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Overarching urge to go public
K.K. Luthria
Our bureaucracy was conceived to be an invisible spirit guiding the onerous task of nation building
IT WAS not until T.N. Seshan, who first cracked the whip at the errant political class, did we realise that the Election Commission was indeed vested with immense powers waiting to be exercised by an intelligent Election Commissioner.
The limelight generated by the media proved to be a heady brew for a bureaucrat, who till then was only too happy to live in the shadow of his political master. This marked an event-change from the laid back style of previous Election Commissioners and Indian bureaucracy in particular.
Our bureaucracy was not conceived to be a visible and voluble creature hogging headlines and taking credit for discharging its duties. It was conceived to be an invisible spirit guiding the onerous task of nation building by providing the necessary steel frame and, therefore, visible only in terms of good administration and good governance.
The addition of new fangled spurs in the cowboy boots of Mr. Seshan was made possible by the omnipresent media which is ever so hungry for juicy bits of sound-bytes for the ostensible benefit of its viewers/readers.
We also witnessed Mr. Lyngdoh following in the footsteps of his predecessor. He donned the role of a moral preacher, with the media dutifully in tow. His famous pose to an official was "Aren't you ashamed" despite knowing fully well that his visit to that State was only to assess and evaluate whether elections could be held.
The overarching desire to be seen, heard, noticed, loved, adulated is innate in every human being and it ranks just a notch below the basic survival instinct. However, when one is occupying a high official post, these instinctive urges have to be curbed, if not eschewed, for effective discharge of one's official duties. Nothing more and nothing less is expected in the first task of providing good administration and good governance.
Sharing sensitive details
Officials these days, whether high or low and whether from defence services, police or other security agencies, suddenly become very eager to give their version of the event besides sharing in great detail the modus operandi of the terrorist outfit, how they are identified from the dhobi mark, label of the tailor, undergarment labels, shoe make/brand, chits/receipts found in their pockets, mobile phone number, etc., instead of keeping all these sensitive details strictly under wrap.
The cable TV channels also revel in broadcasting crime serials that have the police crowing about their investigative skills, and how they cracked the case even before the criminals have been brought to book. This naturally affects their main task of preparing a watertight charge sheet.
Recently in the Ayodhya terrorist attack case, we saw both print and visual media spilling the beans as to how the police were able to trace the phone calls made by the terrorists by deciphering the unique identity number of each mobile instrument. This achievement was by all accounts a commendable piece of evidence collection. However, the question remains whether all these details should be in public domain and are we not alerting the terrorists and their handlers across the border the kind of steps required to be taken to avoid detection/identification.
To be precise, the handlers had ensured that the terrorists this time around should not have any identifiable marks/receipts on their person and as expected the security agencies are still clueless about their identity.
It will be appreciated that the lack of coherent policy guidelines from the Home Ministry is at the root of this problem. The question of releasing forensic and other details by the officials concerned should be proscribed without any further delay. The Ministry should come out with a coherent policy to deal with the release of sensitive details of terrorist attacks on the lines of recent anti-hijacking policy.
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Sunday, February 1, 2009
Pakistan- Failed or Flailing State ?
Not a day passes by without Pakistan or Pakistani being mentioned in the media either in the context of terrorist related acts committed by a Pakistani or Pakistan being mentioned as a State sponsor of terrorism. Be it in the context of Kashmir, where Pakistan chooses to call these terrorists as Freedom Fighters / Mujahideens or in the context of British / American Muslims of Pakistani origin committing acts of terrorism, the Pakistani link is unfailingly being heard or written about. However, we do not hear of Indian Muslims being mentioned as terrorists in similar vein or in that connotation, although the stock of Islamic adherents in this part of the sub-continent is basically the same. Fortuitously, therefore, Indian Muslims have not been bracketed or type-casted as terrorists. The acts of terrorism committed by an Indian Muslim in India invariably gets ascribed to its handlers based in Pakistan. Pakistan, therefore, is increasingly being seen and described as epicenter of terrorism in greater part of the world. This development is a matter of great concern and needs to be seriously examined by all right thinking people both in India and Pakistan.
Indeed, this grave matter has far reaching consequences for generations of unborn Pakistanis. It is doubtful, whether they will ever come to terms with this horrid appellation and also live down this stigma or bloody label for centuries to come, should also come up for serious discussion by the intellectuals on both sides of the sub-continent. The short answer to this question is firm NO. An average Pakistani, as a consequence of developments around him, senses undercurrent of hostility and being unwelcome. As a result, he is increasingly withdrawing himself into a shell and getting isolated from the world affairs. Why has the fate of an average Pakistani come to this sorry pass ?
Pakistan has come to this sorry pass because its founders, past military and non-military rulers as also its present dispensation have paid minimal, if not, negligent regard to its first task of nation-building. But its rulers,past and present, have never been found wanting in fanning hatred to all things Indian-judged solely on the basis of religion. The founders chose not to seriously consider whether social cohesiveness and integrity of the nation could be achieved in the face of diverse group interests, culture, sub-sects like Shias, Sunnis etc., (which is what present day Pakistan is) solely on the basis of religion alone. This question was never considered dispassionately. If this was really possible, then, we should not be witnessing fratricidal war being waged among the adherents of Islam in Iraq. By the same logic, the shameful act of revenge hanging of Saddam Hussein by a fellow Muslim would not have taken place. So the glue binding diverse cultural groups, interests, sects, including migrant Indians who chose to cast their die with the fledgling theocratic state, arguably, has to be something more than religion. What is that "elusive-something" that will bind the heterogeneous interest groups as a cohesive and well-knit society will be examined by contrasting the same with the formation of another theocratic state called Israel.
Israel-a study in contrast
If religion were to be the sole identity criteria for State utopia, then all the ills of infamous Pakistani identity should have visited the State of Israel as well. If not, why not?. Thankfully, the reasons are not unfathomable. The siege mentality which the founders of Pakistan very assiduously cultivated in the minds of innocent Muslims, was soon, but very cleverly, replaced by hatred for infidels(India). This was in spite of getting the country vivisected on the basis of religion. The raison- d`et re for adopting this strategy was to deflect the attention of average Pakistani from the expectation of nation building by comparison with India's progress . To achieve this end, the founders and subsequent dispensations very conveniently adopted rabid posturing, laying claims on Kashmir by terming it as 'Unfinished Agenda of Partition', empowering the mullahs etc. Basically, the founders failed to lay the foundation of Democracy deep enough, so as to be well entrenched as in India. Instead they plumped for religion, believing, that it will serve as opium of the masses. For sometime yes, but not for eternity. This regrettably has resulted in power equation shifting from the centre to the periphery. Where peripheral fringes of the society come to occupy the center stage; where the tail starts wagging the dog instead of other way round; where State apparatus assumes the form of a Frankenstein carrying out its bidding and on its own as well; where criminals and haven-seekers get patronage and shelter. In this milieu , rule of law takes a back seat, nation building becomes its first casualty, its populace misled for decades becomes available on tap, so to say, as its canon-fodder. All this in the name of religion!
Israel- A Theocratic Democracy with unshifting power equation
In stark contrast, Israel is a model of success story, where the same siege mentality has been properly channeled by the State to keep the flock with itself besides beckoning the flock elsewhere in the world to come and join it. Where the State does not use its citizens as canon-fodder and where the State wages a war to get back its captured citizens (dead or alive) as it strongly believes in its citizen`s unalienable right to live in human dignity and in peace. In short, its command and control structure has not shifted from the centre to the periphery and, therefore, its power equation remains just right and proper.
Where does this leave us, living as we do within striking distance from this unstable neighbour, ruled by a galaxy of tin pot soldiers and peripheral fringes in tandem, doing a jig or a tango?. This power sharing equation does not inspire confidence and is not likely to change either. This writer foresees, in the absence of any other potent unifying force infusing shared sense of nationhood, brotherhood and fraternity - a virtual dismemberment of Pakistan into many pieces corresponding to various interest groups. Significantly, the Democrat controlled Congress in United States has just passed an anti-proliferation bill requiring its President to take punitive actions against countries with dubious proliferation records. This is seen as Congress` first stern and real warning to Pakistan signaling its unhappiness with the way it has gone about dealing an shielding its disgraced nuclear scientist A.Q.Khan and his nuclear proliferation network as also Pakistan`s palpable unwillingness to proactively deal with Taliban menace on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
All things considered, it would be in the interest of Pakistan to restore democracy and stop aiding and abetting acts of terrorism in the name of freedom struggle besides reigning in its own ISI which has vowed to inflict million bleeding wounds on India as retribution for its dismemberment and formation of Bangladesh. As it stands now, Pakistan is both a failed and flailing state with nothing to show to its credit as a theocratic nation.
Indeed, this grave matter has far reaching consequences for generations of unborn Pakistanis. It is doubtful, whether they will ever come to terms with this horrid appellation and also live down this stigma or bloody label for centuries to come, should also come up for serious discussion by the intellectuals on both sides of the sub-continent. The short answer to this question is firm NO. An average Pakistani, as a consequence of developments around him, senses undercurrent of hostility and being unwelcome. As a result, he is increasingly withdrawing himself into a shell and getting isolated from the world affairs. Why has the fate of an average Pakistani come to this sorry pass ?
Pakistan has come to this sorry pass because its founders, past military and non-military rulers as also its present dispensation have paid minimal, if not, negligent regard to its first task of nation-building. But its rulers,past and present, have never been found wanting in fanning hatred to all things Indian-judged solely on the basis of religion. The founders chose not to seriously consider whether social cohesiveness and integrity of the nation could be achieved in the face of diverse group interests, culture, sub-sects like Shias, Sunnis etc., (which is what present day Pakistan is) solely on the basis of religion alone. This question was never considered dispassionately. If this was really possible, then, we should not be witnessing fratricidal war being waged among the adherents of Islam in Iraq. By the same logic, the shameful act of revenge hanging of Saddam Hussein by a fellow Muslim would not have taken place. So the glue binding diverse cultural groups, interests, sects, including migrant Indians who chose to cast their die with the fledgling theocratic state, arguably, has to be something more than religion. What is that "elusive-something" that will bind the heterogeneous interest groups as a cohesive and well-knit society will be examined by contrasting the same with the formation of another theocratic state called Israel.
Israel-a study in contrast
If religion were to be the sole identity criteria for State utopia, then all the ills of infamous Pakistani identity should have visited the State of Israel as well. If not, why not?. Thankfully, the reasons are not unfathomable. The siege mentality which the founders of Pakistan very assiduously cultivated in the minds of innocent Muslims, was soon, but very cleverly, replaced by hatred for infidels(India). This was in spite of getting the country vivisected on the basis of religion. The raison- d`et re for adopting this strategy was to deflect the attention of average Pakistani from the expectation of nation building by comparison with India's progress . To achieve this end, the founders and subsequent dispensations very conveniently adopted rabid posturing, laying claims on Kashmir by terming it as 'Unfinished Agenda of Partition', empowering the mullahs etc. Basically, the founders failed to lay the foundation of Democracy deep enough, so as to be well entrenched as in India. Instead they plumped for religion, believing, that it will serve as opium of the masses. For sometime yes, but not for eternity. This regrettably has resulted in power equation shifting from the centre to the periphery. Where peripheral fringes of the society come to occupy the center stage; where the tail starts wagging the dog instead of other way round; where State apparatus assumes the form of a Frankenstein carrying out its bidding and on its own as well; where criminals and haven-seekers get patronage and shelter. In this milieu , rule of law takes a back seat, nation building becomes its first casualty, its populace misled for decades becomes available on tap, so to say, as its canon-fodder. All this in the name of religion!
Israel- A Theocratic Democracy with unshifting power equation
In stark contrast, Israel is a model of success story, where the same siege mentality has been properly channeled by the State to keep the flock with itself besides beckoning the flock elsewhere in the world to come and join it. Where the State does not use its citizens as canon-fodder and where the State wages a war to get back its captured citizens (dead or alive) as it strongly believes in its citizen`s unalienable right to live in human dignity and in peace. In short, its command and control structure has not shifted from the centre to the periphery and, therefore, its power equation remains just right and proper.
Where does this leave us, living as we do within striking distance from this unstable neighbour, ruled by a galaxy of tin pot soldiers and peripheral fringes in tandem, doing a jig or a tango?. This power sharing equation does not inspire confidence and is not likely to change either. This writer foresees, in the absence of any other potent unifying force infusing shared sense of nationhood, brotherhood and fraternity - a virtual dismemberment of Pakistan into many pieces corresponding to various interest groups. Significantly, the Democrat controlled Congress in United States has just passed an anti-proliferation bill requiring its President to take punitive actions against countries with dubious proliferation records. This is seen as Congress` first stern and real warning to Pakistan signaling its unhappiness with the way it has gone about dealing an shielding its disgraced nuclear scientist A.Q.Khan and his nuclear proliferation network as also Pakistan`s palpable unwillingness to proactively deal with Taliban menace on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
All things considered, it would be in the interest of Pakistan to restore democracy and stop aiding and abetting acts of terrorism in the name of freedom struggle besides reigning in its own ISI which has vowed to inflict million bleeding wounds on India as retribution for its dismemberment and formation of Bangladesh. As it stands now, Pakistan is both a failed and flailing state with nothing to show to its credit as a theocratic nation.
Japan- The Land of the Rising Sun and Setting Buddhism
Japan- The Land of the Rising Sun and Setting Buddhism
Japan is in the news for all the wrong reasons these days. Take the case of its willful and utter disdain towards world outcry against Whale slaughter. Japanese fisherman hunt for whales by harpooning them in a very cruel way and hoisting the magnificent sea mammals alive after they are exhausted. It carries out all this in the name of scientific experiments albeit selling whale meat, blubber, and its smooth skin as shoe leather, which is commercially known as “porpoise hide” Indeed, it has become a matter of right for Japan to exploit a provision, which exists in the International Whaling Commission’s Charter of Regulated Whaling. It has been exploiting this provision to carry out mass slaughter of Whales for years with impunity and contempt for the sentiments of vast majority of people in the world, who have their heart in right place.
This writer remembers with vivid clarity, a documentary aired in National Geography Channel a few years back. The documentary detailed mass slaughter of defenseless whales by a band of merciless Japanese fishermen. The sea in the vicinity of mass slaughter was blood red, as far as the eye could see. Intrepid conservationists filmed this blood curdling graphic documentary and. the whole world is beholden to them for risking their lives in pursuit of their subliminal calling. The resultant outcry, stirred the government of the day. Paradoxically, it issued a direction to its fishermen to ensure that careful watch be kept to prevent filming of whale-slaughter-in-process at all costs and not the whale slaughter itself! Despite the angry and shrill outcry against whale fishing and their mass slaughter, Japan remains unmoved and unfazed and it is readying itself for another whaling season!
Japan is the world’s second largest economy. Next, only to USA. Ostensibly, Japanese are gentle, extremely polite and highly cultured. The world is richer as they have presented to the world their enchanting flower arrangement, painting, Haiku, Bonsai, and the famed tea ceremony. Significantly, it has fathered the Kyoto Pact to protect the humanity from the ill effects of global warming and devised a system of carbon credit. However, the most significant, unique and unparalleled feature of its philosophy of existence is enshrined in its Constitution, which directs the State to completely renounce war as an instrument of national policy.
So, why is this extremely polite and cultured society AT WAR with another extremely gentle, harmless, defenceless species called whales? The United Nations has just observed that whales, especially the Right Whales also known as Whalebone Whales are under danger of extinction. Quaintly, due to man’s insatiable desire to exploit those who cannot fight back for their very survival!
In contrast with Japans disdain for anything called Cetaceans (whales) we are by now familiar with heartwarming account of thousands of spectators rushing to the banks of Port of Sacramento just to catch a glimpse of two whales (mother and her calf) who have taken a wrong turn and swam 145 km inland. Two days later came the news that all out efforts to lure these two stranded whales back into the Pacific Ocean suffered a setback after they again reversed course and began heading further inland and that both were in great distress. The American Coast Guard have since placed a safety ring around them to ensure their safety while the veterinary doctors have administered antibiotics to hasten healing of cuts sustained on their skin. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has, just as this piece is being written, upheld the ban against whaling expeditions and Japan is making all the threatening noise of quitting the IWC!
The answer to unfathomable cruelties to these mammals perhaps lies in the Japanese psyche, which has been conditioned due to existence of 500 active volcanoes, insularity of their land. This has resulted in a narrow and circumscribed national outlook, which is out of step with the whole world despite Buddhism being religion of the masses. The same cruelty was evident during II World War. The Japanese man’s ability to commit Hara-kiri is singular and unparalleled in any other part of the world. The magnificent, gregarious and gentle Whales, Conservationists, and all right thinking people of the world will not shed a tear should Japan decide to commit political, social and cultural Hara-kiri. .
Japan is in the news for all the wrong reasons these days. Take the case of its willful and utter disdain towards world outcry against Whale slaughter. Japanese fisherman hunt for whales by harpooning them in a very cruel way and hoisting the magnificent sea mammals alive after they are exhausted. It carries out all this in the name of scientific experiments albeit selling whale meat, blubber, and its smooth skin as shoe leather, which is commercially known as “porpoise hide” Indeed, it has become a matter of right for Japan to exploit a provision, which exists in the International Whaling Commission’s Charter of Regulated Whaling. It has been exploiting this provision to carry out mass slaughter of Whales for years with impunity and contempt for the sentiments of vast majority of people in the world, who have their heart in right place.
This writer remembers with vivid clarity, a documentary aired in National Geography Channel a few years back. The documentary detailed mass slaughter of defenseless whales by a band of merciless Japanese fishermen. The sea in the vicinity of mass slaughter was blood red, as far as the eye could see. Intrepid conservationists filmed this blood curdling graphic documentary and. the whole world is beholden to them for risking their lives in pursuit of their subliminal calling. The resultant outcry, stirred the government of the day. Paradoxically, it issued a direction to its fishermen to ensure that careful watch be kept to prevent filming of whale-slaughter-in-process at all costs and not the whale slaughter itself! Despite the angry and shrill outcry against whale fishing and their mass slaughter, Japan remains unmoved and unfazed and it is readying itself for another whaling season!
Japan is the world’s second largest economy. Next, only to USA. Ostensibly, Japanese are gentle, extremely polite and highly cultured. The world is richer as they have presented to the world their enchanting flower arrangement, painting, Haiku, Bonsai, and the famed tea ceremony. Significantly, it has fathered the Kyoto Pact to protect the humanity from the ill effects of global warming and devised a system of carbon credit. However, the most significant, unique and unparalleled feature of its philosophy of existence is enshrined in its Constitution, which directs the State to completely renounce war as an instrument of national policy.
So, why is this extremely polite and cultured society AT WAR with another extremely gentle, harmless, defenceless species called whales? The United Nations has just observed that whales, especially the Right Whales also known as Whalebone Whales are under danger of extinction. Quaintly, due to man’s insatiable desire to exploit those who cannot fight back for their very survival!
In contrast with Japans disdain for anything called Cetaceans (whales) we are by now familiar with heartwarming account of thousands of spectators rushing to the banks of Port of Sacramento just to catch a glimpse of two whales (mother and her calf) who have taken a wrong turn and swam 145 km inland. Two days later came the news that all out efforts to lure these two stranded whales back into the Pacific Ocean suffered a setback after they again reversed course and began heading further inland and that both were in great distress. The American Coast Guard have since placed a safety ring around them to ensure their safety while the veterinary doctors have administered antibiotics to hasten healing of cuts sustained on their skin. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has, just as this piece is being written, upheld the ban against whaling expeditions and Japan is making all the threatening noise of quitting the IWC!
The answer to unfathomable cruelties to these mammals perhaps lies in the Japanese psyche, which has been conditioned due to existence of 500 active volcanoes, insularity of their land. This has resulted in a narrow and circumscribed national outlook, which is out of step with the whole world despite Buddhism being religion of the masses. The same cruelty was evident during II World War. The Japanese man’s ability to commit Hara-kiri is singular and unparalleled in any other part of the world. The magnificent, gregarious and gentle Whales, Conservationists, and all right thinking people of the world will not shed a tear should Japan decide to commit political, social and cultural Hara-kiri. .
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