelter food, medicines and all types of help which the victims require. Some times army performs these duties even at the risk of their lives, otherwise the victims usually suffer because civil administration reaches very late on these junctures.

On the one hand Indian army is helping the people in the times of distress and on the other hand developmental activities are also done by the army under ‘‘SADH BHAVNA PROGRAMME’’. In Poonch the 93 Infantry Brigade under the able guidance of Brigade Commander G S Shergill has done large number of developmental activities under Sadhbhavna Programme by which common people have been benefitted a lot. Some of these activities are given hereunder:-

Construction of Indoor Stadium : An indoor stadium has been constructed in Govt Degree College, Poonch which is first of its kind in Poonch District and shall the students of Govt Degree College Poonch and other local youth. There was no such facility in this far flung border area.

Construction of Ecological Park at Nangali Sahib : An ecological Park is being constructed near the holy Shrine of Nangali Sahib. The land for this park has been reclaimed from River Drungli by erecting huge protection bands and the ground has been made smooth and even by using bulldozers. The good clay is being brought from outside to make the soil fit for growing the plants. The grass is also brought from different places and lawns are laid out. The big and small flower pots have been got prepared by hiring the services of artisans and decoration plants in thousands have been procured from different quarters and NGOs. In this way a big beautiful park is being created which will benefits lakhs of people.

Construction of Primary Middle and High school buildings in rural areas : The army has constructed many school buildings in Primary, Middle and High School. Many school buildings which were damaged in earth quake of 2005 have been repaired. Additional class rooms have also been added in some schools to house the children who were sitting in the open.

Provision of computers and other infrastructure in Schools : Some of the schools have been equipped with computers and other required infrastructure. In this way army helped in giving quality education.

Adoption of Khari Kurmara Village as Model Village by the Army : Recently the village Khari Kurmara was adopted by army as a model village. The school buildings of High School Kurmara, Girls Primary School Khari, Boys Primary School Kurmara have been constructed. A village road is under construction and more developmental activities are in hand under the supervision of 93 Infantry Brigade Defence Minister A K Antony, Chief Minister J&K Ghulam Nabi Azad and Chief of Army Staff Lt General J J Singh have visited the place on 10th of December, 2006 to mark the occasion.

In addition to the above army is providing medical treatment and free medicines to ailing people from Ads Centres of different units, Medicines to cattle herds free eyes check up camps, organization of sports Melas, horse and dogs shows, poetic and music concerts, Id Milan, Dewali Festival and other meets. The Haj pilgrims Hajies had also been honoured in a grand function arranged by 93 Infantry Brigade.

Similarly 10 Infantry Brigade has adopted a school of Middle level in village Sagra and good quality education is being imparted there. R R Brigade has opened a school in the remote village of Potha in Surankote Tehsil where in good education is being imparted. The school buildings of these schools have been constructed by army, computers and other infrastructure is also made available and the students of the poor backward and border area are benefitted. Vocational training centres have been opened at many places where in the women are trained in the trades of tailoring cutting, knitting, embroidery and other skills and thus have become useful citizens as well as economically sound.

All this shows that Indian army is helping the common man in a big way by ameliorating their hardships. A nice rapport has been created and civil army relations are very cordial. The benefits of Sadhbhavna programme are percolating to the needy people at their door step.

Polonium-210, friendly killer

By Dr K S Parthasarathy

Cigarette smoker contains radioactivity. Smokers slowly and surely poison themselves and passive smokers with polonium-210 and lead-210 two radioactive materials. It may not cause any radiation disease as the Russian victim but may result in an increased risk of lung cancer.

In 1982, hundreds of smokers stopped the habit after reading an article titled ‘‘Radioactivity in Cigarette Smoke’’ in the New England Journal of Medicine. T H Winters and J R Di Franza of the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre wrote that cigarette contains radioactivity in the form of polonium-210 (Po-210) and lead-210 (Pb-210).

They claimed that a person smoking 11/2 pack of cigarettes per day receives a dose to certain regions of the lung equal to 300 x-ray films of the chest per year. Others estimate that a cigarette addict may get exposed annually to a dose of radiation, equivalent to 22,000 chest X-ray examinations.

Different specialists arrive at different values for the dose. The dose rate depends on the radioactive content of the tobacco, the puff size and the frequency and number of cigarettes smoked.

According to a report titled ‘‘Radiation Exposure of the US Population from Consumer Products and Miscellaneous Sources (1987), published by the National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP), deposited. Po-210 delivers an average annual dose equivalent of 160 mSv to certain regions of the lungs of smokers (mSv is a unit of dose, a chest x-ray examination exposes a patient to a skin dose of about 0.2 mSv).

A specialist estimated that this is equal to a cancer inducing dose or effective dose of about 13 mSv to an average smoker if we apply the appropriate weighting factors.

According to TC Tso, a former researcher of the US Department of Agriculture, radioactivity in tobacco came from phosphatic fertilizers, which contained uranium and its decay product radium-226. Radium-226 decays into a series of products which include Po-210 and Pb-210. Sticky, hair-like structures on both sides of tobacco leaves collect these from the atmosphere. Tobacco roots may also absorb some radioactivity from soil.

Indian farmers do not use phosphatic fertilizers. In 1976, Dr D R Singh and his colleagues at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre showed that the Po-210 levels in Indian tobacco are 10 to 15 times lower than those in US tobacco. I gave them the equipment to measure Po-210.

Scientists knew that ionizing radiation could cause cancer. In 1990, the then US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop declared on US national television that radioactivity in cigarette accounts for at least 90 per cent of all smoking related cancers.

Dr Ravenholt, former Director of World Health Surveys at the US Centers for Disease Control, stated that Americans receive more radiation from tobacco smoke than from any other source. American smokers on average smoke 11,000 cigarettes annually (nearly 11 kg of tobacco). Many Indians are not far behind!

Dr Ravenholt showed that pollutants in cigarettes cause cancer in 14 different tissues such as buccal cavity, pharynx, stomach, kidney, bladder, etc. He studied smokers among war veterans for over 16 years.

In 1998, Attorney Amos Hausner claimed $8 billion from one Israeli and six US tobacco companies for allegedly poisoning and possibly irradiating Israelis with cigarettes. The defendant companies knew all along that tobacco and smoke contained radioactivity, he argued. They also knew how to reduce radiactivity levels in tobacco; but did not do it, as the process was expensive.

Scientists found high concentrations in certain regions of the lungs in seven out of the 37 smokers studied. Long cancers developed in these regions.

Scientists could induce lung tumours in laboratory animals by instilling Po-210 in various amounts down to less than one-fifth of that inhaled by heavy cigarette smokers during 25 years. Po-210 is the only pollutant in cigarette smoke that has produced cancers by itself in laboratory animals, by inhalation.

Lung cancer rates in the USA increased almost ten fold between 1938 and 1956. The polonium levels in American tobacco also tripled from 1938 to 1960. The disease showed increasing rates in women as in men, though ladies generally use filtered cigarettes. Filters remove benzopyrene and nitrosamine, two well-known cancer inducing compounds but are ineffective against Po-210 and Pb-210. Polonium melts at 5000 C at 9000 C, polonium and lead volatilizes in cigarettes. Ten per cent of Pb-210 and 20 per cent of Po-210 contained in cigarettes enter the smoker's lung through the main smoke stream; remaining 90 pe cent of Pb-210 and 80 per cent of Po-210 remain in the ambient air for the passive neighbours to inhale! Smokers are thus ‘‘nuclear assassins’’ them.

Lighted cigarettes produce Po-210 and insoluble Pb-210 in the mainstream. Smokers inhale them deep into their lungs. The airways branch into narrower and narrower pasageways. While they smoke cigarette after cigarette, the particles of smoke bearing radioactive residues get deposited at these branches. These hotspots deliver high radiation doses. Most lung cancers are formed in these regions.

Po-210 being soluble gets removed from the inner linings of the lung. Blood circulating in the lung absorbs it partly and carries it to every tissue and cell in the body.

Alpha particles from Po-210 cause mutations in the cell. Many of these cells will die. But a few partly damaged cells may survive and mutiply uncontrollably without any rules causing cancer. Scientists have separated Po-210 from tobacco smoke, deeper inner linings of the lung and also from blood and urine of smokers. Smokers’ urine contains six times more polonium than non-smokers’. Non radioactive cancer-inducing agents are not found in the urine of even heavy smokers.

The cancer inducing capability of Po-210 in cigarettes is too overwhelming to be ignored.

(PTI Feature)