EDITORIAL
Well done
In tough situations like
the one created by terrorism it is very important to
understand the ethic of collective responsibility. These
can be tackled conclusively only if the people are
united. For their own dignity and welfare they must stand
up against the evil. Their cooperation must cut across
all barriers of religion and region. There can be no
apology or justification for terrorist activities. Any
person describing them as a sign of resistance or
opposition to injustice must indulge in introspection. He
or she will discover that it is only perpetuating a wrong
if one chooses to slay others to settle an issue. To kill
oneself in order to kill others is equally cruel. Such
tendency is an example of all-pervasive pernicious
influence of physical violence: it does not spare even
its practitioners. It is perfectly human to feel angry
and agitated at times but there is a decent way of
expressing an emotion like this rather than through the
gun. While claiming respect and dignity one must
understand that such virtues are universal and the others
are also entitled to them in the same measure. Human life
has to be treated with reverence. It is too precious to
be wasted or snuffed out for the asking. All sane persons
have to show solidarity to make the surroundings worth
living in a spirit of genuine tolerance and
accommodation. This is all the more necessary in our
State where the agents of terror have been making crude
attempts to divide the ordinary citizens on communal
lines. They have exploded bombs on religious
congregations and defiled places of worship by carrying
out murder and mayhem in their holy precincts.
With this background in
view it is to be welcomed that the people are losing
their patience against those who are not prepared to mend
their ways. There is a good piece of news from, of all
places, militancy-infested Shopian in the south of the
Kashmir Valley. The inhabitants of Sagoo Handhama village
in the picturesque area have taken courage in their hands
to nab a terrorist and hand him over to the police. The
terrorist demanded money from a villager. He threatened
the latter to harm his son and destroy his orchard if his
demand was not met. It is a tribute to the villager and
his neighbours that they refused to succumb to
intimidation. They caught hold of the terrorist, tied him
with ropes and beat him up before calling in the police.
This is the second instance of its kind in recent months.
In the first in Srinagar the people had caught a militant
giving him a chase after he had thrown an explosive
device. Clearly the Hizbul Mujahideen is embarrassed by
the Shopian incident. It had the terrorist on its rolls.
However, the militant outfit has claimed that it had
expelled him about two months ago. It has said that it
had actually issued a death warrant against him and
"if the people had not nabbed him we would have
killed him."
It is doubtful whether the
HM will make public any such hit list if it has one. Any
clarification at this stage will not be convincing.
Whatever that may be the people should keep up the pace
to repair the society fractured by terrorists.
Katra's woes
The Katra town gives a
scary look. Its narrow and crowded streets, buildings as
if they have risen from nowhere and vehicles that keep
shrieking will put off an average tourist. Rubbish is
scattered all over. The drive from the main bus stand to
Ban Ganga is a nightmare. It is sheer good luck if there
is no accident. The parking is haphazard like the rest of
the township. Just for a meagre population of about 20000
(the number of eligible voters is only 5600) the planning
of a decent and healthy life appears to be a Herculean
task. There is mushroom growth of hotels and not many of
them have spared thought for suitably accommodating
vehicles of their guests. A master plan with an eye on
2020 was prepared two years ago. It continues to gather
dust. The time available so far for acting on it has been
spent on receiving objections from the public. It is not
understandable why an exercise like eliciting the
people's opinions could not be finished early. The
proposed development envisages four-time expansion in the
size of the city. It includes a new circular road, parks,
modern bus stands, commercial complexes and government
offices. One will trust that such a scheme takes into
account serious challenges facing the city. What,
however, requires to be realised is that the delay in
implementing it will result in emergence of new problems.
Right now not many people have a good and close look at
Katra. They straightway head for the holy shrine on the
Trikuta hills and end up praising the Mata Vaishno Devi
Shrine Board for having provided excellent services
during the climb. Thousands of pilgrims feel highly
comfortable during journey to the sacred cave. Why should
they not find the life equally relaxed in its base camp
that Katra is? According to a detailed account in a
recent edition of the Sunday magazine of this newspaper
more visitors turn up on an average every day in Katra on
their way to Vaishno Devi than the total strength of its
inhabitants. It can't exactly be called
"floating" population because while the faces
may change their numbers remain almost the same running
into millions by the end of the year. Civic amenities as
a result come under heavy strain. Drinking water in
particular becomes scarce. In summers it is in short
supply. Hoteliers replenish their stocks with purchases
of this essential commodity from open market passing on
the ensuing financial burden to customers. How effective
is the sewage system? One can't really answer this
question with confidence in the absence of requisite
information. Our guess in this behalf can be as good as
of anybody while looking at the complete sick picture. It
is strange that there is only one ten-bedded hospital to
attend to the locals as well as pilgrims. Even this is
ill-equipped and the local people grumble that it is
actually not more than a first-aid centre.
There is thus need for
having a larger perspective. Katra's strength should not
simply be that it is the launching pad of a much revered
pilgrimage. It should be able to command the attention on
its own. That will certainly be possible if it gets a
facelift. The local people have their task clearly
defined.
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The sad
realities
By Sweta
Patwardhan
Cutting across the
party lines 35 women MPs have
written to prime minister
Manmohan Singh and the Congress
President, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi that
the 33 per cent reservations for
them in Parliament and States
assemblies should be passed
during the winter session. This
is not for the first time that
such a demand has been made so
vociferously. The reservation
issue is pending for the last 10-
years and in the absence of a
consensus among different
political parties it has been
postponed time and again.
One would have
thought that the women's groups
would have learnt their lesson,
and concentrated on tackling a
host of socio-cultural and
economic problems bedevilling the
lives of ordinary women. But the
vision of an assured seat in
Parliament (or State Assembly)
through the 'women's quota' has
proved so intoxicating, the
slogan of social justice being
such a convincing cover, that the
aims and objectives of a
century-old struggle for women's
upliftment are being sacrificed
to the mirage of empowerment
through reservations.
What makes it so
tragic is the complete suspension
of reason on a subject of such
grave importance. Many years back
Pramila Dandavate underlined this
terrifying dimension by stating
that unless women get power and
status outside their homes, they
will have no respect and
credibility inside their homes.
When a seasoned Dandavate put the
cart before the horse so glibly,
the entire history and
achievements of a century-old
struggle for women's rights stood
consigned to the bin, while the
mass of women were condemned for
eternity to lives of inequality,
injustice and indignity.
In today's long
march to Parliament, it seems
inconvenient to remember that the
first standard-bearers of the
women's movement in India were
great social reformers and
leaders like Ramakrishna
Paramahans, Swami Vivekananda,
Sri Aurobindo, Raja Ram Mohan
Roy, M.G. Ranade, Bal Bangadhar
Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi - men who
had the vision and daring to take
up the cause as a human and
national issue. They saw the
degradation of women as evidence
of the degradation of the nation
and of society as a whole and
identified education and economic
empowerment of women, along with
a change in social attitudes and
mores, as the only lasting
solutions.
It has been a long
haul since, but there have been
notable milestones. The education
of women, the abolition of sati,
widow remarriage, and the crusade
against child marriage, dowry,
female infanticide, and the call
to women to shake off their
shackles and join the national
mainstream - the agenda was set
in the opening years of the
century.
What is pertinent is
not that many of these problems
remain with us today, but that
they were seen as societal, and
national problems. That is why
throughout the long struggle
against the Raj, Mahatma Gandhi
constantly strove to uplift women
and the depressed sections of
society.
None of the great
leaders categorised the problems
facing women as a
women-versus-feudal men issue, to
be fought to the bitter end by
gender-conscious women alone, as
modern-day 'messiahs' like Lalu
Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav
have done. It lets the men, the
system, even the government,
clean off the hook.
The entire
responsibility for women's
problems, which are bound to
larger socio-economic and
cultural forces, can now be
dumped on a cartel of women
begging for 33 per cent of the
seats in Parliament.
And so we have the
spectacle of Margaret Alva (whose
party shelved the Mandal Report
for 10- long years before V.P.
Singh thrust it on an
unsuspecting nation) and Pramila
Dandvate propagating
"reservation within
reservation". Under this
formula, women should take a 33
per cent quota from the
already-reserved quotas for
SC/STs, backward classes and
general categories, thereby
reinforcing the pernicious caste,
class, sex and community barriers
that the nation has been
struggling to overcome. But in
their haste to get to the spoils,
Alva and Dandavate can only see
the 'advantages' - it averts the
need to delimit separate
constituencies for women, and
conforms to the 50 per cent
ceiling on reservations.
It needs to be asked
how reservations in Parliament
can resolve the thorny issues
facing the women's movement, when
the movement itself fails to come
to grips with them. For instance,
despite some creditable moves to
make personal laws more
equitable, and the Supreme
Court's direction to the
Government, the case for a
Uniform Civil Code is going by
default because of the notion
that it will boost the fortunes
of a certain political party.
Similarly, the
Supreme Court's revolutionary
verdict of July 1996, that even
pre-marriage dowry negotiations
are an offence, has not been
followed up by demands for
changes in the law. While women's
groups are vocal on the painful
issue of rape, they have not been
able to unite women as a whole
against this crime. Thus, while
'caste rapes' (a larger
socio-economic problem are on the
increase, women's groups have
failed to unite women across
caste lines in areas where such
outrages take place, to inhibit
their future occurrence. Nor have
they sought a special law to deal
with caste rapes, which surely
must be considered an especially
demeaning assault on women,
besides being the ultimate
statement on women as objects in
male power disputes.
Interestingly, a
workshop of elected women
panchayat members earlier this
year made an embarrassing
revelation - that most women were
surrogates for male family
members and exercised no real
powers. So Syed Shahabuddin did
have a point when he claimed that
reservations for women would only
help the upper castes (or
classes) to push their women in,
and gain on the swings what they
lose on the roundabouts, on
account of the Mandal
reservations. On the positive
side, women who took the lead in
people's movements in their
areas, commanded respect and were
able to function autonomously,
when elected.
And thereby hangs a
tale. The women's activists, who
applaud the Uttarakhand movement
in Uttar Pradesh, the anti-arrack
movement in Andhra Pradesh, and
the village Saathins in
Rajasthan, must see the writing
on the wall - only self-sponsored
movements, which find an echo in
the conscience of the society in
which they arise, can succeed.
Empowerment must come from within
before it comes from without.
Articulate and politically
well-connected groups cannot be
allowed to form a cartel claim
'sole spokesman' status, and grab
the loaves and fishes of office
on behalf of the entire community
of women. INAV
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Pakistan
after Musharraf ?
By
T S Rao
Gen.
Pervez Musharraf
completed seven years of
his rule of Pakistan in
October 2006. According
to subtle messages he is
giving for the past few
months, especially from
July 2006, he wants to
rule Pakistan as
President for another
five years. There is
already stiff opposition
with in Pakistan itself
for him continuing as
President as well as
Chief of Army staff. One
of the immediate
questions that arise for
Indian policy makers are
can be General makes
another term of five
years ?
In
answering this question
three factors need to be
noted. First, the
developments of past two
decades in Pakistan show
that Pakistani polity has
two faces. The overt face
is an elected Government
which conducts the day to
day functioning of the
state like bilateral and
multilateral relations
with external world,
issuing policy statements
etc. The covert face
which wields actual power
never comes in to public
but takes all crucial
decisions on matters
concerning the State.
Earlier, prior to Gen
Pervez Musharraf assuming
power, the elected
representatives
represented the overt
face of Pakistani polity
and the armed forces of
Pakistan , the covert
face. The question seems
to have blurred after Gen
Musharraf assumed power
in October 1999.
For
a while, most of the
Pakistani observers felt
that the General was
doing a tight rope
walking between the two
faces of Pakistani
polity. Some observers,
however, felt that
Musharraf was trying to
put every one in good
humour along with
building his own
constituency in the
country. But the
developments of the past
few months, especially
the killing of Akbar Khan
Bugti indicate a
different story.
Bugti's
killing in August and
signing of a peace
agreement with Tribal
Chieftains of FATA in
September 2006 indicated
that Musharraf is no
longer in total control
of developments in
Pakistan. The killing of
Bugti clearly indicated
that he was not able to
find a political solution
to Baloch problem; and
decided to adopt (late) Z
A Bhutto's tactics of
liquidating his
opponents. This has not
gelled with people of
Balochistan in
particular. Everyone
fears that the story of
1971 is getting repeated.
The
signing of agreement with
Chieftains of FATA is
extraordinary in every
sense of the term. The
armed force of a country
for the first time, gave
an undertaking to
warlords of a particular
region in the country
that they will not
operate in their areas.
This virtually resulted
in emergence of a state
with in a state.
Second,
the resurfacing of
Taliban in Afghanistan
from Pakistan soil and
attacking personnel of
International Security
Assistance Programme is
now more or less, an
established fact.
According to a story in
Sunday Times (London), Lt
Gen David Richards told
its correspondent
‘‘we just can't
ignore it any more
’’ (Taliban
being trained by
Pakistani army and the
Inter Service
Intelligence Agency). The
story goes on to say that
the address where Mullah
Umar is living in Quetta
is known to the NATO
forces operating in
Afghanistan.
In
these circumstances, the
US and its allies are
going to put intense
pressure on Gen Musharraf
to put an end to this
unusual situation as
quickly as possible. The
question that arises is
can Gen Musharraf do it ?
Or in this exercise will
he succeed or will he be
removed from power?
Lastly,
with evidence about
Pakistani involvement in
training of terrorists
across the globe is
mounting. Many observers
started feeling that
Musharraf is not in
complete control of the
situation. It is more
than five years that the
two people responsible
for September 11, 2001
incidents, Osama bin
Laden and Mullah Umar,
are still at large; and
many believe that they
are successfully evading
arrest with Pakistani
help. The mute question
is to what extent Gen
Musharraf is responsible
? and if he is replaced
will the new incumbent
deliver the goods ? The
people who are leading
the war on terrorism are
going to decide in the
next few months.
What
ever may be the
limitations of Gen
Musharraf regime, he has
not endeared himself to
people of Pakistan for
changing policies after
9/11 and marginalizing
political activity. At
another level, his
supporters outside
Pakistan are getting
frustrated at his
incapability to deliver
the goods on time.
Therefore,
one can anticipate that
Gen Musharraf tenure is
not going to be long. If
so what is India's
contingency plans to deal
with Pakistan in post
Musharraf period. The
successor to Gen
Musharraf can be any
body. It can be another
army General or some one
from the radical Islamic
groups or he can be from
one of the political
parties. In this hazy
picture that is emerging
from Pakistan, India may
have to keep all options
open. The mandarins in
South Block know that New
Delhi's capacity to
influence the course of
events in Pakistan is
extremely limited; and
cannot bet on any one
individual or political
group at this point.
Added to it, how to keep
engaging Pakistan in this
transitory stage in
Islamabad. New Delhi may
have to take some tough
decisions in the coming
months. Everyone knows
this is not going to
easy. - CNF
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Dengue a
deadly mosquito-borne disease
By G V
Joshi
India is struggling
with the outbreak of a deadly
disease spread by a mosquito.
Dengue fever has killed a large
number of people in and around
the Indian capital Delhi, and the
number is going up. Some 2900
dengue infections have been
reported from across the country.
The infection rates in Delhi have
doubled over the last year.
A dengue outbreak in
Delhi claimed more than 400 lives
in 1996 when 10,000 people fell
sick. Young children and the
elderly are most vulnerable to
the disease, for which no
specific treatment exists.
The term
‘‘dengue’’ is
a Spanish word to explain the
Swahili phrase ‘‘ki
denga pepo’’, meaning
‘‘cramp-like seizure
caused by an evil
spirit’’. It is also
called ‘‘break-bone
fever’ or
‘bone-crusher’ or
‘Dandy Fever’.
It first emerged in
1827-1828 during a Caribbean
outbreak.
Outbreaks resembling
dengue fever have been reported
throughout history. The first
case report dates back from 1789
and is attributed to Benjamin
Rush, who coined the term
‘‘break-bone
fever’’ for Dengue.
The cause and
transmission by mosquitoes were
only understood in the 20th
century. Dengue virus was first
isolated in India in 1945.
The first epidemic
occurred almost simultaneously,
in Asia, Africa, and North
America in the 1780s. A global
pandemic began in Southeast Asia
in the 1950s and by 1975 Dengue
had become a leading cause of
death among children in many
countries in that region.
Dengue fever (DF)
and dengue hemorrhagic fever
(DHF) are found in the tropics,
with a geographical distribution
similar to malaria. They are
caused by one of four clsoely
related virus of the genus
Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae.
Each virus is sufficiently
different that there is no
cross-protection and epidemics
caused by multiple viruses can
occur. Dengue is transmitted to
humans by the mosquito Aedes
aegypti and rarely Aedes
albopictus.
This infectious
disease is manifested by a sudden
onset of fever, with severe
headache, muscle and joint pains
and rashes. The dengue rash is
characteristically bright red and
usually appears first on the
lower limbs and the chest in some
patients; it spreads to cover
most of the body. There may also
be gastritis with some
combination of associated
abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting
or diarrhoea. Some cases develop
much milder symptoms, which can,
when no ras is present, be
misdiagnosed as flu or other
viral infection.
DF lasts about six
to seven days, with a smaller
peak of fever at the trailing
end. Cases of DHF also show
higher fever and bleeding.
A small proportion
of cases lead to dengue shock
syndrome (DSS) which has a high
mortality rate.
The diagnosis of
dengue is usually made
clinically. The classic picture
is high fever with no localising
source of infection and a rash.
The treatment is
supportive therapy. The patient
is encouraged to keep up oral
intake, especially of oral
fluids. If the patient is unable
to maintain oral intake,
supplements like intravenous
fluids may be necessary to
prevent dehydation.
To prevent the
spread of dengue fever, it is
very important to prevent the
breeding of its carrier, the
Aedes mosquitoes. The Aedes
mosquito is easily indentifiable
by its distinctive black and
white stripes on their body. It
prefers to breed in clean,
stagnant water, easily found in
our homes. One can get rid of the
Aedes mosquito by frequently
checking and removing stagnant
water in the premises.
Keep containers
outside the home dry. When not in
use keep them upside down.
Discard items that collect rain
or run-off water, especially old
tyres. Change the water in
outdoor birdbaths and pet and
animal water containers reglarly.
Avoid hanging, clothes in dark
corners as these serve as hiding
places for mosquitoes. Control
mosquito larvae in ponds by
keeping larvae-eating fish like
goldfish. Insist that
public-health officials safeguard
your community by eliminating
stagnant water sites in
construction and wastewater
treatment areas.
Protect from
mosquito bites. When outdoors,
wear long-sleeved shirts,
trousers and shoes. When indoors,
stay in air-conditioned or
screened areas. Attach screens to
all windows and doors. Warn
children not to play near still
water. Use mosquito repellent
creams or use mosquito coils or
electric vapour mats even during
day time.
This is also
important for malaria prevention.
See a doctor if you
have any flu-like symptoms
accompanied by fever and a rash.
Encourage anyone suspected of
having dengue to see a doctor.
A large number of
buildings are under construction
in metropolitan cities like
Delhi. This is a perfect setting
for the dengue virus carrying
Aedes Aegypti mosquito as it is
well adapted to urban settings
and breeds in such sites.
As of today, there
is no commercially available
vaccine for the dengue virus.
However, one of the
many ongoing vaccine development
programs is the Pediatric Dengue
Vaccine Initiative with the aim
of accelerating the development
and introduction of dengue
vaccine(s) that are affordable
and accessible to poor children
in endemic countries. However,
the prediction is that there will
not be a vaccine available for 5
to 10 years.
Work is continuing
on better ways to eradicate
mosquitoes. Recently, research
efforts have been directed toward
genetically altering mosquitoes
in the laboratory to be resistant
to the virus, so that they cannot
transmit the disease, and then
releasing them to the wild to
reproduce in the natural mosquito
population. This might provide a
powerful weapon against a disease
that infects 50 million people
each year.
Dengue is a
complicated disease and if
prevention isn't stepped up, and
that too quickly, cases will
spiral, stretching India's
already burdened hospital and
public health system.
PTI Feature
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