Why the Mahatma matters even today

Justice Michael Kirby delivers the annual Gandhi Oration at UNSW

ilie due process of Jaw.

He is well known as a skilled raconteur - and this time again, Justice ~t:ichael Kirby, lawyer, judge and social comment.'ltor, did not disappoint. Addressing a packed audience, the accomplished orator's trademark courage and intelligence shone through brilliantly as he tried co answer the question of wbat Gandhi would do today, and whether h is ideals are still relevanc. The occasion was the seco nd Gandhj Oration to mark Martyrdom Day, the day tl1e revered ] ndian leader was assassinated, and was organised by tbe Austrilia India Institute atUNSW

Moha ndas Gandhi and Michael Kirby, both lawyers and advocates of human rights, do have a few things in common. Just as Gandhi won me hearts of his people as he led them to independence from tbe British, so 1V1ichael Kirby has won the Jove and admiration of his own countrymen as he urges mem to think compassionately on a range of salient social issues

If one was tl1e Famer of the Nacion, the other is a National Living Treasure.

Kirb y spoke on Gandhi's position on a list of issues tl1a t hold special significance in h is own life: women's rights, climate change, animal rights and human sexuality.

The Delhi rape case of Decernber 2012 that brought the citizens of India out o n tbe streets, was bound to feamre in tl1e address. Justice IGrby outlined a sitnilar case that took p lace in Sydney in 1886, reminding the audience not to get "too sel frighteous about Delhi: violence against women is endemic in tbe world" He went on to appreciate me marmer in wh ich tl1e law has taken its course in me matter: tl1e setting up of two offic ial enquiries, and the holding back of the recommendation of the death penalty, beca L1se "hanging doe s not deter or prevent such offences. It is che risk o f de tection a nd speedy and proper determination of guilt mat does so" And mat, Kirby concluded, is what Gandhi would say about tl1e case: he would condemn tl1e brutality of tl1e act and t he di srespect for women i c showcased, and th en insist upon

And yet, Kirby pointed o ut, for a m an who espo u sed abimsa (nonviolence), Gandhi did not hesitate to recommend violence in case of sexual arracks, writing, "God ba s g iven (woman) n ails and teetl1 - she must use tbem ·witl1 a ll her strengtl1"

Reg arding clin1ate change, Kirby r ecognized Gandhi's doctrines of self- sufficiency and simplicity as tenets of an early envi ronmentalism. (One famous Gandhi quote would bave gone down well here: ·'Tbe earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not eve ry man's greed"). And although

IGrby dismissed as impractical Gandhi's "extreme solutions" in terms of spinning h is own clom and grinding bis own grai n , the mess age of ecological restraint, f-.:irby claimed, came chco ugb loud and cl ear

On animal we l fare, another of Kirby's recent pass ions, there was much common ground to be found. Kirb y himself mrned vege tarian a few years ago, and as patron of ilie animal welfare o rganisation Voiceless, be has been campaigning for better animal laws in Australia including legitimate farming and slaughtering m e tl,ods He recoun ted, to some amusement, Gandhi's early attempts at eating meat (ostensib ly co grow monger and fighr the British), and chastising himself for lying to his parents about ic. And altl1ough Gandhi's embrace o f vegetariani sm was for purposes of spirimaJ upliftment, Kirby's support of it is co "protect the oche r sentient creatures that s hare the planet wiili us".

Much has been w ritten on the topic of Gandhi's sexuali ty in recent years: bis vow of celibacy, his abhorren ce of birth control, his inscn1ccion of sex co yo ung men a nd women in his ashram, and his "experiments'' on s leeping arrangements involving young women - all of whid1 Kirby found "other-worldly and cliscon.nected w ith reility".

Yet it was his somewhat detailed description of me alleged bomoeroticism in Ga ndhi's life tl1at tbe audience will remember most from tl1e event. Of course, it was notl1ing new, taken as it was from the 2011 book Great S011/.· lvfahatma Gandhi and His Stmggle With fodia b y Joseph Lil yveld In tl1is controversial book ban ned in some parts of L1dia, Lilyveld chronicles the relationship between Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach, a Ge rman Jewish body-builder and archirecc, revealed through letters. These letters, part of Kal!eobach's estate, are now held in the National Archives of India. LiJyveld inferred fro m tl1e letters tbat tl1e two bad lived rogemer "afte r Gandlu terminated marital relations with his wife". The references to tl1eir "mumal love", co portraits in the bedroom, co vase line and cotron wool, and to "Upper House" and " Lower House" nomenclanire led to such conclusions. A passionate gay rig hts campaigner hin1selfhaving come our in 1999 - Kirby rook tl1e oppo r mnity to call fo r me Supreme Conn 's repeal of Section 377 of tl1e Indian Penal Code drafted b y Thomas Macaulay in 1837, w h ich outlaws homosexuility and stan ds vilid to mis day. The Delhi High Co urt - "a great, indepe ndent court" - already invalidated tl1ar part of tl1e Code in 2009.

Inrerestiog!y, Lilyveld's work continues co be the o n l) source tl1at makes the clain1s on Gandhi's homoerocicism. Ocher works of Gand h i's sexu ilicy such as psychoanal ys t Sudhir Ka.kar 's Intimate Relations: Exp/ming Indian Sex11ali!)1 and ll'firn and tbe l'v[ahatma find no evi dence of homosexuality or homoeroticism. Other anal ys es of the letters suggest that the loaded terms could nor have been homoerotic for the time in which they were wticcen Kirby himself concluded, "A century on, who can tell what Gandhi meant?"

There is also the fact that no mention of homoerocicism is to be found in Gand h i's own w r itings - whic h is replete with honest accounts of other 'indiscretions' and 'm.isdemeanours' such as indulging his pass io n s ,vich his wife while his father lay dying i.n tl1e room next door, visiting prostitutes oo at least five different occasions (bur being saved by 'God' in the nick of time each time), and indulging in n on -contact sex ual activity such as bathi ng and nude massages and lying next to you ng women. ''My file is my message," he said famous ly If he had the courage to w rite with such complete ho nest)', surely the homoerotic episodes would have found mention somewhere as well?

In t he encl though, it is Gandhi's g reat grandson Tusshar Gandhi tl1at has t he lase word: "What does it matter if tbe Mahatma was straight, gay o r bisexual? He would still be the man tl1ac Jed India to freedo m. " He helped change tl1e world for not onl y 400 million Indians in the 1 940s, but also many m o re citizens of the world , even as the cenmry ticked over.

Neville Rnach, Parron of the Australia India lnstimte and organiser of ilie event, spoke glowingl y about Michael Kirby's speech. ·'lt was a powerful piece of work, extensively researched and quire a balanced perspective on Gandhiji's positions on a vatie~' of issues," he said on Indian Link Rndio

"Gandhiji himself embraced se lf-critical evaluation, as we all shouJd, and would have looked upon Michael's speech w itl1 tolerance," he concluded

Kashmir's first girl te enage rock band Pragaash, or First Light, from Indian - administered Ka shmir has decided t o quit a f ter t he re gion's top Muslim cle ric declared their music to be "un -lslamic': a ccording t o the ir man a ger Pragaash , a three -piece group whose members are still in high school, had been the target of an online ha te campaign e ve r sin ce winning a "Battle of the Bands" contest in Srinagar in Dece mber.

IAF eyes private vendors to replace Avro fleet

For the fuse time in its service, the Indian Air Force (L'\F) will buy transport aircraft from private vendors to replace its ageing Avro fleet.

"We will release this month an RFP (request for proposal) to acquire 56 cargo aircraft from the pri vate sector fo r replacing the indigenously-built Avros, which will be phased out," Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne said at an aerospace event.

Of the 56 aircraft, 16 will be pro cured offthe-shelf and the remaining 40 will be built in the coLmtry by a private consortium of overseas a nd domestic vendors.

Estimated to cost a total of about $3 billion (Rs.16,000 c rore), the defence ministry's acqui sition council has recently allowed tl1e air force to Aoat a global tender to purchase a twin-engine cargo aircraft in six-eight tonne class, w ith a cruise speed of 800 km per h our and a range of 2500-2800 km.

The v intage Hawker Siddeley 748M Avros, built by the state-run defence behemoth Hindu stan Aeronau tics Ltd (HAL) d uring the 1960s, were inducted into the IAF transport fleet for ferrying its personnel as well as heavy equipment.

The Avros are also being used for rescue and relief missions.

''Acquisition from non- PSUs (p L1blic seccor undertakings) w ill encourage the Indian private sector to des ign and develop a modem transport aircraft for m ilitary operations," Browne said at die internation al seminar on ''Aerospace P roductsChallenges in Design to Development" , being held ahead of the nintl1 edition of me biennial Ae ro India trade event.

The programme will also enable tl1e vendo rs co service the a ircraft besid es encouraging sm all and mediw11 enterprises to develop parts, sub -systems and accessories, as the first 16 aircraft will have 30 percent indigenous component and 60-80 percent in the remaining 40 aircraft.

Airbus Military with its C295 and J\Jenia Aermacchi with its C -27J are likel y to be in race for the multi -million dolliu: deal.

Obama award s science medal to Indian- American inventor

President Barack Obama bas awarded Rangaswarny Srinivasan, an lndian-American co -inventor of LASIK e ye surgery, wi th a national medal fo r science, technology and in novation along with 22 other researchers and inventors.

Srinivasan, 82, a.n inventor at IBM Thomas J. \Xlatson Research Ce n tre, rece ived die 20 I1 National J\,fed al of Technology and innovation with Samuel BlLm1and Jan1es \Xlynn e.

They were awarded for "me pioneering discovery of excimer laser ablative photodecompos ition of human and animal tissue, laying tl1e fo1U1dation for PRK and LASIK, laser refractive surgical cechni9 ues that have revolution ized vision enhancement," according co the \,'(/hire House citation.

Lauding tl1e recip ients for tl1eir hard work and contributions at a \Xlhite House ceremony, Obama joked that tl1ey represented "the g reatest collection of brainpower we've had UJ1d er tl1is roof in a long time."

The medals represent the highest honours tl, e US governmem can give to scientists, engineers, and inventors.

Speaking in the East Room of tl,e White House, Obama Aanked by Dr Subra Suresh, Indian-American head of the National Science Fmm clation, ilianked the recipients for "die sacrifices they've made, the chances me y've taken, (and.I the gallons of coffee they 've cons u med "

The president also used the opportunity to make a pitch for increased focus on science and tec hnology education, as well as im migration reform. m inority Musilm community in some districts of Bil,ar iliac has no written record or name.

"l.n a global economy, where the best jobs follow talent, whethe r in Calcutta or C leveland, we n eed to do everything we can to encourage that same kind of passion" that h as led co scientific breaktlu·oughs and innovation, he said.

Mo hammad Warsi, who teaches linguistics and lndian languages at the Washington University in St. Louis, said tl1e main language for communication in Darbhanga, Madhubani, Samastipur, Begnsarai and Muzaffarpur, is Maithili. But when Muslin1s speak among themselves, they speak a dialect that is different from Maitllili, Hi n di, and Urdu. This dialect does not have its own scri p t or literature , he said

T hi s might be tl,e reason tliat d,is dialect went unnoticed to lingni5ts so far, said Warsi, who is a recipienr of J ames E McLeod FacnJcy Recognition Award for 2012.

While doing a comparative study, Warsi said he found tlmt this new dialect is completely different from Hindi, Urdu, and Maithli and their verb conjugation and sentence structure, is quite different from each otl1er.

For example "\Y/e are going" ,vmtld be rendered "hum jaa ral1ai.n hain" in Hindi, " hll.111 jaay ral1al chhii" in Maithli and "hum jaa rahai n hai.n" in Urdu sentence. Bnt i n the new d ialect it would be: " ham jaa rahaliya hae" Also, there is no agentive marker " -n e" in Mithilanchal U rdu

Only one second person p ronoun " tu" is used in die new d ialect instead of ''ru, tum and aap".

From tl1ese exan1ples, it is clear tl1at the verb conjugation i n the new dialect is completely different from tl1ac of Hindi, Urdu, and Maitl,li , \Xlarsi said.

Wa rsi, a native of Darbhanga district in Bihar has given t he nomenclature of 'Mithifanchal U rdu' to tl,is dialect.

Punjabi,

Bengali, Gujarati among top 10 languages in Britain

Punjabi, U rdu, Bengali and Gujarati ate among the cop 10 languages s poken in Britain according to latest census figures.

BBC reported that tl,e nw11ber of people in England and \Xlales who could not speak any English was 138,000.

Accorcli.ng co the 2011 census, after English, the second most reported language \Vas Polish, witl1 546,000 speakers, followed by Punjabi and Urdu.

Some four million peop le - or eight pe rcent of che population - reported speaking a different la nguage other than English or Welsh.

The top 10 repor ted lang uages were English, followed by Polish, Punjabi , Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Arabic, Fren ch , C hinese (excluding Mandarin and Can tonese) and Portuguese.

Not all languages were spoke n, with 22,000 peop le using sign language, BBC reported. English or Welsh was tl1e main language fo r 92 percent • or 50 million • of res idents aged three and over.

Of t hose wi tl1 a main language otl1er tl1an English, 1.7 m illion could s peak English very well, while 138,000 conJd not speak English at all.

In London, 1.7 million residents used a main language other than English.

US- based lingu ist discovers a new dialect in Bihar

A US based Indian linguist claims to lmve discovered a new dialect spoken by the

"Language does n ot have any boundaries, nor is ic dependent on any boundary;" be said.

" Dialects are the contact languages of particular regions, and tl1ey have a deep in1pacc on tl1eir cultural heritage," he said. "Slowly witb time tl1ese d ialects begin to take shape o f l anguages."

T h e convergence of a dialect into a language is a symbol and prid e of t he peop le who speak it, Warsi said soggesting the incl u sion of tl1e new di alect in a recentl y initiated nationwid e lingui stic survey Kashmir

's all- girl rock band quits performing

The teacher of tl1e all-girl rock band against whom a 'faLwa' was issued said mac me girls have stopped perfornli ng even as Chief Minister Oma r Abdullal, promised police investigations into the threat.5.

Adnan Muhammad Mattoo, who trai ned the three Class 10 girls before they fo r med the valley's fuse girls' rock band said " Since the grand mufti, whom we treat as part of tbe government, says tl1ey mus t not play music, tl1e tluee girls have decided co 9uit"

" l formed the val.ley's first rock band, B lood Rock, seven years ago. I now feel seven years of m y life have been wasted. l have also decided to 9 uic and give up m y pursuit o f rock music," Marcoo said.

He added that tl,ere are nearly 40 rock bands in tl,e state. "Their future is also i n doldrwns now," he said.

After receiving threats on the social media , tl, e family sources of the three girls who formed the Pragaash band said tl1ey had told their wards not to continue their pursuit.

Ba~hir-ud -din Ah med, head of d1e Muslim clergy in Kashmir, issued a 'fatwa' (religious decree) asking the parents of the three girls ro impart religious education to their daughters and labelled [he girls' performance as "a shameful act".

Separatist leade rs also disapproved of the girl's band and said: ' 'This (band) was against moral values and [bey (the girls) should refrain from s inging. There is no place for such act~ in Is lam."

Chief rvlinister Omar Abdullah had hoped on his micro-blogging Twitter site that the three talented girls would not give up under threats from "a handful of morons".

AbduUab also said he would have the threats against the gids investigated.

Mehbooba Mufti, president of opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), said here Monday that Kashmiri women singers like Raj Begum, Kailash Mehra and Shamima Azad had been w idely appreciated and encouraged. ''I don't know what religious reasons the grand mufti had to i ssue his decree, bur 1 feel it is bei ng b lmvn out of proportion," she said

PDP spokesperson Naeem Akhtar cold media persons: "Music is part of our spiritual culture s ince decades. Kashmir bas produced many women singers and Kashmiris are still fond of their son!,>s."

RLiling National Conference leader

Mustafa Kamal said: "The chief minister has said he would provide security to these girls if they want to pursue their passion. He bas also said he would not intervene if the girls decided to give up their pursuit of music."

Taking strong exception to the 'fatwa', state BJ1l ch ief spokesperson J itendra Singh said: ' 'These (fundamentalists) who are uncomfortable w ith the return of normalc y in Jammu and Kashmir want to keep the Kashmir pot boiling for their vested in reres ts."

He added: "These are elements which do nor want the youtb of Kashmir to be a part of the national mainstream in democratic lndia."

The band Pragaash (morning light) comprising three Class 10 girls, ir,ive their first live performance at Srinagar's music festival, Battle o f the Bands, Dec last year. States w ill invite b ids for power to meet demand States will invite bids for procuring electricity to br idge tli e ir,ip in demand and supply in tbe next six montl1s, die government said. It is part of a package of measures power ministers of states and un ion territories reso lved to ad opt to improve tl1e country's power simation after a meeting with union

Power M inister Jyotiradicya Scindia.

A power ministr y statement said die states will now invite bids for procurement of power to rneet the L1.11covered gap in demand and supply within tlie next six months through Case 1 bidding.

Case I is an open b id where the developer has to decide for fuel and location and compete against any other developer.

"State gover nments would prepare plans covering generation and trans mission infrastrucmre for all time horizons and would procure about 90 percent power of their requirement wider long-term or medium- term agreements," the staten1ent said.

Briefing media persons on the progress of the financial restrucnu:ing programme (FRP) for dirn.ibution companies (discoms), Scindia said 5 out of seven "focus" states had agreed co take part in the scheme. lt was also decided that tl1e state governments would ensure the accounts of die utilities, up to 20 1 1- 12, are audited and finalised by Marc h 2013, and in future the accounts of a financial year are audited b y September of the following financial year as pe r tl1e Companies Act States would ensure that discoms fi le multi-year tariff petition and that State Electricity Regu.larory Commissions (SERCs) announce multi-yea r ta.tiff as per the National Tariff Policy.

"Five states are already on board (the FRP). Their total short- term liability is close to Rs.120,000 crore. We are speaking to the finance ministry for tbe approvals so that in die near furure, next week, we'll be able to take it forward," Scindia said.

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are the states which have commited to the FRP.

In September last year, the Cabinet approved the restrucnuing package for discoms ' debt burden, which stood at a s taggering Rs. 246,000 crore at encl of :March 2012.

Under the scheme, 50 percent of the short- term outstanding liabili ties would be taken over by state govermnents. The balance 50 percent loans would be restructured by providing moratorium on principal and best possible terms for repayments.

The 6th conference of power ministers o f states and UTs deliberated several issues regarding providing affordable and adequate power to consumers and making electricity accessible to all , particularly in those areas diat are not com1ected wid1 the grid.

Wipro unveils aerospace faci lity in Banga lore SEZ

IT major Wipro Ltd's global hydraulics business Lmveiled its aerospace facility in tl1e s pecial economic zone (SEZ) at Devan.ahalli near the airport on the city's outskirts.

Set up with an upfront investment of Rs.650 million in a 7.2 acre campus, the country's first of its kind p lant has an installed capacity ro manufacnire about 2 ,000 actuamrs annually for various aerospace applications.

An acmator is a device used to contro l hydraulic flu.id or pneumatic pressure in a mechanical or e lectronic system and convert this energy inro motion.

" Om acmators will have various applications in aircraft, including landing gear, fl ight control systems, engines and utilities," Wipro lnfrastrucrure Engineering president Pratik Kumar said on the occasion.

The g lobal actuator systems market is estimated robe around $3 billion.

"Our vision is to build a significant presence in the aerospace and defense market, leveraging on our experience and competence in precision engineering and mac.hi.rung space," Kumar said.

The compan y's engineering div ision tied up in May 2011 witli Spanish firm Compania Espanola de S istemas Aeronauticos SA, a subsidiary of the European Aerospace and Defence Corporation , EADS, to manufacn1re precis ion engineering components.

"The pact involves techno lo g y transfer as well as mannfacturing aerospace acmators and related precision engineering components b y Wipro for CESA.," Kumar said

The compan y plans to double the investment over the next six years to expand capacity to about 8,000 actuacors per annw11 and add new product lines in precision manufactured components.

"\Y/e have big plans for this bus iness and are in talks with several p layers to develop multiple product li nes as tlie facility, with end - co-end capabilities from product development, manufacturing to testing, is well positioned to partner global QE,\1s/ tierIs, which are looking to extend their s upply chains to cost-competitive cow1tries like India and to meet their offset obligations," said engineering business head SL1.11il Rajagopalan.

The facility will commence its serial production in April.

Wipro c hairman Azim Premji, EADS / Airbus vice-president Klaus Ric hter and Karnaraka's principal secretary (industry) M.N. Vidyashankar were present on the occasion.

Now Ramaya na in Po lish language Ramayana, the great Indian epic, is now available in Polish language, courtesy Janusz Krzyzowski, an Indologist in Poland who has translated the monumental work. lt seems Krzyzowski collected the material from dozens of books and presented in a coherent maimer so that a reader could sustain his interest \Vh.ile going through d ifferent cl1apters. The original was penned by Maharishi Valm.iki in Sanskrit.

Though few episodes of Ramayana were translated into Polish in 1816, these were mere translation of ,vestern writers. In the 20th century, some attempts were made to translate a few more chapters.

"My main purpose was to translate this epic i.nco many chapters in a story format so that laymen and particularly Polish children could enjoy the book as well as they should be aware of the great lndian mythological tradition

"Ramayana and Mahabharata are two great epics which cannot (be) compared w ith other epics. Even Greek epics come our as pale shadows when we see the canvas of the lndian ep ics They are almost unique in the history of mankind," Krzyzows ki cold reporters.

The book's effect was visible when a group presented a two- hour show on the pattern of Ramlila In May, the group will visit few cities in Poland to enact Ranilila for Polish schoolchildren with the help of the Embass y of India in Warsaw:

"He has done great justice to promote lndia in h is nation He deserves all our praise and we feel proud that such a gem is ,vitl1 us in Po land," said the Indian ambassador Monika Mohra.

Krzyzowski has been a prolific writer on India since 15 years. His love for India has roots since his university days when he enrolled for a master degree in philosophy after a medical degree This interest turned him into an automatic Indophile.

His books on Ashoka and Tan sen were well-received along with books of Urdu maste rs like Mir Taqi Mir, i\fuza Ghalib, Fi.rag Gorakbpuri, Paiz Ahmad Paiz that he translated with Surender Zah.id, an Urdu poet in Warsaw.

Krzyzowski is the president of IndiaPoland Cultural Conmlirtee since its inception in 2004. IANS