TALK TOILET

So long society is reluctant to give the importance that toilet deserves in our public life, we shall keep on talking about it. How many people are aware that Nov 19 is observed every year as the World Toilet Day. Many may be knowing the date as Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s b-day. Sponsored by Sulabh, the day was observed in the FICCI Auditorium when a 250- kg toilet shaped cake was cut. Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, on this occasion opined that it might look funny to many but as a matter of fact, this symbolic gesture carried a deep meaning.

To mark the day, the major newspapers brought out the World Bank report revealing some shocking facts and figures. It surprised us when it informed that about 2.5 billion people in the world are not having access to clean toilets. In India alone, around 600 m people or 53% of the population resort to open defecation. In India, 1,310 lakh households lack inhouse toilets. Though there are 80 lakh public conviences, many more are required forthwith.  Since toilet is a civilisational norm, open defecation and culture cannot coexist. Jaehyang So, Manager, World Bank expressed that “open defecation is at the root of many development challenges”.

On Nov 19 itself, while in a train to Ranchi, in a Hindi newspaper, I came across a stunning news that in the matters of open defecation, Jharkhand is occupying the top slot in the world. In its rural areas, 92.4% houses have no toilets. In 2010, the UNDP released its human development report according to which in the African countries like Niger and Chad, 91% houses were not having toilets. Burkina Faso and Ethopia with 89% were on the third position. The figure quoted above about Jharkhand are based on the population figures of 2011 which by far surpasses others. However, the Jharkhand state Govt has challenged these figures. They put it between 35 to 42%.

Without going into the intricacies of figures, we can straightway say that open defecation by even a single individual is a shame. Despite all the missile and satellite programmes, India cannot command respect in the comity of nations till the complete eradication of the bane of easing out al fresco.

ARMY PLAYS TRUANT WITH PAK DEMOCRACY

India and Pakistan became free from foreign rule together in 1947. Since then India has remained under democratically elected governments. However, Pakistan’s tryst with democratic practices has experienced intermittent army interventions. It begins with Ayub Khan, followed by Yahya Khan, Ziaul Haue and Parwez Musharraf. The tiger, which tastes human blood once, becomes more ferocious. So even a democratically elected prime minister in Pakistan is always afraid of his army. More so when he is Nawaz Sharif, who has the bitter experience of biting the dust at the hands of his army chiefs thrice.

Earlier in 1993,Genl Waheed Kakar had forced him to resign. On the heels of this misfortune, Genl Parwez Musharraf effected a coup and he was forced to pass time abroad in banishment. So immediately after he assumed the power this time, he was very careful to get rid of the ambitious Ashfaq Parwez Kayani who used to call the shots during the presidentship of Asif Ali Zardari. To Sharif’s good luck, Kayani, after managing an extension was in the sixth year of his tenure and due to retire on Nov 29, 2013. One thing was clear that the people at large were tired of military dictatorship and hence Kayani had no mood of trying any further misadventure. This gave Sharif sufficient leeway to make a patient search for a loyal army chief. 

Accordingly he selected Lt Genl Raheel Sharif, aged 57 years to take charge from Kayani today (Nov 2013). The points in favour of Genl Rasheel was that he is reported to be related with the Prime Minister. Secondly, in the army circle he has an impression of being moderate. Thirdly, in his view, India is not the main enemy, but the internal chaotic environment needed a better handling. Lastly, prior to this new assignment, he was the Inspector General of Training in course of which, he gave emphasis on curbing militant jehadis. With these plus points, the Prime Minister is optimistic about a smooth sail. However, the selection has touched off a face off. The seniormost officer in line to succeed Kayani was Lt Genl Haroon Aslam who felt humiliated on being relegated to the third position in the hierarchy. Accordingly, he resigned forthwith.

The scenario being so, the ruling party is still suspicious about possible pinpricks from the armed forces. They are aware that Kayani, having ambition for power may try to destabilize Nawaz Sharif. To make the situation worse, even Haroon Aslam, feeling crestfallen may also try for some nefarious measures as a revenge. We in India, tasting the benefits of democracy, strongly wish Pakistan to emerge as a viable democracy.

FINE ARTS AND POLITICS

                                               

Normally the people having expertise in fine arts are treated to be elite. It is believed that they are men of chaste tastes and can do anything in a better fashion. However, we know that many scholars and celebrities have opined that they are worth  nothing as far as politics and governance are concerned.

Aristotle had expressed that the philosophers are the best material for assuming the mantle of kingship. Fortunately, India had a practical experience of a philosopher king. Dr Sarvapally Radhakrishnan was our vice president for complete one decade and on the demise of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, became the President of the republic of India. He was a globally acclaimed philosopher scholar. His persuasive oratory was so famous that he could influence even Stalin while in Russia as the Indian ambassador. His birthday, 5^th of Sept. is observed as Teacher’s Day in the country. Besides that, what else you remember about his tenure of 15 years to justify that philosophers are ideal kings?

Similarly, Plato said that the poets are sentimental and slightly mentally imbalanced and hence they are never fit for rulership of a country. If you see the history books, you will find the names of some kings who were poets, but we will have to check up if they were successful. We know that Bahadurshah Zafar was a poet but then he made a very week emperor. On the other hand, In India, we had a poet as the prime minster, who is rated as one of the best. Yes, I am talking about Atal Behari Vajpayee. Both the examples cause nothing but confusions.

Even music has not been spared, rather badly condemned. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb was so unkind to the fine arts including music that he prescribed them to be drowned so deep into the ocean that its tunes were not audible to anybody. We know that while Rome was burning, its emperor Nero was playing on flute. Despite this old adage, Nero had done several good things for the betterment of his subject. On the other hand, due to his aggressive and orthodox policies, Aurangzeb was decried by the people and the real downfall of his empire ensued during the last phase of his rule.

In the above backdrop, is it not quite challenging to take a side?

HINDI HAS MADE INDIA PROUD

If Sardar Patel tamed the Princely states to establish Indian sovereignty, over the years, more than any other thing, Hindi has kept the country united. We know that the stiffest opposition to Hindi was in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The Bengali Bhadralok were highly critical of Hindi films under the plea that it would contaminate their native culture. Still we know that the Bengalis in general preferred to see Bollywood films so enthusiastically that Talliwood film industry was pushed to its nadir.

More violent was the anti-Hindi movement in Tamil Nadu where some committed self-immolation to register their protest. Despite that, not only the Cennai cinema halls regularly run houseful shows of Hindi films but many Tamil heroes and heroines have been catapulted to international heights after shifting to Bollywood. More than that, blockbusters in both Hindi and Tamil have been dubbed in swapped versions. Chennai Express, Chennai Café and similar other films have shown the popularity of Tamil themes. If you search the net, you will be surprised to see innumerable institutions, committed to popularize Hindi in Tamil Nadu with reputable publications to their credit.

The other day I was tuned to  a FM radio channel, in which Ram Yadav, a famous radio announcer was telling about the state of Hindi in Germany, where he has been living for last thirty years. He said that till some years back, Hindi was being taught in 22 universities whereas today the number has slumped to 7 only. However, since the Bollywood started making ground in Europe, the youth has suddenly become fans of Hindi films. The Hindi dances and songs of these films are so popular that even in small towns there are arrangements to teach the Bollywood dance steps and music tunes. He added that even in some local functions, Hindi film songs are played on loudspeakers and the youth dance to those tunes on the stage. They are the fans of Mumbai actors including Shahrukh Khan. Hindi, thus is once again the craze of the youth. Let us acknowledge that no power can stop the ascendant Hindi in India. Even the Diwan-e- Ghalib reached several times more hands when published in Devanagari script.

AN INTRODUCTION OF JAT COMMUNITY

In the democratic India, pressure groups and to be still clear, vote banks are more dependable elements for winning an election and forming a  government. This vote bank may be carved out on the basis of religion, caste, business, culture regional affinity etc. In this backdrop, the preponderance of the Jat community in Western UP, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan has assumed a great importance as all political parties go out of way to woo them. Who are these Jats?

 In the Indian mythology, according to the Deva Samhita and some Puranas, Jats originated from the mat (Jataa) of Lord Shiva. When his consort Sati committed immolation in her father’s yajna in which her husband Shiva had not been invited, the lord became angry. He unknotted his matted locks from which two shining men appeared who demolished the venue of Yaksha’s  sacrifice. The people, later born in this clan became known as Jats.

On the other hand, a Persian and Greek account believe them being Scythians as well as the most ancient settlers in Sindh. The Persian account of 1026 AD held the Jats to be the descendants of Ham, the son of Noah. Several other references indicate their existence in 6^th and 8^th centuries in Sindh. They were  basically a pastoral community which later became tillers in Northern India and modern Pakistan. By and by they started moving towards Punjab, Delhi, Eastern Rajputana and the Gangetic plains of Western UP. It is reported in a Persian source  that in 1024 AD, when Mamud was returning to Ghazni after plundering Somnath, they attacked the aggressors and destroyed their several regiments. As a revenge, Mamud returned in 1026 to punish the main Jat regions between the Indus and Sutlej.

When they came to Punjab in the later middle age, Islam had established its hold.The Jats yearned after their place in the caste system hierarchy. During the period between their stay in Sindh and eastward migration, they had no specific caste and religious identity. When one said Jat, it simply meant a herder or tiller. By that time Sikhism had also been founded. So the Jats of Western Punjab became Muslims, Estern Punjab Sikhs and of Delhi and Agra assumed Hinduism. The Hindu Jats of Western UP, Delhi and Agra continued to challenge the Mughal prowess. They took up arms against the Mughal empire during the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries. The Hindu Jat kingdom reached its zenith under Raja Surajmal (1707-1763) of Bharatpur. By the 20^th century, the land-owning Jats became an influential group in several parts of Northern India. Over the years, after exposure to other powerful pressure groups, many of them abandoned agriculture in favour of urban jobs. They used their affluence to claim reasonable slices among the ruling gentry.

Thus like some other ancient communities, the Jats have also covered a long distance to carve out a niche in the national politics.  

LIVING NEAR INTERNATIONAL BORDERS

                               

We, living in the plains of the country have never realized the agonies of our own countrymen, living near the international borders. Just imagine the plight of the undivided North-Western India which had been facing attacks from foreign countries since Alexander came. It is a historical truth that they faced killings and loot from the Huns, Arabs, Persians, Mongols, Turks, Muslims etc. These marauders plundered the areas upto Delhi. The local population has been suffering since then. The situation has not changed even after the Independence.

The Sikhs, who came to J@K from Pakistan in 1947/48, have yet not been given the state subject status. The villagers in Jammu region located adjacent to the LOC in particular, not only lose their near and dear but even their animal wealth in cross-firing from Pakistan. The entire Hindu population was displaced. The people on both sides badly miss their kith and kin due to strained relation between both the countries. Worse is the condition of people who are living in hundreds of small islands on Indo-Bangladesh borders. Unfortunately, even their citizenship remains undecided. The areas like J@k where terrorists get infiltrated, the innocent citizens undergo untold miseries. Even their womenfolk are not safe.

In this backdrop, a story from Arunachal Pradesh will prove interesting.One Claude Arpi, an expert on Tibetan affairs, is doing some research work on the controversial McMahon Line. In course of this project, he visited a famous village of Arunachal Pradesh named Menchuka which is only 50 km inside the LAC. There are several people who even today remember how in 1962, the Chinese armymen would tell them to be friends of China as their nose, eyes, skin texture etc are like the Chinese. Still they are happy to be in India. He met the village headman who is aged 101.  When Arpi enquired about his wishes, the headman wanted his message to be conveyed to the Prime Minister. His twin wishes are opening of the border so that he could meet his relatives and permission to import Tibetan yaks as the original breed is disappearing in his state. Is he asking for the moon?    

ILLEGAL CBI

                                                               

In Mithilanchal area of North Bihar, if one is under the influence of ghosts, some native experts use mustard seeds while reciting ‘mantras’ to chase away the disturbing invisible souls. In this context there is a sying that if the mustard seeds themselves are having ghostly elements, then how the suffering man will be saved. The same story has been repeated by the Gauhati High Court in case of the CBI. Whenever there is a heinous crime, criminal or otherwise involving celebrities, there is a demand for free and fair enquiry by the CBI. On Nov 8,2013 the Gauhati High Court gave a decision, maintaining that this premier investgating outfit is illegal. It has surprised the whole country.

The High Court did not do anything new or unbelievable. During the Janata Party rule, there was countrywide strike by the policemen of all nomenclatures for different demands. Even the Intelligence Bureau had to face this music as its direct recruits refused to be rated as police officers as they had not been appointed under any police law. Several of them surrendered their Indian Police Medal and President’s Police Medal. It is under this plea that even today, the IB has no power of arrest, raids and interrogations despite the outfit being more than one hundred years old. Exactly under the same circumstances, the CBI was formed for a specific issue in 1963 without any Cabinet decision and signature of the President of India. So the High Court rightly observed that it had no power of search, investigation and  interrogation and that  it was an illegal body. The SC itself, only a few months back had felt dismayed over the blatant malleable attitude of the CBI in the Coal Scam and rated it as a parrot of the Govt. Manish Tiwari, present Information and Broadcasting Minister had himself expressed doubts over the legality of this investigational agency.

Within hours of this decision,the  accused in cases launched by CBI including A. Raja and Sajjan Kumar moved the court to trash the charges against them. The implication of the decision was so alarming that the Centre immediately decided to  move the Supreme Court to stay the Gauhati decision. The Attorney General Vahanvati appealed to the SC and the case was heard by the Chief Justice at his residence on Nov 9 afternoon. In view of the dangerous and wide-ranging implications of the subject, the SC took only 15 minutes to gauge the fact in issue and stay the Gauhati HC decision. The next hearing is scheduled for Dec 6,2013. The CBI as well as the Govt has taken a sigh of relief. Yet the Govt and the SC will have to thrash out a solution imparting legality to the prestigious CBI. Everybody laughs today that half- a- century old famous national police agency, employing 6,000 personnel continues to run on an executive order.

GOODLUCK PEANUTS

                                               

In NASA, when a space mission is successful, the involved scientists distribute peanuts among themselves an wish ‘Goodluck Peanuts’ to each other. Similarly, the ISRO had the fortune of wishing ‘Mangal-Mangal’ on last Tuesday (Nov 5) when its maiden Mars Orbiter Mission was successfully launched at 2.38 PM. Thus it was a red- letter day for India associated with this red planet.

So far there have been 51 missions to Mars by different countries out of which only 21 proved successful. If the Indin mission is fruitful, it would be 52 nd. Japan tried its luck in 2003 which prematurely plunged into the ocean before entering into  the earth orbit. Similarly even China lost the race in 2012. So far only NASA (USA), ESA (European Space Agency) and ROSCOSMOS (Russia) have sent their spacecrafts to this red planet and if the Mars Orbiter Mission achieves its objective, India will be the fourth member to join this exclusive club.

There are two deficiencies in the Orbiter project. The GSLV rocket launcher is more powerful to catapult the spacecraft straight to its destination. However, due to some technical reasons in GSLV, the ISRO scientists had to try PSLV rocket launcher. Moreover, due to the same limitation, the orbiter has carried a lighter payload of research machineries weighing only about 15 KG. The question arises, why this haste if the said limitations were there. If India failed to take this opportunity, it would have to wait for another three year when there will be an equally suitable planetary condition. For covering a distance of 35 crore KM, it will take some 300 days of journey. Over and above that, it is only between Sept and Nov that the Mars is nearest to the earth. The orbiter, therefore, will be orbiting earth till Nov end and leave for the Mars on Dec1 so that it could enter into Martian orbit on next Sept 24.

There has been a mixed reaction on this mission. By and large the people have hailed it as mission bringing glory to Indian scientific acumen. Some have decried it telling that a country which is not giving food and water to a large chunk of population, should not have gone for such unproductive extravaganza. These are the people who had criticized Rajiv Gandhi for paving way for unemployment through computerization. Some decry that the amount of 450 crore is huge which could have been invested in developmental programmes. Do they know the amount squandered on ‘Dalit Prerna Sthal’ by Mayavwati, defalcation of public funds in fodder scam by Lalu, CWG scam of Kalmadi, 2G Spectrum by Raja, Coalgate by still bigger individuals, rail scam by P.K. Bansal so on and so forth? In comparison with these, the ISRO amount is just a peanut.

We wish that India is recognized for its interplanetary travel capability. The world is already mesmerized. God willing, on Sept 24,2014, the ISRO scientists will also wish ‘Lucky Peanuts’ to their Mars Orbit Mission colleagues.  

OPINION POLL

                               

Till today, it is accepted by all that democracy is the best form of government. A free and fair election is the pre-requisite of any democratic government. Different societies have been adopting different methods and framing laws to ensure flawless elections. Similarly, election campaigns, over the years have also become quite imaginative and colourful so much so that the electioneering period assumes the form of a festive occasion. With the advanced technologies in communications, media also jumped into the field to make it more interesting to attract the attention of the electorate.

In the above backdrop, opinion poll has also emerged as an interesting facet of the electoral propaganda. Through information, electronic media make the programme entertaining as well. In course of TV debate on this topic in several news channels on Nov 5, 2013,  it was informed that opinion poll was tried some 200 years ago. However, both opinion and exit polls were introduced in India on TV by Pronoy Roy in 1980s. It caught the imagination of the voters so much that the psephologists of the country adopted it as a lucrative profession because even the political parties engage them to know the trend. As a result, out of around fifty news channels, some half a dozen of them get conducted ambitious opinion polls and relay for their esteemed viewers. The voters, on the eve of every election – assembly or parliamentary, eagerly wait for opinion polls.

If these voters suddenly learn that the opinion poll has been banned, they are bound to be anguished. In 2004, there was a consensus among the political parties to ban these exercises as they influenced the voters. However, the then Attorney General Soli Sorabji, opined it militating against the freedom of speech/expression and the Bajpayee Govt turned cold-feet. Once again, some months back, the Election Commission requested all political parties to spell out their stand  on this issue. On Oct 21, K.C. Tyagi of the Congress submitted the reply of his party demanding a ban on this pre-poll exercise which often were inaccurate and tendentious. This stirred the hornest’s nest. By now, the BSP, SP and JD/U have also joined this chorus. The BJP and the Left hold it as a frustration of the Congress and an attempt to silence the differing voices.

Now, the question arises, during the last assembly elections, when the opinion polls predicted victory for the Congress in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka etc, the party simply enjoyed the forecast. Now in the Modi wave, when the opinion polls are indicating a bleak future for the Congress, BSP,SP and JD/U, they have joined hands to ban opinion polls. This method prescribes chopping off the head to remove headache. Their logic of such forecasts often misfiring is also not tenable as the commitments in the election manifestoes of political parties are also not 100% accomplished. What about the accuracy of a successful political party which assured to restrain prices within 100 days. Moreover, if opinion polls are objectionable, we should also ban the speeches by politicians who make tall claims to the public and just ignore their fulfillment after the electoral victory. The debate is still hot and the voters should not shirk strongly highlighting their views.     

TALIBAN HIT BUT NOT ROUTED

In the agenda for the recent bilateral talks between President Obama and Nawaz Sharif, some points remained almost untouched due to the unbending attitude of the either side. One of such unresolved issues was stoppage of Drone attacks on Pakistan by the US and bringing Hafiz Sayeed to book by Pakistan. Neither Obama accepted to stop Drone attacks nor Sharif was ready to press Hafiz to face law. Thus Drone operation is going on unabated and Hafiz is also involved in organising anti-India terrorist activities as usual.

In one of such pin-pointed Drone attacks on Nov 1, 2013 at a target in North-West Waziristan tribal region, six Talibans including its chief Hakimullah Mahsood were killed. It was a great loss to the Pakistani Taliban. But being a hardcore outfit, it did not get demoralized and tried to show the world that they were unfazed even after this shocking anti-Taliban operaration of the USA. They declared that the attack would be adequately revenged.

Without any loss of time, a secret meeting of the the Tehriq-e-Taliban Pakistan Council was organized locally and Khan Syed Mahsood @ Sajna was elected the new chief.There were also some other aspirants including the Swat Taliban chief Faizulla, but ultimately Sajna won the race. His election, in the backdrop of his highly violent track record, has rightly caused a great concern in the mind of the peaceloving people. 36 yr old Sajna was involved in an attack on a naval base. He is also accused of the jail-break in Bannoo town of North-West in which 400 prisoners escaped. People know that even though he lacks formal education, but has some practical knowledge of warfare based on experiences acquired in Afghanistan disturbances.

The Talibani leaders accuse that even Pakistan Govt is in collusion with the US in this Drone attack. They claim to know their enemies and have threatened to go for an unprecedented retaliation in due course. Even Obama administration has taken this threat seriously and definitely will keep the developments under a close observation.

HAIO RABBA NAIO LAGDA DIL

                               

Though it is the festival of light (DiwalI) in India today (Nov 3) and the Hindus, all over the world are celebrating it with gusto, the day has made the music world poorer as the internationally famous folk singer, Reshma breathed her last in the wee hours of Nov 3 at Lahore. She was suffering from throat cancer and was bed-ridden in a hospital since April, 2013. She was about 66 years of age. Though she is said to have been born in 1947, a few months before the Independence, the exact date is not known.

She was born in a Banjara family of  Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. Her father, Haji Md. Mushtaq  was a trader of horses and camels. Once Reshma herself disclosed that her father used to take horses and camels to other parts of the country and brought sheep and goats from there to sell them locally for maintaining the family. When the country underwent division, the Mushtaq family moved to Karachi region of Pakistan. She did not have any formal training in music but her god- gifted melodious voice took her to the top of the music world. Since the age of 12, she used to go to the ‘majars’ of ‘pirs’ and sing nats, qauwalis etc. It is in course of such a spiritual singing that a connoisseur of music, suddenly passing from there, heard and was moved. He made her agree to sing for the Pakistan Radio and thus it was a much needed breakthrough. After that she never looked back.

There was such an attraction in her voice that the music lovers of India and Pakistan yearned to listen to he melodious renderings. Lal meri pat rakhio, haio rabb, akhiyon ko rahne de ankhiyon ke naal-naal and several others proved blockbusters in the sub-continent. She gave a highly acclaimed programme in London as well where her two daughters also accompanied her. By the way, her younger sister, in her own capacity is famous for soulful songs in Pakistan. On her India visit, once Reshma visited her ancestral village in Bikaner. Raj Kapoor, Subhash Ghai and some others in Bollywood used her music. In 2006, when the inaugural Lahore-Amritsar friendly bus service started, she was among the first passengers with half a dozen of her family members. We in India deeply mourn her sad demise and pray for peace to the departed soul.