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S A T U R D AY, F E B 2 - 8 , 2 0 1 9 | N E T W O R K 1 8 M E D I A & I N V E S T M E N T S L I M I T E D

Kashmir’s Reluctant Separatist

MIRWAIZ UMAR FAROOQ, OFTEN CRITICISED FOR HIS SOFT LINE ON INDIA, IS BATTLING TO STAY RELEVANT AS A NEW GENERATION OF ISLAMISTS GAINS A FOOTHOLD IN THE VALLEY

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VOLUME 01

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ISSUE 11

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NEW DELHI

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PRICE `8

Pied Piper of the Dravidian Movement

Why is the onus always on the Hindus to accept Muslims?

ASSESSING ANNADURAI’S IMPACT AND RELEVANCE IN TODAY’S TAMIL NADU ON HIS 50TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY

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MAKARAND R PARANJAPE

Demographic Disaster

DIRECTOR, INDIAN INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDY

Motorcycle Woman EYES ON BRUTAL DAKAR, AISHWARYA PISSAY IS SET TO BREAK A NEW GLASS CEILING FOR GUTSY INDIAN WOMEN

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inside

OLD ORDER Young India is about to turn into a grey nation but we’re totally unprepared for this looming crisis

Toxic textbooks

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The stories Bollywood can’t tell

NEW CONGRESS GOVERNMENTS IN MP, RAJASTHAN AND CHHATTISGARH ARE PURGING SCHOOLBOOKS OF HINDUTVA IDEOLOGY

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AS INDIA HEADS FOR THE ELECTIONS, WHY DOES BOLLYWOOD CONTINUE TO KEEP ALOOF FROM THE DIRT AND GRIME OF POLITICS?

14 CROSSROADS

Great Afghan Game

THE INDIA-BUILT DELARAM-ZARANJ HIGHWAY AND CHABAHAR PORT ARE NEW DELHI’S BIG GAMBLE IN THE HEART OF ASIA

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C O V E R S TO R Y

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 GETTYIMAGES

POLINOMICS

DISRUPTION

Softer fuel prices come a little too late for NDA

The stark truth about Lutyens Zone

Falling prices of petrol and diesel may have come too late to help the Modi sarkar in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as any turnaround in the economy is going to take a long time

Located in the centre of an overcrowded capital, the sprawling VIP enclave is a big waste of resources and space and only makes the residents of the other Delhi miserable

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Firstpost.

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Deep Focus

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Past Present

IN THE FIRING LINE

Hindu Mahasabha leader shoots at Gandhi picture Hindu Mahasabha leader Mahant Maa Pooja Shakun shot at a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi in Aligarh on his 71st death anniversary.

She was ‘enacting’ the killing of the Mahatma while hailing Nathuram Godse as a hero. Police have filed criminal cases.

Kamala Harris makes waves in America with announcement she’s running for the top job

PERSONAL LINKS

Third SC judge recuses self from CBI chief case

Parties from the north eastern states that have come together against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Many of them are allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had formed governments in all states in the region. The CAB may undo all those gains

Justice NV Ramana became the third Supreme Court judge to withdraw from hearing a petition challenging the appointment of M Nageswara Rao (in pic) as interim CBI chief, after Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice AK Sikri.

POPULATION GROWTH OF INDIA BETWEEN 2000 AND 2050

56%

OVERALL

326%

60-PLUS

The Grey Factor

700%

80-PLUS Source: UNFPA India Ageing Report, 2017

WITHIN THREE decades, India will be a country of old women and men. The burgeoning greying population will mostly be alone, lonely, vulnerable and ill, with no one to take care of them. Are we ready for an old society?

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with neighbours is restricted to exchanging basic pleasantries. ast year Prem Nath WadhThis is just a snapshot of the social fabwa and his wife Aruna ric of most cities and villages in a rapidly married off their second ageing India. In 2050, for the first time in daughter. In their quaint India, there will be more people above the home at Arjun Nagar in age of 60 than there are below 15. south Delhi, the frail couIndia’s population growth is ebbing as ple now says their home families are having fewer children and peois “lifeless”. Their eldest ple are living longer. Demographers say that daughter, also married, can hardly find though it’s a healthy sign for any society, time for them as she has her own children more senior citizens means more dependto raise. The old couple misses the family ence on the shrinking youth population. outings and mirth. “We feel lonely, and This dependency varies across states as sad. The house feels so empty,” Aruna says. the population is growing at different rates Prem Nath, 77, retired as a trade advis- in all states. For instance, the southern states er with an Italian company, and Aruna, are already experiencing a surge in elderly 69, was a vice-principal at a government populations along with Himachal Pradesh, school. Both of them led active and inde- Maharashtra, Odisha and Punjab. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, pendent work lives, but they have restricted their movements beBihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh cause of advanced age. They and Uttarakhand have much hardly step out of home for lower proportions of aged fear of suffering a fall. population, says the UNFPA India Ageing Report, 2017.

A few yards from The young, most of the Wadhwas, Manjufamilies have no whom are getting better edla Aggarwal lives alone children staying ucation and work opportuin her house. Her son’s with them. nities, have hit a sweet spot. work took him to the US These aspirations are taking in 2004 and her husband them away from traditional joint passed away two years ago families. And away from villages and after a prolonged illness. She doesn’t want to relocate to the US even small towns to bigger cities and eventually though it is certain that her son will never abroad. This seamless migration pattern, live with her in Delhi. “He didn’t come back which goes hand-in-hand with the demotwo years ago when I needed him the most. graphic shift, is eroding the ageing popuWhy will he come back now?” she says. lation’s support base.

In a city of 1.9 crore people and counting, Between 2000 and 2050, while the overthe Wadhwas wonder who they would call all population of India will grow at 56 per in case of an emergency. Their interaction cent, the population of 60-plus will grow SONAL MATHARU

30%

60-PLUS POPULATION ACROSS STATES IN INDIA, 2011 6.5% 6.5% 7.1% 7.1% 7.1% 7.2% 7.3% 7.3% 7.6% 7.7% 7.9% 8.3% 8.4% 8.5% 8.5% 9.0% 9.0% 9.1% 9.2% 9.7% 10.3% 11.2%

Assam Delhi Jharkhand Madhya Pradesh Uttar Pradesh Bihar Rajasthan NE States (Excl Assam) Haryana Jammu & Kashmir Chhattisgarh India Gujarat Uttarakhand West Bengal Maharashtra Odisha Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Punjab Himachal Pradesh Tamil Nadu Kerala

12.3%

Source: UNFPA India Ageing Report, 2017

by 326 per cent, according to the UNFPA. “During the same period, the population of 80-plus persons will grow 700 per cent with a predominance of widowed and highly dependent very old women,” it says. Women, the data shows, live longer and most of the elderly population will be in rural areas.

But are we prepared for an old society?

DWINDLING SUPPORT

Hiranand Shandilya, 75, the pradhan of Shimla’s Kol village, walks swiftly on a narrow track towards his house, the only mudand-wood house left in his hamlet. Under the non-profit HelpAge India’s pilot project for the elderly, he has prepared a list of 200 senior citizens in his panchayat who are in

need of assistance.

According to the 2011 Census, Himachal Pradesh has the third-highest elderly population at 10.3 per cent after Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The state also has the highest percentage of population above 60 living in rural areas at 92.4 per cent, and many of them are increasingly being left alone to fend for themselves.

“I think our family’s name can feature in the Guinness World Record books,” Hiranand says, citing his family’s history of longevity. His mother lived for 108 years.

Now, he takes care of his eldest brother, Govindram Sharma, 101, and Govindram’s wife, 90. His second brother, Parshuram Sharma, 82, lives alone in an adjacent house.

Though the family claims to live as a

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Firstpost.

Deep Focus TEMPLE PUSH

Mamata Banerjee

“You struck the table, why? Shut up and sit down. There is a way to talk. You speak like you are a big leader”

Centre seeks nod to give Nyas most of Ayodhya land The Union Government has filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking permission to hand over 67 acres surrounding the 2.77 acres of disputed land to its original owners, including 42 acres to the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas.

“Some half-educated leaders from Delhi are claiming that we have copied central government schemes. I challenge them to prove that or bid goodbye to politics”

SIDDARAMAIAH

Former Karnataka CM, to a protesting party woman

BENGAL CHIEF MINISTER, AFTER BJP CHIEF AMIT SHAH SAID THE STATE IS IMITATING THE CENTRE

WHAT WE NEED

1

3

4 5 2

6

NEED ASSISTANCE IN DAILY LIFE 7.8

4.6

MEN WOMEN

BY SEX

1 Parshuram Sharma at his home 2 Sharma with his brother Hiranand Shandilya and a Helpage India volunteer 3 Govindram Sharma attends to his mule 4 Aruna and Prem Nath Wadhwa say there is no ‘life’ in their home 5 Hemwati with her mother Santu Devi (centre) and mother-in-law Sargu Devi 6 Elderly people in Shimla with Helpage India volunteers

Bathing

2.7

Dressing

2.9

Toilet

4.0 2.6

3.2 2.0

Mobility Continence

1.4

2.0

Feeding

Source: UNFPA India Ageing Report, 2017

joint family, all the brothers live in separate homes, next to each other, on a vast expanse of land overlooking their fields and beyond that, quiet verdant hills.

Govindram finds company in his 35-yearold white mule, an equine reflection of the village’s longevity.

Every day he carefully moves around the village with the help of his walking stick to sit near the stray cattle and dogs and kill time.

“Soona, soona lagta hai (feels empty),” he says. “Raat ko neend nahi aati. Ajeeb-ajeeb se khwab aate hain (Can’t sleep at night. I keep getting strange dreams),” he adds.

In the next house, Parshuram is preparing lunch. He has been battling loneliness — the couple were childless — after his wife died of cancer 12 years ago. To keep himself occupied, he still goes to his tailoring shop. Hiranand insists that the family is still close-knit and they help each other during hardships and illnesses. But the fabric of a joint family is gradually disintegrating, even in villages, he wistfully admits.

A few metres away, 82-year-old Sagru Devi’s plight is at odds

 GETTYIMAGES

4.7

4.6

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with Hiranand’s assertion. A year ago, the villagers recall, she was bed-ridden in her decrepit house and there was no one to look after her even though she raised six sons. Two of the sons died, three married and moved away with their families and the youngest one, who used to live with her, became an alcoholic and drifted away.

“She used to lie for days in a stinking room.

No one could even enter her house,” Hiranand reminisces. Later, Hemwati, widow of one of her sons, took her into her house.

In Hemwati’s verandah, Sagru is sitting in the sun with her daughter-in-law’s mother, Santu Devi, 88. Santu’s only son died young and she was ill-treated by her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. She sobs while recounting how some of her neighbours helped her contact Hemwati, when she was chased out of her home, hungry.

Villages, and even cities, are full of old men and women who are suffering from various forms and degrees of mental illnesses and pangs of abandonment.

“The problem is not the elderly, but there are fewer young people to take care of them,” says Professor KS James at Centre for Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University. “If the number of elderly goes up, it doesn’t matter because someone in the family will take care. The problem happens when there aren’t enough children,” he explains.

According to the 2011 UNFPA survey that was conducted across seven states, almost eight per cent of elderly, or 10 million individuals, cannot do their basic daily chores.

In the absence of any social structure for long-term care of the elderly, this burden falls on the family, especially women. “But with the work participation of women in the economy increasing, the burden is shifting,” says Prof James.

India’s fertility transition happened rapidly over the last 20 years, which is reflected in its nuclear families. Census data shows that almost 30 per cent of families have no children staying with them. This is the most vulnerable greying population, that has no one to look after it.

What social benefits do we have for the longterm care of disabled, bed-bound persons when their family is not around?

“None. We do not even have any plans for their better care,” says Dr AB Dey, Head of Geriatric Department, AIIMS. He adds that caregiving is costly, human resource intensive and difficult to manage. India’s healthcare system is not ready to take the burden yet.

“Caregiving is an issue of societal responsibility, health systems functioning as they should, and economics. We need institutional mechanisms for long-term care,” Dr Dey says.

We need many more doctors, nurses, paramedics, hospital beds and healthcare centres. We need flexible health insurance coverage for the elderly, a regular income source which can be partially met by universal pension scheme and decentralised homes for the lonely and needy elderly.

Geriatrics, a specialised stream of medicine for the elderly, is non-existent in both government and dominant private healthcare sector. Six medical colleges offer post-graduate degrees in geriatric medicine with 16 students graduating each year.

Under the National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE), launched in 2011, the government announced setting up of two national centres for ageing, one in Delhi and Chennai, with 200 beds each.

The foundation of the building in Delhi was laid in June 2018, while the Chennai centre is still under construction.

Regional geriatric centres were to be set up in at least 12 districts with 30-bed geriatric ward in each facility. Also, each district hospital is supposed to have 10 beds reserved for the elderly. “Only seven regional centres could take off,” says Dey. Till 2014-15, `22.89 crore was released for the programme across India. From 2015 onwards, the government changed tack and started clubbing the funds for the programme under a common flexi-pool of the National Health Mission, making it difficult to identify how much has been spent on the NPHCE. Till December 2017, the states had only used seven per cent of the flexipool funds.

But not all old people require hospitalisation. The Integrated Policy for Older Persons (IPOP) mandates the building of old age homes. “Till date, there is not a single old age home in any district run by the government of India,” says Mathew Cherian, Chief Executive Officer, Helpage India.

The critical need is to provide long-term care to older people in their homes, a policy initiative, which has been glossed over by successive governments. A few states like Kerala already have a state government-aided community-based palliative care programme, but the indices have gone for a toss because north India is bringing up the rear.

Last year, HelpAge India’s pilot trained volunteers in Shimla, Leh and Cuddalore who regularly visit homes of 2,500 elderly and take care of their daily basic health and hygiene needs. It is this initiative which, if scaled up, experts say, can bring a second demographic dividend instead of being an economic burden. “If elderly people are provided healthcare at home, they can age actively and financially contribute as well,” says Cherian.

Also, the demographic burden of ageing can be reversed by training young people in providing care to the elderly and generating employment. “If we only talk about care economy, you are talking about 10 million jobs. It has to be a trained job which is well-paid, then people will come forward,” says James.

Cherian offers a simple arithmetic. If two per cent of India’s GDP is invested in the greying industry, the corpus will be enough to deal with the burden of ageing. “It’s only a matter of political will and priority,” he says, “or else, 20 years from now we will have no one to look after us.”

Rakesh Khar

 GETTYIMAGES

Greying India’s silver lining

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n its obsessive quest to draw the demographic dividend, is India missing a big opportunity, or, worse, choosing to remain oblivious to a ticking time-bomb?

The urge to prematurely celebrate a “young India” is all-pervasive, be it politicians, policymakers to industry captains. Catch them young is the dominating sentiment.

There is nothing wrong with the focus on the young. But when there is growing fear of the dividend turning into a liability, it is imperative to have a holistic view.

Estimates say 11.5 per cent of the world’s seven billion people are 60-plus. By 2050, this proportion is projected to rise to about 22 per cent, when the elderly will outnumber children (below 15 years of age).

According to the UNFPA 2017 India Ageing Report, while the country is not expected to report more than 19 per cent elderly by 2050, the absolute numbers will be very large.

The share of population over the age of 60 is projected to increase from 8 per cent in 2015 to 19 per cent in 2050.

Are we at all ready to navigate the spiralling ageing challenge? No. From a negative mindset to the near absence of a policy framework to elderly not being perceived as a potent vote bank, a greying India isn’t a priority at all.

India alone is not facing the dilemma. The developed world is seized of the issue, but India isn’t simply bothered yet.

There are no off-the-shelf global solutions. Longevity is a dividing issue. One strong view is that it has a promise of an economic ecosystem that would fuel growth. This, however, is not without raising the spectre of mounting social costs.

The longevity economy is about leveraging a healthy population’s potential to drive demand while also extending the earning cycle beyond the traditional age bar of 60.

Keeping a vast population healthy will be a major economic activity. There are said to be enormous opportunities for those investing in the silver economy: social upkeep, health, recreation to asset management, the value chain is on the rise.

The new-age economy will also ensure a large supply of a skilled and an experienced workforce. This will only happen if (in the formal sector) millions of retirees are encouraged to take up new responsibilities. This, in turn, will require new labour formats.

There is evidence to suggest that, unlike in the West, retirees in India tend to go into a shell, often aggravating health issues. Given the job challenges in India, reemployment isn’t a viable solution but there is a need to tap into the vast talent pool of retirees.

Politicians, too, need to redraw their priorities. As of January, 2017, India has around 850 plus million voters, the Election Commission of India Pocket Book, 2017, says.

Voters above 60 are pegged at about 10 per cent, a sizable chunk that counts maturity, experience and commitment to democracy as its USP. Time to own it politically!

In contrast, new data points to a huge gap between eligible voters and registered voters among the young: in the 19 to 24 age group, the gap stood at 75 per cent. This shows the electoral influence of the young is overstated.

Old is gold indeed, if only the young give them a chance!

Given the job challenges in India, reemployment isn’t a viable solution but there is a need to tap into the vast talent pool of retirees

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Firstpost.

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Politics

Life in the Fast Lane IN 2018, INDIA’S PREMIER

PACEMEN—BUMRAH, SHAMI AND SHARMA—RATTLED RIVAL TEAMS AND BAGGED 136 TEST WICKETS

AND POLICY

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Gadkari shooting off his mouth is just that, nothing more

GADKARI has sparked speculation of prime ministerial intent with his remarks

 IMAGING

AJAY SINGH

DETOX DRIVE The new Congress governments in three formerly BJP-ruled states want to address the matter, but at contrasting paces

History is not repeated, it’s rewritten for schools

TEXTBOOK TACTICS The governments of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have embarked on a drive to cleanse schoolbooks of Hindutva attributes introduced by the previous regimes over the years RASHEED KIDWAI

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f you can’t make history, then just make it up. This strategy—that India’s political parties relish exercising when in power to further their ideological footprint—is a textbook case of what ails the country’s education system.

Consequently, the newly appointed Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are on a unique ‘detoxification’ drive.

They are busy purging textbooks and school syllabus of bias and Hindutva revivalism.

The three chief ministers want to address the matter at contrasting paces. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel seems most eager. He has instructed state education minister Premsai Singh Tekam to clean up textbooks offering a dominant Hindu majoritarian worldview, often at the expense of facts and accuracy.

“The chief minister and his team have started consulting experts to form a committee to review and scrutinise textbooks, syllabus and curriculum,” said Vinod Verma, political adviser to Baghel and formerly a journalist with the BBC World Service.

“We are looking for a curriculum that is based on the concept of learning with burden as envisaged by the Prof Yashpal committee. We would like to teach our young generation unbiased history. We also wish to encourage scientific temper,

WHAT RAJASTHAN HAS BEEN LEARNING

rationality and inclusive outlook in students’ thought process.”

Verma says other than ‘saffronisation’, school curriculum under 15 years of the BJP’s Dr Raman Singh had many howlers and inaccuracies. For instance, a Class 10 social science textbook published by the Chhattisgarh Board of Secondary Education, had observed unemployment spiralled after Independence as more women started working. “Before Independence, few women were employed. But today, women are employed in all sectors that has increased the proportion of unemployment among men,” it read.

Baghel and Verma say they need to tackle the issue of RSS-affiliated private school chains like Vidya Bharati having their own curriculum. Samples from Sanskriti Gyan Pariksha, or cultural knowledge, go like this: Q) Which Mughal invader destroyed the Ram temple in 1582? A) Babur; Q) From 1582 till 1992, how many Ram bhakts sacrificed their lives to liberate the temple? A) 3,50,000 In Jaipur, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has asked his education minister Govind Singh Dotasra to restore roles of national icons such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. The minister, in turn, has directed the education department officials to prepare a status report to enlist revisions made in the textbooks during the Vasundhara Raje regime.

“Education is political,” said renowned educationist Anil Sad-

A Bhopalbased school administrator said teachers are in a fix as old textbooks say something and new ones suggest the opposite. Explaining this to pupils has become a task gopal. “Each time a BJP government was formed in the Indian Union, an attempt was made to give an ideological slant to education. As a consequence, each time a Congress, Left or centrist regime comes to power, a renewed effort has to be made for a course correction”.

Among the three formerly BJPruled states, Rajasthan had perhaps taken the most liberties to reinforce a Hindutva revivalist agenda. In history textbooks, for instance, Prithviraj Chauhan is called the king “who defeated Bharat’s invader, Muhammad Ghori several times”. In February 2017, state education minister Vasudev Devnani had supported a proposal to teach

Prithviraj Chauhan is the king who defeated Bharat’s invader Muhammad Ghori several times

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children an alternative version of history. He had insisted in the battle of Haldighati in 1576, Maharana Pratap defeated Mughal emperor Akbar, and not the other way round. “We have maintained all along Maharana Pratap has not been accorded his due place in history,” Devnani had boasted. Even the title of a chapter Ajmer ki Sair was changed to Ajmer ki Yatra.

In a Class 8 book, the practice of sati was glorified. A Rajasthan school textbook referred to the Indus Valley Civilisation as the Sindhu Ghati Culture. And Aryans were described as natives, though historians say they had migrated to India.

In May 2016, the Vasundhara Raje-government had dropped Jawaharlal Nehru’s name as the first Prime Minister from Class 8 textbooks. Sachin Pilot, who was heading the Congress unit in Rajasthan, had reacted sharply.

“This is taking saffronisation to the next level. The BJP’s ideological bankruptcy has stooped to such levels that it is erasing the country’s first prime minister from school history books. But they should know that this does not mean they can erase Nehru’s memory and his contribution from the nation’s collective conscience.” Pilot said the new government was merely ‘restoring’ what was there in previous books, giving Nehru and Gandhi due representation.

Dostara says revisions were carried out as part of curriculum re-structuring by the State

Institute of Education Research and Training (SIERT), Udaipur. “We are also examining how SIERT had functioned,” he said, adding, “We are reviewing the appointment of RSS-backed officers in various boards and councils.”

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath reportedly wants to go slow till the Lok Sabha polls. He has asked state chief secretary SR Mohanty to prepare grounds for revision of textbooks, and enforce changes from the next academic session.

Madhya Pradesh school education minister Prabhuram Choudhary said he was surprised to learn how the previous regime had set up an Itihaas Sankalan Punarlekhan Samiti to rewrite history.

Bhopal-based school administrator Ahmad Kamal said teachers are in a fix. “An old textbook says something and the new textbook says almost the opposite.

Since some of our wards use old textbooks, teachers face a problem in explaining the changes.”

Sources in Bhopal said the Kamal Nath government is cagey about some politically sensitive issues. For instance, from 2011 onwards, the Chouhan regime included Gita Saar in the curriculum. When Muslim and Christian representatives protested, he also incorporated texts from the Bible, Quran and Guru Granth Sahib. Sources close to Nath say any move such as removal of Gita Saar could boomerang with parliamentary polls approaching.

Maharana Pratap defeated Mughal emperor Akbar in the battle of Haldighati in 1576

Title of a chapter Ajmer ki Sair changed to Ajmer ki Yatra

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Aryans described as natives and not migrants, as credible sources suggest

4 Indus Valley Civilisation referred to as the Sindhu Ghati Culture

6 Practice of sati glorified in Class 8 book

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n 1991, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh general secretary Rajendra Singh, better known as Rajju Bhaiyya, asked a group of newspersons in Patna, “Do you think we know more politics than Atalji and Advaniji?” He answered the query himself: “Of course not. They know it better than us. So we have to trust them.”

It was a brief but telling comment on the internal dynamics of the Sangh Parivar, where mutual relations are built on trust.

And it tells us something important about media speculation that Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari is being backed by the Nagpur-based RSS as a post-election alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Let us first examine the Gadkari statements that have so excited the media. Speaking at an event of the Nav Bhartiya Shiv Vahtuk Sangathan, a BJP-affiliated transport body, in Mumbai last month, Gadkari said, “Those leaders who offer dreams are liked by people. But they get beaten up if they fail to realise those dreams. Offer only those dreams which you can realise.”

The remark was read as a jibe at the government, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi, often accused by rivals of making tall promises that he fails to keep.

In December, delivering an annual lecture at the Intelligence Bureau, the minister said: “If I am a party president and my MLAs are not doing well, my MPs are not performing, then who is responsible? I am.”

Earlier, addressing a gathering at Pune, he had said, “In politics if there is a failure, a committee is formed.” The remarks came immediately after the BJP’s defeat in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh elections. The implicit message was that the party leadership was rarely held accountable for failures.

For those reading Gadkari’s statements without blinkers, the remarks appear to be nothing more than truisms, arguably articulated at an inappropriate time. But then Gadkari is known among his friends for hardly keeping his counsel. The story, as some media analysts have it, is that Gadkari is rebelling, with the backing of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

In fact, the whole episode is symptomatic of the inadequacy of those analysing politics in understanding the social relationship within the Sangh Parivar.

Like every organisation, the Sangh Parivar is made up of many factions. Even during his term as BJP president, Gadkari was not considered to be favourably inclined towards Modi.

For example, he is believed to have assured Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that Modi would not be the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate. At a dinner meeting, Gadkari told Kumar, “Even if you wish, Modi will not become the PM candidate.” The assurance led Kumar to break ties with the BJP in 2013.

Despite his proximity to Bhagwat, though, Gadkari failed to keep his job and was summarily removed following revelations of murky financial transactions.

Then, just after Gadkari’s exit as BJP president, Modi was declared prime ministerial candidate. Modi’s anointment came with the support of the RSS, despite stiff resistance from patriarch Advani and his acolytes.

Pragmatism drove these events: the RSS-BJP combine was aware of Modi’s rising popularity in 2013 and put in its best efforts for his victory in the 2014 polls.

Given Gadkari’s training as an RSS volunteer, it would be naïve to interpret his statements as signs of either rebellion or of vaulting ambition.

In the history of the Sangh Parivar, instances of individual rebellion are more an aberration than the norm.

Despite Gadkari’s tendency to shoot his mouth off, he is quintessentially a Sanghi, trained to subordinate his own interests and even identity to that of the organisation.

In Indian democracy, a bid for becoming prime minister involves more than snarky one-liners. There’s no sign that Gadkari’s words amount to anything more than that.

In Indian democracy, a bid for becoming prime minister involves more than snarky one-liners

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FIRSTPOST.

SAT/AUGUST 04/2018

Flashback

Firstpost.

6

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Flashback

Legacy of Anna

VISIONARY If not for Annadurai’s pragmatism, the Dravidian movement would certainly have ended up in the abyss of history.

THE MAN

CA ANNADURAI

WHO IS HE?

The last chief minister of Madras State and the first chief minister of Tamil Nadu

REMEMBERED FOR

Setting up the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK); a splinter party was launched

by MG Ramachandran in 1972, called the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK), and another by Vaiko Gopalsamy in 1994 Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK)

His party winning the 1987 state elections with a landslide, and his cabinet being the youngest in India at that time Renaming Madras State as Tamil Nadu

The Pied Piper of the Dravidian movement APRAMEYA RAO

Enforcing a two-language policy (English and Tamil, without Hindi) The record turnout at his funeral, which still stands.

Annadurai died of cancer on February 3, 1969

MENTOR

Periyar EV Ramasamy, with whom he fell out

OTHER SKILLS

Actor, playwright (two of his plays were later made into movies)

O

n February 3, 1969, Tamil Nadu witnessed over 15 million people — an unbroken world record — participating in the last journey of former chief minister Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai.

This was unprecedented, considering that he had been in power for less than two years and his party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), espoused a secessionist ideology at least until the early 1960s.

Annadurai’s funeral procession signified the consolidation of the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu. Five decades later, if the DMK and its offshoot, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), continue to dominate Tamil Nadu politics, the

credit must only go to Anna, as he was popularly known.

When Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy ‘Periyar’ took over the reins of the Justice Party in 1939, it had already met its political death at the hands of the Congress. Rising instances of corruption involving party members, perception as a British collaborationist, and elite background of its top leaders contributed to the Justice Party’s defeat in the 1937 elections. Believing that electoral politics would invariably lead to ideological compromises and collapse of the Dravidian movement, Periyar turned the party into a social outfit for spreading his radical ideas. In 1944, the Justice Party, now renamed Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), formally opted out of electoral politics.

Periyar’s ideology was a deadly

combination of anti-Brahminism, iconoclasm, socialism, ethnic pride and racial chauvinism. From 1940 onwards, he also advocated a separate ‘Dravida Nadu’. Throughout this period, Annadurai, an English professor and powerful orator, continued to be Periyar’s trusted lieutenant.

However, Periyar’s support for Dravida Nadu, his promotion of iconoclasm, and opposition to the “Aryan North” — alluding to the Congress-led Centre — continued to be a cause for concern. In the early days of Independence, south India was unified under Madras State, which also included large parts of Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada-speaking areas.

Periyar’s call for secession only created more fear among the non-Tamil population, while his fervent icono-

 SHATAKSHI

Anti-Hindi agitations, for which he was jailed several times, and anti-Congress protests

SAFFRON CHARGE Being foot soldiers of Yogi brigade gives thousands of uneducated and jobless youngmen a sense of purpose, relevance

clasm potentially isolated the deeply religious Tamil masses.

Perhaps, Annadurai knew the pitfalls of such extremist ideas. However, many believe he waited for the opportune time to split the DK. The opportunity arose when his mentor, who was already nearing 70, married a 32-year-old woman, Maniammai, in 1949. However, the real reason may have been his differences with Periyar over electoral politics.

Anna had already fought and lost a municipal election in 1935. Even before he formed the DMK, he rued the lack of Opposition in the post-Independence Madras legislature, hinting he was not averse to electoral politics.

For Annadurai, poll politics was a means to an end. It provided him the platform to implement necessary socio-economic reforms through legislation. In May 1956, seven years after splitting from DK, the DMK decided to contest the 1957 polls. Interestingly, this decision too was by a secret ballot!

A 2018 book, Tamil Characters: Personalities, Politics and Culture by AR Venkatachalapathy, noted that Annadurai used active politics to promote Periyar’s ideology but made it more palatable for the masses. This

meant that controversial aspects of Periyar’s messages like secession and iconoclasm had to be tamed for wider acceptance. The shrewd Anna used the 1962 Sino-Indian War as a pretext to drop the DMK’s already nominal idea of secession. “In our anger against the Congress party, we should not commit the mistake of slackening our efforts against the foreign invader,” he said, supporting the war effort. In later years, the DMK espoused greater autonomy for linguistically carved states, thus becoming the torch-bearer for federalism in India.

Anna, who had a way with words, appropriated a phrase from Tamil literature, “Onre Kulam, Oruvane Devan (one community, one god)” to turn Periyar’s iconoclastic atheism into ethno-religious monotheism. In fact, as noted by Venkatachalapathy, Anna famously proclaimed that his party would neither break Ganesha idols nor any coconut in his worship.

Annadurai’s biggest moment came in the run-up to the 1967 polls, as the DMK tied up with Chakravarti Rajagopalachari — a Brahmin and a rival.

Despite having clashed during the 1939 anti-Hindi riots, electoral calculations triumphed over past rivalry. Perhaps he took a cue from Vladimir Lenin’s idea of ‘temporary compromise’. It is said that Anna himself was shocked by the scale of the DMK’s victory. Yet, the outcome also proved that the DMK was no longer an untouchable in state and national politics. Moreover, by opting for an alliance, the party also showed its commitment to electoral democracy.

If not for Annadurai’s pragmatism, the Dravidian movement would certainly have ended up in the abyss of history. To his credit, he utilised universal adult franchise to shape the socio-economic destiny of Tamil Nadu.

Moreover, he demonstrated that regional entities could continue working within India’s federal structure. Call it the ‘Annadurai effect’ or something else, Karunanidhi, MGR and Jayalalithaa took “coalition dharma” miles further. Between 1971 and 2009, national parties had to form a coalition with at least one of the two ‘Kazhagam’ to sweep the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu.

Fifty years after his passing, Annadurai remains a political icon, just like his mentor and three successor chief ministers. But the problem begins here. Anna is likely to have a lesser recall value than Karunanidhi. Similarly, MGR and ‘Amma’ Jayalalithaa are the likely symbols who can deliver votes for the AIADMK. Tamil Nadu’s culture of hero worship keeps adding new icons to the Dravidian pantheon. Unsurprisingly, Karunanidhi’s autobiography holds a pivotal place in the DMK’s official history while Annadurai’s collected editorials remain incomplete. Perhaps, Periyar’s fear of the Dravidian movement collapsing under the burden of electoral politics was not too far-fetched.

Flight of the Farrago: Rahul’s Rafale hits turbulence RAHUL GANDHI @RahulGandhi I totally empathise with Parrikar Ji’s situation & wish him well. He’s under immense pressure from the PM after our meeting in Goa and needs to demonstrate his loyalty by attacking me…

AMIT SHAH

@AmitShah Dear Rahul Gandhi, you showed how insensitive you are, by lying in the name of a person fighting a disease. The people of India are disgusted by your reckless behaviour. In his trademark style, @ manoharparrikar ji sets the record straight.

SHASHI @shashitham @bjp4india is misusing #Parrikar here too. Rahul has nowhere claimed his remarks were the outcome of his meet with the Goa CM. This is BJP propaganda at it’s filthy best.

RA_BIES

@Ra_Bies Parrikar sir, first of all I wish a healthy & long life to you.

You’re an inspiration for millions Rahul, suffers from a mental disorder named as ‘Lunaticachutialying Syndrome’.

Unfortunately this disease has no cure. If you dissect the name of disease, you’d know its symptoms

ANIL SEHRAWAT

@thesehrawat Don’t buy idea of rahul going to cancer patient.. But #Parrikar is also selling cancer for political benefit.. What is need??

SAURABH KISHORE

@wdamidoinhere He used a doctored tape to first allege that Parikar ji kept Rafale files in his bedroom. Now uses a courtesy & cursory visit to claim the exact opposite. Janus-faced has a new name - Pappu-faced. #getwellsoonrahul Y_A_S_H_A_S_V_I @Ya_2317 #Parrikar Ji should have been careful. Allowing an impromptu visit by a Chinese agent is not safe.

AKSHAY MARATHE

twibate

@AkshayMarathe It’s called karma, Mr Parrikar. In 2017, AAP was a serious threat to BJP in then DefMin’s home turf Panjim, where @ ValmikiNaik was attracting anti-BJP votes. Parrikar paid a “courtesy visit” to Valmiki’s ailing father to sow doubt into voters’ minds about an alleged AAP-BJP link.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Firstpost.

Eye of the Storm

Till the Cows Come Home

7

“We try and get NGOs or gaushalas to take them (seized cattle). But it’s expensive” BSF JAWAN

AT AN OUTPOST

“Smuggling has always been here.

But from the 1990s, it was just goru (cow).

Everyone was in on it” M MOINUDIN

FORMER COW SMUGGLER

BIG DROP According to BSF estimates, the illegal cattle trade shrank from `9,000 crore to just `1,600 crore by January 2018

T

acerbic campaign to “stop Bengal from becoming Afghanistan” propelling former legislator Samik he cows chew contemplaBhattacharya to election victory. In 2016, Prime tively, secure inside the BorMinister Narendra Modi urged Basirhat to “show der Security Force (BSF) Bengal the way out of darkness”.

Today, that cattle smuggling has dipped is someoutpost in West Bengal’s thing the state’s ruling party TMC and BJP agree Taki town along the Ichamati river, perhaps wonderon. Bhattacharya speaks of the “breakdown of ing what comes next. the TMC syndicate that controlled cattle smugThey have reason to be gling due to increased awareness and decrease ruminative. A cow that no longer gives milk holds in supply”. Sitting Lok Sabha MP from TMC, Idris little value for farmers. Bulls and male calves, Ali, credits it to “people not wanting to do anyeven less so. With opportunities to dispose of thing ‘wrong’ that goes against what our leader these animals drying up, an estimated 30 million Mamata Banerjee wants”. BSF director-general cattle are simply being let loose every year. This KK Sharma said in July that numbers had continually dropped since 2014, with the force seizing 1.11 has for decades fed a lucrative cattle smuggling trade along the 4,000-km border that India shares lakh heads of cattle across the 4,156- km border with Bangladesh, with the trafficking particularly in 2017, down from 1.74 lakh in 2016. By January prolific near West Bengal and Assam.

2018, the trade had shrunk from `9,000 crore to Since coming to power, the Bharatiya Janata just `1,600 crore, estimates the BSF. Party (BJP) gave the BSF a clear mandate: end the Mohammad Moinudin, 65, knows the map and smuggling of India’s ‘holy’ cows to Bangladesh math of cattle smuggling. Once a trafficker himthat thrived along outposts such as the one at Taki, self, he now ferries tourists from Kolkata across part of the Basirhat subdivithe river. “Smuggling has always been here. The sion in the North 24 Parganas border was just something for the babus on both sides to bother with. Cloth, gold or goods. But from district. Five years later, with the nineties, it was just goru (cow). Everyone was an election beckoning, the NORTH 24 Parganas in on it and for us and we made a living. It shaped crackdown on cattle slaughus and the politics here,” he says. ter across India and plugging earlier accounted for of age-old smuggler routes into In 1971, faced with a crippling lack of draught about half of the cattle Bangladesh have had an unincattle required for cultivation due to their slaughter smuggled through Bengal tended, if not wholly unprecby a marauding Pakistani army, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rehman had urged his edented, result. country to “drink milk… not eat cattle”.

In 1955, the Expert ComHe failed. The methods and routes of smuggling mittee on the Prevention of AFTER COMING to power, that developed then, continue today. Some asSlaughter of Cattle had notthe BJP gave the BSF a pects — such as Hindu handlers finding it easier ed “what a menace wild catclear mandate: end the to evade scrutiny — didn’t change. Others, like tle can be”, forcing “despersmuggling of India’s ‘holy’ modifying ambulances instead of trucks to cart ate” governments to “spend cows to Bangladesh cattle, are recent additions. a considerable sum for catching (them)…to save the crops”.

By 1994, Bangladesh had set up a number of That warning wasn’t heeded customs corridors along the border, effectively and now, across India, farmers legalising cattle smuggling. “There were no jobs stay awake at night desperately then. Factories were shutting down. But a smugTODAY, cattle trying to protect their crops, gler could become a legitimate trader by paying smuggling has dipped schools are being broken into just `400,” said Moinudin. is something the TMC to house cows, while state Until very recently, cattle smuggling sustained and BJP agree on the frayed local economy. Now lives are again begovernments are once again ing recast. Chandana Ghosh, 42, grimaces at the spending considerable sums. thought of Saraswati Puja. The clubs that would Things are different along the Ichamati too. Its ever-changing waters, the border between India organise lavish ceremonies after extorting money and Bangladesh, and inevitably muddy terrain alfrom cattle smugglers, have turned to local resilow smugglers to prosper. Until a few months dents, she explains. “Last Durga Puja was bad ago, seized cows would have ended up for them. Since then, each festival they are at our doors, with ever increasing in customs auctions. But since December, the department has cited chanda (subscription) amounts.” a Supreme Court order to refuse Others like football-crazy Anarul to auction seized cattle. The poBiswas, 27, dream of getting out. lice, the BSF maintains, has also “Dubai or somewhere else. Even Heads of cattle seized been uncooperative.

Kerala. There is more money along the border in “Woh bhi sochte hai, hum bhi to be made and you don’t risk 2017, down from 1.74 kya karein (They also wonder being shot,” he says. what to do)? We try and get NGOs On the road to Kolkata, at the lakh in 2016 Bhebe Choumatha there are two small or gaushalas to take them. But it’s expensive,” says a 27-year-old BSF jawan eateries. Swadhin Hindu Hotel serves from Haryana at the outpost. rice, daal, fish and chicken. On the other side “It could be worse though. The chain of smugof the road, at Salem Muslim Hotel, the menu is gling has broken. Supply is less and, surprisingidentical, barring the addition of beef biryani. ly, demand in Bangladesh has also gone down.

Lining the road are about a dozen cows — all that Otherwise we’d be drowning in cattle, like they remains of a cattle haat (market) that once saw are everywhere else.” hundreds of bovines change hands every hour.

The politics of cattle smuggling is visceral in “No one wants to buy cows any more because Basirhat. The 70-km border at the North 24 Parthey’re scared they will be stopped on the way ganas district, 55 km of which is riverine, accountand branded a smuggler. Most cattle traders have ed for almost half of the total cattle smuggled moved to other work, farming or labour,” says through Bengal. This also was the foundation for Shamwar Hossain, 42, a trader. the BJP’s entry into the state assembly, with an A few, like 34-year-old Dibyendu Ghosh (name ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL

quick read

1.11L

AN ESTIMATED 30 million cows, no longer able to give milk, have been let loose by farmers — but traffickers smuggling them into Bangladesh say their business has been shut down

changed), a cattle smuggler from Swarup Nagar, are holding out. “What else can I do? I know nothing else. What is this border? One man came and said this is Bangladesh, this is India. Is this a game?” he said.

Back at Taki, the cows watch as Moinudin is met by a tourist-laden rickshaw at around mid-day. “Where exactly is the border?” asks a tourist. Moinudin points at the river and Bangladesh across it and says, “It’s there, somewhere in the middle.”

“No one wants to buy cows because they’re scared they will be stopped on the way and branded a smuggler ” SHAMWAR HOSSAIN

TRADER

Firstpost.

8

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Versus

Why is the onus always on the Hindus to accept Muslims?

MAKARAND R PARANJAPE

D

efining the issue we are debating may itself be part of the problem.

Let us consider the first question — is Islam part of Indian heritage? A commonsensical response would be that Muslims have been hereabouts from the very inception of the religion.

Much of India was under Muslim rule for more than 600 years.

Today, India is home to one of the world’s largest Muslim populations. If you add Bangladesh and Pakistan, there are more Muslims in the subcontinent than anywhere in the world.

Yes, Islam is very much a part of Indian history and heritage.

The second question — should Islam be a part of the modern Indian identity — is more complicated. One could respond with a counter-question: can anyone fix or define what ‘the modern Indian identity’ is, let alone impose it on others? We could ask a similar question about Islam.

What do we mean by an Islamic

Hindus feel victimised in a Hindu-majority nation.

Some even want to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra identity? Who’s Islam? The jihadist kind, the liberal kind, or something in-between? Moreover, the word ‘should’ indicates what is obligatory. Should, in that sense, any religion be a required part of the Indian identity?

Now, to the third question — what is the legitimacy of the claim that Muslims should be a part of the Indian milieu? This query, one would imagine, is subsumed in the previous two.

There is only one added angle, that of legitimacy. But who will determine legitimacy? If we go by the Constitution, all religions must be treated equally, despite faith-specific personal laws. Our experience, however, is that all religions are not equal. Some are more equal than others.

Majorities do matter, especially when they are effectively mobilised, sending their representatives to power. On the other hand, the so-called minorities also have all kinds of protections, if not privileges and advantages. Of course, Muslims should be — are — a part of the Indian milieu, especially these days when every other Muslim asserts identity with a skullcap, a burqa or

LABELDY GOOK

a headscarf.

That is why the questions obscure rather than uncover what the real problem is: Hindu-Muslim relations in India and the subcontinent. Why is the secular and Left-Liberal intelligentsia and media obscuring it?

Why must we not speak of the Islamic conquest of the subcontinent, often violent and savagely destructive? Why must we downplay, if not deny, this history?

It is this denialism that has resulted in a backlash, bordering on rage or worse, counter-narratives of victimology or demonology. Hindus, to put it bluntly, feel victimised in a Hindu-majority country. Some even want to turn India into a ‘Hindu Rashtra’. In turn, some demonise Muslims, most of whom are descendants of victims of the conquerors and forced converts. But history cannot be undone by revenge narratives. So, how can Hindus and Muslims live in peace? To my mind, that is the question.

The Left-Libs believe Hindus should take responsibility by papering-over the past or pampering Muslim sentiments today.

But such efforts may even lead to Partition as an endless rather than a one-off event. There are, some would point out, many ‘mini-Pakistans’ cropping up in India, no-go zones for others.

When the population of Muslims in any area exceeds 30 per cent, a discernable process of Islamisation ensues, with a covert or overt imposition of Sharia. Such claims may be exaggerated, but they can’t be totally dismissed.

That’s why a realistic understanding of Islamic history, polity and society is essential for a lasting covenant between the two communities. The old contract, following the Partition, failed. Soon after the Partition, Pakistan tried to take over Kashmir, a conflict that rages on. But it is also true that both the state and idea of Pakistan have failed.

That is the opening for us in India to propose a new bond between the communities. Indian Muslims may happily agree to be a part of the Indian, Hindu-dominated story rather than the subcontinental or global Islamic one. For this, they need to be guaranteed safety, security and respect.

We need an Indian, perhaps subcontinental, truth and reconciliation process. Muslims would acknowledge and disassociate themselves from the bloody history of the conquest.

Hindus, in turn, would let go of their hurt and pain that can turn into retaliatory rage. So, is Hinduism a part of heritage and identity of contemporary Indian Muslims? Why is the onus only on Hindus to accept Muslims and not the other way around?

IRA MUKHOTY

T

 SHATAKSHI

Can we eject Islam from our history? facts first THE DENIAL OF the violent and savagely destructive Islamic conquest of the subcontinent has resulted in a backlash that borders on rage HISTORY CANNOT BE undone by revenge narratives.

Some believe Hindus should paper over the past and pamper the Muslim sentiment

THE MUGHALS had a pragmatic and robust attitude to religion, using it for political expediency, when required

The writer is the Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla

What’s in a name? Here’s a list of cities, districts, roads and stations that have been stripped of their Islamic identities in accordance with the government’s ‘naam wapsi’ bid

Aurangzeb Road Delhi

Allahabad UP

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road Delhi

Prayagraj UP

AUGUST 2015

A heinous exercise designed to reduce and unmake India

OCTOBER 2018

Mughalsarai Railway Station UP Deen Dayal Upadhyay Station UP JULY 2018

he Hindu, like the eunuch,” wrote James Mill in the early 19th century, “excels in the qualities of a slave.” Through these sentiments, the Scottish historian, economist and philosopher was explaining what had become accepted wisdom — the categorising of India into clearly defined communities, Muslims and Hindus, in which the Hindus were described as weak and effeminate, and the Muslims, though duplicitous, were ‘manly and vigorous’. The fear of emasculation this created among certain Hindus called for the re-imagining of this weakened creature as one of a dying race with a glorious Aryan past.

When the birth of a nation has been as cataclysmic as India’s, the fault lines run deep. The violence with which the British suppressed the 1857 uprising was just the visible extreme of an age of colonial suppression and reshaping. To reclaim the perfect past, the Hindu needed to rediscover his virility and strength. A cult of the physique was initiated, and violence and bravery now coalesced to form a revitalised Hindu who would never again cower before a foreign power.

Even before freedom was achieved, a new enemy had been identified. And so, the Muslim became ‘the other’.

The notion that a land can belong to only one people is hubris. Recent genetic studies show the oldest inhabitants of the subcontinent are represented by modern-day Andaman islanders. All further cultures developed through the migration into India of Iranian agriculturist stock and later, Steppe pastoralist stock, all of which created the Indus Valley civilisation and the Vedas.

Any attempt now, millennia later, to strip away the kaleidoscope of layers that make up our countless, entwined identities would be foolish and destructive.

Muslims first had contact with India through the Arab traders, from the very beginning of the history of Islam itself. From the 11th century onwards, the Islamicate dynasties that were established in India sometimes came from a Persianised, and even pre-Islamic world. While it is irrefutable that some, like Nadir Shah, were purely destructive forces, many were not. For the Mughals, Islam was only one of many symbols of kingship, as they strove to legitimise their rule in a diverse land. They had a pragmatic and robust attitude to religion, using it for political expediency if required. It was Timurid art, architecture, etiquette, poetry and Sufi mysticism that each Padshah promoted, thus creating an endur-

ing Islamicate legacy that owed quite as much to its Indic home.

There were less exalted areas of interaction too. The close alliance of the Rajput clans with the Mughal elite resulted in not only a syncretic style of painting and architecture, but shaped an entire genre of Raso poetry and epic tales. At this cosmopolitan Mughal court where Iranis, Afghans, Turks, Ethiopians, Indian Muslims and Central Asians rubbed shoulders with Rajput noblemen, Akbar composed verse in Hindi and elite noblemen like Abdur Rahim were accomplished Braj poets with a deep understanding of the Hindu religion. Hindu poets, meanwhile, incorporated Padshahs into the local divinity. In Amrit Rai’s Mancarit, the poet talks about Akbar as follows: The goddess Lakshmi shares her time between Vishnu’s embrace, and nestling at Akbar’s breast.

It was not only Padshahs and Sultans, naturally, who lived in Hindustan and contributed to its culture. With the rise of Brah-

Which spice to remove from our cuisine, which essence from our perfume, which love? minical heterodoxy in the 2nd millennium, the lower castes converted en bloc to Islam and so there were communities of weavers, ironsmiths, butchers, and potters whose more humble endeavours also shaped the country. In the 1857 revolt, the local leaders were aware of the diverse people they represented. Hazrat Mahal in Awadh marshalled both Muslims and Hindus while realising clearly where the dividing force came from.

To guard against the possibility of any future revolutions, British began a systematic eradication of Muslim influence — manuscripts and buildings razed, Muslim population evicted from Shahjahanabad. At a time when the fault lines are becoming starker, how corrosive would it be to define the boundaries of accepted ‘Indian-ness’. How do we decide which spice to remove from our cuisine, which essence from our perfume, which cloth, which song, which colour, which love?

It is a heinous exercise which would truly reduce and unmake us, not any imagined ‘other’.

The writer is an Indian author, with an interest in mythology and history

OLD/EXISTING NAME NEW NAME

PROPOSED NAME

Faizabad District UP

Ahmedabad Gujarat

Hyderabad Telangana

Ayodhya District UP

Karnavati Gujarat

Bhagyanagar Telangana

NOVEMBER 2018

IIIISATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Firstpost.

First Person

9

MIRWAIZ UMAR FAROOQ CHAIRMAN, AWAMI ACTION COMMITTEE

 GETTYIMAGES

MODERATE FACE OF HURRIYAT

Soft separatist battles to stay relevant in Valley of violence EXCLUSIVE

Central to talks between India and Pakistan 10 years ago, the moderate Kashmiri separatist leader faces a growing challenge from a new generation of jihadists in Kashmir

M RAYAN NAQASH

irwaiz Farooq Shah lies in downtown Srinagar’s Mazar-e-Shuhada, the graveyard reserved for those who gave their lives for the long jihad in Kashmir. The cleric, a leading figure in the anti-India movement, was assassinated in 1990, after hardliners suspected he was working to secure a peace deal with the Government. Buried nearby is the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen’s Abdullah Bangroo, the man believed to have plotted his murder. The killing of Shah at the hands of his own is an open secret most in the Valley dare not talk about—not even his son and the current Mirwaiz, Umar Farooq, who inherited his father’s title as well as his politics.

In their death, both killer and killed are remembered as martyrs—martyrs, moreover, for the same cause.

All of 17 when his father was killed, Farooq, was mature enough to bring together disparate separatist leaders under the banner of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference in 1993 and was elected its first chairperson. He was 19 and the new hope of the separatist movement. Ten years ago, he was central to the dialogue between India and Pakistan. Former Indian spy chief and a Kashmir expert Amarjit Singh Dulat, in his book Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years, says the Mirwaiz was “rated very high by everybody—the Pakistanis, the Americans, the British,

other foreigners, and by us.”

Cut to 2019, a lot has changed for the Hurriyat as well as the Mirwaiz, who turns 46 on March 23. The Mirwaiz’s bastion in old-city Srinagar is besieged by a new generation of Islamists who threaten not just his political future, but his life.

THE SOFT SEPARATIST

Late last year, young Islamists stormed Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid, the Mirwaiz’s ancestral mosque, and waved Islamic State flags—a direct challenge both to his politics, and the ethnic-nationalist strain of religion he represents. It wasn’t a black-swan event.

The global jihadist narrative has struck roots among the young, stone-throwing protesters of downtown Srinagar, who have repeatedly denounced the Hurriyat in the Mirwaiz’s bastion. He has been unable to do much, other than urge the youth to come forward with their grievances instead of playing into the hands of “the enemy.”

Since its inception, the Hurriyat has battled internal rifts over the methods and direction the separatist movement should take. In 2006, he dramatically announced that “our fight on the political, diplomatic and military fronts [… has] not achieved anything other than creating more graveyards.”

As former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then-Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf engaged in a secret dialogue on Kashmir, the Mirwaiz positioned himself at its fulcrum. He often faced criticism from hardliners led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani. In 2007, Masarat Alam, a leading member of the Geelani faction, described the Mirwaiz as a political novice backed by India and the “innocent and ignorant rulers” of Pakistan. For a while, it looked like the Mirwaiz’s plan might pay off. In early 2007, he told an interviewer that the “agenda is pretty much set.” “It is in Septemer, 2007,” he confidently announced, “that India and Pakistan are looking at in terms of announcing something on Kashmir.”

That deal never went through, but the Hurriyat’s representative character helped it tide over the crisis and stay relevant. The following year when Kashmir erupted over an order to transfer forestland to the Amarnath Shrine Board, New Delhi’s only hope was the Hurriyat. Chants of “Kaun karega tarjumani? Syed Ali Shah Geelani. (Who will plead our case? Syed Ali Shah Geelani)” were met with: “Choice! Choice! Mirwaiz!”

Behind the scenes, they again began talking to New Delhi. In 2009, The Hindu revealed that the Hurriyat and

former Home Minister P Chidambaram were holding secret meetings. The backlash was swift. A member of the moderate Hurriyat was injured in an attack and the talks derailed. Today, the Hurriyat makes careful calls for dialogue terming Pakistan an important party to the conflict. But the hardliners have kept at it. In April 2014, Geelani alleged that the Mirwaiz had met “emissaries” of Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate accused of inaction in the Gujarat riots. The Mirwaiz called out Geelani’s supporters for their “holier than thou approach”.

IN FREE FALL

Shifting goalposts and acrimony among its constituents, compounded by the Hurriyat’s failure to come up with a concrete roadmap or secure any concessions from New Delhi, or even Islamabad, has disillusioned many. Six years after the 2010 unrest, the Hurriyat was nowhere in the picture when the streets were again taken over by angry youths. Not just the boys on the streets but also those wielding guns were moving away—from both the United Jihad Council (UJC) and the Hurriyat.

The reality hit home hard when in 2015 a north Kashmir module of the Hizb led by Abdul Qayoom Najar rebelled against the leadership. The group rechristened itself the Lashkar-e-Islam and targeted cell phone towers and service providers, killing at least six people, including Hurriyat activists. The Hurriyat took the easy way out and blamed intelligence services. The UJC claimed Najar was expelled from the Hizb and in 2017, the Hurriyat paid tributes after he was killed in a gunfight. Najar was claimed by a selfavowed al-Qaeda affiliate headed by another Hizb rebel Zakir Musa.Najar was also claimed by a self-styled Islamic State chapter. The police believe these are largely modules of outfits such as the Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen. Others see it as an intelligence ploy to further fracture the separatist movement.

The Hurriyat’s track record, however, indicates it is “repulsive to the idea of accommodation,” says Aijaz Ashraf Wani, associate professor, Kashmir University. “They seem to go with the flow rather than being able to create and direct the flow decisively.” At a 2010 memorial for a colleague, moderate Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Butt accepted that prominent separatists were killed by “our own people”. “If you want to free the people of Kashmir from sentimentalism bordering on insanity, you have to speak the truth,” he said. But the Mirwaiz, who was at the event, again chose silence.

10

Firstpost.

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Crossroads HIGH STAKES India should help Afghanistan build its infrastructure to further its goals and reduce its dependence on Pakistan

An All-New Great Game

C Christine Fair, the author of In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army’s Way of War, takes the India-built Delaram-Zaranj Highway in Afghanistan to assess how the road and Chabahar Port are tying up New Delhi’s strategic goals in the region

C CHRISTINE FAIR

AFGHANISTAN

P

INDIA SENT over 4,200 containers of wheat through Chabahar to Afghanistan, allowing the country to break free of its dependence on Pakistan.

iles of second-hand motorcycles headed to the bowels of Afghanistan, serpentine queues of brightly painted trucks and petrol-filled jerrycans piled up by the roadside: there’s nothing to show that this is among the world’s most dangerous roads. But the India-built Delaram-Zaranj Highway in Afghanistan has the potential to change the strategic map of the region, and the fight to develop it is at the heart of a geo-strategic struggle for influence between India and Pakistan.

The 215km-road, also known as Route 606, links Zaranj, the capital of Afghanistan’s Nimruz province, which borders Iran, to Delaram, a transport hub that connects to the Kandahar-Herat Highway.

I recently visited Zaranj and travelled the road built by India. I wanted to assess the infrastructural capacity and traffic through this border crossing. The border town, integral to the highway’s success, already strains from the shipments coming from the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. While Chabahar, a deep-sea port India is building in southeast Iran, offers the prospect to transform Zaranj, there is much work to be done.

ZARANJ

1

ZAHEDAN

ON ROUTE 606

What I found in Zaranj surprised my interlocutors in LAKH Kabul, many of whom were under the impression that the crossing is under-utilised.

AT A CROSSROADS Piles of second-hand Far from it. This dusty town was a busy hub motorcycles parked in Zaranj, a major border and at full capacity even though little traffic is crossing between Afghanistan and Iran, which is of coming in from Chabahar—most of the vehicles significant importance to the trade route between are from Bandar Abbas.

Central Asia and South Asia with West Asia If India hopes the road to be an alternative to Pakistan’s warm water routes, New Delhi should consider helping Afghanistan augment the infrastructure. For one thing, the bridge that links the two countries is too narrow duce Afghanistan’s dependence on Pakistan for access to for two-way traffic. It takes interminably long for a single warm waters. Islamabad has used Kabul’s reliance on Pakitruck to make the crossing. stan as a tool of economic arbitrage and to preclude India Trucks are stacked up along the Delaram-Zaranj Highway, from having ground access to Afghanistan. Third, Nimruz making it difficult for regular traffic. Trucks may have to queue borders Balochistan, where Pakistan accuses India of inup for up to two months, clogging the narrow road. The terfering in collusion with Afghanistan. Fourth, it is yet ancustoms and border facilities struggle with the operational other visible symbol of India’s presence in a country that tempo, as do the counter-narcotics forces. Large amounts of Pakistan seeks to render into a vassal of Rawalpindi, the precursor materials that convert opium to lucrative narcothome of Pakistan’s opprobrious Army. ics such as heroin pass through Zaranj, but the police lack Given Pakistan’s control over the Taliban and other murdetection devices. derous organisations such as the Haqqani network, the As I spent two days in Zaranj speaking to drivers, businessmen road came under constant attack during construction and and an array of officials, I could not imagine how this crossing after it was handed over to Afghans in January 2009, by could bear more traffic. Once in Iran, Afghan truckers which time six Indians, including a BRO driver and report a bevy of woes beginning with usurious visa four Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel, and charges, extortion, and inadequate quotas of 129 Afghans were murdered. This road was to fuel to make the journey. Truckers told me that be the shortest route to move products bethey feel as if they have no advocates. Everytween Afghanistan and Iranian ports.India one said they wish the border could be open retrenched from the project after the UN all day, every day. They, however, claim the Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran Afghans and Iranians demur for various reasons. Truckin 2006 ceding space to China. In 2015, un6 Indians were killed ers entering Afghanistan must countenance der President Barack Obama, China, France, during construction the Taliban as well as corrupt police officials.

Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and of the highway the US, along with the European Union, forged THE BIG PICTURE a historic deal with Tehran to limit its ability to In 2003, India and Iran signed the develop nuclear weapons, bringing Iran back into the so-called ‘Road Map to Strategic Cooperacomity of nations. The so-called the Joint Comprehensive tion’. The centrepiece was the collaboraPlan of Action cleared the path for India to re-engage in tion on the Chabahar Port. India is also a Chabahar. India resumed work on the port with alacrity. stakeholder in the so-called North-South Corridor, on which goods will move from THE SHADOW OF TRUMP India to Chabahar, pass through Iran via Late 2018, the fate of Zaranj and Chabahar rail or road then onward to the Caspian was in limbo again contingent upon the and northern Europe. Because Pakistan has denied India whims of the maladroit US President Donaccess to its soil, for India, Chabahar is a needed byway ald Trump. When he assumed the presidento Iran, Afghanistan and beyond. Moreover, it is 171 km cy in January 2017, he began eviscerating from Gwadar, the port that China is building on Pakistan’s the accomplishments of his predecessor Makran coast as part of the so-called China Pakistan EcoBrack Obama. In May 2018, Trump withnomic Corridor. drew from JCPOA and threatened sanctions In 2005, India also began work on the ambitious Route against anyone dealing with Iran.

606. Built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) at a This disquieted India for several reasons. First, India imcost of `600 crore, it was a constant irritant for Pakistan ports more than 80 per cent of its crude oil, of which about for various reasons. First is the nature of BRO itself, whose 10 per cent comes from Iran. Indian refiners prefer Iranian website explains it is “committed to meeting the strategic crude due to better pricing and terms. Second, Chabahar, need of (India’s) armed forces”. where India is developing three berths, would also have Second, Islamabad understood that the route would recome under the sanctions. India is also building a rail link

129

2

DELARAM

3

INDIA IS funding a 500-km rail link from Chabahar to Zahedan, close to the Afghanistan border, which will eventually link the port with Central Asia’s rail network. The next stop is Zaranj, linked by road.

INDIA HAS built a road linking Zaranj, on the Iran-Afghanistan border, with Delaram, which connects to Afghanistan’s road network. The road allows goods from Chabahar to enter Afghanistan.

A GAS pipeline is also to be built linking Chabahar with Iranshahr, allowing India to move natural gas out of Iran’s gas fields, the world’s largest, in which ONGC is a stakeholder.

IRAN CHABAHAR PORT

has begun handling container traffic, giving India a strategic toehold in Iran to ship cargo to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.

CHABAHAR PORT

BYPASSING PAKISTAN

Since Islamabad has denied New Delhi access to its soil, Chabahar offers a much-needed byway to Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond. Moreover, it is situated 171 km from Gwadar, the port that China is building on Pakistan’s Makran coast in Balochistan.

PAKISTAN

GWADAR PORT

from Chabahar to the Afghan border. Not only would the snap-back sanctions have restrained India’s strategic goals, they would have also undermined the viability of the port.

Under the US law, Washington could exempt sanctions for activities that “provide reconstruction assistance for or further the economic development of Afghanistan”.

India prevailed. The Trump administration offered New Delhi a waiver on both oil imports and Chabahar, including the planned rail link. It was a huge relief not only for India but also for Afghanistan. If Afghanistan is to get the most from this border crossing, it will have to dedicate more resources to clean up corruption, enhance security and work with Iran to make life easier for the truckers. While the twin problems of corruption and insecurity perdure throughout Afghanistan, Kabul should prioritise the Zaranj crossing, which has the potential to transform this dusty little outpost that has few opportunities other than trucking and hocking smuggled fuel.

India, which enjoys good relations with Iran and Afghanistan, is well positioned to help. In doing so, India will advance its strategic interests in the region while continuing to provide the value-added projects that have endeared Indians to Afghans.

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Firstpost.

Crossroads

11

COMMENT

C Christine Fair

NOT RELENTING The Taliban insist on an interim power-sharing agreement without contesting elections

Taliban-US peace ‘deal’ plays into Pakistan’s hands

Kabul

Herat

Torkham

AFGHANISTAN

IRAN

Delaram Zabol

IRAQ

Zaranj Nimroz

Kandahar

Amritsar

Lahore

Gulf of Oman

Gwadar

NEPAL

New Delhi

Sistan and Balochistan Chabahar

SAUDI ARABIA

dusty town of Zaranj is a busy hub and at full capacity even though little traffic is coming in from Chabahar. Most of the traffic is coming from the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas

Chaman

PAKISTAN Persian Gulf

CHINA

Kunduz

Mazar-e-Sharif

CHOCK-A-BLOCK The

INDIA

INDIA

Karachi

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES

OMAN

ROADS

Mumbai Mumbai

PORTS

While US wants the Taliban to negotiate a ceasefire with Kabul, directly, they dismiss the government as an American puppet

FINAL COST

` 600 crore though the initial estimate was `740 crore

4

NEW WAY FORWARD?

In September 2018, the Trump administration foisted upon the region yet another special envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, with the hope that he would secure a negotiated settlement with the Taliban and conclude the 17-year war in Afghanistan. Scholars of South Asia were sceptical: few people are as loathed and distrusted by all sides as Khalilzad, who was in India as part of a two-week tour of the region early January 2019. Khalilzad’s mission seemed pointless, given Trump’s announcement in December that he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Why would the Taliban negotiate an end when they need not defeat the Americans and their Afghan allies? The Taliban only need to keep fighting to demonstrate that the Americans and Afghans cannot defeat them. This is the definition of an insurgent’s victory. Why would Pakistan allow the Taliban to sue for peace unless that peace means Afghanistan’s capitulation to Pakistan? Would Afghans—who loathe Pakistan for the decades of devastation it has wrought—ever agree to such peace terms?

And, why would the Taliban or their backers in Rawalpindi care about Khalilzad’s efforts when Trump is talking withdrawal?

Whether or not the American Tweet State and Deep State agree on Afghanistan, it should be clear to all that Afghanistan needs a new way forward and I contend Chabahar— and Indian investment there—is central to this new future.

Contemporary Afghanistan is not the Afghanistan of 2001.

Today, Afghanistan is connected to railheads with Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. These rail heads are key to helping Afghanistan get its valuable resources out of the ground and to the markets. Afghanistan was once dependent on Pakistan; it no longer is. Between 2012 and 2016, Afghan imports from

F

or nine years, Washington has pursued talks with the Afghan Taliban to end a war that began on October 7, 2001. This week, Zalmay Khalilzad, Donald Trump’s special envoy for ending the war, told The New York Times that after six days of talks in Qatar, American negotiators and Taliban agreed on “a draft of the framework” for some future accord.

Washington is considering a complete withdrawal of US-led forces in exchange for the Taliban committing to direct talks with Afghan government for a ceasefire. The New York Times anointed the framework as the “biggest tangible step towards ending a war that has cost tens of thousands of lives and profoundly changed American foreign policy”. It seems as if many observers, in rank cupidity, are mistaking a framework for a US exit with a deal to bring to peace in Afghanistan while believing the Taliban can or will fulfil their promises.

According to Khalilzad, the Taliban committed to preventing Afghanistan from being a base for terrorists. A Taliban official speaking on the condition of anonymity told the BBC that both sides agreed to form separate working groups on: a time frame for the withdrawal of US-led forces and a commitment from the Taliban to prevent al Qaeda from using Afghanistan as a base. The afore-noted Taliban official said they are conferring with their leadership the demand to negotiate a ceasefire with Kabul.

He, however, did not believe the deal would depend on either direct negotiations or the ceasefire.

Washington knows it lacks the will to muster a military victory though the US armed forces have sustained the canard that Trump’s “policy” is producing battlefield wins.

Washington has tried to convince the Taliban that they cannot win either. This is absurd and the Taliban, as well as their Pakistani patrons, know it. The Taliban need not govern or defeat the Afghan and American-led forces. They merely need to preclude the Afghan government from exercising hegemony of violence.

Wizened observers know the Taliban have the upper hand for several reasons: they are going nowhere, they know the Americans want out at any cost, and the stakes in Afghanistan for their Pakistani dullahs are high as Kabul has forged relations with its near and far neighbours, including India, to diminish Islamabad’s coercive power. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, responding to the news from Khalilzad, said, “We are committed to ensuring peace…But there are values which are non-negotiable—for example national unity, national sovereignty, territorial integrity, a powerful and competent central government and basic rights of the citizens of the country.”

In contrast, the Taliban have insisted upon an interim power-sharing agreement without contesting elections, instituting Islamic law, dispensing with much of the Constitution and reversing gains in women’s rights.

The Americans seem more than willing to sell out the Afghans despite the enormous loss of life and expenditures. Arm-chair Afghan analysts ridiculed sceptics arguing that a commitment to keep al Qaeda from operating in Afghanistan has never been on the table.

While this is technically true, it is not that it could not have been. After the 9/11 attacks, President Pervez Musharraf dispatched his ISI chief Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmed to persuade the Taliban to give up Osama bin Laden to a Muslim country. However, Ahmed told the Taliban to hold out. Musharraf sacked him and the Americans invaded Afghanistan on October 7. The Americans were never committed to resourcing this war for an ensemble of reasons that changed over time. Defeat, most importantly, was a foregone conclusion when Washington went to war with Pakistan as its key partner. With the Americans dead set to withdraw, it’s clear that Washington, once again, will serve up Afghanistan to Pakistan on a platter. With the Afghan security forces struggling and American military and financial support likely to evaporate, the government faces a serious challenge. And this is exactly the opportunity Pakistan has been waiting for.

Iran totalled $1.3 billion against $1.2 billion from Pakistan and $1.1 billion from China. During the period, Pakistan was the largest destination for Afghan exports with $283 million of goods; India was right behind with $230 million, a figure that is expected to rise as Chabahar comes online.

Over the last year, India has shipped about 110,000 metric tonnes of wheat and 2,000 tonnes of pulses to Afghanistan through Chabahar. If Afghanistan can improve political and trade ties with its neighbours, it can cut down dependence on Pakistan. Once independent of its murderous neighbour, Afghanistan will be in a greater position to extract political concessions. This does not mean that Afghanistan will be peaceful. Far from it. Pakistan will work assiduously to undermine these efforts. But it does allow Afghanistan to move forward while strategically isolating Pakistan.

New Delhi has understood that Pakistan will continue to kill Indians. However, every Indian leader since the 1999 Kargil War has known that the country has much to gain by avoiding a war with Pakistan. The strategic restraint has paid off: India’s economic growth has enabled it to invest in defence modernisation, diminish the immiseration of its masses and diversify its portfolio of strategic alliances. This has not been cost free: every year, Pakistan’s proxies murder dozens of Indians. In contrast, three Indians die every 10 minutes in road accidents. In 2017 alone, 147,913 persons died, many times more than the lives lost in all of India’s wars with Pakistan, including Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir. Even in Afghanistan, 5,000 civilians were killed in road accidents in 2017 against 3,438 left dead by anti-government forces or in friendly fire. My intention is not to trivialise either kind of death; rather to put them into perspective and to argue that progress can continue on some fronts even though Pakistan remains committed to murdering citizens of both countries.

STRATEGIC PORT

ALL ABOUT CHABAHAR LOCATION

South-eastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman IMPORTANCE

It is Iran’s only ocean port with two separate ports—Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti — of five berths each

India’s investment commitment in Iran and Afghanistan

$85mn

$2 bn

$8bn

$11bn

Chabahar Port development

India-Iran MoU for Indian industrial investment in Chabahar Special Economic Zone

Infra development in Afghanistan

Hajigak iron and steel mining project in central Afghanistan. Seven Indian companies are involved

The writer is the author of In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-eTayyaba and Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army’s Way of War

Firstpost.

12

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Polinomics

MEAT OF THE MATTER 2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

If you are in Hanoi or in Dubai, there’s a high chance you could be eating something reared in India’s animal farms.

Vietnam, Malaysia and Egypt are the three major destinations for the country’s buffalo meat shipments

2017-18

INDIA’S MEAT EXPORTS

BUFFALO

POULTRY

VALUE IN `LAKH 0

4,00,000 8,00,000

VALUE IN `LAKH 0 5,000 10,000

12,00,000 16,00,000

PROCESSED 15,000

VALUE IN `LAKH 0 100 200

20,000 25,000

300

SHEEP AND GOAT 400

500

VALUE IN `LAKH 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000

600

Vietnam

Oman

UAE

UAE

Malaysia

Maldives

Vietnam

S Arabia

Egypt

Vietnam

Qatar

Qatar

Iraq

Indonesia

S Arabia

Russia

Kuwait

Bangladesh

Oman

Bhutan

Easy crude won’t make NDA’s poll fight easier

GROWTH BOOSTER In 2015 and 2016, the terms-of-trade windfall gains from lower oil prices for India were cumulatively 4 per cent of GDP, according to the International Monetary Fund

for October 2018 said that in 2015 and 2016, the cumulative terms-of-trade windfall gains from lower oil prices for India were 4 per cent of GDP. In 2017, however, the windfall had become a headwind of around 1.5 per cent of GDP. And in 2018-19, while the economy rebounded smartly from the disruption of demonetisation and the GST introduction, higher oil prices held back growth.

THE OIL PRICE OUTLOOK

69.97

71.27

70

BASE PRICE

65 60

FREIGHT ETC

EXCISE DEALER DUTY COMMISSION (average)

VAT (including VAT on DC)

64.59

DIESEL

55 50

70.33

PETROL

38.34 JAN 1, 2018

JAN 27, 2019

33.82

0.37

13.83 2.53 9.52

+

100

7 6

80

5

60

4

40 20 0

3

61.86

75

17.98 3.58 14.95

8

61.86

80

0.4

9

120

RETAIL PRICE (`)

61.86

33.42

85

+

INDIA’S GDP (%)

61.86

33.82

90

CRUDE OIL VS INDIA’S GDP GROWTH

61.86

Price charged from dealers (excluding excise duty and VAT)

IMF

61.86

DELHI PETROL PRICE

But even if oil prices remain at current levels, will the government be able to reap the benefits during the elections? That is doubtful for several reasons.

One, time is rather short. Any turnaround in the economy is going to take time. Two, as Gaurav Kapur, chief economist at Indusind Bank, says, “The government’s fiscal position is, in any case, fully stretched. If it misses the fiscal deficit target, this will be the second year running it has failed to stick to its goal. That makes it extremely difficult for it to administer any stimulus.”

Three, the rupee has continued to wobble as foreign investors reappraise their appetite for risk and a lower rupee makes the price of oil go up in local currency. And four, even if economic growth is good, the government’s current preoccupation with giving succour to the farm sector and to small industries shows that some vulnerable sections of the economy are in distress. It doesn’t help that these sectors employ a majority of the population.

61.86

PRICE BUILD-UP OF PETROL/DIESEL IN DELHI

AS ON JAN 16, 2019

WILL LOW OIL PRICES HELP THE NDA GOVERNMENT IN ELECTIONS?

61.86

What could be the secret of the government’s success? After all, only a few months ago economists were issuing dire warnings about a plunging rupee, a widening current account deficit (CAD), higher inflation and lower growth. There is nothing spectacular the government has done in the last few months to engineer a U-turn in the outlook.

What then has been the reason for the remarkable improvement in sentiment?

While upwardly revising the growth rate for 201920, the IMF said, “India’s economy is poised to pick up in 2019 benefiting from lower oil prices and a slower pace of monetary tightening than previ-

One of the reasons the economy went downhill in the later years of the UPA-II government was the spike in crude oil prices. The price of Brent crude oil moved up from an average of $61.8 a barrel in 2009 to $111.96 in 2012 and averaged $108.84 a barrel in 2013. That led to a steep rise in crude oil imports and widened the current account deficit (CAD) from 2.3 per cent of GDP in 2008-09 to a huge 4.8 per cent of GDP in 201213. It led to a bloating of subsidies, sent inflation through the roof and stunted growth. Yes, there were other factors as well, such as the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus given after the global financial crisis in an effort to boost growth, and also the runaway inflation in food prices. But the high oil prices exacerbated the economy’s woes and made it extremely vulnerable.

That is why when the US Federal Reserve resorted to quantitative easing, the markets went into a tizzy and India was one of the worst-affected nations. Foreign investors fled and the rupee plummeted. India was dubbed one of the members of the Fragile Five group of countries.

Next, consider what happened between 2014

India’s economy is poised to pick up in 2019, benefiting from lower oil prices and a slower pace of monetary tightening than previously expected as inflation pressures ease

61.86

LOWER OIL PRICES WILL BOOST THE ECONOMY

SHORT TOUR OF RECENT ECONOMIC HISTORY

and 2016. Brent crude prices went down from an average of $98.94 in 2014 to an average of $44.05 a barrel in 2016. It was at a low of $39 by end-March 2016. The extent of the fall can be seen from the fact that the price of Brent crude in 2016 was lower than what it was in 2005. What was the effect?

This time, the impact on consumption was muted because the government wisely dismantled some subsidies and increased excise duties on petroleum products. Nevertheless, the rise in tax collections allowed the government to spend more on capital expenditure, even while curtailing the fiscal deficit.

Retail inflation in the ‘fuel & light’ category fell from 9.7 per cent in 2013-14 to 4.2 per cent in 201415. The upshot: lower oil prices were a big factor in pushing up GDP growth from 5.5 per cent in 2013-14 to 8.2 per cent by 2015-16. It is lower oil prices that explain how the economy did well during this period in spite of back-to-back droughts, weak exports, the falling off of investment demand and burgeoning bad loans in the banking sector.

In its annual consultation on the Indian economy, the IMF said in March 2016, “Since late 2014, a halving of global oil prices has boosted economic activity in India and underpinned a further improvement in its current account and fiscal positions, and engendered a sharp decline in inflation.”

However, GDP growth decelerated to 7.1 per cent in 2016-17 and to 6.7 per cent in 2017-18. That fall has been attributed to the impact of demonetisation and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). But there was another factor at work—a creeping up of oil prices. The IMF’s WEO

61.86

s the general elections come closer, the economy seems to be on the mend. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the most recent update to its World Economic Outlook (WEO) has said that economic growth is accelerating in India, while it is slowing down in the rest of the world. That should be music to the ears of the government, which has never tired of pointing out that India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy. But will lower oil prices boost the NDA government’s chances at polling booths?

Best of all, the rapid growth is happening with inflation at very low levels. High growth, low inflation—what more could people want?

ously expected as inflation pressures ease.” To be sure, inflation pressures have also eased due to lower food prices, but it is undeniable that lower oil prices have helped. One reason for the slowing of consumption growth in the GDP numbers for the September quarter was higher oil prices. Now, with oil prices lower, it is hoped that consumption growth too would improve.

CRUDE OIL ($ PER BARREL)

A

MANAS CHAKRAVARTY

 GETTYIMAGE

Global oil prices are in a downward spiral, but this welcome trend may have come too late in the day to turn things around for the fiscal deficit-hobbled government

The good news is that Brent crude prices have corrected by more than 25 per cent from their peak last October despite creeping up recently.

They’re still at levels well below the average for 2018. If they remain at these levels or even if they go up a bit further, they will continue to be a tailwind for the economy.

The IMF expects oil prices to fall by 14.1 per cent in 2019. But there’s a lot of uncertainty—in 2018, the IMF and other agencies had to revise their oil price forecasts many times. The World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects points out, “The outlook for supply is uncertain and depends to a large extent on production decisions by OPEC and its non-OPEC partners. While these producers have agreed to cut output by 1.2mb/d for six months starting January 2019, few details have been forthcoming about the distribution of these cuts, and they may prove insufficient to reduce the oversupply of oil. Considerable uncertainty remains about the full impact of sanctions on Iran once the waivers end, as well as the outlook for Venezuelan production. Meanwhile, crude oil output in the United States is expected to rise by a further 1mb/d in 2019, with capacity constraints envisioned to ease in the second half of the year as new pipelines come on-stream.” On the demand side, lower global growth will weigh on oil prices.

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

* Fiscal year 2009 is 2009-10 and so on

Source: IMF WEO, Mospi, GDP back series

2 1 0

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Firstpost.

Global Theatre

 SANTAN

ARMS AND MEN Kim Davy was the main conspirator in dropping a planeload of AK-47s, anti-tank grenades, rocket launchers and thousand of rounds of ammunition in West Bengal’s Purulia

We got Michel, but why has Kim Davy got away?

“We did not touch upon the subject all yesterday. The last we talked about it hen a Gulfstream jet was in April in Stockholm,” Rasmussen touched down at Delsaid in Delhi on January 19, an obvious hi airport on the night reference to his discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar. of December 4, it was The two leaders had also met during rightly hailed as a big win for the Modi the Indo-Nordic summit in Stockholm in government. The plane that flew in April 2018. By all measures, it was a good from Dubai carried Christian Michel, the middleman in the AgustaWestland visit for Rasmussen, who also inaugurated a cultural centre in Delhi. While he helicopter deal.

A week later, the government’s efforts may derive satisfaction from the setting to bring fugitives back to face justice up of the Danish centre — some Danes retain a nostalgia for their once tiny setin India received another boost when tlements in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal a UK court cleared the way for the extradition of Vijay Mallya, an order the — he is obviously most satisfied at India giving up political and diplomatic businessman plans to challenge. efforts for the extradition of But what of Niels Holck, Davy to stand trial in the better known as Kim infamous 1995 Purulia Davy? The Dane masterminded the dumparm’s drop case. ing of a planeload Denmark’s record in the Davy of weapons in PuYEARS AGO, DENMARK rulia, West Benaffair has been so SAID THAT A FRESH gal, chronicled his dubious that in REQUEST FOR DAVY’S crime in a book and abandoning the EXTRADITION WOULD BE also triggered a fivepolitical and dipPURSUED SERIOUSLY year freeze in bilatlomatic paths and BUT NOTHING HAS eral ties. Even after 24 trusting Rasmussen, COME OF IT YET years, Davy is nowhere the Modi government close to being brought to Inmay have made a serious dia. In fact, if last week’s developmisjudgement. This is especialments are anything to go by, India has ly because Rasmussen was the prime minister in 2010-2011, when his governvirtually given him a free pass. “The problem has been solved in the political ment and “its independent authorities” sense. There is a dialogue between the ensured Davy was not extradited. authorities and what we agreed upon last Davy has made no secret of his role April was we should rely on independin dropping a large quantity of arms in ent authorities to do their work,” Danish Puralia district of Bengal in late DecemPrime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, ber 1995. The An-26 flew from Karachi, in India for the Vibrant Gujarat summit, refuelled in Varanasi and on its way to said of Davy’s extradition.

Kolkata deviated from the flight path VIVEK KATJU

Twenty-four years after Kim Davy dumped a planeload of weapons in West Bengal, India seems to have given up on bringing the Dane to justice

W

2

and dumped the arms, which investigators said included AK-47s, anti-tank grenades, rocket launchers and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

The plane then touched down in Kolkata and went to Thailand. Once the arms were discovered, the government acknowledged the enormous security breach and confiscated the cache. It was then suspected that the arms were meant for the Ananda Marga sect.

A few days later, the aircraft again flew into India and refuelled in Chennai.

It was intercepted and forced to land in Mumbai. Davy and others were on board. While the others were arrested, Davy managed to flee India.

The Central Bureau of Investigation prosecuted Davy and others. As he surfaced in his home country, the Danish government was approached in 2008 so that he could be tried in India.

Davy has not denied his role. In fact, he claimed that the arms drop was a conspiracy hatched by Indian intelligence agencies. The Danes took India’s request lightly and acted in an obstructive manner. They didn’t rule out extradition outright, but sought assurances which they thought India would not accede to.

After India assured that Davy would be treated well, the Danes sat on the matter for months. When reminded, they sought more assurances — about the trial and that if convicted, Davy would serve his sentence in Denmark. These too were given. In both cases, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Cabinet had considered these requests. The Danes again took their time before ordering Davy’s extradition in April 2010. He challenged the order in court.

A few months later, when Danish foreign minister Lene Espersen visited India in December, her Indian counterpart SM Krishna told her that unless Davy was sent to India, the relationship would suffer. Krishna was sometimes ridiculed in the media for his absent-mindedness.

But as a staunch nationalist, he always upheld the country’s honour.

Davy took the plea that his human rights would not be secure in India. As the case proceeded, it became obvious that the Danish government lawyers were not vigorously defending the extradition order. Their interaction with the visiting CBI officers too was unsatisfactory. A Danish court disallowed Davy’s extradition in early 2011.

Under pressure from India, the Danish government went in appeal. Serious efforts were not made to convince the court that Davy would get a fair trial in India. The appeal was dismissed in July 2011. The Danish “independent authorities” could have asked for a review but did not. The Rasmussen government’s assessment was that India would pocket the insults and continue with ties.

Krishna was of the view that Denmark could not be simply allowed to treat India with such disdain. He decided to downgrade ties till Davy was sent for trial. That situation continued till 2016.

Denmark was keen to resume full diplomatic and economic ties without acting against Davy. It lobbied UPA ministers but to no avail though some felt India’s decision was too severe.

Denmark also took part in successive Vibrant Gujarat summits. The Danish government continued with intense lobbying with the Modi government, which took office in 2014. It appears in 2016, Denmark assured India that the extradition request could be made afresh and it would be seriously pursued. A fresh request was made and political contact restored. Since then, the Danish foreign minister has visited India in 2017 and 2018. Official statements talked about commitment to upgrading trade and economic ties and also the process of diplomatic consultation, but there was no mention of Davy. Nor, according to Rasmussen, did it figure in recent talks between the two prime ministers. As per the Danish leader, in the Stockholm meeting Modi and he agreed to keep the political track separate and let the “independent authorities” do their work.

It has been two years that the Modi government has trusted Denmark in the Davy case. Has there been any real movement? Senior officials appear to be hopeful. While it is good to be so, they should not overlook Denmark’s record, and there is no indication the Scandinavian nation is serious on sending Davy to India. It is time the government pursues the matter with the same vigour as it did in Christian Michel’s case.

If Denmark continues to act tardily, it would only be appropriate to revert to the old freeze. National dignity demands it. Powers that allow themselves to be treated lightly are so treated—always.

The writer is a retired Indian Foreign Service officer

Pakistan’s ISI goes Mediterranean

ALARM BELLS The agency’s footprint is growing in Italy which is also the first port of call for migrants fleeing West Asia and Africa

FRANCESCA MARINO​

On a frigid winter morning as rain poured in Milan, around 200 men, most of them Pakistanis, gathered outside the Indian mission at the Piazza Castello to protest New Delhi’s “illegal occupation” of Kashmir. The demonstration on February 5, 2017, might not have made news but it did announce to the world another outpost that Pakistan’s jihadists, backed by its all-powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), had successfully created.

The Milan protesters were bussed from the industrial hub of Brescia, 106 km away, which has a thriving Pakistani community and an expanding jihadist network that has hurt India more than once.

Brescia flashed on the radars

of the Indian intelligence community for the first time in 2008 when a group of Lashkar-e-Taiba terorists hit Mumbai killing, at least, 166 people.

Within days of the carnage, the Italian police arrested the two owners of Madina Trading, a money transfer agency, in Brescia. Pakistani citizens Mohammad Yaqub Janjua and Amir Yaqub had transferred large sums of money ahead of the strike and also arranged for Internet calls that allowed the handlers to talk to the terrorists through the three-day siege.

The two men were freed by a court. It was only later that links of Javed Iqbal, to whom the money was transferred, to the Mumbai attack were established. The owners, however, remained free though ‘monitored’.

Madina Trading shut down, but the father-son set up a oneroom call centre, Help Services, in the old town of Bresica.

In September 2016, Indian agencies alerted Italian police about Help Services after an Enforcement Directorate probe found that funds for the separatist Hurriyat Conference in Kashmir were being routed through the call centre. Indian agencies said that the money was used in the September 18, 2016, Uri attack, which left 18 soldiers dead.

However, Help Services is still in business and so is the ISI, whose footprint is growing in Italy, the first port of call for migrants fleeing West Asia and Africa. The second-largest city in Lombardy and its neighbouring towns have for years been favoured by Pakistanis. Records

show there are 110,000 Pakistanis in Italy. Add the illegals, and the figure zooms to 130,000 or more. Most of them are well integrated economic migrants.

THINGS ARE CHANGING

In 2017, of the 80,000 asylum seekers, more than 11,000 were

Pakistanis requesting refugee status. Most of them are Punjabi boys from middle-class families with a decent education and little reason to seek asylum.

The Pakistani Punjab is the hunting ground of terror outfits and for long harboured anti-India groups. The Lashkar is

well-networked and several of its recruits are from the province. Muridke, a busy commercial centre, is believed to be the outfit’s headquarters.

Little surprise then that last year Italy, too, joined the ‘network’ of countries where anti-India ‘Martyr’s Day’ protests are organised by Pakistan.

The event was organised by Tehrik-i-Kashmir, and among the mostly Pakistani protesters were Sikhs gathered under the banner of the Khalistan Khalsa giving credence to New Delhi’s claims that the ISI was trying to enmesh Kashmiri separatism with Sikh separatism.

MUSCLE FLEXING

LOW PROFILE Unlike the Islamic State, Pakistani outfits prefer to stay out of the limelight

It is not just India that should worry about Pakistani jihadists in Italy. The Pakistan Army and ISI have for decades infiltrated agents, created pressure groups and lobbied at both institutional and academic levels in Europe and the rest of the world.

It was an example of Pakistan’s clout that ‘Free Balochistan’

13

Odd World GEM OF A MAN

Watch what you swallow!

REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE

Ian Campbell was vacationing in the Turkish seaside resort of Marmaris when he was arrested.

He had swallowed a $40,000 diamond ring at a jewellery store.

But the Irish man had a defence.

He told prosecutors that he “fell into a trance” on seeing the diamond. Witnesses said that Campbell swallowed the jewel after realising he would be caught.

He spent two days in a hospital taking laxatives to help the ring pass through his system, but it didn’t work. After 36 hours, he agreed to undergo surgery.

PUBLIC SHAMING

App to catch debtors now

Authorities in the Chinese province of Hebei have created a smartphone app that allows users to see if they are within 500 metres of a person in debt so they can report or publicly shame them. Described as ‘a map of deadbeat debtors’, the app can be accessed through Chinese social media platform WeChat.

China Daily reports debtors’ information can also be accessed through the app, making it easier for ‘whistleblowers’ to report them if they appear capable of paying their debts.

COLD RECEPTION

A ‘sickening’ business plan

Who in their right mind would pay $79.99 for a germ-contaminated used tissue? Well, that would be ‘open-minded people’ who appreciate the luxury of being able to get sick ‘on their own terms’. Vaev founder Oliver Niessen, 34, claims that these expensive used tissues should be viewed as alternatives to conventional medicine in that they allow you to catch a cold on purpose whenever you want, in order to decrease the risk of unwittingly catching one at a later date.

posters were recently removed in Bern and London with China backing Islamabad. Days later, Mehran Marri and his family were expelled from Switzerland.

The UN representative for the rights of the Balochs, Marri was accused of terrorism on the basis of a document apparently provided by the ISI. Between 2009 and 2012, an Anglo-Pakistani criminal network stole one billion lire from the Italian tax office.

The money was traced to Taliban-held areas along Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The Pakistani outfits, unlike the Islamic State, have chosen the shadows over limelight.

As long as they keep a low-profile and don’t target the West, they can go on undisturbed in Italy. Working in the shadows for the ‘good’ terrorists is much cheaper and guarantees a prosperous future.

The author is a journalist and south Asia expert who has written Apocalypse Pakistan along with B Natale

14

Firstpost.

movie review

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Cinema

EK LADKI KO DEKHA TOH AISA LAGA

& ENTERTAINMENT

VIEWERS’ RATING CRITIC’S RATING

this

8

week that

FEBRUARY 2, 1957

year “It seems the older the

Take Three

HOLLYWOOD LEGEND ELIZABETH TAYLOR MARRIES FILM PRODUCER MIKE TODD. TAYLOR IS 24 WHILE TODD IS 47. THIS IS HER THIRD MARRIAGE.

men get, the younger their new wives get”

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

 IMAGING

The Stories That Bollywood Can’t Tell

RANVIR SHOREY

T

he universe is made of stories, not atoms, the American poet and political activist Muriel Rukeyser wrote. It’s a sentiment Indians instinctively understand.

From our mythological epics to our roving folk singers, we are a land bound together by stories.

Most civilisations have one creation myth, we have dozens.

The Hindi popular-film industry — Bollywood to all of us — is the most prolific and beloved among today’s storytellers. Yet, there is this aspect: Hindi popular cinema is most remarkable for the stories it does not tell.

Even though we are on the cusp of an election that will have fateful

FLASHBACK

In the Line of Fire BOLLYWOOD FILMS that faced bans and the censor’s ire for their political themes

consequences for the entire country, Bollywood still shies away from engagement with politics — the big, often divisive, issues that define our times.

Why do we so carefully sunder our storytelling from our politics?

There are plenty of socially-engaged and awakened stories in our popular cinema — think Sairat or Pink — and even films that use political landscape as a backdrop. There are some films accused of being propaganda, ranging from Padmaavat to Uri and The Accidental Prime Minister. Film are always judged first through a political lens instead of a cinematic one.

There are, however, few genuinely political films that force us to roll in the blood and dirt all around us. Why do we have no real equivalent of, say, Francis Ford Coppola’s anti-war epic Apocalypse Now, or a searing in-

AANDHI

Stories are tricky things.

They twist and turn, and make us ask questions.

Fantasies lull us into quiescence, like an addict’s drug-addled dreams

dictments of prejudice like Robert Mulligan’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Stanley Kramer’s Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner or Norman Jewison’s In The Heat Of The Night?

Perhaps there is a simple answer to this question. Films have a huge impact on Indians, almost as much as our politics. Politicians will not allow a film industry without reins. It needs to be subjugated, lest it questions the many narratives that the political class would like us to fall for.

Gulzar’s film cast Suchitra Sen in a role that had shades of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and politician Tarkeshwari Sinha. Banned during the Emergency, it was cleared after the Janata Party came to power in 1977.

Impositions of the censor board are a dreaded reality in the business of making movies in India, stifling creative decisions even as early as in the writing or shooting stage.

The impression doled out is that censorship is essential to keep the peace — that the Republic will fall apart and there will be chaos without a big brother checking on us.

There is a deeper problem. For years, our politicians have told us

KISSAA KURSEE KAA

Amrit Nahata’s political satire took jibes at then-PM Indira Gandhi’s political ideology. It was banned during the Emergency, and the government subsequently destroyed all prints.

bigger stories than those in the business of storytelling. The stories that politicians tell are better financed, better scripted and better performed than anything our film industry can come up with.

And our stories cannot question their stories.

Take the story of India in the first five decades that we were all taught as kids. Father decides to split the nation between the children, then gets murdered, leaving all power to Chachaji.

But no one can question why Chachaji then decided to leave the seat of power just to his descendants.

No one must think along these lines.

Even today people who are fine with one family being the centre of power for four consecutive generations get away with being called liberals, instead of lackeys. The same people will also have you believe that all elections, agencies and media are now controlled by the government in power, but have a tough time swallowing the fact that the same was being done by the other party when they were in power for six decades.

After all, their forefathers fought and won Independence for all Indians, and therefore we owe our freedom to them.

This works the other way around, too.

Today, the government is replacing stories with fantasies.

Stories are tricky things. They twist and turn, and make us ask questions. Fantasies lull us into quiescence, like an addict’s drug-addled dreams.

We are told that our timeless traditions hold a cow’s life more important than that of a human being, so we cannot tell stories of how our ancestors sacrificed and ate them. We are told that cow urine can cure disease more effectively than modern bio-chemistry, so we cannot tell the story of how millions of Indians die because of broken public healthcare. We are told Vedic India invented aeroplanes, so we cannot tell the story of how awful our education system is.

Politics, you see, has pushed the envelope on stories that are more fantastic and unbelievable.

Mythology becomes history, fantasy becomes science. Faith becomes fact.

And our stories cannot challenge their stories.

IS THE NUMBER OF TIMES THAT LIZ TAYLOR WAS MARRIED IN HER LIFETIME. OF THESE, SHE WAS TWICE MARRIED TO RICHARD BURTON, HER CO-STAR OF CLEOPATRA AND THE V.I.Ps

TOP PICKS

Real Politics, Reel Rage

FIVE GREAT political films every movie buff must check out

DR. STRANGELOVE or: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964)

Stanley Kubrick’s political satire sets up drama in black and white using nuclear war fears of the Cold War era. Starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott.

APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)

Adapted from Joseph Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness, Francis Ford Coppola’s war epic stars Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall. The film, said to bear influences of German auteur Werner Herzog’s 1972 classic Aguirre, is set during the Vietnam War.

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976)

The political thriller reconstructs the Watergate scandal, which brought down US President Richard Nixon. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman star as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, The Washington Post journalists who were responsible for the exposé.

The author is an actor and a former veejay

MADRAS CAFE

Several Tamil political outfits called for a ban on Shoojit Sircar’s 2013 political thriller, alleging the film portrayed LTTE rebels in a negative light. Fearing violence, many halls in Tamil Nadu did not release the film.

SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)

Steven Spielberg’s drama, based

on Thomas Keneally’s novel Schindler’s Ark, tells the true story of German businessman Oskar Schindler, who rescued over a thousand Jews during World War II. The film stars Liam Neeson.

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Firstpost.

iidCinema

Generation Remix & the Fading Sound of Music ORIGINAL MELODY BE damned, instant hype and easy returns are the only reasons songs exist in Hindi films of late. With quickfix remixes becoming the rage, is Bollywood’s era of good music over?

INSIGHT

W

hen music hits you, Bob Marley once stated, you feel no pain. You would perhaps do a rethink on the late reggae legend’s words after sampling a lot of what Bollywood passes off as songs lately. When new-age B-Town music hits you, you might feel the need for aspirin.

The intent of Hindi film music is arguably different from that of Marley’s majestic oeuvre. A mass market-driven film industry demands saleable songs to garner pre-release hype. What rankles many music lovers, though, is that hype seems to be

the only reason for songs to exist in Hindi mainstream now.

Once upon a time composers and lyricists were adept at balancing saleability with melody and poetry, and songs defined plots. The words of Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shailendra, Gulzar, Javed Akhtar or Anand Bakshi, and the work of Naushad, SD Burman, Shankar-Jaiskishen, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, RD Burman or AR Rahman — among many others who have defined Bollywood’s best music — lent as much heft to a film’s popularity as its stars, as did the voices of Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Mukesh or Manna Dey. Occasionally, Bollywood also created scope for the class of Pandit Ravi Shankar or Ustad Amir Khan.

Contemporary Bollywood has all but given up on great melody. With the exception of an Arijit Singh or an Amit Trivedi in recent years, one would struggle to recall names in

 TRIPARNA

TAKING STOCK

Remix Rage TOP BOLLYWOOD remix hits over the recent months (latest figures sourced from YouTube )

the current music industry who might, just might, stand the test of time.

New-age filmmakers contend that times have changed, that society overall is less receptive to poetry and melody — especially the classical forms. Bollywood has, in turn, been in sync with the trait, so film music charts nowadays are ruled by club remixes of old Hindi dance numbers or Punjabi pop hits.

Sure, there is a quota of Bollywoodised Sufi numbers that represents filmi melody but that genre, to, is hardly original fare. In any case, Bollywoodised Sufi has always been a minority stock.

POETIC ABSENCES

A reason, feel many popular music experts, is that content itself has become less receptive to poetry or poetic ideas in Hindi cinema. Veteran poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar, speaking to the media at a literary meet in Kolkata a while back, pointed out how there is “more razzmatazz than emotional depth in stories” lately, so the situations for songs are not emotional either. “Tunes that writers get today are not conducive for poetry. The tempo is such that words do not get the space to breathe,” said Akhtar.

The quickfix alternative is remix. A glance at gaana.com’s Bollywood top 50 chart for the week ending January 26 reveals four of the five biggest current

hits are remixes. Tanishk Bagchi’s Aankh marey for the Ranveer Singh-Sara Ali Khan superhit Simmba features the voices of Mika, Neha Kakkar and Kumar Sanu, and is number one on every chart. The song, a rehash of a hit number from the 1996 film Tere Mere Sapne, merely amps up the tempo with techno beats and reveals little creativity otherwise.

The same can be said for Chhamma chhamma in Fraud Saiyaan (rehashed from the 1998 release China Gate), Gali gali in KGF (the original number featured in the 1989 blockbuster Tridev), and Tere bin in Simmba (reinventing a traditional Sufi number, voiced by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan) — the other three remixes that occupy chartbusting space.

Dilbar in Satyameva Jayate, Laila in Raees, the Humma song in OK Jaanu, Lift teri bandh hai in Judwaa 2, Tamma tamma again in Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Dil mein ho tum in Why Cheat India, Ruk ruk ruk in Helicopter Eela, and Mehbooba in Fukrey

songs would include yaari-dosti bonhomie between two or more heroes, the sad number that played when lovers were torn apart, besides dance hits for sundry festival gigs. Even scenes of verbal jousts (between, say, hero and heroine) made for the odd, spirited qawwali.

Back in the heydays of Bollywood music, it was unthinkable to have a film without at least half a dozen songs, often more.

Filmmakers as well as the audience have evolved beyond that phase. If a story is engaging enough, new-generation viewers tend to get restless if songs disturb the narrative. Average films lately have two to three songs, when at all — that too, more often than not, used as part of the overall background score because, like a mandatory song count, lip-sync is also a dying fad in our films.

Film music has become more about watching a song than hearing it in recent times. That makes the choreographer a fat load richer than the lyricist in Bollywood right now.

359 mn

90 mn

111 mn

220 mn

AANKH MAREY (Simmba)

LAILA (Raees)

CHHAMMA CHHAMMA (Fraud Saiyaan)

GALI GALI (KGF)

DILBAR (Satyameva Jayate)

VIEWS

VIEWS

VIEWS

CLOCK YOUR 15 SECONDS OF VISUAL FAME

TikTok, an online platform for short-form mobile videos, has become a rage among the young and restless

SHORT-TERM INTENT

Clearly, these songs are not aimed at securing shelf life.

The objective is to generate noise (literally as dancefloor hits, and otherwise as marketing gimmicks on television and the net). Sense and sensibility are not an issue. Ishqwaala love makes sense only after one is chaar-botal vodka down, the GenNow Bollywood poet would tell you.

A shift in filmmaking approach is perhaps what accounts for the trend. Most new-age Hindi filmmakers are influenced by Hollywood when it comes to execution and storytelling. While that has made our films sleeker over the years, they have also taken away subtler notes of creativity.

Poetry and music have been a direct casualty. Following in the footsteps of Hollywood filmmakers, our directors and scriptwriters are increasingly avoiding the use of songs to explain emotions or narratives.

Till even a decade back, Bollywood films had a song for every reason. There was a song when the hero wanted to play pranks on the heroine, one (sometimes two) to underline their moment(s) of love, and one when the lovers fell out of love. Other ‘regular situations’ that screenplays readily accommodated for

346 mn VIEWS

CYBER FAD

Returns are among other recent remix hits.

New-age Bollywood music is clearly not aimed at securing shelf life. The objective is to generate noise as dancefloor hits, and act as marketing gimmicks

MELODY’S SWAN SONG

THE LACK of emotional depth in scripts is one reason why songs are no longer a priority for present-day Bollywood filmmakers

VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY

15

VIEWS

DIGI-GROOVERS: TikTokers get set to swing PRERNA MITTRA

A young boy with a tuft of brown hair is pushed on to the stage.

Hesitant at first, he flashes a smile and then shows off cool dance moves to court his audience. They cheer, he smirks. It ends there.

Only, the stage is actually a terrace garden. The cheering crowd is in fact a sound effect, and the boy is really looking straight into a camera. It’s all just a recording.

Welcome to the virtual world of TikTok, where the boy, a ‘muser’, happens to be an undisputed ‘king’.

For those who came in late: TikTok is the new twist to showbiz. It is the app that lets you live out your moviestar dreams.

There’s the real world and there is the virtual, and TikTok lets you create your own pop culture by seamlessly blending the two.

Currently a rage on social media, TikTok is a platform that allows musers to post 15-second mobile videos. The app comes with a suitable tagline, too: “Make every second count”.

Akin to Vines, TikTok was formerly known as Musical.ly and has most musers posting videos of them dancing and/or lip-synching to popular songs or movie dialogues.

“With great filters, features, hashtag challenges and awards, TikTok gives me the space to make musical videos with creativity,” says 29-year-old Bengaluru-based TikTok fanatic Namrata Dutta. Mumbai-based journalist Bhawna Munjal, 27, agrees.

“There’s no language barrier.

Also, making videos is fun. I get to test my acting skills!” she says.

For 26-year-old Archana Nandkumar from Kerala, TikTok is everyday catharsis. “My content mostly comprises Tamil and Malayalam movie dialogues and songs that I lip-sync to. It

helps me de-stress,” she says.

Nandkumar is a student and Dutta works in a financing firm, but on TikTok they are all stars with accompanying fanfare.

This is how TikTok works: musers post videos on their account to win ‘hearts’ (meaning ‘likes’) and ‘fans’. The ones with the most hearts and fans are crowned ‘kings’ and ‘queens’.

They get little crowns next to their pictures. The videos often spill over to other apps as Instagram and YouTube.

According to TikTok India division, the app’s USP is its artificial intelligence technology that en-

The app allows users to create content by blending global trends with local flavours ables video and image recognition, besides 3D stickers, filters, video shooting and editing tools.

The app’s localisation strategy lets musers blend global trends with local flavours. Sources at the app company add that though there were initial apprehensions about the transition from Musical.ly, the process has been a seamless one.

However, what’s cool for some is cringe-worthy for others. A Facebook page by the name of Boys who cry passionately on Musically India exists solely to troll musers who emote their guts out. Most musers, though, agree that the response to videos in terms of sheer numbers is the satisfaction that they seek.

Diva’s diktat “There are no such things as trends.

Every time you follow a trend, something new will happen and that will become the new trend.”

KATRINA KAIF

on being a trendsetter

16

Arts Firstpost.

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

ART

SCREENING

EXPERIENCE

ALTERED REALITIES: AN UNCONVENTIONAL FAIR, STUDIO KHIRKI, DELHI

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JAN 31 – FEB 5, `200-250

FEB 1-3 , `399-1,599

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Art Fair

Open Air

Shades of Shekhawati: Walls that tell a thousand odd tales SAUMYA AGARWAL

INSIGHT

THE PAINTINGS often intermingle with fascinating results such as gods listening to gramophones, riding cars or playing musical instruments

J

esus Christ contemplates, puffing a cigar. Ram and Sita are off to a spin in a vintage convertible, and who should be at the wheel but Lakshman. Ganesh strikes up a spirited melody on a concertina.

Those surreal twists to mythology are actually creative bursts of art, brought alive as iconic wall paintings of Shekhawati.

Shekhawati is a region in Rajasthan that is famous for its heavily-muraled buildings. The region is made up of several towns with thousands of painted buildings that include havelis, temples, shops and cenotaphs. Most of these buildings were financed by Marwari merchant families, who made their money conducting business with the caravan trade that passed through the region. Later, these families also traded with the British, primarily in cotton, jute and opium, which brought them tremendous wealth. This in turn helped set

up the most prolific period of painting in the region.

The paintings are distinct in art and imagination — for instance, the mural of Christ smoking a cigar. Christ has his right hand up in benediction, but an imaginative artist, possibly sensing some sort of a lack, has inserted a cigar between the fingers. Interpretations may vary from regarding this as an act of misrecognition, a fanciful addition, or satirical subversion.

Whichever way you choose to look at it, the artistic inventiveness makes the wall paintings of Shekhawati unique.

Earliest examples of the paintings, from the middle of the eighteenth century, were executed by painters from artistic ateliers in Jaipur. By the second half of the nineteenth century, with increase in demand for decorated buildings, many locals, particularly the potter community, were commissioned to decorate walls.

This not only resulted in a wider variety of styles, but also brought in a certain freedom of expression, un-

Man steals painting worth $1m from art gallery in Moscow

THESE PAINTINGS

challenge the assumption that modernity has brought a schism between the sacred and the secular

A first-of-its-kind Bharatnatyam rendition DATE

D FEB 8-10

VENUE

ODDBIRD THEATRE

oing away with the traditional and bringing to fore a spellbinding presentation, ‘Questioning Frontality’ — as the name suggests — introduces new elements of eye contact, physical touch and floor work in Bharatnatyam. Presented by the Vyuti Dance Company, the choreography and the staging have been designed to create multiple viewing fronts, as opposed to just one. In this vision, basic technique and form are broken and rebuilt, making it an interesting experiment. Don’t miss out on this one.

shackled as these painters were from more classical imperatives.

The artists fell back on a variety of sources for inspiration, and the paintings seamlessly captured the effects of novel commodities, technologies and images that made their way into the region, from the middle of the nineteenth century. Depictions of trains, planes, bicycles, cars and gramophones, mixed with more traditional religious imagery, therefore, abound on these walls.

What strikes one is the fact that these images not only share the same canvas — the walls of Shekhawati buildings — but also often intermingle, with fascinating results such as gods listening to gramophones, riding cars or playing musical instruments.

It has often been argued that the advent of modernity has resulted in a schism between the sacred and the secular, particularly in the West, with these categories increasingly being defined in opposition of each other.

If that be the case, the wall paintings of Shekhawati challenge such an assumption. One sees a seamless blending of assuredly secular technology with images of divinity.

This easy intermingling between new technologies and the divine also had to do with the element of the spectacular that was associated with these technologies. Often the way these technologies travelled was first through an image, with the actual product following much later.

In fact, some depictions of novel inventions were based purely on the apocryphal that rendered a quaint quotient to them. This is seen in a painting of a couple in a hot air balloon, for instance. In this image, the man can be seen blowing into the balloon in an attempt to keep it aloft!

The wall painting tradition lasted until the middle of the twentieth century. Around that time, a majority of Marwari families gradually moved away from the area to metropolitan centres like Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi. With demand for wall paintings ending, the painters also took to other professions.

Thus ended this very singular tradition of art, almost as suddenly as it had started.

Saumya Agarwal is a PhD candidate at the University of Heidelberg, and has been researching on Shekhawati wall paintings since 2013

Be the Change

P

retending to be an employee, a man nonchalantly took down a painting worth one million dollars (or £760,000) from a gallery in Russia’s Moscow, in front of unsuspecting visitors. Later, he boldly walked out with it.

In the CCTV footage, the man is seen calmly examining the work of art titled ‘Ai-Petri. Crimea’, before taking it off the wall at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

A 20th-century mountain landscape, the painting is said to be the work of Russian artist Arkhip Kuindzhi. It was later recovered undamaged after the Russian police nabbed the 31-year-old suspect following a tip-off.

Tapped

EARLIEST PAINTINGS were executed by painters from artistic ateliers in Jaipur. As demand surged, many locals, including potters, were commissioned to decorate the walls of the havelis, by the second half of the nineteenth century

 GETTYIMAGES

& CULTURE

Events Calender

A

Banksy mural remembering the victims of the 2015 terror attack in Paris’ Bataclan concert hall, was reported stolen, between January 25 and 26. The mural — which was painted on one of the hall’s emergency doors — was that of a doleful young female. According to local media, the mural was taken away by “a group of hooded individuals” using “angle grinders”. The mural was one of Banksy’s many artworks that cropped up around the city in June 2018. The identity of the famous street artist remains unknown. In November 2015, three men had gunned down 90 Who stole the people and critically injured several others at the Bataclan concert hall.

Banksy mural?

Taken!

“I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck” EMMA GOLDMAN Writer

Firstpost.

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

17

Disruption POWERED BY

tech updates ENVIRONMENT

New space tech to predict droughts months in advance

LIFE & TECHNOLOGY

Researchers at the Australian National University have engineered a new space technology to predict droughts up to five months in advance. They have gathered data from different satellites to accurately measure water below the surface of the Earth, and relate this to the impact of droughts on vegetation many months later. The researchers say their success comes after many years of attempts in the field to predict droughts by looking down from the sky. Now that such a technology exists, it also opens up the possibility of preparing for droughts well ahead of time and with more certainty than ever before.

CELEBRATING CHEMISTRY

 TRIPARNA

UNESCO celebrates 150th birthday of the periodic table

The truth about Lutyens Zone WHAT’S EATING DELHI? In its power corridors and elite social circles lies a spatial void, one that’s a sad reminder of an unequal society

JAGAN SHAH

I

n December 1960, when a group of Rajya Sabha members questioned a proposal to construct 18-storey ‘skyscrapers’ on the central vista in New Delhi — the linear swathe of land between the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the National Stadium — the-then central minister for works, housing and supplies, KC Reddy, ended the debate matter-of-factly. “When we have got vacant space on which we can build, certainly there is no justification for us to go to faraway places, three or four miles away from Delhi,” he said. That the centre of the national capital could be redeveloped because the government needed additional office space is the kind of pragmatism that has vanished altogether. In 2016, the incumbent minister of urban development had to use gentle coercion to vacate hundreds of government bungalows, whose residents refused to move even though they no longer held public office.

In New Delhi’s elite social circles and corridors of power, considerable prestige and social capital adheres to a ‘Lutyens bungalow’, of which there are about a thousand in all, with about 90 per cent owned by the government.

The 28.73 square kilometres of the Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ) contains barely two per cent of Delhi’s area and population and commands astronomical property values — one recent estimate put the total assessment at over ` 2.5 lakh crores! It is not surprising The New York Times recently described every plot in the LBZ as a ‘real estate Rolex’. Distorted property values may seem natural for an area that hosts premier government offices and enjoys ample space and verdure. But, with plot sizes varying from one acre to four acres and merely six to eight per cent ground coverage, the LBZ supports a sparse population density, only a third of the city average. Its location in the centre of an overcrowded metropolis accentuates the contrast that the celebrated urban historian Norma Evenson described in 1989 as a “doughnut-like configuration”. It does not need a Thomas Piketty to see the spatial void described by Evenson is a sad reminder of an unequal society.

The morphology of Lutyens Delhi is its most compelling attribute, one that is easy to preserve along with listed heritage properties. The network of streets and plots can generate an altered future when the elites of the LBZ can generously share the city with new occupants, perhaps children studying in spacious new schools and senior citizens receiving care. Without endangering heritage,

the heart of Delhi could throb with a vibrant society, economy and culture. It can accommodate more offices, specialised healthcare, schools and institutes, restaurants, boutiques, art galleries, performance spaces and cultural industries than it currently does.

Anyone who has experienced the Baroque vistas of the LBZ and admired the neoclassical grandeur of its many landmarks would find its utilitarian description in the Master Plan for Delhi rather insipid: “LBZ comprises large-size plots and has a very pleasant green environment. The essential character of wide avenues, large plots, extensive landscape and low-rise development, has a heritage value which has to be conserved.” While a Master Plan is not a document where one seeks eloquence, it is natural to wonder if the sensation and movement generated by the streets has been fully appreciated or if the “pleasant green environment” really means the 80-year-old indigenous trees such as neem, jamun, arjun and peepal, which give the LBZ coolth in summer and misty chill in winter. Tomes can be written about its nuances, but the complex values LBZ evokes are perversely interdicted by the phrase ‘has to be conserved’.

It would seem the LBZ has been assiduously conserved but the regulatory plan is only 30 years old during which the zone has been subjected to new delineations, high-rise constructions, changes of land use and other modifications enabled by a myriad tweaks in numerous guidelines, regulations and norms.

The dogma of conserving the LBZ has been upheld by multiple committees, agencies and bodies that control its destiny while the LBZ itself has been continually changed, ‘from time to time’. The proliferating opinions of a myriad experts have created a symbolic overload, a surfeit of significance, whereas the need is for frank engagement with a basic question: how can the value of the land determine its usage? The fait accompli about conservation disrupts the fundamental link between spatial and economic planning.

The policy direction for the LBZ will surely inform the new 20-year Master Plan for Delhi being prepared for notification by 2021.

Experts believe it will be the last chance for framing a sustainable development pathway for the city, therefore MPD-41 will depart from business-as-usual. It will map the prevailing ground realities as the basis for planning and regulation, integrate economic, spatial, environmental, physical and transportation planning, and replace the artificial segregation of land uses with market-responsive mixed land uses. To what extent these departures should affect the future of the LBZ is an issue that must be widely debated.

The writer is director, National Institute of Urban Affairs

The network of streets and plots in the LBZ can generate an altered future when its elites can share the city with new occupants

2%

OF DELHI’S AREA AND POPULATION IS CONTAINED IN THE 28.73-SQUARE KILOMETRE SPACE OF THE LUTYENS BUNGALOW ZONE

To celebrate the 150th birthday of the periodic table of chemical elements, the UN scientific agency is organising a year of events. The table that organises chemical elements by the number of protons in a given atom and other properties, was first published by Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleev in 1869. UNESCO kicked off the ‘International Year of the Period Table of Chemical Elements’ on January 29 with a ceremony that included a Nobel chemistry laureate and Russia’s science minister, among other dignitaries.

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Firstpost.

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Sports

AND FITNESS

action pack AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2019

DJOKOVIC HITS NEW LEVEL OF PERFECTION AGAINST NADAL IN ONE-SIDED WIN

There were phases of eerie silence at the Rod Laver Arena. Perhaps it was because a majority of the 20,000-plus crowd was rooting for Rafael Nadal but mostly because their hero was being so comprehensively pulverised. Playing with surgical precision, the Serb executed a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over Nadal in only two hours and four minutes.

Djokovic’s best took tennis to another level of perfection. In three sets, he made all of nine unforced errors and won 56 of 69 points on his serve. He elevated his return game against the new and improved Nadal serve, winning 42 per cent of the receiving points. The two have played 53 times, more than any two players in history. The Serb has won five of the eight Grand Slam finals they have played and is 28-25 in the head-to-head record.

SUPRITA DAS

T

he Class 12 boards for long have been the make-or-break exam, one that sets a young person on the path to success or on the dirt road to drudgery. For Aishwarya Pissay, the dreaded school-leaving experience was of the breaking kind, only that it set her up for the biggest break of her life: motorcycling.

And what a ride it has been for the 22-year-old from Bengaluru, now fresh off her fifth national motor racing title. Three of Pissay’stitles have come in road racing, the other two at rallies. Pissay recently competed in her first international race — the Spanish Baja Aragon — where she was the first Indian woman.

She was also the only woman in 2017 to complete the Raid de Himalaya.

“In some sense, I was the family’s black sheep,” says Pissay. “At home, everyone’s done things in textbook fashion, and insisted I do a 9-to-5 job, but that wasn’t my thing.”

The 81st edition of Tata Steel Chess (also known as Wijk aan Zee tournament) concluded on January 27 with Magnus Carlsen clinching the title. For India’s Viswanathan Anand this annual chess meet holds a very special place. In 1989, Anand had bagged his first title in Wijk. After 30 years, he has played it 18 more times and is still going strong. This year, he finished joint third with a score of 7½ out of a possible 13. “It’s one of those tournaments that I know the best... it’s a bit like coming home,” he told Firstpost. Anand says while the tournament has kept its original flavour intact, it has adapted to the needs of the time.

A FEATHER IN THE CAP

LI NA’S INDUCTION INTO TENNIS HALL OF FAME IS A NO-BRAINER

KNIGHT RIDER

Most global superstars experience a specific moment in their careers when they go from being merely great to legendary. What was that moment for Li Na, the newest inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame?

Her speech at the presentation ceremony after winning the 2014 Australian Open. That was her second major title, but it was the first time the whole world noticed her skills that went beyond the court. She was funny and witty in those three minutes of impromptu zinger-delivering, and her lines like “Max, agent, make me rich; thanks a lot” and “My husband; you are famous in China!” became instant comedy gold. If you ask a fan about Li Na, they are likely to answer: “Oh, that lady with the brilliant speeches?”

Riding a bike was her thing and that is what Pissay loves more than anything else in the world. She started racing because she wasn’t sure what to do after failing her boards. But she was ready to explore, and biking clicked.

What started as fun weekend trips with friends and borrowed bikes soon got serious. In 2014, Pissay participated in a show on MTV that saw her cover around 8,000 km from the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat to Cherrapunji in 24 days.

Pissay had found her calling.

Two years later, she enrolled in Coimbatore’s Apex Racing Academy and took part in her first competitive race.

She failed miserably, but that only egged her on to do better and choose motorcycle racing as a career. “I failed my exams and now wanted to become a biker,” she says.

When Pissay moved to TVS, she found the financial and technical support required to pursue her passion. Soon, she

RANJI TROPHY 2018-19

IT’S NOT PUJARA’S FAULT THAT BCCI DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH QUALITY UMPIRES

‘India’s first voter’ on Page 6 in the issue dated Jan 26-Feb 3 incorrectly says “Indira Gandhi took her party from 518 to 153 seats”. It should have read “from 352 to 153 seats”.

The headline ‘Soccer star Salas dies in plane crash day after Nantes farewell’ on Page 19 is misleading as he is missing, presumed dead. Also, his name is Sala, not Salas.

was juggling on and off-road races in Chennai, Bengaluru and Coimbatore.

“You don’t see girls at these events often; the ratio of men to women is quite off, so of course I was told this isn’t the right thing for me, and that I wouldn’t last beyond a year,” she says.

Five national titles later, Pissay has turned some of those critics into fans.

FIERCE COMPETITOR

Pissay doesn’t let gender get into the way. “I’m always asked if it’s tougher for me because I’m a girl, but that’s not the case,” she says. “I’m not trying to prove something because I am a girl.

The conditions are the same for men and me. Yes, they are physically stronger, that is why I work as hard as they do.”

That’s the kind of fire that has seen Pissay overcome some pretty unthinkable scenarios in her three-year career.

At the Spanish Baja Aragon last year, she had a crash that impacted her abdomen.

With no visible external injury, Pissay, just got up, picked up her 140-kg bike and finished the 10 km that were left for the day. Later, it was found she’d suffered a pancreatic rupture. She was bound to a hospital bed for a month, only to return triumphant after four months to bag her fifth national title.

Last year, she broke her collar bone into three during a race. She let the doctors insert a steel plate and a few screws, got up from bed in five days despite being asked to rest, worked with a physiotherapist, took part in a race, and won it with a round to spare. “Well, it could’ve happened while falling down the stairs,” she says, “At least it happened while doing something I love.”

Pissay looks up to Indian off-road racer CS Santosh. Santosh is also the only Indian to have successfully completed the Dakar Rally, a gruelling off-road endurance event in South America. That’s what Pissay is currently working towards – becoming the first Indian woman to take part in the extreme challenge that Dakar offers.At one point, Pissay wanted to be a pilot. She’s flying high on two wheels instead, and it’s something the daredevil doesn’t complain about.

The writer is an independent sports journalist.

She has authored Free Hit: The Story of Women’s Cricket in India

At home, everyone’s done things in a textbook fashion, and insisted I do a 9-5 job, but that wasn’t me...

AISHWARYA PISSAY

Vrooming Ahead





“A lead of seven points is a lot, but we’re not in April or May. There are still many games left and anything can happen”

DAREDEVIL Fresh off her fifth national motor racing title, the 22-year-old is currently working towards becoming the first Indian woman to participate in the extreme endurance challenge that Dakar offers

‘IT’S A BIT LIKE HOMECOMING’: ANAND ON COMPLETING 30 YEARS SINCE HIS WIJK WIN

RED INK

ON MAN CITY TITLE HOPES AFTER NEWCASTLE LOSS

Two-wheeled wonder woman

BLAST FROM THE PAST

The parochial crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium kept screaming “cheater... cheater” to let their anger known against Cheteshwar Pujara on the fourth day of Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy semi-final against Karnataka.

Twitter tore apart Pujara, with many Karnataka fans of the opinion that he should have walked after nicking a delivery from R Vinay Kumar to the wicketkeeper when on 34. Umpire Saiyed Khalid did not raise his finger, and Pujara stood his ground. The standard of umpiring in Indian domestic cricket has been poor for many seasons now. The onus lies on BCCI to improve the country’s umpiring standards.

Pep Guardiola

ALISHA ABDULLAH

26-year-old Abdullah started her motorsport career at nine with go-karting, claiming a tonne of podiums and awards.

In 2015, she represented India at the Toyota Vios Cup and became the first Indian woman to get a podium finish in an international motorsport competition.

MIRA ERDA

18-year-old Erda started her racing career in 2010 and has been winning podiums in the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship.

Last year, she also became first ever Indian female racer in the Euro JK Series, competing in the single-seater Euro Formula BMW cars.

SNEHA SHARMA

26-year-old Sharma was all of 16 when she tried her hand at racing. She has been a regular at the Rotax karting championship, while also winning in the Volkswagen D Polo Cup, Toyota Etios Motor Racing, Rotax Rookie Race, JK Tyres Four-Stroke Championship.

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

Firstpost.

Sports

19

TENNIS SENSATION

WHY SETTLE FOR MOON IF STARS ARE IN REACH? The world has now embraced Number 1-ranked Naomi Osaka with the gusto it usually has for champions

 IMAGING

SUKHWANT BASRA

How slow-and-steady India entered life in the fast lane AYAZ MEMON

INSIGHT

MANY CLAIM that India’s pace attack is the best.

However, it will be premature to tag them unless they sustain this wicket-taking form for years

D

eliveries crashing into the stumps before bat comes down, balls rearing off the pitch menacingly, batsmen weaving and ducking against bouncers or being beaten repeatedly by pace and swing.

Till a couple of seasons ago, the Indian team had to suffer this whenever they played outside the sub-continent, without having the wherewithal to give it back as good as they got. This almost inevitably worked to their acute disadvantage where results were concerned.

But it was a different ball game in 2018, as the country’s premier pacemen — Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma — rattled rival teams and bagged 136 Test wickets. This is a fantastic statistic in itself, made even more remarkable by the fact that Bumrah, who claimed 48 wickets in nine Tests, was in his first year in Test cricket.

Critics as well as present and former players are in fact saying that India’s pace attack is the best, most potent in the world presently, rivalled only perhaps by South Africa which also boasts of five or six quality fast bowlers.

Great teams can’t be forged without great fast bowlers. Don Bradman’s Invincibles had Lindwall and Miller. So much success of Clive Lloyd’s West Indies of the 1970s and 80s was built around Roberts, Holding, Marshall and Garner. Pakistan were most dangerous when Imran and Sarfraz were in tandem, followed by Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib Akhtar. South Africa were at their best when Donald, Pollock and Ntini had teamed up. The Aussie team between 1995 and 2005 had McGrath, Gillespie and Lee. It would be premature to put India’s current pace attack in the same category unless they sustain this wicket-taking form for more years. On evidence so far, Bumrah, Shami and Ishant have shown the skill and desire. And there are several other quality fast bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Khaleel Ahmed who are also vying for Test places.

Clearly, something unusual is happening in Indian cricket for fast bowlers to flourish

with such success. and India with spin.

Which takes me back a little over five decOne factor could be that pre-Partition, Laades to the Test match at Bombay’s Crickhore and West Punjab (which went to Paet Club of India against the West Indies in kistan) was the hub of fast bowlers. In east 1966-67, led by the peerless Sir Garfield India, primarily Calcutta, medium-paced Sobers, which I saw as an impressionaswing bowlers thrived, but sporting excelble 11-year-old. That match has remained lence in this zone was reflected more in football than cricket in that era. The other etched in my mind for several reasons. High major factor was the success enjoyed by among these are Sobers’s all-round brilIndia spinners in the 1950s, which made liance, Chandu Borde’s gritty 121 as other them heroes to emulate. batsmen fell around him to the pace and It was not until Kapil Dev cut through fury of Wesley Hall and Charlie Griffith, this theme, arriving on the scene like a and unorthodox leg-spinner BS Chandrasebolt out of the blue in 1978, that fast bowlkhar’s superb bowling which fetched him 11 wickets even as India crashed to defeat. ing was even discussed seriously in Indian There is one other abiding memory too, cricket circles.

Transformational changes in sport can an important link nonetheless in undertake a while to reach fruition though. The standing how Indian cricket has evolved: India’s opening bowlers in this Test were impact of Kapil’s influence began to be felt opening batsman ML Jaisimha and debuonly from the 1990s with the arrival of fast tant left-hand batsman Ajit Wadekar. bowlers like Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Zaheer Khan, and a few others.

For writing this piece, I checked the match The last 15-odd years have seen a boom scorecard again and discovered that bein fast bowlers in the country. What has tween them, Jaisimha and Wadekar were triggered this? Sachin Tendulkar, who I used for just 4.1 of the 226 overs bowled by spoke to on the sidelines of an event reIndia. I also recall Indian fielders would roll cently, highlighted better facilities, the ball along the ground while returnpitches that help fast bowlers ing it to the bowlers to try and in domestic cricket, greater remove the sheen! This was awareness of fitness, appliagainst cricket convention, but not quite startling now cation of sports medicine, when you consider that the and, not the least, the Inditeam had four spinners in an Premier League.

Test wickets taken Chandrasekhar, Durrani, The IPL, he said, has not

by Bumrah, Shami Nadkarni and Venkataonly created demand for and Sharma fast bowlers, but also enaraghavan. Did India not have in 2018 even two decent fast bowlers, I bled young pacemen to share had wondered then. The answer experiences with accomplished is telltale if you examine the scorebowlers from India or overseas. boards of Tests played in the 1960s and I would add one more vital ingredient to even 70s. Apart from Jaisimha and Wadekar, this: the growing ambition of Indian players some other names that used the new ball to succeed overseas, which is very difficult for India include Pataudi, Kunderan (a wickwithout fast-bowling resources. All these et-keeper), and even Gavaskar! put together have made fast bowling ‘sexy’, India has produced some outstanding leading to a massive spurt in talent coming spinners. But this obscures the fact that from the remotest parts of the country. in the early decades, it was fast bowlers India, suddenly, has become the reposwho were the more effective. itory of the best fast-bowling talent in the world.

In India’s maiden Test against England in Who would have thought this possible 1932, the players to make the most impact even five years back? were fast bowler Mohammed Nisar and his partner Amar Singh. Post-Partition, PakiThe author is a senior sports writer and journalist stan became identified with pace bowling

136

THE TESTS AND TRIUMPH OF 2018

Bumrah, Shami and Ishant broke the 34-year-old record set by the West Indies trio of Joel Garner, Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall who took 130 wickets in 1984.

J Bumrah

M Shami

AVERAGE

I Sharma

MATCHES

U Yadav

WICKETS

B Kumar

21.02

26.97

21.80

21.40

20.30

9

12

11

5

2

48

47

41

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on the junior international tennis federation circuit. Rather, she followed the principle of constant escalation by beginning to take on the bigger girls on the women’s circuit from the age of 14. The interesting bit is that she moved on from the entry-level tournaments without even winning one!

Till date she has just won three WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) titles, just that two of them happen to be Grand Slams.

Too often we see parents and coaches obsessing about early results. Osaka’s success, once again, illustrates that junior results don’t necessarily pan out to senior stardom. That they are not the yardstick to measure an athlete by. This, of course, brings into question the format of support followed by most of our federations which would rather go by the conventional norm of backing those with early success instead of investing in the controversial ask of actually scouting potential.

Either one can follow a periodisation plan that focuses on development of a fledgling physique or lay off to win at the junior level. The 5’11” Osaka obviously didn’t and the focus now reflects in her massive serve and power in the groundstrokes that

t all starts with a dream. But dreams have the propensity to stay mere fantasies unless propped astride the bulwark of sweat.

The world has now embraced Naomi Osaka with the gusto it has for champions; her years of toil are but a footnote that only the discerning will sieve through to get to the essence.

Osaka was not even two when her Haiti-born father Leonard Maxime Francois while flipping channels saw the Williams sisters claim the French Open doubles title. He decided his two daughters — Mari is 18 months older — would follow the roadmap charted by the prodigal Richard Williams to groom his wards into the most successful siblings in women’s tennis.

That dream culminated 19 years later into his daughter being crowned the world Number 1. Osaka is 21 with the reserve one would expect a Hafu ( Japanese for mixed-race) to wear like an armour. Japan, the nation she represents, doesn’t have a great history of embracing those that don’t meet its stilted notions of racial purity. Osaka’s mother Tamaki, a Japanese, was labelled a disgrace to the family and did not meet her parents for nearly 15 years after her marriage to Francois. Now, that island nation can no longer entertain disdain for its greatest tennis player ever. Osaka has not only broken through to the top of the tennis world, she has also forced an ancient culture to re-examine its very fundamentals.

Now, that’s a dream worth living. Now a dream has morphed into a revolution.

What was the domain of great coaches with humungous experience has now been thrust into the lay reader’s psyche through the pop-book Outliers.

In his assimilation of research which had till then been confined to obscure journals, author Malcolm Gladwell outlined comes from legs that are pillars the 10 years and 10,000 hours of muscle and sinew. The earof deliberate perfect practice ly exposure to better players mantra. It is now common- is the key that allowed her to ly known that it takes over a unlock the quagmire of nerves decade of practice with three that’s bound to hit anyone who hours of work every day to misses three match points to achieve world-class status, no tie a match at a set apiece (she matter what field you choose came back from a 0-2 deficit in the decisive third to seal her to excel in.

Grooming world-beating ath- Australian Open win). letes needs that kind of vision, Even as an athlete looks to that kind of maniacal commit- reach for the stars that shine ment. Osaka’s success has val- eternal instead of settling for a uable lessons for an Indian par- fickle moon with its many seaent looking to groom an elite sons, sport stays a capricious sportsperson. deity. The same plan that saw The most important lesson Osaka soar hasn’t really worked is the sheer amount of time for her sister. Such is the ruthit takes. To attain perfection, lessness of sport that Mari’s WTA one has to keep adding layers player profile page doesn’t even of systematic work. This has to have her picture as she hovers at be age-specific and it has to be 332 in the world rankings. Her sister’s are breaking the internet. sport-specific.

The Osaka story has a perEven though Osaka began playing at the age of three, ex- tinent learn: miracles happen perts discourage early speciali- only if you dare to reach out sation and instead stress on ac- for them. For success in sport, tivation of the neuro-muscular Robert Browning will always pathways of the body through stay relevant: “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, multi-sport exposure.

In Osaka’s case, even though or what’s a heaven for?” she began to learn the skill very early, she did not face the oner- The author is a senior sports writer and ous load of delivering early re- the former national sports editor of the sults — she didn’t compete much Hindustan Times

Till date Osaka has won three WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) titles, just that two of them happen to be Grand Slams

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Lastword Firstpost.

SATURDAY, FEB 2 - 8, 2019

PURULIA ACCUSED KIM DAVY OFF INDIA’S RADAR 13

SIGNING OFF FOR THE WEEK

WHO WILL WIN?

Forecast

PM to lay foundation stone of J&K AIIMS Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jammu and Kashmir on February 3 to lay the foundation stones for a host of projects, including an AIIMS hospital in Samba district. Ahead of the visit, a massive search operation was conducted along the Indo-Pakistan border in the district.

Trump’s State of the Union speech on Feb 5 US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP WILL DELIVER THE ANNUAL STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS ON FEBRUARY 5 AFTER ACCEPTING AN INVITATION FROM HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, WHO HAD POSTPONED IT DUE TO THE PARTIAL SHUTDOWN OF THE US GOVERNMENT.

LOK SABHA POLLS

AAP to name candidates from Delhi this week Ruling out an alliance with the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party has said it will announce the final list of candidates for Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats in the first week of February. Last year, the party had named five potential candidates, triggering speculation that it had left the remaining two seats for the Congress.

Revamp induction process to sort out the CBI NAVNEET RAJAN WASAN

THE UGLY fight between the two top CBI officials is just the tip of the iceberg. The problem is far more deep-seated than commonly understood

THIS, there is no doubt about: India’s premier anti-corruption investigation agency faces the most serious crisis since its inception. The ugly fight between its two top officials who levelled corruption allegations against each other is just a part of the larger problem. Three previous Directors and a Special Director are being investigated for corruption; there are a welter of similar allegations among its own investigators; acquittals and even discharges of cases are on the rise.

Now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India Rajan Gogoi and Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge are trying to find an officer who can resuscitate the comatose organisation.

Irrespective of who they select, the solution will only be skin deep because the real problem in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) runs far deeper than most understand.

The problem is not new. In its 1997

Vineet Narain judgment, the Supreme Court gave the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) functional control of the CBI in a bid to contain government interference, and called for the setting up of a selection panel to choose its director.

Later, though modified through the CVC Act, and subsequently by the Lokpal & Lokayukta Act, the move came unstuck. It was believed that the Director, who was given a two-year fixed tenure in the new system and could be removed only on the recommendation of the committee which proposed his induction, would ensure the CBI’s autonomy. This has patently failed. Why? Earlier, the selection of officers up to the rank of Deputy Inspector-General was made on the recommendation of a junior board, and other senior officers on the recommendation of a senior board. These boards consisted of the CBI Director and other senior officers of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The recommenda-

tions of the senior board were, in turn, approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

IPS officers working in states were cherry-picked based on their integrity, competence and aptitude for investigation. For senior officers, a CBI stint held the key. The system didn’t always work, but sending undeserving officers back to their cadre was a simple process.

The dilution of time-tested internal checks and balances has led to the current sorry state of affairs.

Falling standards of human resource and poor leadership have led to a decline in the credibility and professionalism of the CBI. Fixing it will need major structural reforms.

In a meeting of an hour or so, the PM, the CJI and the Leader of the Opposition have little time to sift between many apparently-qualified personnel.

The only way forward is to revamp the induction process. An empowered selection panel, assisted by independent

experts, should be tasked with screening eligible officers, and making elaborate background checks regarding their integrity and professional competence.

The committee could shortlist four or five officers, ranking them on merit, and provide the list to the Selection Committee.

The CVC-led panel meant for selecting supervisory officers should be similarly assisted by a body of independent professionals. The panel may also take into account the inputs of the CBI’s internal vigilance unit.

The selected senior officers must meet clearly-defined standards of professional acumen. The policy of inducting senior officers who have no past record must be reversed.

Officers who have distinguished themselves in their previous tenure must be preferred over others.

Investigation officers of experience and proven integrity from the different state police forces, must be drawn to

the organisation. These officers could return to the states, like IPS officers on deputation, after an interval of five or six years, carrying with them invaluable investigation experience.

Finally, a note of caution. Parliamentary committees, and others, have suggested that direct recruitment to the CBI at different ranks needs to be increased, gradually reducing induction on deputation. I believe that would be a perfect recipe for disaster. Not only do directly recruited officers lack the experience of investigators from the state police forces, it becomes extremely difficult to remove those suspected of corruption or inefficiency.

Tinkering with the system isn’t going to solve the problem. We have to get down to the task of rethinking it, bottom-up.

The writer, an IPS officer, served in senior positions in the NIA & CBI. He retired as DG, Bureau of Police Research & Development

Printed and published by Ankit Singh on behalf of Network18 Media & Investments Limited. Printed at HT media Press, Plot No. 8, Industrial Area, Greater Noida, Dist-Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh and published at 428, Fourth Floor, Westend Mall, Near District Centre, Janak Puri, Main Najafgarh Road, New Delhi – 110058. Editor BV Rao, RNI NO. DELENG/2018/76684.