Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

2006 sans humour

History waiting to be made

By Abhijit Patwardhan

Cleansing of School
Education in Pakistan

By Samuel Baid

Goodbye 2006 !
TALES OF TRAVESTY

By Dr. Jitendra Singh

Can yoga change
Indian lifestyle ...?

By Raina JN

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss might differ with yoga guru Baba Ramdev, but it is gratifying to note that the former has found a panacea in yoga, to fight an increasing tendency of obesity among India's youth......more

EDITORIAL

2006 sans humour

Another year has gone without us coming across one bit of good humour in our
public life. Is this because we continue to live in the midst of Kalashnikovs, bombs and rockets? Their sound is not as deafening as it was in previous years. Yet, we have not got into swing. For a State that has Urdu as its official language the disregard for decent jokes is incomprehensible. Few languages have such rich repository of wit as Urdu has. Our contribution in this regard seems to be minimal. We have even ceased to be good audience. As a result Urdu is the victim. It is fast losing its sheen. It is doubtful whether it would have still retained the present status had it not been made compulsory for governmental work. English has edged it out of its primary slot. One can't say that Urdu has not kept pace with changes in the world. In fact, there are scores of Urdu websites across the world aiming to spread its flavour. They can't succeed unless others respond equally enthusiastically. Perhaps each language has to undergo a struggle like this. To have a wider impact it requires to constantly enriching itself. This does not apply to literature alone. It has to hone itself to the level where it becomes an easy medium of communication. One can't deny that English has acquired that capability. It is understood in all corners of the globe. In the process it has got several versions varying from Indian to the American. Urdu, on the other hand, has shrunken in its reach. That is a different subject altogether. The question that bothers us on this Sunday --- the last of 2006--- rather causes unease. We would have been perfectly comfortable had we got an answer. Why can't we sing, laugh and make merry regardless of the language we use? We can lace our observations with some remark that lightens environment around us. Our own native languages have their share of humorousness. Kashmiri has a long tradition of quality work. It is not for nothing that Dogri has made it to the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Ladakhi is on the ascendancy. If we look at the common people we will find that they keep smiling. It is amazing that they do so despite their numerous problems. They are all humility while greeting their guests. However, these are general traits. Although very encouraging these are no substitute for humour. What is regrettable is that our political class does not exhibit even these virtues. Partners in power or not they will talk to each other including in the public as if they are itching for a fight. They don't know that they can rub the salt deeper by one cutting comment. Our top politicians have yet to possess this skill: Some of them are too bureaucratic. Many are pleasant. There are a few quite adept at coining verbal gems but have not applied the expertise during the year: they have been pre-occupied trying to run with the hare while hunting as the hounds.

How can one survive in such milieu? We must spread a word about qualities of humour. For this we can make a beginning by keeping a notebook to record all instances of humour we see or hear. We can also get plenty of material from television channels that are laughing their way to banks. We should then circulate them among opinion-makers and administrators. It is just possible that they laugh and make lives less burdensome for us so that we also at least chuckle.

History waiting to be made

By Abhijit Patwardhan

The Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh's special envoy on Pakistan, Satinder Lambah, who took over the job after the death of the redoubtable J.N. Dixit had been discussing different peace proposals with Pakistan President's close friend and national security adviser, Tariq Aziz precisely for the last 18 month or so. Singh did not emphasize that Musharraf's musings were still a cliff and a chasm away from the Indian script, especially when it came to the joint management or supervision of both parts of Kashmir. And significantly, he did not complain about the Pakistani president's bout of amnesia during the long interview on NDTV over terrorism, or his special responsibility in ending the sponsorship of it inside India.

In the few words that he did speak and he knew the world was waiting with bated breath to hear what he had to say - the Prime Minister showed that he spoke on behalf of the rest of India. By generously acknowledging the comments of his adversary (Pervez Musharraf) as "new ideas", the Prime Minister encouraged him to stay on the course of going where few Pakistani leaders had gone before.

One must be fully aware of General Pervez Musharraf's broad objectives in Kashmir and they must be debated publicly. Musharraf wants a toehold in Jammu and Kashmir. For this, India needs to admit that this state does not belong to it. India must also accept that Pakistan and the Kashmiris are parties to deciding Jammu and Kashmir's ultimate status. This the general can get only if he can persuade India to somehow resile from its juridical position on Kashmir. This is his main thrust.

When Musharraf says that he is willing to give up Pakistan's "claim" and move away from UN resolutions, he is suggesting that somehow the United Nations must legitimize Islamabad's claim. He also sets up an expectation that India will similarly give its claim.

However, the UN resolutions in no way lend credibility to Pakistan's claim - Islamabad was to withdraw its forces from the Kashmiri territory under its illegal control and then a plebiscite was to be held. Pakistan is, therefore, not giving up its claim simply because there is no legal claim to give up.

By offering to set up other such mutually observed concession Musharraf is forcing an agenda onto India, which would shift the well - anchored Indian position that Jammu and Kashmir is its integral part and that it has complete sovereignty over it. In various ways, it would mean conceding that the instrument of Accession was neither final nor legally sound.

Those aware of the "back channel" exchanges claim that the process hovers around Musharraf's proposal of joint supervision, self - governance, demilitarization and porous borders,

The attempt at doing something jointly with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir is perceived by India as a consultative and advisory mechanism involving Kashmiris from the two sides (hence the Indian use of the term "joint consultative mechanism"). Pakistan, however, desires the representation of Islamabad and New Delhi in the mechanism; hence its demand, for "joint management" earlier, and for "joint supervision" now. So while India only wants to involve Kashmiris on issues of common concern, the Pakistani push is for sharing of sovereignty in Kashmir.

There are some in India who think that "joint supervision" may not be a bad idea as this would "extend' India's sovereignty to the Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan). This is dangerously naive. Pakistan would not allow an Indian oversight or supervisory role in the Northern Areas as the Karakoram Highway passes through it, which gives Pakistan its only border with China. Nor is there real or deep Indian interest in the Northern Areas.

Musharraf essentially seeks to isolate the valley from other regions of the state in India and in return, he wants India to forget about the Northern Areas on his side of the border. This is evident from his talk of dividing Jammu and Kashmir into seven regions with joint supervision or management being limited essentially to the valley and Muslim-dominated districts of Jammu on the Indian side and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir('Azad Kashmir').

On the issue of self-governance too there is a mismatch in the position as far as the two sides are concerned. India's claim is that this already exists in the state but not at comparable levels on the Pakistani side of Kashmir.

As far as demilitarization is concerned, the Indian position is that the army is there because of militancy which is largely fomented, supported and sustained by Pakistan. New Delhi argues that once that ends and that point has not yet been reached the army will be redeployed. If civilian police replaces the army without the ground conditions returning to normal, then the militants and their Pakistani sponsors can have the run of Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistanis, however, argue that only when demilitarization takes place normalcy will return.

No "concession" must be read in the Pakistani offer to withdraw forces from its side of Kashmir if India does the same. General Musharraf has domestic compulsions to do so. His troubles in Balochistan refuse to come to an end - if anything, the dissent there is spreading. Several division of Pakistan troops are deployed in Balochistan and in the federally administered territories bordering Afghanistan. In Waziristan, he has had to swallow military pride and virtually sign an instrument of surrender with Taliban to prevent spiralling army casualties - more Pakistani soldiers have died there in last two years than Indian soldiers in Kashmir.

Being a military man, Musharraf has an acute sense of his weakness. He does not want any engagement-defensive or offensive - with Indian troops on the eastern front. The demand for demilitarization of Kashmir, therefore, is a concession that he wants for himself but he made it in the name of the Kashmiris. Moreover, with the proposed porous borders, there are several security issues. Pakistan can use people-to-people contact, cross-border trade, transport, and so on to create political and economic linkages that will further weaken New Delhi's ability to control the internal situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Added to this is the issue of fundamentalist Islamic trends in Pakistan. India has been able to insulate itself from these trends despite a large Muslim population because of restricted contact. A porous border in Kashmir, with no possibility of checking the movement of the so-called Kashmiris from Pakistan to the rest of India, will pose the danger of greater Islamization and radicalization of Indian Muslims.

If, under Pakistani pressure, New Delhi were to move towards greater autonomy short of independence in the state, India's ability to control the internal processes there would recede even more. It would be difficult to redress the situation later, as that would be seen as going against the prevailing trend. This does not mean, however, that there should be permanent enmity between India and Pakistan. Indeed, there is case for not only improving relations but for tying the two countries together with better economic linkages. However, Pakistan is creating disconnect between what it wants for Kashmir and ignoring the advantages that can accrue from settled borders with the rest of India.

There is a stronger case for doing things jointly along the settled rather than across the unsettled border of Jammu and Kashmir. Why should joint consultative mechanism on border trade, environment and agriculture not be extended to Gujarat, Sindh and to the Indian and the Pakistan Punjab? But the segmented mindset of the Pakistani leaders - which argues for the common destiny of the Kashmiri Muslims but not of Indians and Pakistanis - does not allow them to do so.

There seems to be little reason for Dr. Manmohan Singh to welcome these so-called "new ideas". It is always important to know where one wants to go and where one can afford to go before welcoming "new ideas" and roadmaps. INAV

Cleansing of School Education in Pakistan

By Samuel Baid

School Children in Pakistan will be taught a new story about the birth of their country in 1947 from the next academic session. Their parents and grand parents were taught that partition of the Indian subcontinent took place on the basis of religion or the Muslim League’s Two Nation theory. Now these children will be taught that Pakistan was created because of socio- economic deprivation of the Muslims of the subcontinent not because of communal hatred.

The national curriculum designed for Pakistani schools during Gen. Zia ul Haq’s rule aimed at turning the country’s population into jehadis to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan on behalf of the United States-led forces in the 1980s. The United States needed fodder in the form of jehadis to fight the Soviets.

At that time there was a mushrooming growth of madarsas, where simple village students were indoctrinated to fight godless/communist people.

The United States played a major role in spreading jehadi culture through schools in Pakistan. According to a 2004 report on the education system in Pakistan produced by sustainable Development Policy Institute of Islamabad, an American institution of higher education was asked during the Afghan war to design text books for Pakistani schools with a view to preparing young people for jehad. The CIA reportedly assigned this job to University of Nabraska at Omaha for Afghan refugee children in Pakistan. Now, the Bush administration has asked the same university to re-write text books expunging the jehadi and hate material, according to this report.

The new school curriculum will be in keeping with Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s campaign for "enlightened modernization" and will try to retrieve education from the religious bigotry that was encouraged during Gen. Ziaul Haq’s 11 year rule. During Gen. Zia’s rule the school curriculum was developed to promote a jehadi culture and sentiments against India and Hindus. It was during this rule that the so-called ideology of Pakistan was explained by fundamentalists in most bizarre ways. They said this ideology was based on the Islamic system and it resulted from the exploitation of the Muslims of the subcontinent by Hindus and the British (They conveniently ignored the fact that without the sly support ofBritish there would have been no Pakistan). They said Pakistan’s ideology symbolized a revolt against the imposition of Hindu nationalism on Muslims and their culture. Those days it was said in Pakistan that because of its engagement in the Afghan war, Islamabad needed peace with India but not friendship because that would militate against the ideology.

The new curriculum, which starts from next academic year, is supposed to exclude material from textbooks that promotes hatred for non-Muslims of united India. Pre-partition history will now explain the ideology of Pakistan with reference to Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s least talked about, and famous, address to Pakistan’s constituent assembly on Aug 11., 1947.

In this address he had said Pakistan will not have a state religion. Here, Muslim, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs would live as equal citizens, he said. Mr. Jihhah perhaps felt that if the Two-nation theory was perpetuated in Pakistan it would divide the nation left and right. He was clearly saying, enough with the two nation theory. But, alas, a few months after his death, the same Constituent Assembly passed the Objectives Resolution proposing Islam to be the State religion. Pakistan’s problems of national, emotional integration and modernization began from then onwards.

The social backwardnisation and the jehadi culture that flourished during Gen. Zia’s regime actually its roots in this Objectives Resolution. The United Sates and other countries had found existing conditions in Pakistan ideal for exploitation to fight the Soviet in Afghanistan in the name of Islam.

And that made things worse in the aftermath of the Afghan war of the 1980s, Pakistan began to look like a country of religious lunatics. That was the general perception of Pakistan in many countries after the 9/11 terror in New York and Washington.

It was after this terror that Gen. Musharraf came under tremendous pressure from the United States to checks growing religious fanaticism. Most incidents of terrorism in the world have been traced to Islamic schools in Pakistan. The National Curriculum Wing of the Education Ministry, which injected jehadi frenzy and sectarian poison in government school text- books under Zia’s rule, was now assigned the job of cleansing school curriculum of hate material. Even after 9/11 and Gen. Musharraf’s inclination to secularise school education, the National Curriculum Wing had said in a 2002 directive that the objective of the national curriculum was to nurture in children a sense of Islamic identity. The directive ignored how it would affect non-Muslim students in schools.

Currently, the text-books taught in Government schools produce fanatics not much different from those produced by madrassas. The SDPI’s 2004 report, under the title "The subtle subversion: The State of Curricula and Text Books in Pakistan" said that in the wake of the Afghan war Pakistan education system was designed to create sectarianism and intolerance in society, to teach distorted history and to lay emphasis on jehad, religious bigotry and martyrdom.

Pakistan is among the least literate countries of the world and going by the SDPI report, it seems that whatever little rate of literacy this country has is taking it backwards in an era of globalization. Worse, this low rate of literacy is said to be further falling.

Those who yearn for genuine democracy will have to support Gen. Musharraf’s effort to cleanse the country’s education system no matter how much they hate him.

Goodbye 2006 !
TALES OF TRAVESTY

By Dr. Jitendra Singh

His education has failed him. It was always the more deserving, the more scrupulous, the more diligent who forged ahead, he was taught. But, we failed to teach him the distinction between the rich and the poor, between the strong and the weak, between the more resourceful and the less resourceful, between the son of a Minister and the son of a cobbler, between the son-in-law of a State VIP and the son-in-law of an uninfluential non-entity.

Devoid of direction or motivation, the hapless common man has ceased to move. He has ceased to grow. He has become stagnant and hopes in vain that the inertia would break with every sip of liquor hailing the arrival of New Year.

2006 was the year that threw up new issues for politicking and also threw up new politicians and semi-politicians to thrive on troubled waters. ’06 was the year when socalled communalists strove to slip into secular robe while the socalled secularists tried their hand at communal tactics . '06 was the year when beneficiaries of scams and embezzlements enjoyed society's respect and were chief guests at public functions. ' 06 was the year when the Government declared its resolve to eradicate corruption from J&K administration and decided to start this cleansing operation with Patwaris, Girdawars and engineers instead of starting it from top with ministers and Commissioners. ' 06 was the year when the State Governemnt offered to regularise land that had been grabbed or encroached thus placing a premium or incentive for land grabbing by those who enjoy political clout or money and muscle power to do so. ' 06 was the year when the court verdict to hang Afzal Guru helped expose political opportunism of both socalled mainstream as well as separatist parties of Kashmir and at the same time unmasked hollow conviction of socalled ‘‘Mujahideen’’ who instead of happily allowing themselves to be hanged like Sardar Bhagat Singh meekly fell on knees and begged for mercy when apprehended. ’06 was the year when media was an obliging tool in the hands of pro-establishment sycophants, ambitious manoeuverers and petty manipulators while mushrooming electronic channels had little to offer besides unmelodious remixes, nouseating nude shows and monotonous panel discussions by stale panelists. ’06 was chicanery and distrust multiplied manifold. ’06 was another twelve months of hunger and unemployment.

For the common man ’06 was no better than ’05 ! Will ’07 be better than ’06 ?

For the common man, the question of survival is the uppermost in his mind. He is overcome by ominous apprehensions. Will all the hostilities surrounding him permit him to live through the whole of 2007 ? How long, after all, can he dodge the combined menace of fanaticism, exploitation, nepotism, bribery, violence and unemployment ?

Nevertheless, the common man is hopeful. The dawn of ’07 heralds the wish in Rabindranath Tagore’s song ‘‘Swiftly come, O lovely star of dawn. For the night has run its course ...’’.Umapathy looks forward to 2007 with the belief that a day will come when man will learn to live without harming his fellow beings. For, love is only temporarily static. In the end, love is destined to flow as does the water which may get choked with debris and rubbish of broken banks but, sooner or later, it again begins to flow. Its flow canot be arrested for long. And, those who dare arrest the flow of love will do well to heed Allama Iqbal’s acknow- ledgement of the indomitable strength of a tender love petal capable of cutting through the hard core of impenetrable stone, a La,. ‘‘Phool Ki Paatti Se Kat Sakta Hai Hire Ka Jigar...’’

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Can yoga change Indian lifestyle ...?

By Raina JN

Ramadoss wants to put a blanket ban on colas and all that is consumed as 'junk food' in schools and university canteens. Ramdev too has been advising people to shun the colas

If the ideas of 'two Rams' fructify, it will certainly augur well, not only for creating a sound mind, but also for building a sound body, which will accelerate the process of laying a firm foundation for a healthy nation. We have a population of over one billion people, but numbers hardly matter. What is the percentage of those who are healthy and mentally strong? A nation's greatness lies in its intellectual prowess.

Dr Ramadoss is 'aggressively' working for changing the lifestyle of youth. He is finalizing a proposal, in conjunction with HRD Minister Arjun Singh, to make countrymen healthy, wealthy and wise. For that matter, Ramadoss wants to make yoga classes mandatory in schools and universities. Arjun Singh has cleared a proposal, floated by Ramadoss, to introduce yoga in the school curriculum. Teachers are being identified, who can take yoga classes.

This cannot be made possible without Ramdev, who has brought a revolution not only in India but also abroad through yoga. Even some Muslim countries have evinced keen interest in yoga and have appreciated Ramdev for his task. He has earned laurels for the country, which was known to foreigners before independence just as a country of snake charmers.

Whether yoga will be accepted in schools and other educational institutions governed by the Muslim community, is to be seen. Ramadoss has instructed state health ministers to impose ban on junk food, which is responsible for causing heart diseases, diabetes and cancer, especially among wealthy middle class families. His remedies for such diseases through the knowledge of yoga are: Ban all smoking scenes in films; celebrities should stop endorsing aerated drinks, and they should in fact campaign against them; stop selling junk food and colas from school and college canteens; make yoga and health education mandatory in schools and everyone should stop drinking colas, with or without pesticides.

If his suggestions are accepted and implemented in toto, he is sure to become crème de la crème for the Indian society. Ramadoss is in touch with HRD ministry in finalizing a programme to make health and lifestyle classes mandatory in schools. He is in favour of introducing health as a biweekly subject in schools. "We plan to enlighten the younger generation about diseases and a healthy lifestyle. They should know what to eat and what to avoid, how much to exercise, what type of lifestyle is best for them and how it will help their well-being, besides being aware of the diseases like HIV/AIDS," Ramadoss has said in a statement.

Even a modest change in the prevailing educational system, with yoga as epicentre, can lead to a better life. We can have the best of brains, instead of just numbers. A change in sports activities will have a subsequent effect on people's lifestyle. Old games like 'gulidanda' and 'kabadi' et al can be revived and popularized in a better way nationally.

What is wrong in imparting basic religious knowledge in schools from ab initio? We should catch them young for a better purpose. If successfully implemented, religious prescriptions, devoid of fundamentalism, can change the pattern of lifestyle, which can have a salutary effect on the society as a whole and many a social ills and evils can be curbed.

The government should use its whip and exercise greater control on TV channels exhibiting sexy scenes. At one time, lot of heat was generated whether kissing scenes should be allowed in films. Now it seems kissing is in the in thing. Many TV programmes and serials show atrocious sexy scenes, nude dance and voluptuous mouth-to-mouth kissing scenes. There is a rat race for doing this sort of sexy business. At least there should be a code for the producers and film directors

Providing free education to marginally poor people and even making it compulsory should be India's unfinished task. The pattern of imparting primary education should be uniform all over the country. Post school education is still a distant dream, says Union Finance P Chidambaram. Not more than 17 million have received tertiary education in India with a population of 1.1 billion. Russia with a population of 145 million has the same number. The US has three times more people with tertiary education, with a population of India's one-third. The enrolment ratio in tertiary education in India is about 9 per cent. In many developed nations this ratio exceeds 60 per cent. Our endeavour should be to create space for new models and novel efforts so that more students pursue higher education. Today, we have 17, 000 colleges, up from just 750 in 1950-51. There is scope for expansion of college education. It should be made affordable.

Students are not opting for higher education in science and art streams. They prefer technical education like engineering and medicine. Very few students have a lurking for IAS, Army and such allied branches. If a student has an inclination for a course other than these, his emotions are being curbed by parents. As a result, the wad becomes wayward.

Government has to intervene and change this notion. For that matter, we shall have to make education universal. Education for children in the age group of 6 to 14 should be made uniform and compulsory, irrespective of religion. Caste should not be even talked about especially at the primary level. It will have an everlasting effect on a pupil's mind. .

(Syndicate Features)