Vol. 2 No.6 New Delhi 20 ~Iar"h Rupccs 1Wo

Farooq Romps Back to Power

Overplays Rajiv Card Adopts Unfair Tactics Against

Muslinl Front From Baljil Malik in Ihe Kashmir Valley

r:lH' I'm ;(!nlh' , 'orwilltl. ,d emhh (' h ~(: l illr'l :- in ./;111111111

and ",,~hl1lir \\ '1'1"1\ lIIUrjll l' ill

!'IIom \Va."~ thall 0111' I-'rw Ilw li!':.1 time tlw Nation:.!1 COlllcl"Cn1ce whit'h h"s until 110\\ "I'en IllI' pil l't,' IlIl1s t IVPI1 ':-01.'11 I .U i\'(' 01 the K;r:-..hl1l id iliPIH ilv, \\'t!1l 1 il1to till ' f' h ~l'liul1 rray as 'i1 p ill'llI l'r of tlw Cnnt-: l't:ss·1.1I "wild :-.1'("'111 111 011 .I ~ it re sult of 1111 ' \ C Cong.-' i.llIiallt~(' , tlw pn 'ss II HI lor the tir'l \il~Wl 'l\'Jii·.WI\I·· l~ '(1't1m l 1 ~ I U I 'IIIl~ Ihl' p(llilir~ 1 allHflsl'lIcm ill tlH ' s tal l' ;tth'ilst ill ( 'f 1l1ql~tr;Son lu it!" \; c;io lls !'lIll' i ll IIH' 'li:l (' 1 t!( · l ioll~ .

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A Day Wllh Farooq Abdullah

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Continued on page 15. cal l

A Potty For The Prime Minister Security men carry a commode lor Rajiv Gandhi al the Shcr· I-Kashmir Park., Srinagsf.

Rajiv And Party Humbled At The Hustings

Congress-I Reduced To Regional Party Status By Parth S Banefjee with 0 Paras"ar In Deihl

Calcutta: ·· Lel's send a congralulalory telegram to Rajiv Gandhi,'· chuckled one e.ultanl Wesl Bengal CPI ·M leader. .oil 's he who helped us !Hln. Everyllme he came down here, he only managed 10 weaken the Congress· I's supporl base with his false promises. Assault the red baslion. Indeed! Inslead, at Delhl"s Red Fort, we will soon be lIying Ihe red lIag: · On thai perhaps slighlly Over oplimisllc nole, he picked up Ihe phone to calilhe p~rly olfice al Trivandrum where Ihe electorate, rejecllng Raj iv Gandhrs United Democralic Fronl (UDF). had jusl hoisled Ihe red lIag.

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or ,\ICC·' ~('nel'a l ~ I ' L! 1 1 ,i .. t1;e::o,

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If an,\ lilil lg Ihe 1\:~ U It !' 11\1 (lip

!'lCI 'II Il J cia., IrUlll Bengal WP'I'tS

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sli l lJl'IH' il ':", t.'tll l :-. ttlllt'l1ric :-o 11i ~1I Haji\' (;~Uldhi ,dlh hi.:. barn­SIO!'l1lt1lg afl1jl~dH" Iwd llir. d In

wean over fmln Cummunist i nl1U1~nce, and had miserabl'y Ii.lih!d. 'It is unbcli(!vable. I iust (':..111 '1 fi~UI"C Llu l anything. How (,ould il h"ppcn~" puzzled an illlTedll lous l"'1iva Ranjan Das MUI1!)lii , Union ~1illist er of StatH fo!' COllll11en 'C .11ll.l Wesl Bengal COlIg l'Cs~· 1 chief Silting al the f .lglll Buad Congress· ' eleclion ul1kc in centra l Calcutta. Das Mtll1shi \-Vil.S a P0l11'ait of a dis· t:on~ol a l e defeated chieftain. ·Why"! IVhy did we do so haul~I,!" , he kepi asking, as news or fUl1h er Congn!Ss-1 selbacks re"t-hed Ihe olliec.

Funeral Mood

In the n~:o. t room, Union Inl'lll1Tlil l ion Mitu:Her Aii t Panja slill had thai disamting smile a ll his face. Behind his desk. on Ihe wall. Rajiv Gandhi's slogan: " T his sense of hopelessness has ILl lip. ended, a natull (newl Ben· gal has 10 be huilr·, stjJl"ed frum " posler. The sense of hope­Ip.!i:-incss hadl1o\\' descended there in Ihil l office \"\Ihile then~ was juhilalion all ",uund in the st l"'1.~c l s . Oas MUllshi had already 1 14 ~gllll hinting at resiHJling hi's parly post: I he mood at the Elt(in Road office was funeral.

Conlinued on page 2. call

F8rum Sa ' W rd ______________________ Ga2ee~tt~e~----------------~~g~e8~O~ Rajiv And Party Humbled

At The Hustings Continued from page I, cot 5

Away in Trivandrum, Chief Minister K Karunakaran had already submitted the resigna· tion of his lIDF cabinet. Con· trary to expectations, E K Naya· nar, the fomler chief minister, was again voted to head the Left Democratic Front legislative party and thereby succeeded Karunakaran, It was widely believed before the results were out that Mrs K R Gown would be chief minister if the LDF was voted to power.

If the West Bengal Left Front's unexpectedly large "ctOJY mar· gin was " result of ' the Congress')'s debacle in t!le rural areas, LDF in Keral. could storm back to POWeI' thanks to the inroads it made in the southern districts which were UDF strongholds. Twelve of the 14 vital Emakulam district con· stituencies returned LDF candi· dates while results for t!le Left alliance wel'f equally good from Quilon and Trivandrum dis­tric ts. In Trivandrum, UDF could manage to hang on to just one of the 13 :lea1s of the district. In Quilon, the Fron.t suffered a major blow vvith the crushing defeat of the Keral. Congress·1 President, C V Pad· mara jan. In this district too, UDF could manage to vvin just one of the 12 seats.

Karunakaran'. Communal . Politics

Analysh:,' see VDF's losses in the southern districts as a reflection of public disen· chantment with the overtly communal politics that karu· nakaran had resorted to. The alliance, during the 58 months it was in power, was often on the verge of "ollapse because of infighting and the 70·year old chief minister had to make sev· eral compromises to appease constituent parties - Muslim League, Kerala Cong;-ess Itwo factions, both Christian baoked!. the National Democratic party

F&um ' GaZette

An flaa 1'ru8f Publication

Pnnel of ConsulrintJ Edirol's JUflOr.e V.R. Kl'i8h.na Iynr, Lil GujraI, Madhu Kilhwar. Kh .... loWIlf Singh, Jaya Jaidy, Rajnl J(otbari, Amrik Sing/l, KuIdIp Nayar

Ch.lim>an. Board of EclilOl'S lL ~n. Jagii. Singh "'uron Ireld.1

Mana&i"IJ f.dilor BaIjh Malik Editors .1aJii MaIIIo, G.B. Sandhu, A.S. Narang.

" <;sociate Editor A_ SingII J"'ge Circulation IL Col. Manohar Sing/l , .... rd.1

8usiness Manager Jatinder Kaur LaD f.diroriaJ (Campi Uilire • IIhagwan 0 .. Rood New~IIOOOI." Phone: 38&2'70, 386042 'Ib: 31= HBLK fOR GA7BITE

2 20 March-4 April 1987

Imostly Nairsl and the Socialist Republic Party I Ezhava backedl.

LDF, which too had in the past resorted to communal appeasement. had resolved befm" the elections not to align any longer with communal par­ties, even if that meanl defeat. CPI·M .leader EMS Namboodi· npad saw to it 'that CPI·M and the other front allies stuck to that resolution, and the electo­rate apparently welcomed the bold stand. This, despite a not particularly bad performance by the UDf government. As one visiting Calcutta correspondent, The Statesman's Swapan Das· gupta, wrote: "If Mr Jyoti Basu had been able to account for even a quarter of the Kerala government's perfonnance, Marxist rule in West Bengal would have been assured till the next century." Obviously, the electorate cannot be satis· fied \vith only developmental programmes; it also needs to be assured that the government has a certain integrity and is not corrupt.

The electorate also is not taken in by helicopler·hopping prime ministe;'S who 'address large gatherings in an alien Ian· guage. Hajiv Gandhi had staked his personal prestige on the March 23 Assembly poll: He had taken it up as a challenge. In Bengal, he was detemtined to give a tough fight to Jyoti Basu's Left Front. Hight hUll llw beginning of his political career, the CPI·M in Bengal had elicited the most strident diatribes from him. He had ridiculed the "doddering old" ministers of BBs~ 5 cabinet and described the Front government as Ihe most inefficient in the country.

Myth 01 Raji. Haw.

This time, encoumged by the success of his tours in West Bengal. he decided to stake all in the elecHon: No prime minis­ter had ever campai~ned for a state poll to the extent that Rajiv Gandhi did in I'.'est Ben· gal. And he drew vast crowds. By the beginning of last week, there was already talk of a Rajiv hawa Iwavel. The press at first spP.culated that Congress·! would win 75 of the state's 294 seats lin 1982, the party had secured just 54 seatsl, then 85, finally over tOO. Some reports also suggested that the Left Front could weU be toppled and bets worth thousands of rupees were placed on such an eventuality.

What went wrong? Was the talk of Rajiv hawa a myth? Maybe not in Calcutta city, but certainly in the rest of the state. As an analyst pat it : "All that Rajiv's visit did was 10 unite the wamng Congress·1 factions, instill confidence in paJ1v rank and file and perhaps influence some city voters who read in the newspapers, the Prime Min· ister's statements at the rural rallies." Said one Congress·! MI:A: "Fifteen minutes of Rajiv darshan cannot change the peasant's poUtical convictions." And the peasant's political can· viclio,," have been shaped through years of periodic grou p meetings in \,llage squares by diligent CP!·M cadres. Much of

what is said in the meetings is of course pure propaganda lone villager in Jyoti Basu's Satgachia constituency for instance, told this correspondent that Rajiv Gandhi 's govemment is plan· ning to close down all schools and instead open model schools where only the iJM's sons would study)" but it is a persistent, untiring effort and certainly much more fiuitful than the Plime Minister's whistle·stop tour.

BtUI •• Ahead

If the Congress·1 really wishes to topple tile Left Front govemment in West Bengal. it' must 6rst build itself a grassroot organization, an organization that can counter the CPI·M in the villages. Rajiv Gandhi admit· ted as much while addressing a meeting of the Congress·1 parli· amentary party on Wednesday. In a five-page speech, he warned MPs of the "battles ahead" and in obvious reference to Opposition moves to launch an offensive against his minis­uy, he said: "This is the time for ;olidarity in the party. The com· ing weeks in parliament will lest us,"

On Wednesday, representa· tives of 10 Opposition parties had decided to table a no· confidence motion against the 27-month old Rajiv Gandhi min· istry. The Oppositlon statement l'lili!;i. e<\ Ihe Prime Minister's ; tyie ot [uhclluHil1!i \~lljtll h~£l contributed to an "all-round detenoldtion in var­ious sphe",. of national life." Mention was made of the Lok Sabha speaker's decision not to allow discussions on the President·Prime Minister differ· ences following the leak of a let· tel' purported to be wntten by Giani Zail Singh to Rajiv Gandhi.

The implications of the Congress·)'s reverses in KeraJa and West Bengal are obvious. The once confident Rajiv Gandhi, who still en joys a vast majority in Parliament. faces an uncertain future. The Congress·! is already being described as a regional party that has inllu· ence only in the Hindi belt and western India, and trends there are also not particularly encou· raging, While the party won all the three Lok sabha by" elections, it suffered ' a major setback in the Hindi heartland by losing the UP Assembly con· stituency Kashipur to Akbar Dumpy Ahmed of Maneka Gandhi 's Rashtriya Sanjay Manch. The only heartening March 23 result for the Prime Minister was the convincing National Conterence Ifarooq) -Congress·1 alliance victory in Jammu &. Kashmir. And it cer· tainly was not a "phoney ' vic· tory" as some Opposition lead· ers described it , because in the Jammu region, the alliance really meant the Congress· I. And the Congress·1 convinc;ngly defeated the BJP there, almost as convincingly as the National Confenmce vanquished the fundament:tli s t Muslim United front. If the LDF triumph in Kerala was a victory against communal politics, so was the lammu &. Kashmir resull.

fNEWSCRII'l'I

Subramania Bharati On .Guru Govind

Vlkrnm: sevenleen fifty·six In Anandpur lived . Guru Govind Singh nectar of the brave teacher, Lord of Host. warrior.source of Punjab 's lions ocean of knowledge, melodious

poet, magic-crallsman whose .word could stay the falling heavens,­Princely saviour of the world!

On that blesl day when orchards in IiWtion gardens of smiling flolVers and tracts of green sward chiIped as if 10 bid welcome "Mav vour coming hither prove· auspicious!" his disciples came together to hear the Guru of grcwoting

fam e.

"W1:taf will he say? What nelV message? What fresh duty vvill be imposed to sweeten our Jives seven times seven?" Thus lhinking. shining like gods, eager they slood before their

tB!,ff. " U

Suddenly on the royal platfolTll Stood a figure, luminous in youth, strength and

splendour. His eyes blew dMne /l;m)e. A halo helmeted his head. In his upraised arm, a shalp

sword belching lire, temble to behold. Like a horde of lions

immobilised before a magician from above, . seeing him, the numberless men fuJI silent, and bowed their

heads.

Heralded by the flashing sword, the Son of God opened his lips to unveil his inmost thoughts. and volcanic the words erupted:

'1 vvish to plunge this sword Into the heart of man; Dharma thirsts for sacrificial

blood. Devotees! who amongst you

cU!res to bare his heart and spill red

blood and slake the Mother's thirst?" Shilken for a moment, the

disciples had no words on their tongues. A moment of rotal silence. Then from am(Jngst those

assembled a hero issued out and said: "Gem of Gurus! I shall die by

sword to quench DhalTlla 's thirst. Thy blessing! Accept my

offering!"

The saintly Guru smiled. and took him inro the temple, and

out of it presentlr flowed a stream of blood seen by all. Look! the Guru comes out

smiling, /raving made the sacrifice.

Standing there like flash of lighlning.

holding the blood·slained sword the greal Guru spoke these

words:

"I wish to plunge this blade again

into a living heart. The Mother wants .

another sacrifice. Devotees! Is there one more aniong you

who'd slake KaJj's thirst vvilh blood?"

A second hero advanced to meet Ihe challenge. Taking him

inside" ' the Guru made the sacJifice. As the blood flowed, the POOl- J

shivered. . '

And Ihus the Guru gave his caJJs and tolalled sacrifices five.

U1 Men do nol rise 10 greatness through reasoned knowledge

alone: the truly grearare those that bare their breats ro the blade's thirst IUld die; they\-" found the Ultimate. Pmi'll tI mjUinn devotees Bum a nuUwll deh'Rff:I>/(',<.<ed 'twas 10 pick OUllhese blessed

few 'Ihat the Guru, Lord of Grace, had devised lhis slralegem. Flushed in exullation al

countless olhers like those five ready still fur sacrifice, the Guru led oul of-the lemple the five W3l'rior gems ) who the faithful thoughl Wllre m

heaven having died in sacrificial

blood·bath. They raised a lusty shout and gazed al the five again and

again. Hail! the crest·jewel Guru! Hail! Ihe splendid lion·heart!

ThaI avalar of Grace smiled /ike tlie flaming sun, embraced and blessed those

five, and spoke words like ocean's

roar:

"Dear onesl know you not KaJj amd Mother India are one! 'twas an illusion caused you

frighl when I Wllnt in to sacrifice the

five. Would I kill one of you with my

own hands? Five times I hid Ihe dear ones 10 mounl this fuarful test and

know that you are patJiots pure of

heart. Look. the five slain are here! This lest bas blazedyour glory. My heart is lighl, gone my

worries!"

From: Poems 01 Subramanla Bharatl, Introducllon and Notes by Preme Nandlkumar, Sahltya Akademl

Fortnight Focus F8rum Gazeuc------------

Dialogue With Youth Is Priority Says Akal Takht Jathedar

R agi Uan;han Singh's wife grt,elcd me al the door 01 the small,

Slone farmhouse he ha. buill aboul 10 km trom Chandi­garh, JU81 inside the house a child'. red bicl,d e .Iood in a basket 0" onio'n~, and in the Uving . room where I wailed for the Akal Takhl Jathedar, a large while leddy bea.', sUghdy bigger than ils rooy­faced OWllCl" Ihe l!agi'. grandson, stared al me irom an armchair! :\ painting of Guru Gobind Sin~h hung on one ",aU, aJong with an embroidered pori rail of the lenth Guru, while another painting 0" the Guru in actinn - in batde, swurd in hand .• falcon on shoulder - hung above a Iar~e modd of the· Golden Temple.

.o\ smiling Jalhedar. in (T1';1I11 -

coloul'ed, silk pajama kLi r lii all d Hold embroidercd i(mti, IUl'ban and kirpan on a "lac. bane

/came ill and W CIcOlllCd LI S. Soft­spokun ill conver~alit)n . his f~l(;e alivp and intcl"ested ill what is being said. Ragi Da.l':-.hall Sin[..th. to whom it s l1lilt~ comn~ easilv. iH.hnils lillie of the li re ami Pi.IS· sion which has inspin 'd his li s· tener'S hy his pO~I ·Opeidtion 61l!les-faJr il1JTltJlJll Hi!' i~ Ih(~ voice of reasun, ur p CI'!>lIa:-II.HL \ \ 1(.', tv.iil him Ihill OJ t(~I1{Jw journalist in ctlilndigarh had (()Id lb he \.vas hmt~ ilnd we had take n Lhp r.I1i.l'II~C of cominp: and lalking to him. "1 am happy to see you: ' is his re sponse.

Amrit Prachar

We ask him aboul hi • . ·lmril Pra(.,har programme. II i. going wen, he says, "and it is stri"dy reigilllls ." IThe young Sikh jounlalist ill Chandigarh

I had confirmed Ihis, saying Ihal so far, although many have attended Ihese meel­ings. there was no political impacl, bUI thai Ihe religions impact was very strong.) I teU him thai il has been reported that 'naras' of Khatistan are heard al his m"etin~ and he does nol s10p them. "When I am on Ihe platfOnl., there are no such 'naras', "he says, adding thai al times there are people 'plan led ' in the ero,lId. who ereale !roubl" and .houl for Khalislan, bUI these are government people. He add. thai !rouble in Damar Sahib i. provoked by the same ele­men.. 10 bring Sikh. inlo disrepule.

Khallstan Not Wanted

"None of the vDuth wants Khalistan, he asser1 s cateSOIi­cally. 'When we ha,'e 7(100 kilomelres from the 101' uf India to Kanvakllmari as our countrv, why should we ask ror jusl :I!io kilomelres" K)Ii.li slan is lalked about hy olhel'~, by the govern· men!. The youth want a sf- lIle· ment within the Constitution. I have said this f!'Om every plat­fonn bill the media is ;Jgalns! liS and llw_y do nol rep0l1 what is really said."

He urges liS 10 slLldy tlw new ,.\k.ali DaJ constitution and see for ourselves Ih<lt there is no

hinl of seGcssion, onlv of a SCI­tlement \vithin the Constitution, Bul he adds Ihal Ihe govern· ment does nol wallt a solulion 10 Ihe I'1J1ljah prublem. The govCl'I1fficnl does not \vanl Sikh unity and there am Congress· IllCl; wl1() ha\'c openly said that Sikh unit)' means ti ll! country's deslI\lclion. Bul he \\111 go on working ror Sikh unilY, ror Akali unity.

Governmenl Created Hindu­Sikh Divide

Talking aboul Ihe di"ide bdwecll Hindus and Sikhs, he doc~ nol mince wOJili. 'Tfte /)"m'cml1Jcnt lUIS Clywwd this l.Jil1sion. We have Ji\ lcd together fur gtmerations, mix.ing willl each other. I have Hinrlus in "w 0"" I'uni/y. Il'e 'I'cre like miik iJnd willer, :wd \IOU know how tlw,-;c mi.-.: - peitr.cl~V. so there is 110 division. But drop if Iiuie 'killlii' into the miMuf'C, lind lIlI :v separate 10 IwO cJiltcmnt IJilrtS. Thl' gOl'emmmll hiJ.~ put ill awl drop of hnii '. 7he ~ol'emmenl Iwd cilITied out prupiJi{allda Ihal Sikhs are secessionists. The Prime Minis­reI' campaigned against th{~ Amwdpur Sahib Resoilltion. and G.:1 l1ed it ,'jecf!ssionist. But ther!' is lIothing secessiun;,.,/ ;n il. iust JJJ- I hmr i ... Ilolhim: .'wcessicmj.,., ill the Oaf:> 1It'l-''' 1:,Ur.rr:.m-wt.!!im!l .-

What is new jn that consmu­lion, the Ragi poinwd out. is the provi~iol1 that no oftit:e·l>earur of the Dal can he a minister. Thai is some thing he feels is very im)1011ant and that is wh.\' he had asked Bamala to resign from Ihe presidency or Ihe Dal. Now Ihal Prakash Singh Badal has lJeen named Vice-Presidenl or Ihe Dal. he is no longer a r.'lI1didatn for the chief minis· II~ rship , So it can 110 longer be said that h(~ was seeking the 'kursi'.

Killings Distorted By The Press

On Ihe subjecl uf Ihe killings of innocent pl~ople in Punjab, Ihe Akal Takhl lalhed .. denied Ihal Ihese we", done by Sikh youth . But when it ~amc to kil­iing of poli"e and paramiUlary pm-,;onllel. he poinled oul thai state lerTf)1;Sm has its own roae· lions. When p""ple are killed in 'encounters' then action is tRke n against those responsible 'It times. "These 'cnc:oulltel's 'must be stopped," he said, "Everv day our 'nauja· wans are picked up from their homes. They 'U'C nol heard or ror Ihree or rour days. Then their families, who have been searchill/: ror Ihem. are lold thai Ihev have been killed in 'en(':uuntcl'S '." I ask if this is still happening and R"lji Darshall Singh said "Yes. all Ihe lime. \-Vh'y dont you (:omc with liS

iHld see for yourselves how people are suffering, how these boys are taken away. But Ihis IlEM'S does not ~et reporteu ," He mentions that in Patiala them is curlew, that Sikhs have been killed Ihe.'C. bUI Ihere is 110 I1wntion of this in the press. "when we issue .a statement , either it is not I'e porh-:d at aU, OJ'

From Harjl Malik In Chandigarh

Dsrshan Singh 'Rag/' establishing conlsct wllh sllllghiing group.

only in pari ." In reply 10 a qllr. stion HS to

why he does no t rondemn the killIng of innocl~ n l pcrson:- iii public slalemellb, hf' rxplaill s, Ihal he is l'Cad\, 10 do so, !Jul tll~elhcr Wllh 0111f' 1' re ligiolls heads. Why did nol Ihe Jagad· ~lII'Us condemn tilt' ~ovel11her Ifl84 killings?" he a$~t!d .

'Yet no one dcrn .. lJ1rJcd that Ihel' should do so If Ihe twads of an religions, Ihl ~ Jagadgul'us and olhers. ,viII condemn all kil · lings of innocent~, I \\~II be the til'st to si~n ."

fin an Harli f!1' pn:ss intef'\.~e\V Bagi Darshan h.ld explained Ihal ir he issued" "hukummllna" against kiJ.lin g::.., it would be a tacit admission that Sikhs \-'vere the killers. and he did nol helieve Ihis Iu be Ihe case, But earlier also he h.ld otfered In sign a joinl condemmrlion. )

Government Musl Talk To The Youth

He a:;k wily the govcrnlllelH doe~ not uy to undp.r~tand wh.\' the youth felt so slI't.lI1g'ly, why there \ .. vas a call for Khali:.;(an amon~st some of Ihelll They must get to the l'Outs uf the r'esenrment of the 'nauiawans', he :.;ays ,\nd they must talk 10

Ihem,

"If tile p;ovemnuml can talk to the Mizos, to olhel's who have fought the gOV\1mment, \",hy can 'l thev talk to OUI' ·nauja· wans"? i tole( a jOllnla]jsl

I't!CC llt1V that VOU must talk to Ihps" ho\,s Ii'kc il ralher. ask them \\'h~H the v want l what all! their t{rievancl~s . The ti rs t lime ,Yuu talk to them, they may say something strong. nut you must CUIlI\l1l Jf' the dialogue, in Sl'V­

el'.:iI meetings, and ullimi.lt el5' Ilwy will di:~Cl I SS flungs, and vou \'\ 'ilJ tinu that we, they don 't \vant \,(ikhd ::II' IsepaJ'o.tli:n!l l, they \'vanl 'haqda( Itheir lights): ' He i.lr~lIt' that the Punjah AccOl'Cl shuuld have been signed wilh thr YOllth, not \-vith Lunguwal. Thev were tile o nt!S who well! inVlil\"p.d, whu had loughl. But what is happening today? They arc in iail. they arc nol aU owed to give tllel l' vi(;'vs.

' The~r sa,\-' 1I1at the youngslers lake re fuge in Ih" Golden Tem­ple, But wha l are they to do? Many uf the lll come to spend the night because they are afraid lIwl the SC(;W1tv forces \\-i lJ come and take them from t hei r h(lrne~ . "

Tragic Leiter From Jodhpur Detenus

' Th~ government has darw not.h.ing," he accuses. The Jodhpur detf!nus ate still in jail. lI r had rccuiv(!cI .1 tragic Iplter from .1 woman who had been in Jodhpur for nc.trlv three vears. '" Iried III read the lett el:' ill a metJ. til1B hUI I could nol, because of the lear'S. Blit no one repor1s s lIch l1laIlCf~. E\'cry day, su man.v people come to me tclling flU! of hl.ll'assment, of riisc/iminalion, or encounters.

The olher dav I received a leller from a young man who wrote Ihal in a recl\liting line for Ihe Navy. two young Sikhs were laken oul from Ihe line and lold to remove Iheir kitpans and Iheir 'palkas' berore Ihey could he considered for recruitment. These lhings are happening. Even when I tJilvel in the official car. I am slopped by Ihe para­militarv forces and searched and h',,",.ed . Ir Ihal happens to me. can ,vou imagine what treatme nt olhers receive?"

." But the govemmel"I is not concerned," he tells us and poinls at the Misrd Commission as an example. No one had been convicled or any killings. And IHere is Brahmpu.... The incidenls Ihere have been con­firnled and Ihe Punjab Govern­ment has asked that action be laken. BUI nOlhing has happened.

'Ragi' Not Allowed To ,Enter Haryana

Throughoul , he speaks "'lh­Ollt a Irace of hitterness, even when he talks. ahoul his own aI1''Cs!. on false charges, of con­spiling 10 kill Mr Bhajan LaJ. He smiles at Ihe absurdity of the charge. Allhough he ti'ad been released uncnnditional1, and the chaJ'~e withdrawn, he. L·: 5tHI not allowud to enter HaJ"ana. " If I am innocent. then whv this I'csl!iClion ~" he asks, "And if I \Vi~ g'ltl\\'V. \\'I~' ,1M ,\~ey release me?"

Religion and politics cannot be separaled, Ihe AkaJ Takhl lalhedal' is fiml on lhis point. br,cause wilhoul religion. polit· ics would lose ils ethical con­lent. BUI his 'amril prachar' has no political e lement. II is con­lined sUieUy 10 religion. Bul he \\111 go on working ror Ihe unily of the community.

A Homely Meal - Punjabl Style

His son comes in to say that people are wailing Iu see him. II is gelling late and he insisls Ihal we slav for dinner. We do, 10 a simple but lasty meal or frt"h cllholia' and paneer. daJ, chapalhi and chulneys, s",,'ed by his younger son. The Ragi has two sons, the elder whose children own Ihe teddy bear and Ihe younger. still unmar· ried, two daughlers both or whom are bOI.h abroad. The Ragi is simple, unostentatious. He has been called an extremisl bUI it is liard 10 reconcile Ihe lenurisl image wilh Ihe calegor­ical statements he makes about a solulion ,vilhin Ihe Conslitu­lion, aboul the necessily or lalks \\11h Ihe boys 10 all;ve al thai solulion. Nor is Ihere any sign or Ihe religious fanalie in his words or expl'ession. Nor any sign of a spililual leader, a Sanl. He seems not to be image· making or projecting. unless it is the image of 'reason and rationalitv. Of course, this is the Ragi al home. The Ragi in a public meeting wilh Ihe young men and women with whom he urges a dialogue may be a dir­ferent man. _

20 March-4 April 1987 3

r=8rum O_ur_Tim_o_e_8 __________ GaZCttC _ _ ___________ _

Public Meeting Urges Rejection Gazelle News Service

Speakers at a public meeting called by the Sikh Forum, the People's Union for Civil Liberties, the People's Union for Democratic Rights, Manushi and the Nagrik Ekta Manch, to protest against the Justice Ranganath Misra Report, held in Sapru House in New Delhi on Monday, March 23, 1987, condemned the failure of the Misra Commission to arrive at the truth of who organised the November 1984 carnage of Sikhs in the capital. Jaya JaiUey of Nagrik Ekta Manch and the Peo­ple's Relief Committee, the first speaker, called for total rejection of the report.

J lIsti l :e Misr~I I " s~lid Als ./iJitle.", has CUnlllHmted

thai Con~~Tcs!" dl members wel'e so upser" at . lil (' assassinalinn of Mrs Gandhi , that they could nol h,tve orga ­nised the \;()hmL:( ~ . But in onr of the alTIda\'i l s IJI'11S(,nI ('cI hefon' him dTl cldcriV e\'c -\Vitll es~ . a Congrl'ss li t \·..,iwkc'r or :!o \l~<lr~ s l a n~lin~ t twrl deposed hu\'1' 111' hild lI\'crh ,-~aJ'd SLljjall "umar, ex-ClIllgress II I i\·1 r . It'll peopJp in .1 meeting that ",hnsoc\"cC killed Si l-.hs \\Iould he I'\!wilrtlf'd hy his PtlJ'SOIlLl J assi:-; I'1Il1 11'u111 Nm' 'mht~ 1' :in ! onwards. "\\,11, ' d id .Iu sliLC Misra nut ilwes tigatl' ~.lJf:h l't'ports", Ms .Iajllf'Y i.lskpd, WI" d,cl ill' ,jlf ... 'Y,I ,;> ';:1 j\ t n

KUI-nar"s P.A ~ one ul li lt, 11 11 1\01 Cnn;,!/'t'sN III function,,,;c::> ilS iJ(' ing pn~sihly J<\J i II.\'. bu t I(:;.iv(' out S'ljj:1Il Kllmar'!

Public Honours For Police Who

Duty

Suggested Did Their

M~ldlHl Kj,..; l1u ·;m editor, J""JJ!uslJi. stiliI'd lhill Ihe -'go\'C!rnrnenl has blilckcncd it s own I;ICI: Witll this report" , 'We h ;I\I(-' Il 'lI l'1lrd trom Ih e: 1 ~I 8:l E'\'clll s stw silid. " that \\'c-' c:a nnl1t dcpf!nd 011 th r gO\'('rl lIIU'llt So \\'helll'\'[' 1' SU I11P '

thing lik(' Il li s hllPP"IlS Wl~ will nol :II ltl\\ IU!oplf' 10 rO~PI inius­lin' likr thi:-," She pointud oul Ih"t Il l(' in camer'it procf'durcl' of Il w Cummissioll were againsl til(' tn!edom uf the press, but at thai 11I1 1t- Ihc pl't !~S did 11 0 1 pro-1 (~s1. Nn' v Ih(~ papers have

4 20 March-4 April 1987

rhan~t'd Ihl~ i l' stance and even Ilw Ulost syf'Oph;llI l ic IlL'\ VS P_II'­I'J'S hm'e cUl!dpmllt~d Ihe n'ptll'l. ami 11 0 LIm" hilS allv l)(:lil~ r in il :, conclusions. " '\ l'lI-';' Ihis, silt' addr d, ' \\'l' nlll :. t !lui lean:' ell1\'­Ihing 10 Ihe gnvcl11nlt:1l1. hUI \~/( : mus l all "aI1!"' uul ill\' f~s ljK'tl il)ns In lind oul Iht" lil1b or politi­cians \\i l h tile eill1l,Ij.!t '. TI IO$('

who plaillillgs lli.lVf' IIt'ell leI ull ;lI1d \Vl~ musl no\\ sC:If\'h c)l ll Ihc: Il"uth_ Sh e sugge~wd Ihill those,' poli, : (~ pt!rsOllllcl who had helped people IU safelY. and who ha\'(~ been perse­cuted for thd r' ,1(~ lion!'o, should he puhlicly hUJloun'ti alll1et~ ting~ sll('h as thiPt,

Of.)IIfl'.I'nmRnt's Shameful Role

"II is :- IUJIlIt,tul 11 1.1 1 IIlll!t~ lliu ll

3000 pt~ l'SOfI S \V1~1'f ' kill e d ;n hroad davlighl. ill1d 1101 ( IIll'

pel'son has III:!en cundl: l f'd I()I' the kill ings," )w; licr l'.ri1rkll/l( J, ~ e '~ III 'e~s('(1 his indignalion. ~Irlding that thi :-. was du l:' to the IIlIrl' neglit:l' l1cr" ;u lt l iw;u1 1(Jss­ness ur Ihc BII\'c l·nmtml. Hr pointeo 0111 that if Justin' ~1i sra was Ie) ~t l t:('ec tl ll1as~ive il1\£';-' ­

I ig-ali'"t, m'lchill C' I) 1 shoul d hil\,( ' been put al Ihb di spos~11 lu c·o l­lOG! e\'idr~n cc Bill Ihi::- \\'a~ nOI clone. Thr glln:l'llIl1c llt d id nO I put a si ngh' \\ itnf'Z'ls in the $tand, did nol 11l'lp in .1I1Y \va_v, .Iu ::. li ce Tat'kund f> an !!minmll mt"lll lw.l" of the Cll izt:ns Justice Committee, which \ \- a ~ I~s lab· li slwd 10 il S~ist till' Mi. ... ,.;, Lorn­missio ll . hul which wal).. t~ tl Oul ill rti sgust at Ih(' pf'Ol ' I ~ ( 'd tngl) ,

Call To Honour Policeman

Burning the efflg;es 01 the pr;ncipal Congress-Ilesders responsible for mass murder in the cBpltal

IlI ld aW!: F ll( 'I' 'T he gll\ l ' I 'nI1li ~ nt dill !l01 Sll.\' OUi (' itl/Plb 11.:.1\(' b" i' li killed \\0'(' 1111.1:-.1 ti ll snJlI l: lhu lg i:l IJnul it ;1I1t.! ,11 1"'111'1' Tarh.undc nIJ:-c·!vp!l 1,.1t ut lll' r cOIll Il1 I;o;sioJl :. \\'ill nOl :-tlC t 't'l·d l'itiwi lJ e(,i.Ju:-- ~ 1 hll

II/"'II" !' IflVP:' l ig,l li\f? Iliadli lll'r) Ii:[. ... 11""11 r ':. , ; dlh~ I !(~d _ E\'(~ n JI \~- ; ,t -\H I ;f ll fw f, I fill" gulll,\ \U'I ', · I H P\ j~ liI I, I ll ,,,, :

WlJ\ d c! 11"\t' ~U II1 t' imp,It ·1, Iw l' ll ll l ' hnlt'rI

Powerlul People Behind Kil­ling 01 Indians by Indians.

111 .t IWI rli lilti ng. " I1BCI II (11)h1l1cl ~ luh.h l)l ' ·\ Pl't-' ..;i clPni III tIll Pl J JU ;,l1d J luernllt' l' 01 Ihe r .w. ,, :. .... ,·1'1 .·.1 l!rat 1lin OI'lhi (-:Il'll a g l ' ! c IlI lt! nIl! h . I\ ·p

( II l' tJ l,,.·d 11 11 11':-':' I'0Wt'l'iul IH'II

ph_: \-\l t ~ l'(> 111 ·hlrld Ihl ' kll lin,c.: Il l' lnd iims 1)\ Ind,il /ls"- " \\'e ;,dl\ '

111<' ma~.'Ii;1 II II I i nllut: l~rlls \ \·rlil (1111" (/\\'II l ' \ I ' .... Wn bl-ol lght tlli l

!JIll n:p0l'l ' l I Ill! ,flY.: Ifli~ Guilf,l ") nul LIS d c 'Oltfrll lllalil)n witl1 Ihl ' L: l IU'I'IH1IC:n t 1111 1 ,IS j.J tlLlt\' it ."

ritl/.I'Il:- III IIIJ~ !'i l \ MI' hhikhp Ie., Sl,twd 'lU I'S IS a glNt"ll1-nH'll t 11.\ fol' ,lfltl LI t the rf"up lt'

y t·1. in Sp ill ' o t l't!ljlll !!'< ts Ir 'om aJl ()\ c'I' IhE' C'Ulltl)" thl' W)vt!rrIl IWlll fid led tn ~e l III' an inqui ry tt ltllnli:-;""icJl l I hI:' Th;lkkilJ' LlI rtl tlllS:->1t111 \\; I ~ apllUill led il lIllIe ! Jj : lrl~ l vl ' I I,..' d( !Srlillct..i hllw tH', S(',li SUI'Llhjt!(, OI lld otl1 -e l';.., int'i litli ll,Ll Ihree \\'onll!1l

10w\"('I:-- :.;1\ \ with I Ill'l l'- U\\-II I" 'l '~ \\ 1lol1 \\-d:. 11.'1 , pl ~ Jli n~

r l _. ~ fl,ult1 nll( ~'\I'" prof~(:­

lioll. \\ ~ (:u uJd nu blVIJ wt:~V in,l4" all IIit' wa,\ . Wt! told the Assistanl Co mmisliioner oi Polic' e, Inill Ihcl'C \Vas luoting goin.14 011 and ' why doni YOLI

~ toJJ i l?', He: mId us, 'All is shand' . .. \nd "'t ~ ~\V aU Ihis in h('oo:nl dayUW-Il. Wht!11 Ihe ~ed Mar\\'ah CommiHcc was .-ol'med , \\'(' lalked £0 him. lie !oIhcd Ical'!!>, ves, Iw shed h"a rs , and hI"! ~ .. aid 10 us '\ '0 11 ha\'c M,! tm nothi n",. lIa\'c ~ou foIecn Ihe Palam area? no vou knnw how nmny people h'ave Imm1 killml fhm'c'! ,,"

Government Should Have Resigned

:\ngli ly MI' i\ll1khll1f ~y a~)..eu . ' E, ,'Ct'pl lu [' JlIh~utnesbt.U'g. is

11 1f'11.!- 1.lIl_" n lh(u' l:ilp·ili.ll wher'C sumelhing like this could happen alld Ihe govenmc nt 1i()l!s ll '! resign?' He conlinued: " \rtisr,1 sr.t lip Ihe Inquiry 'in camef'a . Was the raping 'in CilHWl'a"! The kilLinJ(! The luot­inl-f' Then why \Vil S the lnquiry 'in camt~ra '? \Vc ' have great rt:~spt-'I' t 101' thuse lionhcal1cd r('(}ph~ w ho came before the r ,',1"1 1~, , ~,:;lnn W,. askpd for pro· tectuJII lo r them csgUrii$.'j ~IlIj'lU~ Thl~ sf' wel''C ordinary peuple_ While Ihey WP.I"e being exam­i lH-~d . Misra admitted their l'Ol1lpi<l inl s (Jut he eou ld give: Ihcm no protet: lion," Mukhotey poi llt ed out Ihill Misra did nol ,ll1u\\ Ille CJC tu CI'OsS examine \\-iln c~scg ilnd rlenicd p;,uticipa· lif lll 10 PlICL and PUDR. The Lie was ·stiflod· he said. ··Our ho:mds and legs were ti ed . our Illou!h~ mLlzzlcd. There Wi.J5 no jll :-:. til.':c 1'01' citizens and while hlb'r.:i had lime 10 quo te all kil1ds of people in his report . he h .:id no time 10 inves tigate the r h. '1(o of I'olilical pressure on tile poli ce~"

Continued on page 5. col 1

FThe arum

_o..::..::ur~TiJ.:...:·=n.::...:e~s __________ Gazette ______ ---~----

Of Misra Report Who Saved Life

- --_. .-----_. '.

~ -'

Protest relay last at Delhi's Boat Club demands for;ustice posed with p less /o f (;Ommunal amity.

.\ IarAt' n\lll1l)l'l' of \\,lt ln\\ ~ dlildl'PIl and II1I·TlIh t~ r ... Ilf 1I11'i[ rilill ilic'.':'o 11.l d {,O llll' 11'11 111 Ti1 .. ~ \ ill ,l!" 1(1 ;!l u'nc! ttll' 1111'I'Ii ng alld 1wu ul tllI'nI Ilthl li lt; ,llIdil'l lCP how, \\111 : 11 rhe\' \\ 1'1'1' :--lIl1I '

IIIDI1I'II to tlw n,'l l rl til f!;H' I,d· dl'l H'I' , pt'oplp l' illllt ' '.1 ! 1I1 '11I

and i.Jskpd al l ;-.1)1"1:- til qtH".,tioll" .m tl till'\' 1f'll 1IlI'I ';III'III ' d ' rill '

~O\ " ~ l'Ill1it'nl clLIl~U ' LI ~ d \ddlJ\\

tnld tilt' rnj ~ l'I inl-! . \ 11 LlIH.: frulll Il l1' gO\c ~ l' nlllf'lIl 11;,,, 1'(IIlJi' lu ••.. • , • ' a ·, ., ' " ~ ,,~ . '" '''' \ \', 11\('

• d \,.. ("'I "j ·. l 'IIIIIII ' I \I b d"I 'I 'illu i n'l' Ci1 1l hil\!' fl O ill~Ii " 1 1 1i"r1l)1 tht ,

~fI\ t!1'Il IlWIl I. .Io\V'1 Srh'aS lil\i.\ \\hLl has hel'1l

\\'or-lill/-! in Tila~ \ ill:.l !' 101' OWl'

1\\'0 \ 'eal'~ <.I:-;~(!d Illa l murt.:

!,popli' :;h'lIt1d "orn" ;111(1 work Iher'e. rlll ~." I tll lS I , ~ \pl ,lI n III IIII! wnnll'l1 and dJi ldn'll \\'ha l li lt: i ssut ::-, tln ~ , riw \vitlo",!"! 1I1U:-.1 Ill'

pC'!'su i.Hlc' d 10 ' 1~"I1H ' tlJ~f- [I1('r :- LI

Ih;Il 11ll'.\' c.:m d,' lIland ;Jnd ;!.f' l j ll :> li ~'f' 'Wha t du Ilw ~w \\'0I1Wn

,111("1 I'hildl'('n \\, .. 1111 fi 'tJlll till'

Mi:-I" I COl1l1llb:-<ioll .' Tltl.' \ a~" II !"! l!\I"Y day , 'WI' g;l\ I' ~il 1I t:t 1l." ,lflida\·ib. WI ' \\ ',Ulll'd ~1J 1l1l' Lli

ti ll" guilty, ,'IT'll m1l' 11("1',.,011, [(I

" .. ugh! ['II:.! ! \\ U\lI<I lling pv,we' in tHO' Illi nd:- ' Ji.l.~ ,. SJi \ : 1:;1.1\;1 ph-a lll 'd \\'1 ' 111111'1 I'OIj ';;: I '

DI 'I \ tJ II'Q "~.I i l1 "' l ri ll ItI )l I!"!l il '11

Bul \\ h I"'li \, 'f - I.j ' " 1)1 IlJ , lj" JU'" I II / <lI lt! n 'hdi/lil l,Jthm ~(, 1 1I~l'[h(' 1 \\'1' \\ Pili \(l Ihf' I' r il lll'

:.. 1i ' 1I, ... It'I ' ... hUII !')f-' :11111 WI' ~.Ild that \\illtllltt i ll !>. lir ~ t' n ~11iIhilil : l ' rilln 1I11 'all ;- !H)thillg , l lnl ('ss Ilw pail I illSidl ' i:, Il uall:d \\,, ' Cilllf'lul

t:II" til l'f' h ah ilit :llion , ;,hCiI1H ' ing till a:q l t~ a.,,"' I' II'1enl I1 l1' tl lt h l ~ , IJln tiUlIIg II ftl1 !" ' or 1111' Ihil lg:­

'hal :H'1 ~ I'lJaJl v l1C , :( ' :.::~:m \ 1:' ;"'>1 1\a ~la\ '" ~ ;d d ·lh .. I Ill ::­

ItI'l ' it- going ;1\\(1\ ' !rtl rn ti lt' " !lnn'l1 nl tdilk " Ih.lt' .tl nl jlw r !li ld l{ '11 il l'( ' !-.! \ ' lllIlg iln l'l"lt~t l ' ( hil,It"l l .. .. \ 1Iw;-r' :.I n .' ~1 11I' l~ lIpnlll':' \ \ " -11111:-01 \\ill i) \ '(-' I' 1111'

('hildrrn IhJlll I l l ' ill ~ (' IJIl lIllU l h.d ·

il.ed \\ 'it =- h~ · t , pll\(I. !ill Ilwy \ \ IHJi /-:tI to 1 ~ \11 1 ' n li slll dll d

\ it llt' ncl' ..

i f.llkll lJ.: .. ho llt t hl ' pj ll( ·I ' :.~ i ll lt tJI ,1110 ,' ''iJd/'t. ! ~ .,U,,, " .. 1 ~ ,~ I' 1" '0"..;. ", IIJIi'i1( (. ',dlr l t q:!I! lu 1111

Prlli u ' \ 1inbtf'1 !-o IIIH h j ' ( ; 111'1'11.1 /':1" ,'iio:.: 11 H.tf li1.'lr "I 1111' .\11 Ind i.1 ~h, i1 ( 1II I r( ' I'I !IICI ' \\'hi , ·I,

11 ;IS hl ~ I ~ 11 , ~ ; tI1 "" lIlg Ull a 1't' 1t! \

d/wl'Il,l iJ I t ill' Hl lal l ' lu lJ fIJI 11ll" P:I>; ! ti,'\ \ \\led ..... dC~l'I' l lll 'd hi M a Ji \(··yt,;tr·old 1· 11111\ ,'.il ll'd 1III )l1 !'t lice We I "'llI lI! I l} l ~l' l ,Ill 1111... l$il l lhiH d l'! lan 'd Jll d ,hkl'c! , ,nl'r lh, ... i'I'p lll I \\h.1I h.II' IJCI I .... ' '1 h. , hl f\ I'n tn1(' l l t Il'lt 'sn t \\'~I III ;III ,\ I1 I I1 ~ ~ ,lg;lIlbl I lw \1t !"I '\! [1r 'p tlJ'1 1 11( '''0 ..tn' H.dk I I I !. 11,(· ~ 1I1 ' i'b .. 111 '1 1 ~ 1 ,~1

11t'1'dll:-I' \\' ! ~ 11J\ '" .111 11I'! '11 '1t ll t'! \\ I' mll~' t:HIII(' n Ul ill !tw ~U'C~ I~ anu PI'olt ' !'>!1 :t¢aill." ftw Hp l1Ol'l. "" I'I .... ,! 1 ~i e;..1 \\ iU hapl.H' n agaill} in t' .. ~t· I.lwrl ' i~ an lll lit", a!'>!sa:-. ... i fl il l inll. \ \1'

Message from K. Rustomji Mr K, Rustomji sen I a

message to the meeting. Excerpts follow: "It Is clear thai the responsibility (lor the rio ts) is that 01 the Govern­ment. 1\ is specitied by Ihe Constitution. by law. by rules , by conventions, and the very basics at good government. To evade responsib ility ot a breakdown is the biggest crime that a government can commit; and th is is what has happened and had been con­doned. The events 01 Ihe lasl week 01 October and the lirst week ot November 1984, will remain as a blot on our his­tory which can never be removed. The manner in which a woman Prime Min is· ter was assassinated, and hordes 01 people took it upon themselves to kill and loot the Sikhs. wilh Ihe mosl revolting cruelty , will remain as a blot on the history of our time, and may even leave a permanent rash on our body politic , wha­tev~r Commissions may say.

"Normally , there are series 01 inter· locking arrangements to prevent a breakdown. It the civil police fails, the armed police is called in . " further slrengthening is required , para·miiitary lorces are pushed in. and if even these prove inelfective, the Army comes in. All the time, a watch is supposed to be kepi by the Home Ministry and the enUre governme nt. so that lurther measu res may be taken if all Ihese fail . Never in our hislory has there been such a lolal lailure of all agencies. The rio t was not put oul. It just die owing to

1f11I~! 11 ·11 IIH~ 11I 11 1t: 1"~ ('an he l1it Iwac't' ldtholll jus liee. kliurl and pt:i1c:e ,~n ro ,~t'jlll' l ' _ " l IE ' " "j\f'{! 111:11 hi !>. 111:1,l1l1 · .. 1111111 1101 11 Il llI 'llt 'lI 1:1'1.111':0-III II,,' HI' IIIII'I II I Imllt III \1i :- l"il 1\, 11I I!hl .11111 ap,il iil litl ;1!.';,lI l1sl S~IJ '

1, 11 1 "IU Il. IJ :11111 II I hi "'" If "tILl \\1 ' 1"1 ' ... ~,\"f' d 11\1' 1,1 ,':)1 1111H' , . lli' "H il i \ till mllSI 1 .. "t ' lilt' :-'l'l'u l,'lr IIII'l l " " H il 11 \'011 i n tlli ;;; "; II'U ,~ ­,..iP. In 1' 1)1 11 1ll !'l li JIl II(' askf'C1 ,,11\ II II' gU\l ' I"i IlI tt'1l1 ... IIFlu ld .sa\' 111.11 II 11:.:-. 110 li :-. t 111 tIlt' d(!~(1

exhaustion, leaving behind a death toll of thousands over which the Commission has started a needless controversy - 2307 or 3870. Even if one man was killed with the brutal­ity dlsptayed in the rioting, the nation ought to weep in agony".

"The Commission has blamed the police , but has not commented on the failure of the government, which in my view was a bigger failure. How did this happen? It could not have happened unless some­one In authority gave wrong directions talked about teaching lessons - irresponl· bly sent word that firing should not be resorted to -or, lacking in experience of law and order malters, added fuel to the fire of communal­ism by trying to impress the administration with altitudes of inverted firmness. Who was Ihis individual or individuals - Ihat led Ihe administration astray? It could not be Ihe sickly Governor, nor Ihe con­fused Home Secretary nor the frighlened Cabinel Secrelary. It was 'obviously someone in authority at the political level. Why was this question evaded? ... Perhaps it would be an evasion ' to blame the Misra Commission, and not blame the syslem which allowed Ihis shameful tragedy 10 occur, and Iried 10 cover ;1 up with a facile explanallon. The examination of this report will prove to be a futile exer­cise if we are unable to delermine who evaded the responsibility of taking eflec­live action in our hour of peril, and handed Ihe administration over to hooligans .... "

\\"IH ~ n lho Citizt' lls .llI s l iel!

t'tHilin i lll'( ' ha :; ~j\,1' 11 LI lisl o f

de.ltl the 10 .I u .s tit 'c l\li sm , ( ;m lt~ fil J J S. 'lUff ll""j , Pre:-;idrnt.

~ikil Forulll , urged thai WI' I11U$! go on until \\'C g-el ju.s­li('(~ i.I !u..I fiahlt'lI ' a.ml h i~ organi· !"!ali lJ ll I11llSt I'('(;f·j\'l' . '" the Slip' pnrl possible It) l1l<.!kr up for the 1;\('1 that 1101 enoug h has heen dfllw ' '' \VI' rnU:-;1 :;hamc them intu iu~ tict: " h(~ s;lid.d ed.

.I u .s l ke X5t ~ari JI" presided tl\I~ I' lh ~' meeting. •

Delhi, March 24 : Demonstrato rs demanding rehabilitation with justice and punishment lo r the guilty men 01 1984 were arrested by /he Photos show them being fed with 'Iangar ' (food) from a Delhi gurudwara.

--~--------~------------~-

20 March-4 April 1987 5

~um _R_e_vi_ews __ an_d_R_e_ile_c_ti_oO_"_S ______ GazeUe

If you \Van! an Introduction to nalure,lhe besl Ilme!O ask for il is now. Delhi's parks,

gardens and roundabou ls dre a riOf of colour. Ii will la51 only a couple of weeks when our short spring will give way to summer and Ihe scene wil l undergo a complete change. Now is also the best time 10 get acquain ted wit h some species 01 bi rds. Mosl of them are looking fo r mates and the males showing off their fi nesl plumage. In a mont h's lime they will have consumateG their marriages and will be busy making their nests, laying eggs and keeping Ihem warm.

Don'l be too ' ambitious and Iry 10 mug up all you can on Irees and bi rds in a few days. Stan wi lh a modesl list of half a dozen floweri ng trees and birds thai are residents of your city. Once you slar l ther. will be no end 10 what you can pick up. You'll get a 101 of lun OUI of it. Your strolls in the garden will, as the cliche goes. become meaningful.

Start with the three varie ties of flowe ring trees. all a flaming red. The fi rst to flower is the Semul, or the Silk Cotton Iree. Ii begins 10 nower sometime in mld·January. By March il sheds ils blossoms and pods appear. You can recogl1lse il quite easily . Ii IS a huge Iree wllh prickly spikes round its bole. The flowers are also large. waxen and wil haUL odollr. When pods appear you will notice crows pecking at Ihem. By May Ihey will have bursl and released flu ffs of callan Ihence

Say Hello To Nature the name) . you will lind poor people galhering them 111 sacks. It is used for stuffing quilts and pillows.

Two other red·blussomed Irees will be in flower allhe lime you are readll1g this column. People often

Lonfuse them With each ot her becau5~ IIw flC)l.I.'fHS d l"~ The same colour and tlw t ree~ about the same size. But they are qU ill?

dillereni. O nt! is Ihe Coral; Ihe ,"her Ihe Flame of the Forest which has many Indian names:

Palas, Gesu. Tesu. Petals of Ihe Coral (gul·.·nastareenl slaQd erect; Ihose of the Flamecurve like a parrol's beak. Coral leaves are quile differenl from the Flame. It is ou l of Ihe Flame's leaves thai leaf cups fdonas) and leaf plales

~ · .... ·r .. o , ;.

- ; :.'C"'. ~ , tj .. ~ ,. /' . " ,

I .Aio . .... ., j F ~ ~ " :i' ~ 'i c\,. .. ""L"."'<:~· i .'"r." '~ • /.> IJ...:, "'.2\. .1".

• ~-' ,",f.e-.', . 4.) ' } ' . " ; . (!#'+" • , , ::r ~' ..,. ,.,. .. ~rrr.l·

,-".,1,A ~ - , '~-; •. " .------- - - .. " " ' . . . ,,-:. '" .i~· ·,.Aii'(," ~ .

~ . ,~l /+1,~ -'j , -, - '. tI...i. ' ."'l!i~ ," . " .:: ··'-sr·!1 !:; . .. -:~ '1':. ~', . ;;:~ ... II/!) " Ii"·' ',. ,\ .'~~ " ,.lJ ..

4•

t .

;'f" " .. f-- ' I . , ....... .

, . ,'.

(po lla/s) are made. By Ihe lime these varieties of

red·nowered Irees shed Iheir flowe rs. Ihe blue Jacarandas arein flowe r. Their Indian name Neelam is al'l. There is ~ ciuSier of thel11 on Ihe roundabout facing Parliamenl on Sansad Marg. The only other brighl red flowering Irees common in Deihl are Ihe Afriean Tulip and the Gul Mohar. African Tulips are a recent IntrOduclion; Gulmohars can be seen in plenty everywhere including Connaught Circus.

Mating Birds

Of birds. Ihe most noticeable are Ihe larger varieties like kiles and vuhures. They begin to mate in January and make a lot of excrUCia ting noises while copulating. By March they make Iheir nesls. You will notice that large birds choose the higher branches of large [Iy choose Semul trees; vuhures Ihe even bigger Ailanthus, more ap known as the Poharoah's Chicken often makes its nesl in old buildings.

That is enough lor the fi rsl lesson. If the subjeyou Ihen go to your local book shop and buy books on Indian birds and trees. If you can wait a couple of months you can get my book "Nature Watcb" beautifuUy illustrated by Bulbul Sharma. (Roli Books)

ll'ttushwant Singh

Sportl Cricket

India Needs A Change Of Captain A I Ihe very out set, let us

concede thai Kapil f)e" Nikhan j is a brillianl all

roundel'. He has just become Ihe world's fi l.,.1 player to have l:OmplOled Z.OOO rUllS and taken to(1 wickets in une-dav interna­tionals. His pmfomlance in Tes t cricket is also 1J(!yond question. Ami one sny:; this despite the lile t Ihtll il is obvious Kapil Dev ­is pas t his plime already, at the ngc of ~9, and thelY-! are pP.I'Sist­e n! d ouhts ahou t his fi tness and pene ll'ilt lV(~ I In\-\ cr play, ~hether »i lh tilt' h .. : 0 , the baU.

But captaincy is quite another IhinJ;. i\ sk Mike Bl'e.arley, for' one. An ordina ry player, he was­nev(~r a grea t success on the field but retained his captaincy sole lv bc!causc h was a great mOli\'atol' of men. an excellent team-man. a born leader and knew how to get the best out of his mates. His being a professor of psycholoK" millhl have had something tu do \ovith all thi s. but he was l:unsid('I"{!d one of the finest captai ns there HVCr was. \OVhe n Ia n llothal11, another grea t all roundt!!' in the muuld Qf f\ apiJ DI:\ ' and Imran Khan, was 11Ill0e ctlpla in, he failed P\ '('11 as a player and \vas qu it- kly !'Cplal ·ed. Since Ihen. Buth illll has unc(' a~a.in cume inlO his own,

The $i mpl r. fa l'l of Il l(! llla lWr is thai sOllie make gllod ca p­tains, some do not. i l1'(~ speC li v(! of their me ril s ,IS a pJaym'. You II);] \, (lr Olav not ha\l' on £! of the Shl;lwdest . crickelins brains in the business, as Sunil Gavl1 skilr's

6 20 March·4 April 1987

no previous stra tegies lu work. oul on the lield. bUI laltJiv he has been Jrequen lly conStiliing (lthe r me mbers o f the tcam -Shastri . his clepuly. and his senjol' colleague, Sunil Gavaskal', ,\nd vet. he has 5ho\ ... '11 that he is mie of the 1I10s t Unillli]gina­I-ive captain s we have Sf.~(!n .

Kapil Kills The Game

Om! I:an quite understand wrong moves nmde in the he,lt of IhL! one-day momenl. one can unders tand a gam ble nol paying 00: hut many of his m O\ 'f! S arc beyund comprehen­sion. Olien, this 'posit ive' captai n ki lled the game in the ill$t cond ucted 5CI'-

" " . \

qlli te plai nly b . hut there am oliler lea rtcrshilJ qualities, too. And this. Kapil has pro\'l!d time ami a~ajn ,as l'Cpe.a tcdl_, as he l os(~s the t o~ s, lliat he docs not hiW(: thai sCl n1 t:! fhing Spt'ci,11 as il t:a ptain.

Eal'lif'r, \o\'h (~ 11 he had one uf Ih~ worst I1.IIlS as a cJ l-'l ain, he h;trl some alihis. Jikl' that I", WilS capta ill in most of the malches agai nsl tlte fOlTnidahle West Illdi f!S and otten Ihe \vp.a thcr gods were again~ t him. tou_ But since then. he h ilS WOn some matc-hes and selies, but h,I5 no alibi \VhaISOvCI' fl.)!' disa s­trou lcadr'rship. Prc\';ousl.v, he ex plained away defeills land even $marl decision sl sayi ng he \\'3S an 'insti nctive' captain. had

ies against Pakis tan, but what is worse, he actuallv snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, something which India has hecome infaagains t Pakistan, which India lost in the series aftc!' four dead Tests, is a case in poinl. The defeats in tl1e Pune 'and Nagpur one-dayer mat ches. showed up Kapil as han"n, stmtegically. in stark conlrast to Imran Khan, who won some of th r. matches simply by rallying a new team, despite chop and change in lht, team and balling orders, and adopting clever strategies -even if he has all but failed as a strike bowler. which he himself atimits. Bishen Singh Bedi, in his column in a national daily. has IlIso come down hr.avily on Ihe lack of imagination of Kapil Dev.

Il is useless 10 elabomte in a round·up uf the series about the man.v mistakes Kapil made on the fi eld. hour by hour. Hut he confounded Ihe viewers. spectator'S, TI' a nd mruo experts, jus t about evelyone, with 100 many or his decisions. 1\vo glaring e,amples in the recent mat ch es we re: in the last Bangalnre Test. he sent in Kiran More as night watchman with an hour 10 go,in order to pro­te.:t Azharuddin! And as expected. More losl his \o\~ckct \\; th t5 minutes to go. and then comes in Azharuddinl In the lasl one·dayer at Nagpur. with a huge s!:ore looming large before Ihem. Azharuddin, traditionally a s luw scorer by one-day s tand-

aros, was kepi towards the very lasl for the "slog overs" - and what does Azhar do? With Prabhakar at the other end, and Maninder to fotl o·.v. and a rid· iculous number of runs to score. they play out the overs defensivllly. having already can· ceded the match.'

Kapil's 'finishing olt' of Mohinder Amarnath as an all rounder is another significant pointer. Onen in the past, he completely forgo I aU about AOlarnath and would toss the ball in frustrati on. looking for a breakthrough. to Azhar, Srik· kanth and even Gavaskar. To Ihe extent that for rnany sea· sons now. Amarnath has been kept only as a batsman. Like­wise, his handling of new play· ers. especially Raju KuJkami. who has been given notice by Imran, is pathetic.

And to think that the same Kapil has been retained as cap· tain in Sharjah. What will come of the World Cup? Even as a player. Kapil has shown that he can play beller for himself lhan for the team. Hmv many t"irnes has he hit stupid. callous shots in dangerous situations? Why is Gavaskar alone conde mned? Kapil can say that he can play only this style of cricket and get away with irrespo.nsibiUty bul those given a bad name and hanged. cannol. In the interests of India. it is time that Kapil is give n a rest - as a captaill. INEWSCHlf7f1

By Kumar Guha

F8rum R~~e"~'~ew~s~an~d_R_e_ft_eC_ti_'o_n_s ____________ (3azet~ ____________________________ __

THE GUARDIAN

Third World Review Voices From The South

Th" Guardian Thi .. d World Re­view. Voices from the South. Edilol'!l - Viclona Brirain and Michael Simmon!i. London. 1987. pp. 26.'!. $5.95.

For all our concern abou t the need fur ue ller SOUlh·South communication. the gafekeepers of our newspapers have shown pretty lillIe initiativi! 1111 now in keeping ollr readers abreast uf devefopments 111 other parts of the SOllth . While we agree with thalT Susp,c,on ul the prupa· ganda sluff emill1dllng (mm the Information Minist nes 01 Ihe dif­feren t ('oull tries. which is dished out th rough the Non'dligned News Pool, what prevents the big national dailies from ke"lI l" their own correspondents III the major capit als of the Third Norld" London. Woshl1l9ton. Bonn or Moscow s.illl .main the news·cynosures lor the fndian newspaper establishmen!. and covetable datelines for Indian correspondents. This is in spite of t he drainage of foreign l')( I ' h'-lII ~1" to ll l" lI po~ tlllqs IIwolve Nairobi, [(udla Lrlflqud I ilIO n "I

Beirut may be more rel~va l1l tor Our people, but 110 t aJlracllve ~nough for our big newspaper ()Wners.

Tragic Irony

It IS therl.:! fore a tragic Irony that for a perceptive analysis of developments in Asia, AfTlca, Lalln Amerira and the Middle East, we are lorced to look elsewhere. The present book is a (ollecllon of articles .vhieh (ame out .n the Third Wo,fd Reuiew pages of THE GUARDIAN of England during the las t · live years, wrilten by journalists , WTl' ters and con tributors fr om both the North and the Sou.h. Although " few articles ohen appe" . 'u be slightly odd the mark , gen~ra ll y the pll?res un Alrica Ito whit'h almost nne· lhird of the bonk IS devoledl, Latin America and the Caribbean. provide the readers With a lai rly balonced account of the alii· Itldes and lwi1av;our pallerns of Ih. rlliers and the ruled ill tho.e cQunl rips,

One wonders ilgam why a ptece like the dlsllnguished Afri· can ~vriler Ngugi wa Thlong'o's critical anolysis of the efforts of Kenya's presen t day rulers to bury the history of the militant Mau Mau movement. or a leit er rlH l1] ~ Ilripsl in ' Nicaragua ( auyhl III li l t! I jI.c :: 1l11.l 1.<.1 lv .. o "11

the Sandinista armv and i he US backed 'Contras" giving a chi l·

ling description of a Village

attacked by the laller. cannot ilppear in tlw Indian Ilewspap~rs. Why should our readers be dellJed Jl'cess to a repurt abou t Burnham's Tl'gime in Guyana, where, behind the fdC ade of 'soc lal ism', vii.'IOUS repression 01 the opposit.on parties and inde· pendent rrade unions continues? The ~ic ture that emerges from the reports is the familiar une of the white colonial masters bemg replaced by the black and brown indigenous pol il icians (some am· I Jll'1 whom like Kenyalla or UUIIIIl,111) did pl'IY ~I 1111111 ,lJI I II,I{' in the struggle against imperial· ISm. bu ' degenerated over the

Dar (Fear) Hindi and Urdu Novel By: Harbans Singh K,

Publisher. Hlndl-Binnl Pocket Books, New Delhi-11 0005 and

Urdu-Drama and War Publications, New Delhi,

Pages Hindi 115 and Urdu 88, Price: Hindi Rs 3 and

Rs 2.25

The clamping of Emergency in India in June '75 , which set into motion the pro·

cess of the marriage of the underworld with the apex polir;· cal apparatus and generation of a fear psychosis, is Ihe subject matter of the novel DAR (fear) in which Harbans Singh has pro· jected the impact of .his draco· nian measure on the life and thinking of the common person. Beginning wi th the setting aside of the Lok Sabha election 01 Mrs Indira Gandhi by the U.P. High Court, he ends his novel - pub· li shed both in Hindi and Urdu under the same title - with the rout of the ruling Congress in Ihe 1977 General Election.

In between he has described how the hoodlums of Ihe under· w~lTld spun a web arollnd the Chhote Sarkar - unmistakenly meaning thereby Sanjay Gandhi - to lorm the nudeus which ruled and struck terror during the Emergency.

The hero of the novel Shatru is a misfit journalist. who found his life harder even during nor· mal times berause "he did not

like to mortgage his pen for a job and crush hIS cons"ience lor a living" I page J 0), Wi ; thrown out totally Out of work due to restrict ions on the Press. fn reta· liation. and for" living, he takes to blackmailing the blackmarke· lers. smugglers and the neo·rich and in the process contacts and renews friendship with Khanna, a class fellow, 'VllO is nmv the Youth President and a right hand man of the Chhote Sarkar.

Khanna's revdations to Shatru are reflective (If the atmosphere during the emergency. He says "Darling. you join with us. I am on good terms with Chhote Sar· kar. He is a friend 01 friends and a king of heart He will be crowned the next ruler of Indiil­Come under his patronage and you Will prosper. His full size port rails are displayed in every mohalla and bazar. His followers and yesmen are worshipped by the puulic. The members 01 polit · .eal parties which have been declared illegal, have joined us

and are enjoying life. TheIT skin is safe and they are having i1

good time. Otherwise, even multi· millionaires h<lve to labour in jai1."

'Strike Fear In The People' But even Joilllng .he Chhote

Sarkar bandwagon could not save ShatIu from being humil· ia.ed. for he wanted the youth to have a clean image 11 resulted in Shalru being slapped by Khanna in the police station, where ev~n the sub·inspector was surprised how a journalist . was being deal! wi.h. Later Khanna told him in remorse, "Dear friend , don't ashame me. ThiS was the only \I,!ay 10 save you. The entire affair had rearhed Chhote Sar· kar. These two boys had seen yOll writing the letter. They are our touts in Ih~ coffee house ... Our mel hod IS entirely different . Ihat is 'shake well before use' and it Illeans shake the people, strike fear in Ihem and then si t on lheir neck. This IS the only way to correct Ihese people. People worship money and wealth. Look how we slruck lear among the wealthy seths. We spread a rumour that such and such market would be demol· ished .. . it created panic in the market ... Our game succeeded and we collected five lakhs", (page 83).

This fear element was created

years 1111 0 pigmy replicas of their white oppressors of the past). Even when the new opposition in these countries agllates against Ihese ,"digenous ruling powers, Or olt en manages to take over from them the relOs of the stale, it seeks opPoTlllnist alliances to ret ain the newly won power ~ thus sowing the seeds of future betrayals and compromises. The National Resistance AmlY took over power m parI'S uf Uganda, but sought the goodwill of Presi· denl Moi of Kenya · a politician who had had a long notorious record of repression in his own count ry. The schizophrenic situa· lion of uncompromising courage at the level of fighting on the one hand , and lInprinciple adjust· ments al the level of maintaining state power on the olher cannot las. long, and invariably the lat · ter comes to prevail over the former . As John Gillings puts it succinctly 10 one of the articles ,"duded in the collection: "The real casualty has been Ihe loss of confidence in lhe ability of human belllgs 10 transcend ma teriall lll1ilalions."

Going 'Ga Ga'!

When a corresponde;'t visits a loreign country he/she is some· times led astray by the appear dnce of things .vithout having enollgh time to go deeper. Jeremy Seabrook's piece on the T aids is a typical example of going gaga over the showpieces (apparenlly displayed to him duro ing a conducted tour by the slIllI?l'eHiclenl public relations people of Ihe industnal house. who succeeded in kel'pl1l9 ..lV.MY

even among the poorest and the weakest and through Ihis was thrust Ihe programme for lamily planning.

And what type of yout h had gathered around Chhote Sarkar? Says Harbans: "Ten thousand youth presidents had gathered from every nook and corner of India . 11 is said Ihal all yooth are presidents and none 01 them a worker . .. as if every youth had a three metre high neck and broad sholders, as if they had come for a lvrestling bout rather than a conference. . There was every arrangement for len thoosand unemployed leaders. But in the morning, the cleaning staff found heaps for empty bot· ties and a number of ot her things,"(page 79) .

Even when the Congress was being routed in the elections.

from him the other side of the picture - the company's repres· sian of the trade union move· ment wi thin its industrial empire). One would also have expected Richard Gall to show a more discerning attitude in analyzing the position of Islamic fundamen· talism in tvitllaysia instead of a ralher lacile attempt to draw a parallel with Iran. It is more complex. I happened to be in Malaysia in the same year -1985 - as Gatt, when Muslim students on the campus success· fully resisted Islamic fundamen· talist allempts to ban their annual musical soiree, and to impose the 'chador' on Muslim girls (who in Malaysia wear the 'hejab', which coverS the head and shoulders leaving the face open). "Our Islam is generous!" - said a Malaysian Muslim when I asked him about the dif· ferences between Iran and Malaysia.

Occasional gaffes notwithstan· ding, the present collection pro· vides an interesting insight into soc iety and politics of the coun· lTies of the South. many of which are hardly known to the readers of our national news· papers. Of particular interest is the section on West Asia which gives a rare glimpse of the intel· lectual climate of th is war· torn region - of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, of the Egyp· tian poet Lotfi EI Khouli whose works are banned in his own country. and of the Turkish intel· lectuals pulling up a fight against a repressive regime.

_ Sumanla Banerjee

this lear psychosis had gripped government offic ials and one of them told his friend, a retired police officer, "Our Government is being routed. Our jobs are in danger. ... All orders were oral and who will be a greater offender than us, we who carried these orders without thinking. But a man goes on commilling one offence aher another for a living." (Page 107)

Though a large number of treatises have been written on the Emergency, this novel is perhaps the best and powerful work for the ordinary person of the street. Harbans, while using a language understandable for all and sundry, has a message even lor the elite .... When one of his characters, a scooter driver, says "Now the Emergency has ended. What is the risk' You pay the fare and I will drop you, wherever you say" (page 99).

Yes, that was the mood at the ouster of the ruling Congress. It was much later . that people realized that the fear psychosis which set in during the Emer· gency would be rather long last· ing. To the extent Ihat armed police would be required to man even traffic and places. of enter· tainment, The Emergency was a precursor to the undeclared Emergency under .which we live today. The novel Jar is a haunt· ing reminder of those years which were a turning point, which brought us darkness at noon. Akhil Anand

20 March-4 Aprtl 1987 7

F8rum GaZette

• Minority Righi. • Civil Liberti •• • Equality tor Women • Democratic Valu •• • Envlronmenta. Protecllon

Credibility Zero II l!'o 1111 101l~f'1' a '111( ~S'iOIl ~)f how IlIlJd\ CIT:oihilily thn gnn:rn-

1I1t '1l! \'nju\'!'1 in lilp ('\ '('S of 111(: p(~opl(~ \\'huSt' inICJ1 ~s l :> is plt"dgf:d 10 St',y(' ':111: qtlf'~liun lod~l.v is: is ',hl!I'!! all,v r. 1'Cdit~ilil.V ':'Il1;lillin1-.(! 011 ·\plil l si lilt' I'lil11(, Minister. la."lIltt Ihe rOllndatlllll 01 H;~JY~II~il s rl'l l l1 t'I,\' il l 1\.ll'Ilal. IOILl thp crowd Ihal Ilw law and ordr.r ~lIualinn III I' llI iiah had imprtwcd. The f;:u.:ls hil:,cd on nOWS .Igc:m:y Il!pnrl s. u!'ou.lll.\' d('j1('lltlanl on onidal info'1n'l lioll, giVf ' til, ' !'o lal Cl1lenl the li t' Uti! th is kind of pl'C\'ali c..:' l1ion wt' art' used 10 and 110 DIU' lakes , ul'll PJ111l111ll1L'1'llll'nl s ~el;ollsl.\'_

Ihl! ill Ilip pitSI forlll iAht lilt' quest iun uf l:I1"clihility has touched ti ll: lu\\ " :-. 1 It'n~ 1 SHlCC i J1(ll~ I .)(:mh~ncp. , A Ip.\v days a~o the hurning i~sll(, dl'h<tll'u bnth in l'arlii:tllWl11 ;:lIu l in Hw press. was-the Pn:si­tlt'll l ,:.. It ' lh ~r 10 Iht! Prime ~lill is l ('J' (;on ll'aciic1intt i.J stalt ~l1Ielll Iht! lilll i"1" hat! mac\(' ill POIl'iiamf'nl. Ttl(' dehat" 1'iI~(!{1 on whel hl 'r in 1;\( '1 IIII' lInnif' ~lfllislCr hau wi.lnuclt:d (rufIl tlw truth in IL~ lling P'Ir-1i;lIl1l'nl til ;!! hI! had kepi (he PJl!sidclll infol111ed un all lWCt ~SSaly ' ll1alll 'r~ ,'H'cordi l1g It) Ihl! Constitulion . Al1cgc'dly the Pri!l1C Minis­[f ' I' )o., " d llt'n Il'ply tf1 the Prt~sirl c lH cunlil1l11!d the slalcllwnL So, ;1 :, 1- [tw jll 'llplu, whu is wandming' frolll Ih(! trulh tilt' Presilh'llt 01' li lt' I'li nll' ,"finislf!r, the 1\-\'0 higl1l.ls1 mlthorili('s in Ihe land, Quil'tly ti ll' 1!,\pl • .matiol1 is now hein~ sli pppu in here: and Ihrl'c that it is afle!" OJII II maltl!1' or intcl'prelalion, i:t l1liSllf'ulprsl:tllding pCl'hap:-., ,-\nd :0>0 rOll' Ihere are no .UlS\\'ers.

Ho\\' till' Prcsiucnl '~ alleged lellcr m'er I'cat:hcd IlIl' In(/jilLJ £ .\/I.'Y',' ,"; is :.11101111'1' mailer ;llto~clher, nlll suddenl." w(! lind Ihul ~lI lutl ll'r lIgly silualiun has elllcrw~cI, ilml "Wlin, Ihe ~o\t'nlnWl1rS son 1I,,\\,h.1 I larnished rredihilil v, is at s taku, Tilt! CUI I'il id Ull Ihe I,~sid('n cf' of Ihe Inc/hill F.,prc, .. ~ ()\\11CI'. MI' :111111.1 111 t:ol!llka - Ihe CUI is a[ gn~a t p~lin~ In explain Ihal Ill£' rait! has n{l[hinA to du wi lh lilt' m~ltWI' of Illl.' Pl'c.s i tll ~ nl' s lell!!1' - illlcgcrtly uneal'lhs .1 Icl­Ipl' 1,(!\'I'alill~ t'OfllH'Cli(JIlS with all t\11lClkan im'cioilig:ltin,.: ag(,l1cy, whit'h it lalm' Ilirns 1)111. alsu hilS l: UIlIU'Clioll with thl' Gm'l'nlOlI'lH ur India, TIll' agency l o~c~ 110 tillle in t:a llinJ.t li n- IUIII'I' i.1 Il lI'J.{CIY, " Il i\ ' h:-.l" "HU .... l l\t'l' ha\;II1:' wl'ill£.'n to II", 1'('llnl'lC!1' COlllw(,tr.cI wi lh Mr l.ocnka tu whom the' u nc'anhr-d IcHer wa.>; addl'c~sed

H o\\'(~\'cJ' the SUnll1 a~t!llC." \\" .I ~ appoinlf'd hy Iltt! ~Iinbtly' of Finallt't!, ( ; o\'mT1I111~ 1\1 of India, to il1\'csli~atr til ... lin:lIlt'ial dt~illil1~.s and ilccounts 01 Intij;,Hls with r\llld~ ilbn);td, particularly in Switz~' I'­la nd, When Ihn matter is brought up in 1';II'!ii.UlIlm l. the lt linistcr 01 St.llt' for Finance wid members that Ihe i.lgrncy WiJ,S nOI ill'pllinH'd as 'in i ll\l(·~ tiga til1~ agency !lui in the mit' (If "infol1l1pr' , The fonner Finance ~" il\islcr \\ hu Iwld Ihill position a t the lime tll1'iHlgenmn [s well' mach! wilh 1111' \I~tm('y . onl.\' nl i.ulc a cI)1)t i(' n:rnal'k 1J\'\,l1illf{ n!spollsillility for il11." ;1I1',lngt 'nWnls 111i.1lle, hut neitlu'I' contil111p.d nor denied Whit! 11 11' ilH"lImlll~ llI Mil1i:..ler of Sia l" I",d slalCd.

TIlt! hend of tht~ Amcliean agelll'y. qtwstiullt~d lI,v Iho Wilslling­Ibn fl .C. 1" PI'CSC III (llivI~ of ,I nalional daily c:onlil1'lll'd tlli.1[ 1101 only wa~ tlll~re an agrcement but he addml Ihal tll hi s klluwil !dge the ;:lgreclIlI' llt was continuillg, He told tilt' HBC Ilwl hi s ae:elH:Y \\'<lS

hil't1" hy Mr Hhurt, Lal. a Finance Minisll:" n ffi Gi al , ~t S i1l1 inves ligal­inJ.{ iI~CIlGy, i.1uding thai his agml!lIIcnt WiI:; d('aJ't~ rI hy [iIe 1!.lI111er Financu Minister , On the BUC sp.lyicc beam(~d III India or1 S;llul'uay IIp,il .llh. Ih" agency head sial cd calegolic:a ll." Ihal III' had Ipllel:' of Ihe a~ I'()e lllent in his possession and tllal cunl ra!':" 10 whi.11 Ihe Minist('r of Statc 101' Fin~ncr. had laid Parliament. Ihe agency had in rael pa,:, .. t.:d (lfl \;tal infOlmalion to Ihc Government of India, WhY the Govenlnlellt had nol la ken action he cou ld not sa\'. He also s taled caleJ.{oricali,v that the Imte r alleged 10 have bL'Cn round 11:; Ihe CBI was a IOI'gClY, Ihat although hi! had \'crhal eommunica­tion \\~Ih thc reporter in qu(!stiol1 , (;onnm.:ted \\i th Mr Goenk.a, he had never I.mlte n a i' I'eceived a (ellef' from him. ;\gain Ihe people al'e left wondering: who is wandCling rmlll Ihe Iftllh?

i\n .\us tralian scholar, obin Jeffrey, analysing the changes in India, has written that to-day morc Indians are exposed 10 mOIl! idetls, more Indians are talking to one another because of the revo· lution in communications, So more Indian!S. and Ihis includes the youngel' genemtion who ha\'e gruwn to maturity withoul the II'aeli· lions of Ihe fighl for independancc, wilhoul Ihe knowledge of Ihe dignily of the Cunslilulional Assembly debales. wilhoul Ihe levcl of Parliamentary discussion and responsibility when men like Nchru and Palel. Shaslri and Azad laid down Ihe guidelines ann sel Ihe s tandards. so all Ihese Indian.; are lalking 10 one another ahout whal they read in Ihe press - lei us leave out mruo and 'IV whuse cl'CdiIJilily is finished - and whal Ihey.are saying. what Ihey am asking. is ·Who do we beliL'Vc·! The Amelic.n Agency? The accusing Opposi tion? The exand ]Jl'esmll Finance Minis ters? And if so. which one?"

In reply to Ihese questions Ihe Plime Minister announces Ihat a Sup,,,,me Courl Judge will probe Ihe issues 'in all ils aspecls' l lnfoI111nalcl.v. Ihe most recent example of such probes, the Misl"cl Commission, has ilself dealth a 111011al blow 10 the guvernment 's credibility. Su where do we go from here'!

8 20 March-4 April 1987

Viewpoint

The Electors And The Elected

C.B. Muthamma

The lasl Gene· ral Elecllons were won by the Congress(l) wi lh jusl under 50% of Ihe votes cast- a

~~~~ minorily. Wil h m look roughly 80%

of Ihe seals in Ihe presem Lok Sabha. Mosl earlier Lok S.bha majorities - including under Pandil Nehru and laler Ihe Janata GOVI , were based on even lower percentages of the voles caSI, Ihus running a fairly ('onsistent record of large majori lies based on a minori ty of Ihe voles casl. II one of Ihe purposes of all elecllon is 10 renee I Ihe views of the major· ilY of Ihe volers in Ihe crealion of Ihe governmenl and ils poli · cies. Ihal purpose has been con­sislenily nouled.

We Ihus have a sil ua,ion where generally Ihe majori lY of Ihe volers has been represenled by a minorily of seals in Ihe Lok Sabha. Consequenlly Ihe views of Ihe majorily 01 Ihe eleclorale cannot prevail.

Nevel'lheless. is il possible for Ihe governmenl parly 10 be res -i\'e to the electora te in general or al least 10 the mmor­ily of Ihe eleclora le rhal vOled il in? The answer is provided by many ins lances: during 1986. Ihe Government's dec.:ision fO raise Ihe adminislered prires and 10 pass Ihe Muslim Women's bill ; earlier Prime Minisl.r Desai's decision on prohib'l lon and nuclear policy; and Prime Minis· ler Nehru's deCision 10 leave Ihe China border undefended. These policies were unacceptable. nol only 10 Ihe parliamenlary opposi· lion bUI 10 Ihe public al large . and to Ihe governmenl pany ils£ll. In each case Ihe Head of Governmenl could impose a decision on the govemmen I party Ihrough the pany whip. The Stale legislal ures are in a similar situation.

Thus nol only is Ihe entire elec lorale nullified but Ihe enlire legislalure is also nullified.

Artificial Restrictioo

II could be argued thai Ihe government parlY's majority is the resull of Ihe nalion's SUppOri 10 the leader of Ihe parly. As shown above. generally Ihe Prime Minisler has laken office

NEWSHOUND

on less Ihan half Ihe voles cas l. The Janala Governmen!'s Prime Ministers were not obvious national c hoices, Besides, in the exisling syslem of parly majnri· lies. Ihe nalion arlificially res· lriCIS ils choice. Th.,e are sev· eral polilic"ns who mighl be credible candidales for nalional leadership bUI Iheir parlies can· nOI win a majorily in Parliamenl. In faci. Ihere could be cases where il mighl be advanlageous 10 keep a party oul 01 power while electing a compelenl member 10 power.

The inabililY 10 vole direclly for a leader could involve vOling for his local parly candidales whom one does nol wanl. Only a minute fraclion of Ihe nalional eleclorale voled in Amelhi for Shri Rajiv Gandhi; and Ihen only as an M.P. not as Prime Minis· ler. The choice of Ihe Prime Minisler lies wilh Ihe pany. nol Ihe people. In a silll il lion where Ihe leader is nOI an obvious vote-catcher and the government parly is fraclured . we gel insla· bilily al all levels. In I he Janala Governmenl Ihe Prime Minister. Ihe government party majority, and Ihe very conliguralion of Ihe parries in Ihe coalilion were all under aliack.

Ir "'·GS a ca.;;e whICh destroyed Ihe argumem Ihal the firsl-p;JSI· Ihe posl syslem of eleclions would ensure slabilily. There is no inevilabili ly abOUI Ihe Con· gress majorily. It is quile con· ceivable Ihal il will have a minor·

. ily. It has already 1051 ils majorilies in many slales, In India's silualion. coalilion go. vernmenls have a high possibilily of governmenlal inslabilily,

Majority Costs Stability·

The slabilily of Ihe govern­mem's parly_ majorilies has been bough I al the cosl of the coun· Iry's slability. The rivalry of Ihe parlies coni ending for elecloral viclory has resulled in Cenlre· Siale confronlalions wilh varying r",ulls. The G.N.L.F. agilalion fOllnd Ihe Cenlral and Wesl Bengal governmanls in confron· lalion, The Bhasker Rao incidenl in Andhra and Ihe G.M. Shah MinistTY in Kashmir are in recenl memory. Local parlies. based on loca) or secloral appeal , are crealed 10 shake off cenlrally exercised parly control , as in Telugu Desam, Assam and Pun· jab. Wilhin these Siaies. Ihe sys·

IT Mll~T Bi: NO FllN PLAYING tlOL.1 WITH AN INQUIRY' COMMISSION JLJ~~~ ~

'JJHYPO YDLl9!4Y ~T!

lem lunclions in Ihe same way, wilh power lied to parly majori· lies and parly palronage. raiher Ihan nowing from popular sup· porI. Where parly patronage is denied, we see Ihe phenomenon of splinler parlies - a feature of both nalional and regional par· lies. Where palronage is denied, we also have cases of fruslraled polil ieians regislering Iheir nui· sance value. as recenlly in Kar­nalaka. over Ihe publicalion of a slory. Reporledly, Ihe slory had appeared over a decade ago in Kerala where Ihe large popula· tion of Muslims had seen nOlhing objeclionable in il. But when il was published in Bangalore in English - a language which Ihe vasl majorily of Karnalaka Mus· lims (as indeed the vasl majorily of Ihe lndian populalion) cannol read. Ihere was violenl. deslruc· live agilalion, which would nol have been possible unless inler· esled polil icians slirred up Ih, senlimenls of Ihe communily. This and olher similar manoeu· vres slir up anger againsl the agilaling communily, and resull in dividing and deslablising the populalion. Elections al all levels - Ihe Parliamenl . Ihe State Legislal ure. and all down Ihe line - including Ihe bright new Mandals in Karnalaka - func · linn in r~~cIlY Ihe same way. wilh Ihe same tesulls.

Such a scenario is only possi· ble because polilical advanlage is seen to be gained by stirring up animosities, and because polilical power depends on lhe parties and parly palronage, not on Ihe people. II is an almosphere of polilical connie I and polilical palronage which militates againsl individual and colleclive peace and achievemenl.

If Ihe leaders. Ihe parlies and Ihe legislalors were accountable direclly to Ihe people. through a) Ihe direct eleclion of Ihe Heads of National and Siale Govern­ment by absolute majorilies b) proportional represenlation 10 all the legislalures and c) Ministers who are not members of legisla· lures. Ihe elecloral verdict and decision would be final, with no appeal againsl il. We could Ihen Iiope for slabilily, not only of Ihe governments but of the counlry as a whole, with governments concenlraling nolan how 10 get inlo power and slay lhere but on how besl to govern for Ihe benefil of Ihe people. •

By Rap

F8'rum ~OLpe~n_F~o~nnn~ __________________ Gazettc ________________________ __

Secessionists All? Asks· The Economic And Political Weekly

~e last ten days have seen

more knee· jerk reactions to developments in Punjab.

On February 3 the five Sikh head priests issued a 'hukum· nama' dissolving all the Akali Dal fa<:t ions and directing their office·bearers to submit their resignations to clear the way for the formation of a united party. Though the development can· cerned the Akali Dal and the Barnala government in Punjab, the Government of India took the unusual step of issuing a statement describing the action of the head priests as "machina· tions of communal , separatist and secessionist elements" and warning that these would not be tolerated. Home Minister Buta Singh called upon Punjab Chief Minister Barnala not to permit anything that could "undermine and jeopardize the democratic ins titut ions and the governmenl established by law", suggesting thai the centre's intervention 1as as much intended to warn Ihe chief minister Ihat he must not give ' in to the head priesls' directive. II is also intriguing that the Centre did not react any· where near as strongly to the 'sarbal khalsa' organised by the 11\1!iIl\n!> il\ the Golden Temple on Republic Day which adopted a resolution "endorsing the dec · lara tion of the state of Khalistan" and at which half· burnt nat ional nags and black pieces of cloth are said to have been hoisted at some places in the Golden Tem· pie. As newspaper reports put it , "security personnel and officials saw the militants hoisting the nags, including the saffron nags of 'Kholistan' but did not inrervene,"

The exchanges between the Sikh high priests and Chief Min· ister Barnala following' the

'hukumnama have this week culminated in Barnalas ex­communication from the Sikh 'panth'. It is not quite clear how many of the ministers in Barna­las cabinet, office bearers of the Akali Dal (L) and MLAs have deserted him in deference to the high priests' call or will do so in the next few days, but there can be no doubt that these develop· ments have rendered the Bar· nala government even more dependent Ihan it alrilady was on the Congress (I) and the Centre for cont inuing in office. This evidently suits the Centre, for it would appear that keeping Barnala in office a whik! longer , more or less as a puppet , is an importanl element in the Prime Minister's current strategy for deal ing wi th Ihe situation in Punjab.

The Sikh priests have in the meantime announced the forma· tion of a 'unified' Akali Dal with a five·member presidium. The appointment of Simranjit Singh Mann as president of the rear· ganised party and Bimal Kaur Khalsa as an adviser has been taken as proof of the terrorists' hand in these developments, though there are no specific charges against ei ther Mann, who has been in continuous det· ention under the National Secur· ity Act since soon after Opera­tion Bluestar. or Bimal Khalsa. Similarly very few have bothered to take a look at the ll·point charter of demands framed by the 'unified' Akali Dal. There is nothing in the charter that can be fai rly. termed secessionist. Most of the demands, such as the release of the Jodhpur dete· nus, investigation into alleged false encounters and withdrawal of trumpedup cases, the release and rehabilitation of Sikh soldi-

ers and the withdrawal of the central security forces, the BSF and the CRPF from Punjab, have been raised by the Akali Oat (L) and the Barnala govern­ment. The call to saleguard the "separate and independent iden· tity of Ihe Sikhs" has been made with explicit reference to the Anandpur Salhib resolution. It is also necessary to emphasize how very different these de­mands are from those advanced by the milita.lts at the~ 'sarbat khalsa' on the Republic Day just as it is useful to recall that the 'sarbat khalsa' and the militants' demands were rejected by the SGPC as well as the head priest of the Akal Takht, Darshan Singh Ragi, who has lately been portrayed as the arch villain. Even Baba Joginder Singh, Bhindranwale's father, who has been included in the presidium of the 'unified' Akali Dal, had walked out of Ihe 'sarbat khalsa' declaring that he did not agree with the resolution adopted by it. It . canllot even be ruled out that it was the 'sarbat khalsa staged by the militants that induced the Sikh high priests to launch their effort to bring together the war­ring Akali factions in a bid to counter the spread of the mil· itants' innuence and appeal.

All told. there is enough evi­dence to indicate the !oily o[ tar· ring with the same brush the actions of the Sikh high priests and the doings of the militants. The Centre would have lost nothing by adopting a wait and watch policy. By not doing so the possibility of the emergence of a credible political forma,tion in Punjab with whom it might be fruitful to engage in a meaningful dialogue, has been rejected out of hand by the Centre.

From EPW, Feb. 14, 1987

Tourism Is Tormenting Goa

Tourism has come in a big way to Goa. But how to control il and make it

people-oriented? This was the concern of a group of writers. artists, thinkers and social researchers who met recently at the University of Go. for a seminar. They had come together out of deep concern for the damaging effect tourism poses to Goan culture. The Vice­Chancellor of Goa University. Dr Sheik All, a noted historian. said in his inaugural address that nudism. drugs and rock music of lhe hippies are a source ' of shock to the Goan sensibility. He was of the opin­ion that although Goa's distinct cuttural character is not under atlack from tourism. some cracks are visible.

A New God-Money

The inimitable Goan artist of international repute, Mario Miranda, was fortluight in his

commenl on Goan culture. He said a new god- I"oney- has come up on the Goan cultura l horizon, and is destroying its culture. "Wrong kind of tourists are coming to Goa and we don 'l need them", said Mario. He also had a dig at the Go.n Carnival. for him. th" Carnival has become somet hing stupid. It must go back to the \'lIages to regain its original beauty and participatol)' character. Accord· ing to Mario. Goa must encou,.. age tourists who are inte,,,sted in histol)'. ",1 and the monu­ments. He stressed the need to organize a pennanent people's group which would evaluate and take ,clion on the perti · nenl questions of tourism and Goan culture.

Beds At The Cost 01 Culture

Bruno Dias Souza, the emi· nent Goan architect and pres­ently Director of Delhi School of Planning and Architecture.

lamented the destruction of the 6nest specimens of Goa's archi­tectural heritage in order to build new concrete structures without aesthetics or beauty. This is being done with the safe aim of increasing the number of beds for tourists. He maintained that strong public opinion alone can halt the deterioration of the Goan culture. and art and archi­tecture arc the major vlctims of this deterioration.

The tnspector General of Police, Goa, Mr paramjot Singh Bawa, intervening in the discussion, pointed out that there are no statistics to show that rowdyism of ciJ"Jnkards or crime and anti ·social behavlour have increased in recent years. Nevertheless. he cautioned the enthusiasts of tourism in Goa that some conttul is necessary. "We have to be conscious of the concealed effects o[ casino cul­ture. nudity, vulgarity and drug

Gazette Not Projecting Sikh Viewpoint

Passing as we are through a very difficult period of our his· tory, the Sikhs in general 'were feeling a great handicap in the absence of a media that could present their point of view before the general public and were delighted beyond measure when The Forum Gazette started pub· lication, although only as a fortnightly.

However, I am cOllstrained to write that lately I am getting the impression that the Gazette does not project the Sikh version of the events as forcefully as was expected of it. To illustrate my contention, I would point to the latest issue in our hands, that is Volume 2 No. 3, February 6·21. Jethmalani's call for Akali unifica· tion is commendable. However, that is all about the events of the previous fortnight , which was full of turmoil amongst the commun·

ity arising from the Head Priests' unity move and excommunica­tion of Barnala. The Misra Com­mission report had been pres· ented in Parliament about a week before the issue was despatched. All that the issue contains of the Mishra Report is a piece written on the basis of reported leakage. Having been associated with the Citizens' Justice Committee I know that we have a good case that can prove that the Mishra Report is a deliberate, distorted, lopsided attempt to deny justice to the victims of the November carnage. I hope that the next issue will contain enough material to expose the injustice perpe. trated by a government that has made a mockery of commissions and the judicial system

- Inder Singh Kohli, Advocate 272, Guru Harakrishan Nagar,

New.Delhi.

Misra's Monstrous Conclusion Sir.

On March 25. t9tl. fire which claimed the lives of 145 workers engulfed a garment factOI)' in New York. All was over in 20 minutes during which the t45 workers met their honible d"ath

11,e 1\\\1 ,l\\\\il\'; Ill' lh~ ~!I!' ment factol)' were charged with criminal negligence for these deaths but the trial court acquitted them " ' th a clean chit.

The daily New York Tribune. reacting sharply to the verdict. wrote:

"The monstrous conelu·

addiction", said Mr. Bawa. A psychiatrist and winner of

the best-actress award of the Marathi stage, Meenabhi Mal'­lin. was another speaker. She had done a study of drug addiction in Goa. She told the seminar that drug addiction and peddling bave gone up in the last few vears in the four talukas of Goa: Bardz, Tiswadi, Salsete and MOImugao. Her study is yet to establish the correlation between increasing drug addiction and tourism. but the preliminary trend of the 6ndings points to the relation of drug addiction to the increasing inflow of foreign tourists.

Infllcllng Deep Wounds

There was a consensus that commercialization of art and culture is inDicting deep wounds on the organic culture of Goa. The statement adopted at the seminar said: "Tourism in Goa should be planned. con­trolled and become people­oriented. It is necessary that, instead of threatening and erod­ing Goa's cultural and social identity, tourism should streng­then and enrich them. At pres-

sian of the Law is that the slaughter was no one's fault. tliat it couldn't be helped, or perhaps even that. in the fine legal phrase which is big enough to cover a multitude of defects of justice. it was 'an act of God'. This conclu­sian is revolting to the moral !!t'\\0iI' of Ilw f-I'n~l\nity."

The same could be sahl al­Justice Ranganath Misra's report on the events of November. 1984.

- P.N. Lekhi, C-98 A, South E<tension Part-II, New Delhi - 110 049

ent. publicity by the promoters of tourism, distorts and vulg ..... izes the image of Goa and of the Goan people. This is deeply hurtful to Goan sensibilities and may lead to a severe backla.h. In coming to Goa, tourists should feel that they are com­ing to the home and land of a friendly, hospitable people. As honoured guests they enjoy the hospitality of these people and should show con-esponding courtesy and respect. If tourism offers opportunity for develop­ment. it also places social responsibility on the tour organ­izers, official bodies and other social agencies. tn-esponsible commercial tourism is the bane of art and culture of the local people. But an authentic sh ..... ing between people enriches both host and guest and it is an enduring contribution 10 solid­arity and integiotion. This we believe is something that domestic tourism in Indian can foster. "

The seminar was organized by the In8titute of Social Science8, New Deihl in col-laboration with Goa Unlwrsity_ •

20 Merch-4 April 1981 9

F8rum ________________________ Gazel~------------------------THE BIRLA'S

Enter The Heiresses Just after the death of Birla par· fIarch , Ghanshyam Das, 101lr years ago, !lis son, Krishna Kumar, had ruled alit any possi· bility of the Birla 9rouP breaking up, saying, jill is nol easy, even if someone wants to (break away), and I don't think it is going to happen ." Yet, it was KK Birla himself, who caused what could prove to be the first crack in the Birla empire when he announced his dec ision last year to leave his companies to his daughters. For the first time in Marwari history perhaps, and certainly of the Bir· las, married daughters will be inheriting their father's business. The heiresses are Mrs Nandini Nopani, Mrs Shobhna Bhartia, and Mrs Jyoti Poddar, wives of well ·established first or second generation industrialists. This break with tradition could well mark the beginning, if nol the end, undoubledly, of a sea change in the luture course of the Birla monolith.

"God has given them every· thing except sons," it has been said of Ihe Birlas, and it was in recognition 01 this unfortunate truth that the clan met lor con· fabulations at Calcutta in August las t year. It was decided that in the absence of sons , companies may be left to daughters and in Ihe absence 01 any childern at all, willed to any Birla relative. One l _l( (lbl~m. hU\V('Vlll, Wl\S IIMI

01 the complicated crossholdings that the members 01 the lamily have in almost all the Birla com· paOles. When Ihe daughters finally lake over their respective companies, those companies will automatically cease to be part 01 the Birla group, and to ensure a clean break , holdings will have to change hands. Earlier, when companies were distributed am· angst the Birla brothers, eros· sholdings were not disturbed, as large chunks 01 shares of most 01 the independently·held com· panies were in the custody of the family's .. veral trusts. These shares had been made over when they were inexpensive. But now, Iheir values having soared, any change 10 shareholdings would involve the payment of enormous capital gains lax.

Separation Mechanics

The modus operandi lor work· ing oui the separation of the companies and, consequently, the holdings, is yet to be fina· lised . The only viable solution was reportedly of Ie red by GD Birla's youngest son, Basant Kumar, who suggested that the various Birla investment compan­ies swap Iheir shareholdin9s, to be bought and sold at Ihe ruling market prices. Whatever IS

decided, the most affecled Birla family will be Ihe GD Birla branch. GD Birla's oldest bro· ther, Jugal Kishore, ' had no children; Ihe second brother, Rameshw"r Das, had two sons

Gajanan, who was a bit of an

10 20 March-4 Aprlt1987

Jay Srinivasan oulcosl for having married twice, and Madho Prasad, who IS child· less. It is only recently that Gaj· anan's son, Ashok, has been given a share 01 the Birla busi· ness. The youngest brother, Brij Mohan, had only one son, Ganga Prasad, who in turn nas only one son, . Chandrakanl. In the companies of Ihese branches, there are practically nO CrOss· holdings. Complications exist mainly to Ihe case of Ghan· shyam Das's sons, Lakshmi Niwas, Krishna Kumar and Basanl Kumar.

When KK Birla announced that he would be making over his companies to his doughte,. . the acceplance of his decision was reporledly made easier by his willingness to forgo his claims on the two blue.chip Birla com· panies, Hindalco and Gwalior Rayon, now owned by AdilYil. Basant Kumar's son. TIle IWO of them, Aditya and Basant Kumar, are at the top of Ihe Birla ladder, with Ihe ownership of Ihe group's biggest companies, mclud· ing Century Spinning, Kesaram Industries among others. Lakshmi Niwas's son, Sudarshan, and grandson, Siddharth, were given charge of Mysore Cemenl , Sau· rashtra Chemicals, Jiyajeerao Colton Mills and the Cenlral Indian Machinerl' Manufafl uriug Compi.\lW, KnslU1 ~' l\ullldr \Hl

the other hand, virtually built his own empIre. The Zuari Agro Chemicals, T exmaco, India Steam· ship and the six sugar mills were eit her lounded , acquired or managed by KK Birla lrom the ver)' beginning.

Who Gets What

While the Birlds have never aired grievances in public, KK Birla is believed to have been disappoint ed when his falher lefl the blue·chip companies of Ihe group 10 Basanl Kumar. KK Birla himself has explained Ihe absence of an inherilance be· cause he had n O sons. His dr!ci · sion 10 gIve his compames to his daughters seems only nal ural in the circumstances, Mrs Nandini Norany is likely to be given Texmaco, Mrs Shobhana Bhar· ti" the Hinduslan Times, of which she is already a director and the six sugar mills , ami Mrs Jyotl Poddar, Ihe Zuari Agro

Chemicals. An added bonus lor the daught." could alsc> come from th. chi ldless MP Blrla whose companies were place.d under a recently formed trust, Ihe MP Birla Foundation. Tho\lgh Nandini NopallY is chairperson of the trust and Shabhana and Jyo li Irustees, it is unlikely thai Ihey will gel comple te cont rol of Ihe MP Birl. companies. What they cuuld expecl is a direct say in the running of the companies.

Whatever the decision on KK BIrIa's crossholdings and the dis· tribut ion of MP Bida's Rs 4000 crOre empire. The Birlas have Indeed come u long way star! ing wit h Raja Baldeo Das Blda's opium Irade with China al the turn of Ihe century . Today, their operations include lextiles. min· mg. shippmg. en9i · . ~er1l1 9 and tea. The Birla'" six sugar com· pallies produce 30 per cenl of Ihe country's entire sugar out­pUI, lh~ir cement lactories 20 per cent of the 11c11 1onal gross. TheIr 200·odd companies cOIl"ol assets estimaled al Rs 2500 crores and have a sales turnover 01 TOughly Rs 3000 erOres a year.

No Longer A Monolith

For four general ions, Ihe Bir· las have worked as a tightly knit I ~am , drawing S lff! n~th iWIl' tlw (lOllP'~ \lm (l~d 1I11~ g,-, Luyalty within lhe clan has inspired loyalty of employees. some of whom have stayed on wilh the Birlas for life and become part of Ihe fami ly. "There is more Ihan just crossholdings thai has kepi the famil y togelher," says one such employee.

But whatever has held Ihe Bi,· las together so far is abnut 10 be pul to tesl by KK Birla's break wilh the past. The entry of his daught ers into Ihe Birla empire, if only 10 detract from its stren9th, could trigger off a chain of reaction that may rock the Birla ship. Will Ihe other Birla daughl ers sit back and take it or will Ihey lay claim to their fa thers' (ompanies as well? Will Iraternal ties be able to weather the storm bound to be raised by an unequal distrihulIJ'in of wealth? There has been some heart burn over property dislribllrion in the past. KK Birla may have put the future of Ihe Birlas al stake. INEW5CRIPT)

[ j OVAr(,,qm I EII.jJ " N"l ~~l 'f( 15}e .,. , I

1 1 a,:ll1>(OM~ 'Il~i I"", I

Sikh Opinions On Punjab • The Shromam Akali Dal started the Morcha live years ago to press the demands 01 the Punjab to the Centre. The Panthic Committee wants to continue the confrontation with the Centre. Tohra realizes Ihat Sikhs cannot secede Irom IQdia but the confrontation against the Centre can be maintained. Akali dal (LongowalJ wanl to regain the last ground for the Sikhs within the Indian democracy and would like ro keep the fight for the rights which are available wilhin the democracy I.e.equalily before lalV. III Punjab it suits the Akalis to communalize politics and outside Ihe Punjab it suits the Congress (I) to do so. Buth parties have won unprecedented success electorally following this policy. Prolessor Darhsll Singh had a rare opportullity where he could have artie/a ted the demand 01 the Punjab within the democrat ic means still available and he could have built a unilorm democralic pressure on rhe centre - this could have given us a common objective for reillstating the honour 01 Punjab, release of Jodhpur detenus amd settlement 01 territorial and'water disputes. Hasty aCllon on Ihe part of the Jathedars has put us into the present dilemma. (Gyan Singh Sandhu) • In Iracing the Gurudwara Movement it is dear that initially the Mahallls of the Gurudwaras were approved by the Guru bijt as time passed, the Mahants starred misusing/ite GururdlVaras lor personal gains and also started 1V0rking against the Sikh community. We should be able to ddlereniate between the institution of the Akal Takht and the individual appointed as its Jathedar. (Dr. A.S. Narang.) • A delegation should be organised of all shades 01 Sikh opinion to meet the Jathedar 01 the Akal Takht 10 achieve unity. The leaders of tlte Dellti Sikh organisarions at present appear to be willing to say, write Or publish what the Cenlral government wants. (Mr. Gurb'achan Singh.) • The Akal Takhl is our supreme authority and like the summons issued by the supreme Court 01 India have 10 be responded to personally, Bamala should have appeared belore the Akal Takht personally and lIot through any agent.(Mr G.S. Chadha.) • The media propaganda against the Sikhs and Akal Takht by the press and lull page advertisemenls is very harmful. • The Jalhedar 01 the Akal Takht gave a call for '!llill' hHI il· hil§ ended up lVitlt a cfivide &I"r~ thi. dllll(ie becomes permanenl a Jd~~JIIOIt 01 tlte Sikh Forum and other like minded persons should call UpOIl the Jathedar, to first understand how the present sutuation developed, and then impress on him that unity amongst various lacrions l,as 10 be achieved. (Mr R.S. ChhatwaL) • Barnala should have gone to the Akal Takht even ilthere was danger to his life as we should be prepared lor death at all times and not be afraid 01 it. Even il the Jathedar Ilkal Takht has taken a wrong step we should still support him ar" , cooperate with hlln. (Mrs Chandanwant Kaur.) • A voice against the Akal Takht will weaken us. The supreme authority of the Akal Takht should be upheld, and submi;sion belore it is neccessary. The Prime Minister should call a meeting 01 all fac tions 01 sikhs to solve the Punjab problem. The Sikh Forum shouLd continue its non·political role. (Col. Manohar Singh.) • The Central government has been insincere, dishonest and anti· Sikh in ils approach righllrom the beginning. They are pushing the Sikhs illto a confrontation against the country as no justice is being given. The Sikhs are fully alienated. The only solution is for Rajiv to seek lorgiveness at the Akal Takht. Repression In punjab in widespreadelegation of the Sikh Forum should meet the Prime minister. (Mr B.S. MainL) • The respect for the Akal Takht is.supreme,holVever the modality of 'hukumnama' has to brought regarding the relation between the Panthic Committee and the Jathedar Akal Takht. IMr. Sardar Singh.) • Our differences are the cause of the tragedy. The central government appears to be confident that it can keep the Sikhs divided and so long as they remain divided, the centre is in no hurry to lind a solution to the punjab problem. The Akal T akht is our highest authority. On the issue of the 'hukumnama', opinion appears to be divided. Against one opinion that any order of the Jathedar Akal Takht should be accepted unquestioningly, others leel that the matter of appointment of the Jathedar and the constitution of the five Jathedars who assemble to give decisions has to beconsidered rationally. Electrorates only can remove those elected by them. The appointment of the present Jathedars is open· to question . (Mr Gurmukh Singh Jeet) , • Barnala's letter containing the offer 01 his services to the Jathedar Akal Takht was interpreted in a different way resulting in a duel between the two. No solution is visible at present. (Mr Jogin'der Singh Joggi) • The Sikhs fall with political success and rise in adversity. We area very easily pruchasable commodity but hope that from this adversity we will rise again.

r=8rum ____________ Gazcttc-------------;.-

Farmers Movement Gains Ground A Report From Muzaffnagar BrlJender S. Panwar

For Ihe lirst time since Independence, the traditionally Lok Dal dominated region ot western Uttar Pradesh has witnessed a significant development. A new non·political organisation 'Bhartiya Kisan Union' has emerged on the horizon. The farmers seem to have lost faith in the politicians and have welcomed the local unit of the BKU which is affiliated to the BKU of Sharad Joshi in Maharashtra. With practically no resources at its command, the BKU of western Uttar Pradesh launched its lirst major agitation on March 1 and thousands of farmers from far and wide responded to the call . The farmers have come out In

the streets to fight lor their rights. The 'Sugar Bowl' 01 India, as the egion is popularly known, Is experiencing an unique pnsciousess. The agitation which was launched in a specilic

pocket may well engulf the entire region in times to come.

"IS it .1 mime III agitate f()/' youI' Jigills? Tile ':U'fI1(,I'S toil ria \' in Hlld d ~l v Ou l 10 fend

lTIiJlio,;s. Yet. Will:'" the\' ask fur m.L:Lllar supply of el"ci Jidty ill lIumin .. 1 1'':lll!S, Lhc GO\ c l'I1nwlll ~i\'(!!'O 1111'111 I'lllin' hllll"I !" .11' a /'t'ward for hard wlirk 11 0\\ ,\111

Police bullets supprc~s LIS wl1('11 WP fael' rhe ci.1lalJlilil~S uf 11.ltur,-! t ~\l! I 'V V('ill'. Bul. Ihi !<l lime. we will sh{J\'v " Il t' Gmr.nll11 p. 1l1 wh,lI Ihf' agitateu 1i.1I11lt!rS call 111.):'

Tliis S I ~lWI11Cl1t WilS :11adc LJ\' a 711 vear old 1~1I'11l ' 1 " Mukhijal' Singh of Si~(,I 1i Villa~1' in Distri ct l\1ur.al1~l'1lagilr, 11!' was all l:ye \Vilnc~s Iu Ihe urulal allad. flf Ih£' poliet' on 1111 ' deH10rlSlr.l­Hom: of f':lI111crs ~ It ShalllJi TI)WI1 )' rv!tlzallilrn,lp;ar ilisllict in eastern Uttar Pratil':-h OI!1II0 ' CI'al'\' had lakr ll ,I had~ :-; I ~a l on March 1. l~lS7 < in Ihi:-o tOWI1 whm'l'~ Ihe S lal ~ Pulicr upl·ned lire al farmers ancl shot dead Iwo innor.nn l "ouIIls, ,\ khar I J~ I and .Ii1ipal Siilljh 1181 tintl Il'ft hundrcdl'i of them inillt'l'd, The unlv clime Clf th t: fi ulIIel's \vas tha'l they were prolt:s liliA pl.~aee­fuil v agilins l Ihe 1"'~('I : 1I1 hikl.! in r lr.ctTidtv 1'~II C!'i from lb. 22 ,.5{1 "

10 I~s, :10; · pHI' hOl~c POWI!I',

After two day~ hnd passml 1I"It' c l'uwd was still s\\'clli nfj conlin' uouslv. Thousands of finlllcI':' from ",Ile ndghlmul;ng \'illil~(!~ I!~ pl'esscd Ih(~ir r\!sentmcnl hy n-'fw,ing 10 hand OVeI' Ihe c! c:ld hucl;es uf Ihld!' cUI111'adc5 10 lilt' administralion, Thl'v hl,IIlWd IIH' adminislration 1(.1 1: tho sony slall' or all~lini. "TIU' pulkn hll\'1! lh:liuura lelv liliw n Ihi :-o n.xtl'CIU(! lftCP \\~th ilw intentiun 01' 1('1'1'0 1'­is i l1~ Ilw f'U1Jlcr s of this l'Cgioll . nul. we \\';1111 10 loll the (;u\'nl'Il ' II1 l1l1 t Ihal nothing (;an scal'C liS We have uCI'idcu In fi~hl 10 lilt' fini sh ', saiu RajIJir Singh, a youlh li'UIll \~lla6u shalnllhalka,

Overreaction By Administration

The l'Ouls ollhl! " :1 :1'111 Il'IJuhlc on March I \Vhlch l'C!"lIllnd in pulice filing can be !riH:ed hal 'k 10 the happf'n in~:-o lit Ihe PiiSI. In .Iallll.I'" '157, Ihe !lewlv IOlll u!d nOll ' polilical UI'J.'tl lli !io1l ion 'Uh;II"

liY'1 Ki:;:il n l lnillll' :-: laJ.!(}t! a t1hilnh' fur I hrel.' diJ_\ S :lgain :,1 li lt' hikc' impo:o't'd lIy em'cl'n · III('n l ill d'~I ' lJit'i '" .'h ; II}~m. , TIll' 11100'1:lll(ml ~:tilll'i l t:t lll l" i(h wil ilip IIltHlIl!ntlllll i1I1U)/lg IIII' kll'lll t~ I ':-> , Th(' tll -ganisMion l', llI t~d oft· lill ' dh.II'I1,l un lill ' .... SS lII. I fl(·l· 01 111(' dbtlil'l atilllini!"It'illioll Ihal !twi,. drm;;HHls w ill hi ' l'ollsi dcl'C'd !i lVfllIl i llllv, HUI tlH' LJI'/,.:ani :-.a ti u ll had III givt! a fl'l'sh (:<111 ti ll ' III I"' a~ital i(l n on Mal'dl I. silln : till' em·emlllcni had la ilml 10 sui"" Ihl' proltlt:ms of Iht~ faITl u~I':' ,

TIll' ilgitiJli on lilundlt:d ill J:lIlltal:V H7 W .. IS l:tJIllplcldy peacdul. Tht: h'!lIdt!l-:t assured IllI: c1isllil'l alil1l inis ll'i1li on of .1 simil ill' PI !iu.:pful (InnlUi1str':lli tlll bUI i l was fln l (:ol'l\'il1('('tl.

/kl'ol'rlil1~ In il pulila' tJllker ul ~kl'l'lll Z()II(~, Ilu-1 LtD, 11'111111 indicated ChilIlCI::-' of dislll l" h'II1 C:I ' IIllJillg Ihl' del110nSlra­tiUII . Ballalion:-. Ill" Polit:!' lI l1rt l"' d

eanllllanc!os II'AO \\len' SUIlI­moned i ll additioll In Ihl! potier ron:(" Ir'tllli Iht: nt~ i J.( hhtJlllil1g dis­llic ts. TIl(' tuwn III' Ilamli WliS

,'om'crlml virillillly il1 10 it poli tl' ";.11111' Ul l FehruOIry 2X,

Policr IXlI1karh:s ,tilt! haniers \,,",01'1' cl'ected ilt a ll the 1 ~ IlIIV points and I'oaus leading 1(1 Shitlnli , Secliull 1,1.1 "\'i1:' illl)lost:d in the t':ll til'e disl licl of Mllz;t ll'amagur.

ih it pl'l:caulitHlillY I1lctl sum, Ihe police an'1:slCc.I 11100 leaders nf Ihe r'II'mer~ un Fl'llI'uUIV ZS, 1",11'111 ('1':-1 fmlll Ihe ~lIn'Oli litlill#{ \i llilg<,s lold Ihi l" I'eportl!r 11'1.11 pllli n~ jecps IIHlkinr: Il1l111l1:-. of II \(' \'iIIagw\ WI'I''(' warning !ttl ' fanllel's Oil Iht: lIIicfl) phonc of din! ('tln~cqur.nrt~S if Ihl! famll ~ I 'S pill1id pall:d ill III(' ~ Igil:l l itln . Tllese ;I(~ Ii\ 'i l ies irk(;d the 1;1I111l~ I'S and Ihtw th:ddml al palll:ha,vats, 10 par l icipaw in 1111' ;.tJ!it;tliun

Defiance 01 Reslrictlons

In:,pill! uf all 1'1!:-ou;c:lion:-o ,lilt! 'N~I~a · l\.:tll d i' Iw 1111' iH lminisl"l riul' , C;u';.lVans' 01 Ir;J(~I OI ,· t I'OHic~ 1,: all :~ II t\' Iilllllcrs :-;1i"t1'It!rI 11I00;IIH lowal'ds ShamJi TUWII fl'tllll all diIU: liull~ on Mal1:ll I , The

I,,? .\ 1

,

Chaudhary Mahinder Singh S/kot, one of the prominent person. of 'Salyan Khap' which constitutes of 82 vII/ages In Western

Uttar Pradesh surrounded by his followers ,

m allwi l \' III I III' d I'1I10l\!" I I'illtll "

\\,(',, ' fl'( JII1 Ba~p ,l t illJ(\ SaJ'(llllIllol Telt :-ds ot' di:'InGI ~ " 'ITIII ;lIld Kail ';tlHI altli III IUdll.ll ia I f' lh l!:. uf I IISldcI t\III Zii l l;.lI ' l liI~a/' \\'oml'U ,Hul childn ' \1 .tI '('IIIt1 P;1I1

it'd til t' rl t.HlH III:'i ll'ilIIUIl!" ill 1<1 1'/ . .;1' nUmUI'I':-, In ~Jli le ul :111 pru\'I.ll':I l inns, til l ' dl'lll on:-;II ~ ll ioll !' \\ '1'1 '1'

III':.wcful i1I HI 1111' 1"1'1111 '1'''' ;tpprn,H I tl'd ~h;tndl 1';1I!"lIlg :0' 111

t.t: m="> r.lrrart n{ ~I !OO tlnih .

Oil Ih l~ II I1lt'l h~lI l1 ! 1111 ' jllllt"I' ("reall 'd ;1 \ \ ;:Irl il.(' ~iltl:tl h lll 11 \ f'1'(W tilll-! U d H'l'~ JlfI:-b I'at II 111:111 11('( 1 11.\' lUll :trnh ~d IHl li,, ' 1"'I 'slI llI lI 'b An ", 'dill~.lt l !'llln I' .. Oll ll '" !,,, tllf' lir .. t dd .. h h l' t\\ I' ('O

IIII' )lilli I'!' :11 111 l;u11'II'I '" I Dill-. JlI , l l' l ~ al I :!. 11 (11111 ,II 1111 ' pill lI :I' harril'ildt' :11 h.l ldallit ,:--i :O flll ,\la r~ 1111', 11 rill ' IJdliJ,w fill "ri ... I1I1 .1

I1\ I'fI , III' I'lIlill ' JI , ~, IH I II J h. !;.Ill1 i chal'gt ' wlll ' lI il 1,1l1i·1I I I! slol' 1111' 1,11'1111 '1':-' 11 '1111 1 I IC',n li lt~ low,trds Iht' It)\, 11 TIH ~ I:U 'III!'!'!"

... 1:11'1('<1 Ihl"nwillg ... Inlll'''; \III 11l1"' polk( ' in !'t 'talia llc)! \. rtw t!PII I­

IlJlsll'i.lliull t'I't):-':-OI ,d Ihl' Iral1;I '\,

.,

p n \\'t' l' .. lalilJn ~ I\ polin ' jl 'CPS, 1\\11 IIIIH Il!' (~\C'lt ':-.. \Jill' 11'1I1.'l-. anti 4111" li n' I lI'ig"c!t , \;In 11 0\\'1'\1')',

l ilt' I I ' oIdl'l'~ fit lilt ' lal'llll" ':, Inlt! Ilmi 1'\ ' )l11I '1I 'l' tlml II1\' ptl lkp pl'r­:-OIlI1t't IlIl'lllst!h'l':- hurn l Ihl' \t'ltidl':-O ill tlrd ('1 10 CoH'/' lIJi 11 1I·i,. 11Ii:.I,I~t:~,

Farmers Deny Police Version

\n 'IH'llit 'lg 10 tlh ' ~I' III" 1'(llkf', :--11I 'llh h-1 1\,11 11 :-Olll j.d l lIlt' l'oiJn' tl l' t'll l ,d 111'1' ll 11 1y lU I !llll! ( lcf.'ilS­

..,ulIl ,l lId 11'1.11 IlIn" tlt'll I I II' II1nh h,ld !"t1rt llulHit'd t!ll ' jllilit'l' pt't', :-O"llIh'l Irum all :- lIh'~ III' lIi:-. ­/ ' 11 1!'l('c\ IhoiL ,Ill' , 1~lt at ctl fartll c l':-'

:-n:lIl'I ll'tI 11IW !1'\/lhl 'l alld {lIW riJli ' Il'nll J 1111 ' )llIli l't '" ll'n I hl!!"I ' \\1 '.1[1111 1-. han ' IHII 1i"PII n'nl' \ 1'1'1'1 1 1111 111 1\\ . lIlt ' 1.t l'llIt'l :-' \\I :I't '

t ' oIlnl l l~ .; Iid .. :-- IlIi l'k ... ,lilt! Ilnli · rl ' I1~I'd' 11"11)\ 1'1':-' ;lIld nl'apol\ :-',

h. dddl·d / II I'nd/?-lf. ~ 1. j l lll,dl'l ::i llj.!11

1}d.'I )1 lit(, luul r l 0 1/11.:1 I l ' fllh ,a tllf ' . tllt 'J.;i tl iIUI'" III I I II' iltiltlillb· II,IIIIIII, IIH II ,I I It 'd 1III'II I I I.1 :-l'It ' s!", ' I h l',\ .111' Id li ng I l)II~I ' d 11)1 :-oln,

1'1(':-> It' Co, 'I ' 1' l ip ,III 'il Itl b lo.lkl ~:' ,

•

TIN burned 'RttCtNd Sed1on' ot KhMJI..Kunna poww .,.11on ~ Shamll/n We. tern un., Pradesh.

and 1't':IC'l llJd tlw Ilul!"kil'b uf Shcuni i l lnahle III ( '011 11'01 Ihe crowd, Il w polin' opnllc'd lin' ,11 Shilllhh;t1k,1 1t;:lih,.! \ l 'I'll!'J:-oi ng and l-.iI1t.:d two \ ; ll llit:- TIlt' fal11lt'l's \-\'f!n l hl'J':-O I:rh ,lOti ~i llf'd I':\C I .la loon l'ulIlIlI<-Ind (!1' itS \',Hlm' ilml illlll l'l 't! 1lI,1I1\'

pc l it:I' lJlcn '1'111' a~i1iJlt' d tl lll\) 1'C .. u'llI'd

1\1 1o'It! 1- I"lliml u JllI\\ cr sl " l ir,ln ami :1 possillllil,' III :toolhl'l' dil~i1 \ViiS lI\'cl'lcd II\' rhe 11111l'1\ inl t'''·''lllion nf SP :"1111;111 11'1' Na lh ~i ll5h who t'I,rl l :,t:d 10 ;) 110\\ ti l" in~ al th is jtllH'III I'r., '11w f1,\(' hall ;tlliun s WI ' I't ! :-.0 ,J~i1 , til 'd .tt lil (' l (is~ nr lhcll' "OIlIlI I'--l I\lIf'1' Ih;1I Ihe'\, slaried ht 'tllill ~ tI lt' fill 'IIII ' I"!" l1H'i-d lt'ss!v, AI" iI n ::-IIIt. lilt , 111111, hlll'lwd . Hr-rnnl !"!l·t 'lipn (I ' l Ilt '

TIll' pulil 'p hum I ttll'i l .. \\ n \'c l1i­r1l'" ill IIlth'r l it illiplil 'il ic thl! 1~1I11lt,l':- ill rilbl' Cil!'o l 'S • 111' :-.aid, ,ill lal 'lnl'I':O ,1] '\ ' !"ti ll IIli:;::-; ing lind 1111' "'adt' rs ltod 111.11 liu' \' haw ! H~I"'II kltll'd hy li lt' pulif't" '

011 ~1; 1I ... ' h .! , l lopi \::1lh iJ ixil, HUIlIt' ~ 1i1li:- ll 'l' I l 11'1 ,d fl l1~ \d lh IllIk .... 11I :-, i ]\~11 i\lin i:-.h'" III'

,\ lIilll.11 Il u~I Mn tl:t" d :-; iu!t! SIt'1l 111i !IlU tlt~, 1 , l n ll ;' I~ rr,ru:-I 'd III 1,11 h. lit 11"11'111 Lll l 'l' LlIl , .11 Ih l.' 1'1.!:-i 1 I llHI:-l j, 1IIl ' Illlll l :-I .-' I'S i!(,I'I 'Ph 't! (I'll I.klll .1I 1I1s 01 thl' f' II '1I1I ' I ', hi lt lhl' maill b:-ouP-hikr ill 1'!t 'I ' lIid" rah 's - j('IlWilH'd 11IH't,tl tlh e<i '-I Ill' It 'd dl"" of 1'ii,11 I'l'fllsl'd 10 !,I'lm il p" l ilil'i:lfI !'O III :-.pt 'a\.. tMll l ;11L'il pl cl llol1ll \ 'ir nid 1.1/ 1111' :"1Ilf,h, l I lil ,r ~IiJ1l :' Il'1' 1'11,11' l 'I,(( II ! ~ll . lhl ::' I,I~CII tltt'!:o Ul'y

\ 11I1Ii c(~ of Ihe ISS IIt!. He has rl'fllst' rI to sci till il Commission In illvr,s ligah! illin this affair. Talkill~ 10 l'Ppnrll!I'S at Barallt, h (~ ~ai d Ihal iI judkial inquiry is !o lillirit' llt trlf su r h incidrnts,

Government's Double Standards

In Ihr' paSI, faJ111 CI'S Orw(~sh!rn l lll ,11' Pradesh 1i1t1lldwd agila­linn:- fell' a I'f'asnnahll"! Jlrice of s ugar t:0I1l C!. Ihl! main ea!'h crop Ill!' \\'hkh 1111 ' l'l'gioll is fumous ill lilt' rOlllllrv, In lil t' ll1ajotil v of ,:;t:'I '!", tilt' ; Igilali ull~ Ull!\\I a hlank ht ~nHl :-:1' ('\'1'1')' limn polili , (' ;t! pal'lit!:- iUlllped inlO Ihe fl"I~' "li d d ivided Ilw 1'1r111l'1'S in dif­ti 'I'l!1l I camps. " Wl' h ;t\"l ! learned It ~ :-son s " '0111 ()UI' pa!"1 mislake!" ~ tllll ~11J\\ '1I \\~SI! , 111 K:!, Ilw al-ti1a­iiI III 1i.1l 111('1u'd to ~(' I it rai :;;r in Ih e' ellsl flf sugal' I',IIl(' \Vas hcatl­iIII-! lowards iI gl'.md sW·('(!Ss. SI' ll sin~ Ihis. Ihe (;ovt.'rnnWIlI pla.w d th r policy or 'di\i tl c ami I'll II ' , The local le~is l alllrc dildwd liS bv SI W(;l ' I'dil1~ ill fi) i1-illt:. Ihe ~I f,i l-aliun and pI'essur· i /.l'd Culjill' ami St1l1W 1;lt 1 ~1I1m~ I'S Itl l1'sl<l 1'1 lilt' stlpply uf eallt! 10 II", :-' lIHar mill::., We w illllul lU I it h :l)lpt 'll agaill ,' s<li cl :t t:ujjar l~tI11H'I ' tJt II II! Il '~i un. ,

rill·' 1'Ct:t'1l1 dl'\'I 'lu)lIlI f' IlIS in till' ;tn'a full v slIpporl tltb \'iew . 1\11' Il w liI'SI ·lilllt ' ~ I pon'pfJliliGal (I1~;lIli:;:;llilJl1 Ur..l ' iaffi lial cd 10

Ihl ' Ur.. V III ~hal-; Id Ju:,hi ) hil !'i t'llH'I'~('d ill th i:, II',--,dilion'll!y 1.1 Il-.,Ila I domina led , at't'iJ .

L\l'n~~:-ill .!4 his 111senlllU!1l1 ano t! i:-~ lI sl hlwOInls Il ll' plllil idal1s, :111 I:dl ll 'ilh!d \'Cl lllh , Olllhil' Sill,f.{h :-;;lId, " li lt' 1'I,';J'snn liw our I~li!tm~s ill 1111' poI:-O l \Va:- Ihal WI : I'alipd lull nlllt'h 1I1I IlIl' polil ical leild­c'I'"lIip, TI1I':w polili"ian :> used

I,' /' 1('/'''' ,I" /illi/" ,lIu / lhn lVl' un ,I I Llt l <It .1'" tit.) ,q L, I 'r,I/' ' I l~

11 11' 11' :-1 1)111111'1 rllI ',\ fl~ I I It! I~tnllers al ttH' IlWn.:v o f Ihf' {;l i\·('rt1 l1lt:n l alltw (ll'ri~ 'i llJ.( ptllil­il-al l :ill'ili.l1 ou t DI Ilw isstu:." l : ll l1llll n lllil1 ~ 011 IIIP birlh ur a 111111 pulil ic,,1 ul'~m \ i :.;at illl1 , JH\U, ill \\j"'SICl11 Pllilr l'l'adcsh , ;lIIotl wl' "(}lith :omi t! , 'It is a \\'( ~ I ·

1'11111(' di'\'I'loll1'lwnl Oll ly Stich 1I 1 ~;JI1i :-illit1ns Opt:,'j\ lillg al lucal II 'w\:-. t i ll l Iwlp IiI/ mel'S ill J<l !l ­lil1~ Iltdr dun. TIlt' Im-al lInils :-; hllul tl hit\'(! t:o'{ll'dillalioll al Ihe t'I'lI lrallcvcl. "

' I hi ' l;:wlI1crs nl tlw weslm'l1 n'git)fl c.orn plaillt:d Ihal Ihl! (~()''I'l'I1ll\c l1l ~ld()PI douhle s l ~lndanb ill dealing with 11m ,'"slem ~lIld wc,:, lt :rn 1'C~ions of Ihl ~ :-o lal e. rhe,,! is a ricar eul lIias ill fa,'otll' !.If ca:-oli !11l U,P, The f;tI1l1l!l'!'I ill Ihl' easlcI11 pal1 gr.t I: !t:t'trit;i t,v al dma pnl' I'illr~s illld Illl! f.1I1111!1'S MI!I lIIure pricc for sligar (',.trll' in lilt' Illill!'i or (!asl -el1l l 'II ,II ' Pr;uit!Sh . "The liP ( jU\'Cl'nmcnt is ~ tl cking- Ilw 1,lood rrnlll Ihe \VC!'i ICI11 pari and is injl'cling il Iu IllI' l~a~lf" 11l pal1 or l iP. Bill. Wf! will nol ICI il hilppf'1I for 1(l11~," slIl1HIlt-!d lip illl ilgi l:tll!c! ."(n lll~ lalmC\'.

The f'aillaws ill'l~ planning i.t hi~ "t!: il 'lliol1 if Ilw ~ovel1lll1Cnl fail!"d 10 1 '(::mO\l~ Ih(' plUhlcl11s al tile I 'a l'lies!. 1 hi:-. tI;4;taliul1 \vill ~prpad in II·w 1'l1lil'l! mgion of \\ 'c~ It 'rIl Uttar Prad{~sh , The local Ullil uf IH\l l has 110 pl'tlpa~anda lIlariliIlCI) , no palllphlel war ha:-o Il(~u/l launched htll inspite of thai Iht, IIH-~SS..1g l~. has l'1!al:i1e d

!'\I'I'\' nnok and ( 'urm~I ' o f Ihr I'f',t.::ioll Tlu-' \ukano is mali." 10 !'\plod.-, .... 1Ilr1 11ll' lanners ~Ln~ de tl' l'lllim:d 10 con u~ out in Ihe s I J,{,t'I~ HII." d llY, Thm' ill 'P. wailing 1\11' II sil-{lHtl from Ihe Bt\U Il'acir.rsllil ).

20 M.rch-4 April 1987 11

"I

Heritage and History •

:The FOrum Gazette

REMEMBERING BHAGAT SINGH

The Problem of Punjab's

IThe Punjab Hindi SalUtya Sammelan had o'lfanised an essay competition on the above subject in 1923. 11 was (or thar comperirion rhar Bhagar Singh wrore rms article. The General SecrerlJ1}' of the SalUtya Sammo­Ian. Shri Bhim Sen 11dyalankar (now expiredl liked the article much and preselVed iI. Bhagar Singh gar a prize o( Rs 50 for tms article. Subsequenrly. it was published in Hindi Sandesh on FebrwlIY 28, 1933.1 "An acquamtaince of the litera­ture of a society or a country is of prime importance for the understanding of that society or country. because the con­sciousness of the soul of a society gets reflected in its liter­ature ruSQ," History is witness to the authenticity of the above statement. Cou'ntries have fol­lowed the direction detcnnined by the flow of their literature. Every nation needs literature of high quality for its own uplift­ment. As the literature of a country attains new heights, the country also develops. Patriots

be they merely social refonners or political leaders -pil--J /hi! ~est at.te.ntion to the liter-.!ure of dldt W~J/t/IY I/' they do not create new litera­lure to meet the requirements of contemporary issues and situations, all their effons will fail and their work will prove unstable.

Perhaps Garibaldi could not have succeeded in mobilising the anny with such ease if Mazzini had not invested lhiny years in his mission of cultural and literary renaissance. The revival of Irish language was attempted with the same enthusiasm along wilh the renaissance in Ireland_ The rul­ers wanted so much to sup­press their language fol' the ultimate suppression of the Irish people that even children were punished for the crime of keeping a few verses i.n Gaelic. The French revolution would have been impossible "ithout the work of Rousseau and Vol­taire. Had Tolstov, Karl Marx and Maxim Gorky not invested years of their lives in the crea­tion of a new literature. the Russian revolution would not have taken place, leave alone the propagation and practice of communism.

The same applies to the social and religious refonners. Kabir's ideas have a stable impact because of his literary works. Till date. the sweetness and sensitivity of his poems prove captivating to the people.

Exactly the same can be said of Guru Nanak Devji. When the Sikh Gurus started establishing their new order along with the preaching of their beliefs. they felt the need for a new litera· ture and this inspired Guru Angad Devji to evolve the Curumukhi script. Centuries of continuous warfare and Muslim invasions had dried up the literature of Punjab. The Hindi lan,!uage was at the verge of

12 20 March-4 April 1987

Language and Script'

S. Shaga! Singh hanged In Lahore Central Jail on March 23. 1931.

e,-,mction He adopled I he Ka.hmili .<:nfll ill "i, ""'f<~ UJ)'

an Indian langua~e. Later Ihe Adj Granth was compiled h.v Guru Arjull Delii and Bhai Gurudasji. Thev lOuk a far­l'eaching and \ Iseful !oI tep in creating tht~ir nwn sCripl ;.tnd literature 10 propagale Ihc:ir beliefs.

AfteM'ards, as times changed, the flow of liter. ,ul'C alsu changed . The ceaseless saclifi · ees and Sllnp.lin~s of the Gurus changed the situation_ Whereas we find dl.''\'otion and sclf­oblivion in Ihe preaching of tho first GUIlJ , and expprie nce il

sense of self·effa cement in the follo",;ng couple t: Nimak nallhc

ho rohe. ;ais; nanhi r/ooh. Aur ghas jari joWl hai, doob khoob ki kllo(}/l INanak asks all 10 be as humble and insignHk unl as the b""'''. While all olher grasses are bUl11t down. doob continues to floUlish.1

we find a sense of fellOW-feeling and helpfulness for th. oppressed in the preachings of Guru Shli TI!g" Bahadul;i:

Baanhi jinhan di pakiJd(l'c. sir di;{ve ban/li na r:hhoc/.''P., Cunl TeK Bah,uJlI1' ho(va. dharati Fkli dhcu.,1U nif c/lllOdye. (W'h umsoever you pl'(I\;dp protection. to you should he prepared 10 sacrifice ,YoUl',clf but not that protec tion. Guru Teg Bahadur asks ,vuu not to foresake your relgion on this earth.!

After his sacrifice. slIddclllv. \\I( ~ sense a waniUl' spitit iii the preachings _ of Guru Gobind Singhji. When he realised thaI mere spirilual devotion could not do anything. he started Chandi wOI'Ship and IUllled Ihe Sikh community inln a com· munity of worshippers and wanior's by synthesising spilit -

uaJisllI <llld fhe marlial spiti!. \VI~ fi nd in his P 0l' nl S a IIl!W

~plnt Hr ~" i1II"\ .Ie toM prom kheJan d.) ch.n sit' dhar (iJ li gali mod a'lI . )(' it m.uu·.~lg p.1;,. dhill ijai, si,' d jj;Ji kaan n" diiai. III' you arE' interested in play­ing I ltl' game of lov(!, pUI yOlll' head 011 .VOlII' pillm an d unlv tl lt' ll e lil e r 111\' 1.;1110. In ease'you put yuur ~rce l on this palh don', fall hack, ('\'e n jf .\lOU

ha\ c I l.l l os~ "ou r life.! And Ih lll i' .

Some' ."0 p'lhcJ);lI l~ve. if' hide dnrn k, ' hr /. Pwia' fJw jiJ kit( /JIil l'C, kilIJhu na d Jh,fie khel. 10 nl.1' he is brave who Ij~ hl s for Iht' ('a use of th(' poor. His limhs llIav be tOI11 ascenues bUI he should nul nee from the hallie field .,

·\nd thell suddCl tlv. Ihe "wol'd-\\·orsru l' slaI1s. .

LIterature And ResIstance

Can'v ing the ~ame spitit. Bah~1 Banoa and olhers fau~hl Mus­lim ruler ' n:!i r.ntle!-!slv We find thai I.tter when S'ikhs were reduced 10 mere gro ups of anardtists. dcclarml llutlaws, and wert: continously com­pelled 10 Ii, ·c in hidil1~,' flO new IiWl'tliUl'C cl.Iuld be ('I'catcd, They coulll nut. enthused \\;th ;1 IU'W spilil They had it \\'an iol' pili I. a sens,,: of courage and

sacriticc alld a spilil 10 con­tinue Iht!ir war against Muslim ru le rs. hut t hel' coulll not chalk out Iheir flll lllt~ bevond this. This c'\ plajn ~ why these wanior groups roughl among Ihe lll­selves. II is here Ihilt Ilw ir lack of contempul'al), spitil wom es U!:I If a wanior and a shrt!wd ru lOl' likl! Ranjit Singh had not cl1wrgr.d aft elwal'ds, Sikhs would ha\lc gone down bereft 01 any high ideal or spitil to 111obi-

lised themselt. Along \\; Ih all (his, one more

point deserves attention. All the Sanskrit literature put together. failed to revive Hindu socielV: new literature had to be written in a conlemporary language. Till date. we feel only the effect which was created by Ihat litel'­a lure of contemporary spirit. Even for a person of proper education and comprehension. the hymns of unintelligible Sansklil and avats of classical Arabic cannot -be as enthusing as is possible by th., simple statements in a simple language.

A short history of Punjabi language and literature is ske tched out above. Now we lum to our times. Swami Vive· kananda in Bengal and Swanli Ramtil1ha in Punjab ,vere born al approximalely Ihe same time. Hath were 'great' in the same sense. Both won fame for estab· Iishing Indian metaphysics abroad. Swal'nj Vivckanand's nusslon uecame a pemlanent insritulion in Bengal while Pun­jah does not have a single memorial to SWami Ramtirtha. In spitc of having significan1 djf· fCl'ences in their thinking. we find slrong similarities at the roots \Vhereas Swami Viveka· r..nda "'._. I)«,,,,,,,jru; iUJma )'oga. Swami Ramti rtha was a.r:,o ~i nging in blissfulness: fI.1m

,ukhe wkade khaycnge. Bha­rat pal' ~vare iayenge, Ham sukhe chane ch,,­bayenge. Bhaml ki baal bal1i1.,·enge. Ham nange umar biwyenge, BhaJ'iJr par jai1n milay cnge. IWe shall subsist on crumbs bul sacntit:e ourselves for Bhal'al. We shall live on p~I'C ljed grams, bUI shall live for Bharat. We shall go naked the whole life, but 'offer- OUl' lives for 8hal'<lI .1

Sm'cral times. he wept while seeing the setting sun in J\Jner­ica. and said: "Now you are ris­ing in my beloved counlry. Drop my Wars like dew-drop. ovel' beautiful water-fed fie lds of India_" Such a great devotee of lhe cuuntry and God was born in our prO\~nce and if today we do not have even a single memadal to him. what else can c.'plain it . except our literary backwardness?

Communallsallon 01 Language

This we feel at every step. Many great men were bom in PUlljab. who are comparable to Slui Devendr-d Thakur and Keshal' ( handra Sen of Bengal. but we did not respect them and easily fOIf(ot them aftel' the ir deaths - for example. GuJ'U Gyan Singhji. etc. We find onh' one reason for this. and that is the total lack of Iitel'ary intereS! and awakening. The l11Jth is that no countTv or eommunity Gan progress \vith­oul its literature. But lan~uage is the plirnruy need of literature

and this is absent in Punjab. In spite of realising this handicap for sometime. the question of language has remained unre­solved . The main reason behind this is the unfortunate commu­nalisation of language in our pl'Ovince. In other provinces, we find that Muslims have fuUy adopted their pl'Ol;ncial lan­guages. In the literary world of Bengal. poe t Nazrul-Islam is a shining star. Latif Hussain 'Natwar' is prominent among Hindi poets. The same is true of Gujarat also. But Punjab is unf0l1unale. Here, even Hindus and Sikhs are not united. leave alone the Muslims.

Punjabi should have been the language of Punjab. like othel' pro\~nces . but since this has not happened . as this can only be sponlaneous dm'Clopmenl Muslims have adopted Urdu. )

Then comes the. tum of th l! Sikhs. Their entire literature is in the Gurumukhi sCript. Hindi is velY much there as a compo­nenl. bUI Punjahi constitutes the main component. Therefore. the Sikhs adopled Punjabi writ­ten in GUn.Jmukhi as their lan­guage. They could not leave that at any cost. They embraced that by makinl-t it a communaJ language .

The AIYa SaTila r ciffl-lif]!.lid /J/l the other s ide . Swami Dayanand pi'opagated the feeling for the spread of Hindi throughout Bharatvarsha. Hindi became a religious component of the Atya Samai movement. The associa­tion lvilh religion benefitted Ihe language in ono way. Thai is, while Sikh staunchnes~ secun Punjubi. the insistence of Arvel Samajis helped Hindi secure' a place of its own.

In the earlv davs of the AIya Samaj moven;ellt '- the Sikhs and Atya Samajis used to call reli­giolls gatherings at the same place. At that time they had no feeling of being different. but afterwards, a few sentences of s.-.Ival1ha Prakash caused mal­ice and mutual hatred. The Sikhs. carried away by the same stream. started hating even Hindi in their tum as weU, Oth­ers did not take even notice of it .

Afielwards, it is said. an Arya Samaji leader. Mahatma Hans· raiii. held consultations with many leaders and proposed that if they would accept the Hindi script. he would get the Punjabi IanKauge in Hindi script. recognised in the Univer­sity. But they could not under­stand the importance of this pro posal because of their narrow·mindedness and absence of literruv awareness. At this moment. - thi... views prevail in Punjab. There is a strong preference for Urdu among Ihe Muslims: for Hindi among the Atya Samajis and cenain other Hindus: and for Punjabi.

Continued an page 13, col 1

F'8rum ----------__ Gazette Conlinued from page 12. col 5

Urdu In Punjab?

Indian la n~ua~es and scripts prevail in the rest of India. In such a situation. should we gel absolule lv isolated [rom India by propi.igaling Urdu in Punjab? No. And fhe most pert inent point is Ihal , among Muslim wri h!l's. Ih l! s taunch supporters of Urdu write highly Pcrsianised L1n lu Muslim newspapers like l amindar and ~ivw;at 1'e\leaJ a stl'On~ AJ'abic inni.wllce \,,,,hieh is quit e incomprehensible to com mOl) people. How can il be propagated in such a situation? We \\Iish our Muslim brothers. while s licking to Iheir religion. wou ld Ihink of Indianising Ihemsel"es like Kamal the Turk. India 's salva tion is possible only Ihal way Inslead of making l an~auge a communal issue. we should adopi " ,vide,' pe rspective.

We "ill now lurn 10 Ihe plllb­I.)m of Hindi and Punjabi. Many idcalisls entertain a vision of th is world as one single nation. Un" globa l nation. This ideal is beauliful and one shou ld keep it lmforc oneself. But this can· "'11 1.)(' achieved roda v: a ll the

). sleps . • 11 our efforts should I", dire"led lowards Ihe l!lIilancement of happiness by ulliling all nat ionalities. coun­llies and na tions into one strung hond, But first. we have 10 1'C.1IiSf' Ihal ideal in our own counlry. We have 10 adopt one

1;U11ji111~(,· 0111' scri p,t . one litera· dl 11? Il f"n" IIt l\ \ ' \ . 'UI". ",,'c id'c.i '&\\1 ,\\11' lIil\\\)I\

uut Ihe adoptiun of a si ngle langua~c precedes all the other unities, so lhal we can com· l1l11nicill(' with and cOI11(ll'Chend each uthel'. A PUlljaui and a Madrasi must not s it together mul e Ol a gatheril1~. but try 10

communieatc their ideas ilnd emotiun. and Ihis should be done in our own langauge, Hindi. rather th'ln in an aJien lan~uag" like English. EYe l1 this ;rtc~tl \\~II take \'cal':i 10 be rea· ed. Firsl or' all . we should

cr'Citlc literarv awareness in this endeavoLlr. not alllon~ a few but in Ihe masses. The people's o\vn langauge is essential for crea ting literary awareness amon~ Ihe people. On the basis uf this IUE.r]c. we say Ihat you can sLlcceed in Pun jah unly in Ihr Punjabi lang-Jage.

Till now. Pu njabi has 11 01

heen able 10 hecome a lilerary language, and it is lIot even a language of Ihe whole of Pun­jab. The popular language or CentraJ Punjab, which is written in the Gurumukhi script. is now kno\\011 as Punjabi. II is neither widely pl'evalenl nor has any literarv ur scientific significance. II w.s left unaHended earlier. but even now the deficiencv uf ils script dislurbs those who' are now <tltending to il . All Ihe words r.annol be accurately w,; lIon hecause of Ihe lack of 'hit /ant' (letter ending without thp sound 'a', and its inahililv to ",lile compound le iters - m'en the wurd 'POOI'IIi1 (complell'1 cannot be \V1illen. This Clipt is thus even more incompletr Ihan Urdu, bU I when we al readv hil\'c a scicntifindi scrip' : why hesililh! In .tdopl i t:' The Gunllllukhi sCripl is only· Hindi scripl. I\i~h' &-om Ihe start. the i ~ amI h. hem. ar,d , , e tc. are same, All the n, les ,,,.,, Ihe same.

Then. how much wiU we be benefiled bv our immediale switchover to this. The Puniabi langauge wiH star1 developing immediale ly by adopting this peneet scripl. And there is no problem in its propagation. Kindu women or Punjab already know this scripl. The DAV schools and Sana tan Dharma schools leach onlv in Hindi. What can be the - problem in such a situation? We shall plead with the supporters or Kindi Ihat. ultimately and certainlv. only Hindi wili be Ihe language or Bharal. but il wiU be mOl'O conYenieni to propagal,· il [rom now on. Punjabi will become like Hindi by adopting the Himti scripl and then all Ihe differen· ces wilJ diappear: and it is

desi rable. 100. Ihal common people can be educaled which is possible on ly Ihrough our own language, in our own sc,ipl. See this Punjabi poem: a

rah{va rahe janrlya, sun ;a gall me,; Sir to pag tere balait W. ihnun fuk mualara la. 10 passer by. li sten 10 me. lJum Ihal foreign 'w-ba Which Ihou ar1 wearing on thy head. and lake 10 ·Mualara·.I

E,'en lYrical Kindi poems can­not cast an impression compar· able 10 lhis. as Ihev have not vet acquired a place 'in Ihe hearts of Ihe people. They still seem somewhat alien. II is so because Hindi is based on Sanskrit. And Punjab has gone farther away from thai , Persian has main­tajned its dominance in Punjab 10 a large es lenl. For example. a culleC'lion or things becomes . clteezan here inslead or 'chee-2.1111 . This principle prevails Ihl'Oughout. Whal is being emphasised here is thai Kindi. in spile or being close to Pun­jabi : is still rar Ii1he Punjabi heart . or course. Punjabi will Gome closer 10 Hindi when it will adopt Ihe Hindi scripl and attempt creating its literature.

Bv now almost every major isslie has been discussed here. Only one Ihing remains to be said now. Many people argue

Ihat the Punjabi langauge lacks sweetness, beauty and emo­tions. This is absolutely base­less. Only recently. the sweel-

. ness or lhis song hypnolised Kavindra Ravindra :

L.lchhive. jitlhe lu pani doliya'-Vllhe ug paye sandal de boole. 10 Lachhi. where vou had spill water. . Salldahvood lre,,-' ha.'e sprouled.1

and 1m slarted Iranslaling: a Lachhi. where thou spilt water. clc .. etc.

Many more e.tampJes can be ciled. Is Ihe t" lIm,;ng cou­plel in Ihe 10.151 inferior 10 the poems of a/u' other language?

PipaJ de pally. \'11 kern khadkhad lavee ae. Paue jhade purane hun rul navayan eli aayee ac. IPipal leaves. why are you making noise? The old leaves have rallen and Ihe season ror new leaves has come.)

And when a Punjabi is si tting alone or in Ihe glllup. will any other language move him to the e.len! thaI these lines of Gau­har can:

Lam lakkhan to /caroran de shah vekhe Na musaJiran /wi udhar denda. Dine raarin jinhan de kuch dere. Na unhan de Ihain koi irbar denda: Bhauren b.hande gulan di l'asana te

1HE PUNJAB POLIC.E HAVE $0 MUCH MUSCLE - WHAT ARE. i){pY SCARED OF ~

Na sappan cle muhan Ie koi pyardenda. Gauhar same saJook han iYU,'clva de M(~'yan giyan un tar ko; \1SM denda. II have seen annies of lakhs of millionaires. Noone gives loan to passers-hy who never stav. never reside at one place. No one lrusls Ihem. Bla<:k-beetles sit on Om"ers because or their smell. No one la\';shes love on the hoods of snakes. 0 Gauhar. good behavioUl' and welcome is for those who are alive, but everyqne says good·bye at Ihe time or death .l

And again : Jeev i.vucliYOln nu ~-yon mam~1 ae Jckal' nahin tu mayan nu ji"un joga. Ghar aa \'e sawa/i nu k,'on ghuma ae -Jekar nahin III '!.lUhin khair paun ;oga: Mile dilan nu ~vun vichho­d;ma ile Jew nahill Iu bichhaclyan nu rnilaun joga. Gallh..,· barhiy a rokh band kJuwne JekiJP nahin tu nekjyan JwmiUJIJ joga, 'Why kill living beings when you are nol able 10 bring the de.d back to liIe'? ~\11Y do YOll stare al the beggar who has come to vour door when you are not able to give him somelhing? Why break the union of heans if vall are not able 10 ... , unile h earts thai are separaled? 0 Gauhar. ir you cannol do good 10 olh­e'·s. then keep your good tood .nd room closed .!

And nuw~Wt:''l-. ~liaf,'lf' f0et.;,:; like Darct. Mastana, and OtM'arlH are en,iching Punjabi poelly.

II is a pity that such a sweel. and captivating language has nol been adopted even by the Punjabis Ihemselves. They st ill refuse: and this is the CIU. or the problem. Everyone backs his arguments on the basis or reli ­gious conviclion. The only plllb­lem concerning Ihe language and sc ript or Punjab is to remove this obstruction. but the hope Ues in the increasing liler' ary awareness among the Sikhs. Hindus also have il. Why not a ll wellmeaning people decide by mutual deliberations! This is the only way to amve al a solu­tion. The question can be a!lended 10 by renouncing reli ­gious considerations. It ' should be aHem pled accordingly and the recognition or Ihe Punjabi language should he sought [rom the Punjab University by implllving the language or . a journal like Prem or Amritsar. This ,viII resolve the problem. Aller the elimination of this irri­tant. Punjab will have such beautiful and 'quality' literature that Punjabi too. wiU also be counted among the good lan­guages or India.

Theatre Of The ,Absured In J&K

Continued (rom page 16. col 5

Rajiv Gandhi also appeared to be revising his uncompromising aHitude against the dissolution of the State Assembly berore the completion of its full term in 1989. Addressing a delegation of Ihe State Congress headed by Mangat Ram. Ihe Assemby Speaker, on November 2nd. he advised them to co-operate with N.C.. and end a three year old phase of bitter hostility between Ihe two pat1ies.

The same day the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs gaye the go-ahead for adminis­trative arrangements to install Fal'Ooq Abdullah as Ihe Chier Minister. II was declared Ihat Ihe Assembly. Ihen in animated suspension, - woulct be reacti­va ted. and a populat' goyern­ment insta lled . There would be co·operation hetween N.C. IFI and Conb'I'Css III. the two would not contest againsl each other and would work out a formula 10 share seals. This proposal almoSI amounted 10 the merger or the two parties.

A Fluid Political Situation

Rajiv Gandhi gave his seal of approval 10 the accord publicly l),l IttR W\o hp. ;tnrl Ahdullah addr'Cssed a lJuut" . .: l'l.~\6, under slricl secwily. al Iqbal Park in Slinagar on November 6. This was Raj iv's 6rst \-isil to the Stale after becomig P.M. in November t984. Congress and N.C. worke,'S tried to "Out flag" each other at this meeting but the red N.C. Dags oUlnumbered the others .nd a scume rorced Congressmen into the press enclosure. where some or the ir leaders were sit­ting. virtually occupying the whole enclosure. Rajiv and Farooq clasped each olher's hands and he ld them ror a good while. symbolizing their unity. They rererred to their accord as the haminger or a new era.

20 March-4 April 1987 13

f

F8rum ------------Gazcuc ________ -.."

Laughing With Our Humour Master Avtar Singh Judge

A pot·bellied politician 01 Amrit · sar went on a tour of the

city on foot. When he got tired he stopped a tongawalla and said, "How much for taking me to the Golden temple.''?

"One rupee sir," said the ton· gawalla. "I will give you seventy five paisa. That is what I always

Two teachers happened 10

pass in fronl of Birla's house. IJlTl ltlelitiU!l !'11 his uncouTlIable

wealth, one of them said, "1 wonder if anyone kno,,~ exaclly how rich Birla is?"

The ot her one said, "Thai I don't know. Bul I do know Ihis much that if I had all the Birla wealth, I would be richer than him."

"Come all it ! How can thai beT' said the lirst one in surpnse.

"Well, I would keep giving tUI· tion on the side ar,yway", was his confident reply.

K anhaiya Lal Kapoor, Ihe famous Urdu satirist once

got annoyed wi th a man and said, "Damn it, I always Ihought that you were a decenl man !"

"Same here, Thai is what always thought about you !" relorted the man."You were absolutely right." confessed Ka

M ajaz, the great urdu poet, was fairly drunk when,

explaining the nature of his poe· try to a woman admirer, he said, "I am a master of diction."

14 20 March-4 April 1987

give," said the politician while patting his protnlding belly. The tongawalla examined the bulk of the passenger and said, "O.K. Bul my request 10 you is Ihal you should avoid showing your· self 10 my horse. I don'I wanl the poor animal to know Whdl il is in for !"

poor and added , "It was I who had Ihis mIS(MCepl! n all Ihe time",

A n Int ~l1l?clua l Wfllu w.J~ .) great admirer of India's paSI

came up wilh Ihis one: "The other day when I was having my place in the village dug up to raise my house. I found Ihal ihe labourer had uncovered eleclric wires which accurding 10 my reckoning were at leilSt 3000 years old." He gave a pause and added. "which shows our coun try had eleclrlcity even al Ihal time!"

On hearing Ihis. Firaq Gorkh­puri , the famous Urdu poel. brightened up and Sdld. "You seem to be hundred percen l right. You know when I had Ihe foundalion dug up for my hOUSe I found no elect ric Wires." He too then paused and added, "Thal shows Ind .. also had w" o· less in I hose days !" - .

"In Ihal case what would you say about Ihe nature of Josh', poetry" she enquired.

"Josh was a master of diction ary," said Majaz. •

"W h"1 can I do I I you ;" the poe!! a k. d Ih SI "I09<'I S

who were wallll1g (or him dl his door.

"We drl?' I r ~! H\g 10 C ollell WIM

lever we can (or lil\! (111.,'

orphanage. WI: request you t ~, do wh, Iev!!r yuu can 10 help us. "said one ~l l he vf/lumeelS

Tho poel p, "nled dl his 1100

children Whll v.'ere plrtYlIlg .,ut· side his house and said lVlth( lUI a moment 's hesl1<l lioll "You can

lilke Ihem 10 your orphanage If you like!"

A stud,'nt approached a pro , gressl"£, wflt~ r and asked

lum 1(1 e plain I he meaning of Capllal and Labou r.

"If y u givt' mpees. those len lupecs Will be yuur caplldl ," said Ihl! Wrlli~ 1.

"And Ielbow .. . whi'll I~ 1 1 ~" ''The eitoT! Ihal vcu Wi ll have

In make 10 gel you; m'Jney back ," rephed the wriler.

When Ihe famous Urdu poel Jush Mal ihdbadi was ~ppoi·

/lIed chief edilor of Ih" monthly magazine 'Aajkal' brought ou l by Ihe Governmenl of India. one 01 his old friends asked him, "Josh Sahih. how do you feel alter join· In9 govprnmel1! servrc.:e?"

J sh looked as " he had swal· lo\V~d somerhlng ~i lt er and said. "YOlI ,ell me you rself , how would a linn feel if he was har· nessed 10 a tonga?"

The Jat's Melons

THERE was a king who was keen to know how his subjects were living. He used 10 moveaboul in plalll clothes with his prime min· ister to do this.

During one such tr ip the king went very far. He was very hungry and thirsty. He saw a Jat's garden full of tempting l1Ielons. The king asked th.Jal ifhewould sell the melons. "No", repl ied theJat, "Ihey are not for sale." "Then what will YOll do wilh Ihem' Sure:y you will nOI eol all these melons yourself." said the king.

The Jal replied. "They are for Ihe king. I am going to presenl my melons to the king."

Now Ihe king and his minister \Vere ill plain clolhes. The Jat did nOI recognise them. The king was a bll disaPPOinted by the Jat's ref· usal 10 sell him the melons. In dis· gust he said. "You are sure to present these melons to the king?" "Yes Sir," replied the Jat. "And supposing he does nol accept them?" "Then h. can go to hell ," the Jat sa id bluntly. The king did nOi say anything.

After some time the Jat visited the king with the melons. He recog· nised the king.

The king said, "Well farmer. you have broughl these melons for me?" "Yes, Your Majesty." "And supposing 1 do not accept them?"

"Then sir," replied the Jat shyly, "you already know the answer."

The king had a hearty laugh at the ready wit of theJat and he gave the Jat a handsome reward for the melons. •

F8rum ------------Gazcuc------------

Farooq Romps Back to Power Continued from page 1, COl 2

stage and \\ 110 dell\'cl'cd thr lungesl anti dullesl spt!cch oflhc

)mol11in~. Till' people did nul like it. But instead 01 c:l.prcssing thei r feelings a~ainsl Kar and the Con­gress: a frw young men in the audience lo ld me Ihal Ihel' did . nol apprecia tE' Faruoq, because he had becume a hcredilarv nJlcr. They y also c(lsligaled hinl lor his hif.{h -flying image of being klllR llf II II' 'fl<JI"iJiJ l' life ',The se v~ung mr.n were a j~(I ~1I (1r ,ha l 'an altclllp' wOlild he made to rig cel1ain I'f.:sults. " If this hal)pcns", they said "we wi ll lurn Kashmir illlo something \\'OI'S(~ Ihan Punjah."

Another 'Double -Farooq'

In the helicopter and out of il . as W(~ tl'aveJ'scd the vallev soulh­\~ards , eastward~ and weshyards laki ng in the constituencies of Pahalgam, Ananlnag, Baramulla,

) including hamlets like Doru, Shangaz, Fakirpllra Clnd towns and \i llagcs silliated near the Wlilal' lake. a nother brand of 'Douhle farooq ' came into ac ti un. An infor1llal and "nliable farooq in Ihe plane; an intern· perate and irllolcranl Farooq al thc hustings, At L'VClY meeting Iw praised Raij\' Gandhi 10 Ihe skies, promising Ihe people Iha l Ihe accord would bring finance and prosperity \~a Nt ... v Delhi. Not· wilhslanding Ihe Cenlre's hlack retord in Punjab and Ihe P.I>L's own nase-d.ivin~ c!'cdibility fur having mistrealed Ihe Presidenl and then m isinforming parlia­ment. Just as he \\'as euphoric about Rajiv Gandhi, he was

UllIll1ccs.sarily aggressive agaill st the Muslim Unil!~d Front and its SlIpp0l1 C1'S. He took c\'cr)' oppnr· tlln ilv 10 remind the From 's leade,:, ar id su pportf:l '!i Ihatthnj" religion-based flll1 tJanlcl1taJisrJI had no place in Kashmir. that he wuuld eitheI' open Ihl~ doors uf Paki '\lan lelr them or sf'nd Ihmll packing lu iail .1fte !' Ihe elt:!ct iuns,

The allc ndann' itt Faroo,! S

rnccr jng.."i \".a.!t a\'c f'.1 f!c hUI Ih r enlhuslasm tha t p,\J ft tcd in S:I was nOliceahlv ah:::.cnl. His cha­risma was stil i there, hut it failed 10 COil II line emotion and poli lic~tJ appeal into a vuice W 11ich cou ld be recngnisrri ;.IS K,ilshl11jli in essence.

Public Meeting: Sher-I-Kashmir Park

On 18t h Marc h a cumbined Nat ional Cunrcl'en G~( :ongrf's :-. · 1 l1Ieclin~ was held in Srinagal' s lasll ionable Hesidr.ncv HUild ilI'13<1 , il l II", ShQI'·i· Kashmi'1' p:llok. Thr TlIct!ling COU ll' not be held al Iqbal Park, where II lar'ge l' crowd could have tJ l11asscd i lllD Ihus endangered tht~ r .M's S(!curity,;\ lacklustul'f' P.M, addressed ~tn unenlhul'iiastic crmvd, vdli eh had 10 be '~' peill"d ly pl'Dlllpled hy F.mo<l AhdrrlJ,d, to clap and raise s l u~ll ns in SUpPOl1 of Ihe P.i\.·1. and the at:cDl'd with his pa'1y.

The poople li>!,,",,,1 10 the P,M. in disnelief as he c1aillle'd thai his party. the Congress. was the on ly party in the countl)" wilh i l

record for P1lJtcclillg minority communil ies, 'J'hey listened

. IlIl SOI1l1(.ll1is('d

Oil the Ill!l:!d ' sl~c ular fOI'Ccs I" uni te and isolate flJnci<J mcntali :,t 1'011111"1111 1111 W1)UP :-'. His remarks, dimclf' d J8ainsl, li lt' MlIF, hLld it

:.; Irangl! impact on a people whu knew Illal only till' diJy hnlorP tilt" S3mf' I1.M" leader lIf the saHW part,\', hild taurml (he slat l'! of f\ erala shaling pla lffl l111S wi lh Ihe sartll' kind 01 101'(;!'$ .H1d groups Ill-' \vas nU\\' I"yi nA' to lamba:-. I It \ova!" an ullcol1\; ncing periUI111 <.1 IlCC which I'H'k.-d eOI1 -

fidencc. 1'00wiclion III' cn~di"i lit v. l\·tal1.\' W{'I1' saddened whilt- oth­ers \.\'( '1'1 ' angry, tilat Fal'ooq AbdullaJr sho uld h"," allowed him se lf lu be so d useh ' c1 uhbed \vith a polilical I1m,i t:t' who:-w Ci1ilJiSIlHt , c; !lan.lctcI' .tIle! J'~ pll w· tioll \,,'en' at.lll all tillll' \(lW in thu J'Cs t or ll ll~ I allor-I),.

Alliance Manifesto

EW'I1 Ihmlgh li le :\I .e.,CUI1 gl'C'ss,1 l'Ipc tioll 1lI,lI l1fps!o was r'Cpl t~ l f~ \,; Ih a gond dt'al of d rih· bll' .1iJu tl l IHK7 bdl1~ a lurning point in UtiI' his tUl y ' and "uu r d.\.Tlam k Prim!! ~ l i l1 i st (, I ' loela)' soullds 1I'll' voice I)f S<J n il\' in all ot h crwb(, nll rlcal'·nltlc{ w orld . . " i l lII if;! lll slill l10t h(' 100 lat (, IIJ1' Fill'UOq and tire Natiml.1I CIJ Il ' frl 'Cllcr In 1l.'!liPt'n! Ih!!i,. fadlllg im<l~(! ill Ihe \'Hll r.\ . 1'111'11: i ~ cnough in lilt' manifes to, which if given d !'InaI' po lili r ai li nd ceo,

nnntic direclion, could help Ih" Kashmiri people to make pro· gl"CSS in ~ rederal In dia \\~ th selr­respec t, wi th their democratic rif:hts intact and ""ith gre ater regard to rustribulivc justice and balancerl economic development,.

From the Manifesio

We pledged ttl do cel1a.i1l things in uut' Elcl;lion Manifesto of 1983 .. ~IJ kno\\' \\'ha l happe ned afler Ihe elec tions, Our pnrty fe ll P('{~.v 10 wavcrill~ loyalties and vicious defections of some opportunis t power·hungry cle· ments, Drcarv days followed , People 's faith ~in the democratic pmcrss, howc\'cl', sus lai lled us a ll dUtin~ the slnJAAle for i'Cl'ito­rLlLion of democra c:.v. Our pledge 10' dissolve the Assembly pol· luted hy defections became cap· able of being I'cdcmncd due to Ihe s ingleminded sll1lgglr waged hy Ihe JJBople of OUI' Slate. In the tes ting tirnel'i ahe.1c1 \\'e iUl~ no\',' pled,gcd III win hat~ k fnr rh e peo· pie their tight tu choose Iheil' accredi ted represcnt,ltivcs, f()r ~o\'el'ancc of the Slate throu~h li'ftt, alld fair t~ I(!('lion s . We pledge ill:,,!) 10 make up for the los 1 d\Jys

hv working ovm1ime in the SCI'­

d ec or Ihft puoplr whn are s t rcl1 ~ thenillg thl ~ r .. tl1.v and in Ih[' bargain Ih(~ I'{'cen t Accord,

We. tiwl'clore 1'C ll l'W IIlI!'

PI ('d~e 10:-- Ensure speedily Ihe blJ il din~

of an cGological and pulluti· unfree elhl)s in nul' Siale to pl'esl'r\'c amJ fUI1hrr huild up il s ' Paradi se ' qualit.v:

- Tu dp\'elop fuMhm' lOlllisl pia· CHS and open lip new areas 10

attrac t domestic and intcnla ' tiunal tourism: ro l:omplc W implementalion of :\gllJrian er0I111S and have Gunsolidalion or land initialed. s wi ll enable q uan· lunr of land·puol Iu he fina Jlv ide ntified so Iha t land distri· uulilln among lan dless and a~riculturallabol1l' is taken up: - Tu encoul'aH(! devel · opmenl of \~ IIJ,;e industry a nd mari-.e linJ.( of its plu du{'IS ,

- Tn im:l'casc I~u ' ililics in the' Slate lor science e ducation pal1it.:uklriy ill l'ul'al areas;

- To lu rther cun~oJjda l c Ihe fnl it industrv in the Stale , Tu Pr'Oli de fur O'Of' legal aid and prohx lion 10 pCLliJ lc in hari-.wa:--rI arc;,t s ;tnd :.tlso to make prtl\~sion fo r special legal rlinh s fo r \\~nnwn and poor in sllch .I/'f'as;

- To complete proi llc ts for pro·

I.ding drinking wa ter facili· li es to cover all \~llages;

- To enSlIl"C democratic func· lioning of the Conslilulion of Ihe Sia le:

- To ensure de·centr-.J il'ialion of political <1nd economic power by evoiling sui lab le Panchayat i System;

- TD pl'Ovide for l'e-stn.lclured and mure effective anti· defeclion laws, to pm\~de fal' clean and va lue-based polilics;

There Is Still Hope

If Fal'ooq l\hlh ill ilh ('an Ull ' d~l's t a nd , ;Jfuj il hr can I1Hlkc Ih t! J'es! 01 the lIatiun unuers· talld tll.11 10 hc ,I g:ood Indian. hr must he spen hv KashmiIi~ ;IS a good Kasilmii; tirs t then l ilrl'P is still hope. He' Illusl alsu d(~s i s l trom being cani r d ilW':iY

1,1\' Ihe rhelnric nf .xl!l1ophobia tilat is ~\Vt~(!p in A acru:.;s the Hindi 'heartland of Ihis ruun t!'y. :\ ~ntlcl dual. Ihuu}:h 1101 all 111 till' l\1l 1F phe nomeno n i ~ lik(' till' Klwlbtan Svm!/'OT11L' in PU ll '

jilil , In p~l rt prllpp(~d lip by the 0 '111 1'1' lind in part .111 angry I't':l l·tion against <J1tf'mpI S 10

Ilnl\vl )l!llt I hI ' I ll'op tl~s t.lel11uc r\l ­l ir aSpil'all tl ll !' illt o sU"nlb~i on. F;d'lInq IlItbl 1101 f,tll int o Ilu' triJjJ uf tl'l' alinr! all ~H I F sup· pOI'Lt~ l'~ ;t S flaki s ttlil l ~1 !{C llt s C UlllIlll l llilli ";;nl .tnd flllll!i1 l1wn· la lisll1 will havt' lu 1"1(' 1'0u;.::111 polilicil ll.v, nnt \dlh the lIi f,: s t il'k E\'("n ti ll! Mil' "'<l iz. the l'clif;tiol1 :-; Iwad of Srinag<ll' who lias j!h'\'1l pulili( 'ill SUpPW1 10 the' <l lI i;ul(;t, he'lic\'cs thLl I the ~ 1l ' F IIlllsl hr ('ha llpngt'cll, n Ihe politirallllJlll

TI'Il' fUlldanl(' llta lisl ~rou IJS Wl"re I'UUl l,d in tht' S:i elC'c tiun :c. , This tilll(' mOIl.' illl jl0l1ant than the li n ! spa t ~ Illt,\· have \\'0 11 is Ih l! sharp uf Il lI" l~J t ; tI "mcs thrv ha\'j! Illilllaged to ('o llec t 1 25 ·~10~, in abuul IS I:onstituf·ncir.:s l•

In a ll inl c,,;cw with 1111', !Jr, ,\bdLillah f' l1lplwsbed tilal lll~ \\'as dt,t CJl'mil1l~d II) C\I I1'\' >lI t d('( ·, 'n ll'alizalion on ' tht' Kal'lliltai-." paltel'll . Ht· was alsu kt'(!11 tll :o-( :t lip .\ lili llk·li.1llk 01 1;1' 11 1'11' li'urll the Il.· ~ t or I ht~ CUU IlIi 'V II) inWracl with Ihe SI;II I' s · POlilici;1I1s a nd hUf'l.MlIfTal :c. in a hid In U\ 'l)!V(' iI

hlu('pl1ll t for ~'a,"'1 Kashmi r ThL'I'C i. .. hop!; !'o till if Fat'()oq lind Il lI' ~ ,t1i o naJ CUnft 'l 'f:Il Cr' Citll I' .\ prl tl wir Kashmiri iliPT1t il\ anti 1101 l:ompmmi:-I' 10 tail in Hith till' low h!\'ei o f Ilatiullali l'i t ptlli!i r:o whir" aii\' l;:tndhi ~YTlIbulis{'s tocia,\' _

20 March-4 April 1987 15

F&um S~p~o_ffi_·~gh __ t ________________________ (3azet~ ____________________ R_.N_.4_5_76_3/_86~;O~(_SE~)1_5/_86

Theatre Of The Absured In J&K -II ___________________________ Gauri Sazaz Malik __________________________ •

Inllion was e.~ ·

pressed al th£' fourth dealh

nivel'salV of Atidul·

on August "I Mujahid

Manzil. fi e deda",d Ihill Julv 2. 1H84 was the day when bOlh (he St<llr. and rhe Indian consti­tutions had been J-lcrvm'ted and iI would go down as the hlack­cst da\! in the hililurV of the cOllnlr~', Emotions were highly surchal'ged. Again harlal was declared on September ~) when 11 (,Iickel match between India and Australia was to he playerl in Sri nagar. l'al'3military forces had to fif't~ two munds to ills­perse an agitatinf{ mob al Naw­pora. Thai evening the city resounded \\~Ih Ihp bursting of crackers cclchralin~ India 's dctcal. Audl'cssing a public meeting at Jama tvtasjid on Sep­tember 12, Ml"vail. Farooq pointed out the contradictions in the Plimc Minister's stale­me n!. that he was not inter­ested in installing a CongresslII ~twf.H'llIntlnl in thl~ Slate. and ,hlj ::; l iU f:l lllll i) ~~ lif Ihp ['Pilll'" 1 l\'linistcl's, Mufti Mul Gultm l Na hi Azad. Ihal Ihe Cenlre·s option uf forming a govel'n ­rne nl was open. Ahdullah 's con· linued (tialogue ",," Ihe P.M .. Ihe Mi,waiz said. added 10 Ihe prevailing' confusion. He ex­p,,,s.,,d Ihe public demand 10 have a fIocsh poll and asked for Ihe ,"Clease of all ;:lOlilieal and I'CliA"iolis leaders.

As if in response 10 Ihese challenges. Rajiv Gandhi again sent several leaders as emissar­ies for I.;n on the spot assess­ment of the situatinn, These included Ariun Singh, N.K.P. Salve, and two 'sons of the soil '. T.N. Kaul and P.N. Dhar. All of Ihem ad,;sed Ihe formalion of a popular government as the only solution 10 Ihe polilir:a1 slalemale. Bul the Centre l'emained uncon­vinced. and as it failed 10 for· mulale any clear policy. the situation In the State was allowed 10 ~rift .

Wages of Drift

On September 29. add11lssing a convention of the Indian Fed­era lion of Working Journalists in Sri nagar. Dr Abdullah; in the presence of Maulvi farooq. Mir Qasim. Jag Mohan and aboul 500 journalisls from allover Ihe countrv. indicaled Ihal he was prepared 10 wait for the reslom· tion of popular govern men!. fie declared that Rajiv Gandhi wanted to recaste his Kashmir policy, bul was being misled by his colClies. and that the Can· gress III was responsible for the imposjtion of Presidenfs rule. fie atlacked lhe Governor out· righl . declaring Ihal funds we,,, being poured inlo Ihe Stale to ·justiJ'y' Governor"s rule. Others. spoke after him. including Ihe Governor, who said that he was attenrung the convention as a

16 20 Mareh-4 April 1987

reader of the press. He refuted some of Ihe allegalions. saying Ihal no person challenging Ihe accession of the Siale 10 India had any claim lu invoke Ihe fundamental ffcedoms guaran­leed under Ihe Indian conslilu· lion. He also juslified delention under the Public Safely Aeon. fie was Ihe final speaker. bUI his detraclors had ab"ady left by Ihal time.

M.U.F. Deadline

Political organizations) mainly M.U.f .. had fixed Seplember 25 as Ihe deadline for Ihe release of leadCl" delained under Ihe Public Safely ACI , failing which, Ihey called for a liilndh and biackoul from Seplember 26 onwards. This b;mdh pl'Oved 10 be an unprecedented success, bOIh. in Stinagar and olher major towns of the vaUev, because people le I! Ihal Ihey wei" being enslaved by Ihe Cenlre. firS! under Ihe Gover· nor. and the n under President's rule. The police had 10 bursl lear gas shells in Ihe downlown area of Sri nagar city. Mob vio­lence following the arresl of some members of Jamal+. 1 ~ l ami. resulted in the imposi­IIUII L! I lI H J ~"It"p I' urfpw in BaramuJlah. Al'Olt:!lt 1;01 POliI;U, backed by the B.S.f and CR.P.f. look position all over the city. which appea,,,d 10 be under siege. Earlier, the ban on animal .laughler ban on on August 27 because of Jana­ma.htami, had pul an already agitated people into an elrJll ... .i"" mood. Thi. ban, p""vaI­enl during Dogra rule a. a routine onler. was even men, routinely ignored. But the Governor-'s exces8ive l.eal put a tremendous sam on the Ka.hmlr link with India, and the tolerant communal psyche of the large.t MuoUm populated stale of the country.

"Double Farooq" Divided

The personal wranglings of leaders of v3Iious political par­ries were reflected in the rela· lionship of fal'Ooq AbduUah and Milwaiz Pal'Ooq. In Ihe pre· \~ous Assembly elections. rhey had worked loge lher. ··Double Farooq·· was Ihe slogan. which PUI an end 10 lhe decades old aclimony between th{t two par­ties, Nalior,al Conference ISherl and Muslim ConfCl"nee llJaler.'. BUI now Ihi. were changing.

The fornlal candidalurc of Mufti 10 Ihe Rajya Sabha [l'Om the State was announced on Oelober 3. I Polls were 10 be held on October' 151 LatCI' in the day, on October 3, Mil'w(liz faJ'Ooq, addressing the Friday congrega· tion at Jama Masjid. questioned the Pl'Opricty of filling Ihis vacant seat from the State on the strength of a discredited assemblv, which had losl its representative char-dcter. as well as Ihe peoples confidence fol· lowing unprecedenled defec· tions and suspensions. Such action also denied Ihe demo·

cralie tighls of Ihe people, exposed Ihe pal1isan and peny inleresls of Ihe Congress and Ihe lolal mood of servitude Ihat had gtipped Ihe N.C leadership. fie said thai all Ihis added up 10 contempl of the Rajya Sabha ilself.

But no onc listened to these bonafide cries coming from Ihe people, who. in ulter bisbelief. faced Ihe ,.".liza tion Ihat no one cared either about their sentiments or national interes ts . Round Ihe clock curfew in 5,i· nagar and SOP011l. a toll of four dead and nearlv 100 injured, and Ihe lae l Ihai Abdullah was touring Iroubled Punjab lium October I 10 5, while the Vallev was gripped with fear, made it ob,;ous thai Ihe N.C. and Can· h'T'eSS III were more interested in the Rajya Sabha !'inat than in solving tl1(~ Slale's acute politi­cal crisis. The wuoden Mehioor Bridge was set on fire in the early hours of OGlObe,· 8. The groiving unpopulmity of Presi· den!"s rule was all too eviden!. This possibly compelled the Cabinel Commillee on Political Affairs to discu ss the law and order situation in the Valley, so Ihal some decisions could be laken hefore Ihe P.M. left tor his hJli! -I!t.!II '111 IIHI!" 1111 Odnhrr IJ.

Mlrwalz Speaks Oul

On Oclober 10. addressing the friday tOl1gregation. Mir­waiz FaJ'ooq condemned the subversive and communal act.iv­ilies indulged in by some indio viduals, and advised his audience Ihal Ihese should nol be clubbed wilh the genuine, peaceful and constitutional s,,·uggles of Ihe people. He was in!Jigu.d. hI! said. by Ihe silence rnainlained by Ihe Cen· ,ral and N.C IFI leadership. fie was convinced that vested

interes ts were cashing in on the Centre's ambiguous policies and altemplg were being made 10 seize power by hook or by el'Ook. He clilicized Ihe N.C. If I leadCl'5hip for nol rising 10 the expectations of Ihe people after Ihe death of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and for giving indirect support 10 the imposition of undemocra l"ic President's rule_ He also recommended appliea· lion of !\itide 24!1 on Ihe Slate constitution, amendment the Pu blie Safety Acl as well as enactment of scores or laws. He expressed hopes fol' a non­paJ1isan. non·political and clean administration.

A subversive group of aboul 20 young. men calling Ihemselves ·Victory Commandos", be lieved to be connected with the recent bomb hlasls in the cilv. and writ.ing threatening letters to the minOlity commllnit'\', was discovered on Delobe .. t9 . Mosl of them belonged 10 Ihe city, a fe\v to SOpOl'C_ They \vere possi· bly involved wilh smashing IighlS during the blackou!. and in burning Ihe Mehjoor and Bamina bridges. II was a pelfeel example of how a small band of misdi11lcled elemenls could twld a city or lown to ransom allil nil'l l!!;' IlIlnl rn ilul'f' Qr law and order. Alter Ihdr a l'f"tHU . lit)

incidents of anti-people acti\~ty and arson ele. were reported.

Accord With Centre

On OClober 27, Abdullah arrived in Oelhi for hill third round of talks with the Cen­tre. Before leaving Srinagar he assured a convention oi the J&K Khatri Welfare Ali..,. ciation that he would .et up a commis.ion of enquiry if he came to pm""r. Obviou.ly this third round ""'. to be

R.K.

deci8ive, and the controve ..... .ia1 statement. be had been feeding the public and 1''''' •• between the talks, mighl ha"" been jU.1 to hoodwink and allow the rank and file of the N.C IFI, 'which was averse 10 a coalition with Congre •• III, to graduaUy come round to its acceptance. He was espected 10 chair the N.C.IF),Working Comminee meet in Srinagar on Oclober 28 and 10 pul the Centre's proposal before il. Inslead, he took a pDgrimage to Ajmer Sharif, pos.ibly for ble •• ings and courage. The Working Committee mel in his absence and discussed the fonnation of an interim go""mmenl of ilself and the State unit of the Congre •• ill, the pre-condition being thaI fresh elections, whenever held, would be with an elec­toral adju.tmenl between the two parties. Bul the N.C. IFI Working Committee .tiD he.i­taled, and did not gI"" Abdul­lah fuU authority 10 negotiate on these tenuN.

Arriving in Srinagar by a special BSF plane on Oclober 31 , Abdullah ga"" the imp""'" .Ion of being chief minister designate. At the airport, he declared thaI "My hattie i. nearly over." Asked if there wo,. any snag, he poln.ed toward. the member. 01 Ih@ Working Committee, and said if there was any. it WclS here! A meeting of the Working Committee was held at the residence of his mother, Begam Akbar Jahan, M.P. , N.C. iFl with Raje.h PDol, Najma HeptuUah and A.K. Anlony a. Congre •• III repre­oentati""., aU participating, as if to protecl the bridegroom!

Confinued on page 13. colS

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