The Forum Gazette Vol. 2 No. 6 March 20-April 4, 1987

Vol. 2 No.6

20 ~Iar"h

New Delhi

Rupccs 1Wo

Farooq Romps Back to Power Overplays Rajiv Card Adopts Unfair Tactics Against Muslinl Front r:lH'

From Baljil Malik in Ihe Kashmir Valley ,'orw illtl. ,d II I,llJllJ.!, jJl '1111(' n .... ily

I'm ;(! nlh'

emhh (' h ~(: l illr'l :- i n ./;111111111 an d ",,~hl1lir \\'1'1"1\ lIIUrjll l' ill !'IIom \Va."~ thall 0111' I-'rw Ilw li!':.1 tim e tlw Nation:.!1 COlllcl"Cn1ce whit'h h"s until 110\\ "I'en IllI' pil l't,' IlIl1s t IVPI1 ':-01.'11 I .U i\'(' 01 the

It'g t'~ ili lill'

\ iil

II ~ Ill'u,

, .IIIt ,\ TIII :-. "'l't JlIIrJ III'

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p aI1.\'jJlllillt'al

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i.llIiallt~(',

W :.t~'t l'AA.~'J", ~rlll'I'~' ~~'n'" .~(W,.,

tlw pn 'ss II HI lor the tir'l \il~Wl 'l\'Jii·.WI\I··l~ '(1't1m l 1 ~ I U I 'IIIl~ Ihl' p(llilir ~ 1 allHflsl'lIcm ill tlH ' s tal l' ;tth'ilst ill ( 'f 1l1ql~tr;S o n lu it!" \; c;io lls !'lIll' i ll II H' 'li:l (' 1 t!( · l ioll~ .

In

83 mus t Ill'W:-' P;'lh'l'S

;ltld

news i.I~f:ndes flpt'r~lI i n~ Ih llll Slinag-;u' had painlt'd a pil ·tun ' III "hlollo and Ihunripl" ill Ilw \'011·

1m . 11 was daill lNI tllal Ihr N;lIirmal COJlrCI't'Il Cf' was 1111 Hli ~\Ilti · Jlalioni..ll I'tll1 lp'II-(I' alld ~Ibu . ... . It l cOll1mllnilli ~('

,Iu' :-;uri:d

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Ih e CtJllgt'l's!'-1 \\:1:-. dl' lc nnilll' cI tTP;II f' lII i ~c h id in OI'dcl' 10 ~( !n p Ihe Pll t boiling in I\ashi llir ,md thu s I'ul(> Il Ie K.1~hl1li ti s IJ\

In

pruxy fur 11ll' ndt 'l'S ill Ul'Illi

.

Beron ' IUI'f'i ng alH'ati wi th lilt' il c('ord ami alli;tl1 n~ with .\ '1'\\ Otdhi ilnd Ih(' l'uli n~ pa rty ill lilt' Cenll'P,

a stra lt!J.{'

whieh

ha ~

brought till' Na lillilili Cnn l C'Il"11Cl' h'lck in II'II! politi ca l sa ddlt~ . Or.

Farooq i\lJdu llah w,,:-. rl'aJ1iJllllal lilt" elect ions eould lum olll 10 Ill'

the bioodiesl in I\ashmil' s his· tm:\', An d Lhi s wa s sorncth iJ1t! Ill.!

simp l,\' did not wa nl 10 set~ Ill' lold ,\ 'O ll r cOlTCspondenl ill his mol her's Sardarja ng I.ane hOlI,:,I' in New Delhi in ~o\'cmber 'lUi Tlw primar:v. 1'C~l snn for the illiia nce. in Dr. :\ bdliliah s mind cuuld well have been Ihe nrcd 10 nelllr aJise New Delhi '!' mischh'f·

l ion either' iI~ it ..dl, olll II) Ilw t 1'11 11'1 ' Ill' iI qlll r ~ \\'01.' lUI f ill'llUq ::0

:,>("11

A Day Wllh Farooq Abdullah

A Potty For The Prime Minister

lhwin;.: 1111' 1·:..IIllPiHgll Ipil ding If) lite td l'l ' liOIl ~ OI l :!:\ '\p d \. I SIIl' lll lin' d ;t."~ ill ti ll' ' "illll·'.\ " On 1)1 11' (II Ilw d ~IY:-' I ,H 'l 'tlmpani/ 't!

Security men carry a commode lor Rajiv Gandhi al the Shcr· I-Kashmir Park., Srinagsf.

Rajiv And Party Humbled

Va l"llllq Ahdull ah ull .1 cla.\ · loi1~ ra illpaigil 111n III a WC:oII,ll uJ

hrlkol'li 'f" hi l"1 'd h.\ fl'lllll

1111'

1l(~\\'lv

tht' p dl"t.' l~s tahli sllt ! tI

At The Hustings

H f'lit 'tl pl l~ 1' Cllrpnj'illiull of Indiil, '\!'i \\'f' I OIl~ oil" and Iil lldf't\ ITU) f'f'

tlwn h.1I 1a cl q/" t ~ n

l I1 11t\~ ill i l :-.1'<111

01 It 'll

IIII' 11\111' 11,' 111 l' iI '( 'I II II Jl!l'ti " t-l ht'l ;1I11t' :t1 1 1"0 i IJlp iil'l' nl \ /1 nl ilt'l' 1t'.till'l':-- 0 1 ,IllY 'Illwr p ll l'l,'

Congress-I Reduced To Regional Party Status

hIH I!':', IIlr'qtm1ilil !~ i ll

By Parth S Banefjee with 0 Paras"ar In Deihl

hil d iIl ' ( ' !,:--!, til' 11 11' 1,,-;Olll,('('S In hi n':1 f1,villt-: bini wilh witic:h Iu 1'I. !iwh oul (4) 1111 ' jll~op l l' . Tilt, ql a's t ioll I~ \\"11' \OT ' \\'hy shuuld 1101 IIU' ; 1\'~liI . tlJl c I'f!SOUI'· t 'I':-' lit , il PPIlI'liollP.(' Olll 1ll0l'e I!qually III li lt' I 'onl lm din~ 1':11"I h~:'> ~

Or 111;11 ('1' :-.lill h(' dl l1 it'd J

1111'111 \\'iIIIOUI I l!~ r 01' lilUJIII'! :\1 olll' lir:-.I ~to p , Unl'lI, nr'ill' II If'

Hanih,,1 111 Ihe l:r~ttll(' (If 1111' 1'1 1'panjal nlulI rll ai ns, till' la c~ (II pili· ilica l SIIIIlI(:I." in llw FaI'OLlq· ~ ,L. ra lllpaihil ~ I.r~tl ctt\' ca nll~ \isibly il1lu Ihe Ul"wn. Onl' 01 IIH' pas· :-. ~ll1gel's ill 1111' WI!sll 'Hld \Vas the new sla h' t'ullgn:!ss c1 li d lalli' hUll asuu l " :11', who W.15 ~h'ol1 tl ll lWC(!Ssary

l, rnm i"t 'IH:I'

nn

Continued on page 15. cal l

wean

Calcutta: ·· Lel's send a congralulalory telegram to Rajiv Gandhi,'· chuckled one e.ultanl Wesl Bengal CPI ·M leader. .oil's he who helped us !Hl n. Everyllme he came down here, he only managed 10 weaken the Congress· I's supporl base with his false promises. Assault the red baslion. Indeed!

Inslead , at Delhl"s Red Fort, we will soon be lIying Ihe red lIag: · On thai perhaps slighlly Over oplimisllc nole, he picked up Ihe phone to calilhe p~rly olfice al Trivandrum where Ihe electorate, rejecllng Rajiv Gandhrs United Democralic Fronl (UDF). had jusl hoisled Ihe re d lIag.

1110 ( 1'1 ·1\1 j 'lluld lie ('.,\(:u :-,(,(I il ~ lwcr,oplin lblll

,\ftf.!r st' euti ll '

:\ul'p r isl' (lh:-'lIi1HP. llI(ljoril \' III Kcral:1 in wha l \\'.t~ hilled i l !' ;1 \'CI,\' dust! ('on le:-\. Ihr M .1C\i ~l !\ \irill'l ll v tl CI it lla lcd II IC r.tl IIW1;ss· 1 ill \\ (' .... 1 Heng.t!' \ .

I hI.' Oo,n m Ul l1:-.1 !.tilllll l,l l b cca l11~ eddullt in thp. I\ \ '1j stales 0 11 '!"\JPsda \ ,l lld \re dlll'~ '

it

tJ\ \·•.tI Ki shore nh:.llia. WC'I'I. '

Ii.lih!d. 'It is unbcli(!vable. I iust (':..111 '1 f i~ UI"C Llu l anything. How

(,ould il

111

1I'lf!

utlirc. U(llh 1 f1(~rl IU P UI on .1 III'il ve lace All IIII' I't':-.Itl ts ..11,\:11 1 1111 1 V(' I

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SCfmes of c('lt,hnHion, Calc-II II."

Ik llgat anbi rs ilml hild jl h l 1'1'11I111 (' d th ... II I her urn h Ol Ii l.ttl'Ultd .;mi lt·d w lwn 11t'"\ \S flll'll Lls kt' d hill l "I JO LI I the COIIt:I":'~ ,...

IIbl11:..1l 1'1·,fOl'"

(:alicul an~1 (:o"hin 1'C '\'l'I'I./l lI': l' l ·d with Ihe ~Ihlnd III hlil'sting

' C,\jI" "1 l'I!lI l'I' !'e::tllii s IOr!lO"'''\\' IH ' ~ llIilc ri . '\V'li l

t:ri...lckc l's J OVO li S c ,: ct l't~ :-. Iflnk lu lite s tll""': !'\!!, ' ~ptinklill~ ,~{/li.d 1)11

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of ,'ptl ll,Jg "'•.1\ int; t,lot:~t! d

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I he 1\:~ U It !' 11\1 (lip

cia., IrUlll Bengal WP'I't , ....Ol'st ' (\ 11151 oj Il lr! (. ,dt'ull.1

!'lCI'II Il J

S

{II

t..t ll l c~ h ltd hf'(Hl 1I1I t (ilt I'lI c!-d~ly olml " \\'il~ on '" hl'l\ ' Ihal the r.LJ I 1~I I':-,s· 1 tmd dOll!' \\'lJIL \\ 't' Llrw s d .it\.s ~"" su ll s \\'CI'U ptill L:i llally Imui Iill' I"'U 10.1 I l'tl/1 ' sli l lJl'I H'il ':", t.'tll l:-. ttlllt'l1ric :-o 11i ~1I

dejccliun. On Tuc :-.dav, lInh· IWII ,\I CC·' ~('nel'a l ~I 'L! 1 1 ,i..t1; e::o,

Haji\' (;~Uldhi ,dlh hi.:. barnSIO!'l1lt1lg afl1jl~dH" Iwd llir. d In

L:vc:l£'s .tn d sirt!<'1 (mille

SI !l)l1 h :I'!,!

Mranwltilf! in O,"'lh, :11 1111' cen ll'ilJ Illlin ' p;inom had rh:sr.endl'd, Thet'P \\'t ~ I'f'

Cf)llP;l'C.s~ · 1

expI"C!>siulls

or

of

dishclit\l.

h"ppcn ~"

puzzled an

illlTedll lous l"'1iva Ranjan Das MUI1!)lii , Union ~1illist er of StatH fo!' CO llll11 e n 'C .11ll.l Wesl Bengal CO lIg l'Cs~· 1 c hief Silting al the f .lglll Buad Congress· ' eleclion

~llann'l and Ii I jI/l'sen t

over fmln Cummunist and had miserabl'y

i nl1U1~ nce,

ci t,'

ul1kc in ce ntra l Calcutta. Das Mtll1shi \-Vil.S a P0l11'ait of a dis· t:on~ol a l e defeated chi eftain. ·Why"! IVhy did we do so haul~I,! " , he kepi asking, as news or fUl1h er Congn!Ss-1 selbacks re"t-hed Ihe olliec.

Funeral Mood In the n~:o. t room, Union Inl'lll1Tlil lion Mit u:Her Aii t Panja

slill had thai di samting smile

his face. Behind his desk. on Ihe wall. Rajiv Gandhi's slogan: " T hi s sense of hopelessness has ILl lip. ended, a natull (newl Ben· gal has 10 be huilr·, stjJl"ed frum " posler. The sense of hopeIp.!i:-incss hadl1o\\' descended th ere in Ihil l office \"\Ihile then~ was juhilalion all ",uund in the s t l"'1.~ c l s . Oas MUllshi had already 1 14 ~gllll hinting at resiHJling hi's parly post: I he mood at the a ll

Elt(in Road office was fun eral.

Conlinued on page 2. call

F8rum Sa ' W rd ______________________ Ga2ee~tt~e~----------------~~g~e8~O~

Rajiv And Party Humbled Subramania Bharati On At The Hustings .Guru Govind Continued from page I, cot 5 Away in Trivandrum, Chief Minister K Karunakaran had already submitted the resigna· tion of his lIDF cabinet. Con· trary to expectations, E K Naya· nar, the fomler chief minister, was again voted to head the Left Democratic Front legislative party and thereby succeeded Karunakaran, It was widely believed before the results were out that Mrs K R Gown would be chief minister if the LDF was voted to power.

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

Congress·1 President, C V Pad· mara jan. In this district too, UDF could manage to vvin just one of the 12 seats.

Karunakaran'.

Communal .

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

F&um ' GaZette An flaa 1'ru8f Publication Pnnel of ConsulrintJ Edirol's JUflOr.e V.R. Kl'i8h.na Iynr, Lil GujraI, Madhu Kilhwar.

Kh ....loWIlf Singh, Jaya Jaidy, Rajnl J(otbari, Amrik Sing/l, KuIdIp Nayar Ch.lim>an. Board of EclilOl'S lL ~n. Jagii. Singh "'uron Ireld.1

Mana&i"IJ f.dilor BaIjh Malik Editors

.1aJii MaIIIo, G.B. Sandhu, A.S. Narang. " <;sociate Editor

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

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

'Ib: 31= HBLK fOR GA7BITE

2

20 March-4 April 1987

Imostly Nairsl and the Socialist Republic Party IEzhava backedl.

LDF, which too had in the past resorted to communal appeasement. had resolved befm" the elections not to align any longer with communal parties, even if that meanl defeat.

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

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

Myth 01 Raji. Haw.

This time, encoumged by the success of his tours in West Bengal. he decided to stake all in the elecHon: No prime minister had ever campai~n ed for a state poll to the extent that Rajiv Gandhi did in I'.'est Ben· gal. And he drew vast crowds.

By the beginning of last week, there was already talk of a Rajiv hawa Iwavel. The press at first spP.culated that Congress·! would win 75 of the state's 294 seats lin 1982, the party had secured just 54 seatsl, then 85, finally over tOO. Some reports also suggested that the Left Front could weU be toppled and bets worth thousands of rupees were placed on such an eventuality.

What went wrong? Was the talk of Rajiv hawa a myth?

Maybe not in Calcutta city, but certainly in the rest of the state.

As an analyst pat it : "All that Rajiv's visit did was 10 unite the wamng Congress·1 factions, instill confidence in paJ1v rank and file and perhaps influence some city voters who read in the newspapers, the Prime Min· ister's statements at the rural rallies." Said one Congress·!

MI:A: "Fifteen minutes of Rajiv darshan cannot change th e peasant's poUtical convictions."

And the peasant's political can· viclio,," have been shaped through years of periodic grou p meetings in \,llage squares by diligent CP!·M cadres. Much of

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

BtUI •• Ahead If the Congress·1 really wishes to topple tile Left Front govemment in West Bengal. it' must 6rst build itself a grassroot organization, an organization that can counter the CPI·M in the villages. Rajiv Gandhi admit· ted as much while addressing a meeting of the Congress·1 parli· amentary party on Wednesday.

In a five-page speech, he warned MPs of the "battles ahead" and in obvious reference to Opposition moves to launch an offensive against his minisuy, he said: "This is the time for ;olidarity in the party. The com· ing weeks in parliament will lest us," On Wednesday, representa· tives of 10 Opposition parties had decided to table a no· confidence motion against the 27-month old Rajiv Gandhi min· istry. The Oppositlon statement l'lili!;i. e<\ Ihe Prime Minister's ; tyie ot [uhclluHil1!i \~lljtll h~£l contributed to an "all-round detenoldtion in various sphe",. of national life."

Mention was made of the Lok Sabha speaker's decision not to allow discussions on the President·Prime Minister differ· ences following the leak of a let· tel' purported to be wntten by Giani Zail Singh to Rajiv Gandhi.

The implications of the Congress·)'s reverses in KeraJa and West Bengal are obvious.

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

Vlkrnm: sevenleen fifty·six In Anandpur lived .

Guru Govind Singh nectar of the brave teacher, Lord of Host. warrior.source of Punjab 's lions ocean of knowledge, melodious

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

On that blesl day when orchards in IiWtion gardens of smiling flolVers and tracts ofgreen sward chiIped as if 10 bid welcome "Mav vour coming hither prove·auspicious!"

his disciples came together to hear the Guru ofgrcwoting fam e.

"W1:taf will he say?

What nelV message?

What fresh duty vvill be imposed

to sweeten our Jives seven times seven?"

Thus lhinking. shining like gods, eager they slood before their

tB!,ff.

" U

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

His eyes blew dMne /l;m)e.

A halo helmeted his head.

In his upraised arm, a shalp sword belching lire, temble to behold.

Like a horde of lions immobilised before a magician from above, . seeing him, the numberless men fuJI silent, and bowed their heads.

Heralded by the flashing sword, the Son of God opened his lips to unveil his inmost thoughts. and volcanic the words erupted: '1 vvish to plunge this sword

Into the heart of man; Dharma thirsts for sacrificial blood.

Devotees! who amongst you cU!res to bare his heart and spill red blood and slake the Mother's thirst?"

Shilken for a moment, the disciples had no words on their tongues.

A moment of rotal silence.

Then from am(Jngst those assembled a hero issued out and said: "Gem of Gurus! I shall die by sword to quench DhalTlla 's thirst.

Thy blessing! Accept my offering!"

The saintly Guru smiled. and took him inro the temple, and out of it presentlr flowed a stream of blood seen by all.

Look! the Guru comes out smiling, /raving made the sacrifice.

Standing there like flash of lighlning. holding the blood·slained sword the greal Guru spoke these words: "I wish to plunge this blade again into a living heart. The Mother wants . another sacrifice. Devotees!

Is there one more aniong you who'd slake KaJj's thirst vvilh blood?"

A second hero advanced to meet

Ihe challenge. Taking him inside" ' the Guru made the sacJifice.

As the blood flowed, the POOlshivered. . '

J

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

U1 Men do nol rise 10 greatness through reasoned knowledge alone: the truly grearare those that bare their breats ro the blade's thirst IUld die; they\-" found the Ultimate.

Pmi'll tI mjUinn devotees Bum a nuUwll deh'Rff:I>/(',<.<ed 'twas 10 pick OUllhese blessed few 'Ihat the Guru, Lord of Grace, had devised lhis slralegem.

Flushed in exullation al countless olhers like those five ready still fur sacrifice, the Guru led oul of-the lemple the five W3l'rior gems ) who the faithful thoughl Wllre m heaven having died in sacrificial blood·bath.

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

Hail! the crest·jewel Guru!

Hail! Ihe splendid lion·heart!

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

five, and spoke words like ocean's roar: "Dear onesl know you not

KaJj amd Mother India are one! 'twas an illusion caused you frighl when I Wllnt in to sacrifice the

five.

Would I kill one ofyou with my own hands?

Five times I hid Ihe dear ones 10 mounl this fuarful test and know that you are patJiots pure of heart.

Look. the five slain are here!

This lest bas blazedyour glory.

My heart is lighl, gone my

worries!"

From : Poems 01 Subramanla Bharatl, Introducllon and Notes

by Preme Nandlkumar, Sahltya Akademl

F8rumc

Fortnight Focus

Gazeu - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dialogue With Youth Is Priority Says Akal Takht Jathedar From Harjl Malik In Chandigarh agi Uan;han Singh's wife grt,elcd me al the door 01 the small, Slone farmhouse he ha. buill aboul 10 km trom Chandigarh, JU81 inside the house a child'. red bicl,d e .Iood in a basket onio'n~, and in the Uving . room where I wailed for the Akal Takhl Jathedar, a large while leddy bea.', sUghdy bigger than ils rooyfaced OWllCl" Ihe l!agi'. grandson, stared al me irom an armchair! :\ painting of Guru Gobind Sin~h hung on one ",aU, aJong with an embroidered pori rail of the lenth Guru, while another painting the Guru in actinn - in batde, swurd in hand.• falcon on shoulder - hung above a Iar~e modd of the· Golden Temple. .o\ s miling Jalhedar. in (T1';1I11 coloul'ed, silk pajama kLi r lii all d

R

0"

0"

Hold embroidercd i(mti, IUl'ban and kirpan on a "lac. bane /came ill and W CIcOlllCd LI S. Softspokun ill c onver~alit)n . his f~l(;e alivp and intcl"ested ill what is

being said. Ragi Da.l':-.hall Sin[..th. to whom it s l1lilt~ comn~ easilv. iH.hnils lillie of the li re ami Pi.IS· sion which has inspin'd his lis· tener'S hy his pO~I ·Opeidtion i~ Ih( ~

voice tv.iil him Ihill OJ t(~ I1{Jw journalist in ctlilndigarh had (()Id lb he \.vas hm t~ ilnd we had take n Lhp r.I1i.l'II~C of cominp: and lalking to him. "1 am happy to see you: ' is his re sponse.

61l!les-faJr il1JTltJlJll

H i!'

of reasun, ur p CI'!>lIa:-II.HL

\ \ 1(.',

Amrit Prachar We ask him aboul hi • .·lmril Pra(.,har programme. II i.

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

Khallstan Not Wanted "None of the vDuth wants Khalistan, he asser1 s ca teSOIically. 'When we ha,'e 7(100 kilomelres from the 101' uf India to Kanvakllmari as our countrv, why should we ask ror jusl :I!io kilomelres" K)Ii.li slan is lalked about hy olhel'~, by the govern· men!. The youth want a sf-lIl e· ment within the Constitution. I have said this f!'Om every platfonn bill the media is ;Jgalns! liS and llw_y do nol rep0l1 what is really said."

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

hinl of seGcssion, onlv of a SCItlement \vithin the Constituti on, Bul he adds Ihal Ihe govern· ment does nol wallt a solulion 10 Ihe I'1J1ljah prublem. The govCl'I1fficnl does not \vanl Sikh

The olher dav I received a leller from a young man who wrote Ihal in a recl\liting line for Ihe Navy. two you ng Sikhs were laken oul from Ihe line and lold to remove Iheir kitpans and Iheir 'palkas' berore Ihey could he considered for recruitment.

These lhings are happening.

Even when I tJilvel in the official car. I am slopped by Ihe paramilitarv forces and searched and h',,",.ed . Ir Ihal happens to me. can ,vou imagine what treatme nt olhers receive?" ." But the govemmel"I is not concerned," he tells us and poinls at th e Misrd Commission as an example. No one had been convicled or any killings.

And IHere is Brahmpu.... The incidenls Ihere have been confirnled and Ihe Punjab Government has asked that action be laken.

BUI nOlhing has happened.

unity and th ere am Congress· wl1() ha\'c openly said that Sikh unit)' means ti ll! country's deslI\lclion. Bul he \\111 go on working ror Sikh unilY, ror Akali IllCl;

unity.

Governmenl Created HinduSikh Divide Talking aboul Ihe di"ide bdwecll Hindus and Sikhs, he doc~ nol mince wOJili. 'Tfte /)"m'cml1Jcnt

lUIS

Clywwd

this

l.Jil1sio n. We have Ji\lcd together fur gtmerations, mix.ing willl each other. I have Hinrlus in "w

0""

I'uni/y. Il'e 'I'cre like miik iJnd willer, :wd \IOU know how tlw,-;c mi.-.: - peitr.cl~V. so there is

110

division. But drop

if

Iiuie

'killlii' into the miMuf'C, lind lIlI :v separate 10 IwO cJiltcmnt IJilrtS. Thl' gOl'emmmll hiJ.~ put ill awl drop of hnii '. 7he ~ol'emmenl Iwd cilITied out

'Ragi' Not Allowed To ,Enter Haryana Throughoul , he speaks "'lhOllt a Irace of hitterness, even when h e talks. ahoul his own

prupiJi{allda Ihal Sikhs are secessionists. The Prime MinisreI' campaigned against th{~ Amwdpur Sahib Resoilltion. and G.:1 l1ed it ,'jecf!ssionist. But ther!' is lIothing secessiun;,.,/ ;n il. iust JJJ- I hmr i.. Ilolhim: .'wcessicmj.,., ill the Oaf:> 1It'l-''' 1:,Ur.rr:.m-wt.!!im!l .What is new jn that consmulion, the Ragi poinwd out. is the provi~iol1 that no oftit:e·l>earur

of the Dal can he a minister.

Thai is som e thing he feels is very im)1011ant and that is wh.\' he had asked Bamala to resign from Ihe presidency or Ihe Dal. Now Ihal Prakash Singh Badal has lJeen named Vice-Presidenl or Ihe Dal. he is no longer a r.'lI1didatn for the chief mini s· II~ rship , So it ca n 110 longer be said that h(~ was seeking the 'kursi'.

Killings

Distorted Press

By

The

On Ihe subjecl uf Ihe killings of innoce nt pl~ople in Punjab, Ihe Akal Takhl lalhed .. denied Ihal Ihese we", done by Sikh youth . But when it ~amc to kiliing of poli"e and paramiUlary pm-,;onllel. he poinled oul thai state lerTf)1;Sm has its own roae· lions. When p""ple are killed in 'encounters' then action is tRke n against those responsible 'It times. "These 'cnc:oulltel's 'must be stopped," he said, "Eve rv day our 'nauja· wans are picked up from their homes. They 'U'C nol heard or ror Ihree or rour days. Then their families, who have been searchill/: ror Ihem. are lold thai Ihev have been killed in 'en(':uuntcl'S'." I ask if this is still happening and R"lji Darshall Singh said "Yes. all Ihe lime. \-Vh'y dont you (:omc with liS iHld see for yourselves how peop le are suffering, how these boys are taken away. But Ihis IlEM'S does not ~et reporteu ," He mentions that in Patiala them is curlew , that Sikhs have been killed Ihe.'C. bUI Ihere is 110 I1wntion of this in the press. "when we issue .a stat em ent , either it is not I'e porh-:d at aU, OJ'

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

only in pari ."

In reply 10 a qllr. stion HS to why he does no t ro ndemn the

killIng of innocl~ n l pcrson:- iii

public slalemellb, hf' rxplaill s, Ihal h e is l'Cad\, 10 do so, !Jul tll~elh cr Wllh 0111f'1' re ligiolls heads. Why did nol Ihe Jagad· ~lII'Us condemn tilt' ~ovel11her Ifl84 killings?" he a $ ~t!d .

'Yet no one dcrn ..lJ1rJcd that Ihel' should do so If Ihe twads of religions, Ihl ~ Jagadgul'us and olhers. ,viII condemn all kil· lings of innocent~ , I \\~II be the til'st to si~n ." fin an Harli f!1' pn:ss intef'\.~e\V Bagi Darshan h.ld explained Ihal ir he issued" "hukummllna" against kiJ.lin g::.., it would be a tacit admiss ion that Sikhs \-'vere the killers. and he did nol helieve Ihis Iu be Ihe case, But earlier also he h.ld otfered In sign a joinl condemmrlion. )

an

Government Musl Talk To The Youth He a:;k wily the govcrnlllelH

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

"If til e p;ovemn uml can talk to the Mizos, to olhel's who have fought the gOV\1mment, \",hy can 'l th ev talk to OUI' ·nauja· wans"? i tole( a jOllnla]jsl

I't!CC llt1 V that VOU must talk to

Ihps" ho\,s Ii'kc il ralher. ask th em \\'h~H the v want l what all! their t{rievancl~s . The ti rs t lime ,Yuu talk to th em, they may say so mething strong. nut you must CUIlI\l1l Jf' the dialogue, in Sl'Vel'.:iI meetings, and ullimi.lt el5' Ilwy will di:~Cl I SS flungs, and vou \'\'ilJ tinu that we, th ey don 't \va nt \,(ikhd::II' IsepaJ'o.tli:n!l l, they \'v anl 'haqda( Ith eir lights): ' He i.lr~lIt' that the Punjah AccOl'Cl shuuld have been signed wilh thr YOllth, not \-vith Lunguwal.

Thev were til e o nt!S who well! inVlil\"p.d, whu had loughl. But what is happening today? They arc in iail. they arc nol aU owed to gi ve tllel l' vi(;'vs. ' The~r

sa,\-' 1I1at the youngslers lake re fuge in Ih" Golden Temple, But wha l are they to do?

Many uf the lll co me to spend the night because th ey are afraid lI wl th e SC(;W1t v forces \\-i lJ come and take them from t hei r h (lrne~ . "

Tragic Leiter From Jodhpur Detenus ' Th~ governm ent has darw not.h.ing," he a cc uses. T he Jodhpur detf!nus ate still in jail. lI r had rccuiv(!cI .1 tragic Iplter from .1 woman who had been in Jodhpur for nc.trlv three vears. '" Iried III rea d th e lett el:' ill a metJ.til1B hUI I could nol, because of the lear'S. Blit no one repo r1s s lIch l1laIlCf~. E\'cry day, su man.v people come to me tclling flU! of hl.ll'assment, of riisc/iminalion, or encount ers.

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

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

A Homely Meal Style

Punjabl

His son comes in to say that people are wailing Iu see him. II is gelling late and he insisls Ihal we slav for dinner. We do, 10 a simple but lasty meal or frt"h cllholia' and paneer. daJ, chapalhi and chulneys, s",,'ed by his younger son. The Ragi has two sons, the elder whose children own Ihe teddy bear and Ihe younger. still unmar· ried, two daughlers both or whom are bOI.h abroad. The Ragi is simple, unostentatious.

He has been called an extremisl bUI it is liard 10 reconcile Ihe lenurisl image wilh Ihe calegorical statements he makes about a solulion ,vilhin Ihe Conslitulion, aboul the necessily or lalks \\11h Ihe boys 10 all;ve al thai solulion. Nor is Ihere any sign or Ihe religious fanalie in his words or expl'ession. Nor any sign of a spililual leader, a Sanl.

He seems not to be image· making or projecting. unless it is the image of 'reason and rationalitv. Of course, this is the Ragi al home. The Ragi in a public meeting wilh Ihe young men and women with whom he urges a dialogue may be a dirferent man. _ 20 March-4 April 1987

3

O_ur_Tim_o_e_8_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

r=8rum _ _ ____________ GaZCttC

Public Meeting Urges Rejection Call To Honour Policeman Gazelle News Service

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

Jaya JaiUey of Nagrik Ekta Manch and the People's Relief Committee, the first speaker, called for total rejection of the report.

J

lIstil :e Misr~I I " s~lid

Als

./iJitle.", ha s CUnlllHmted thai Con~~Tcs!" dl

members wel'e so upser" at . lil(' assassinalinn of Mrs Gandhi , that they cou ld nol h,tve orga nised the \;()hmL:( ~ . But in onr of the alTIda\'i l s IJI'11S(,nI ('cI hefon' him dTl cldcri V e\'c -\Vitll es ~ . a Congrl'ss li t \·..,iwkc'r :!o \l~<lr~ sl a n~lin~t twrl deposed hu\'1' 111' hild lI\'crh,-~aJ'd SLljjall "umar, ex-ClIllgress II I i\·1 r . It'll peo pJp in .1 meeting that ",h nsoc\"cC

or

killed Si l-.hs \\Iould he I'\!wilrtlf'd

r han ~t'd Ihl~ i l' stan ce

and even Ilw Ulost syf'O ph;llI l ic IlL'\ VS P_II'I'J'S hm'e cUl! dpmllt~ d Ihe n'ptll'l. ami 11 0 LIm" hil S allv l)(:lil~ r in il:, conclus ion s. " '\ l'lI-';' Ihis, silt' addr d, ' \\'l' nlll:.t !lui lean:' ell1\'Ihing 10 Ih e gnvcl11nlt:1l1. hUI \~/(: mus l all "aI1!"' uul ill\'f~s ljK' tl il)ns In lind oul Iht" lil1b or politici an s \\i l h tile eill1l,Ij.!t'. TI IO$(' wh o plaillillgs lli.lVf' IIt'ell leI ull ;lI1d \Vl~ mu sl no\\ sC:If\'h c)l ll Ihc: Il"uth_ S h e s ugge~w d Ihill poli, : (~

those,'

pt!rsOllllcl who

hy his PtlJ'SOIlLl J assi:-;I'1Il1 11'u111 Nm' 'mht~ 1' :in ! onwards. "\\,11, '

had helped people IU safelY. and who ha\'(~ been persecuted for th d r' ,1(~ lion!'o,

d id .Iu sliLC Mi sra nut ilwes tigatl' ~.lJf: h l't'ports", M s .Iajllf'Y i.lskpd,

should he puhlicly hUJloun'ti alll1et~ ting~ sll('h as thiPt,

WI"

d,cl

ill'

,jl f ...'Y,I ,;>

';:1 j\ t n

KUI-nar"s P.A ~ on e ul li lt, 11 11 1\01 Cnn;,!/'t'sN III func tion,,,;c::> il S

iJ(' ing pn~ s ihly J<\J i II.\'. bu t I(:;.iv(' out S'ljj:1Il Kllmar'!

Public Honours Suggested For Police Who Did Their Duty M ~ldlHl

Kj,..; l1u ·;m

J""JJ!uslJi.

stiliI'd

editor, lhill Ihe

-'go\'C!rnrnenl has blilckc ncd it s I;ICI: Witll thi s report" , 'We h ;I\I(-' Il 'lI l'1lrd trom Ih e: 1 ~I 8:l

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

"II is :-IUJIlIt,tul 11 1.1 1 IIl ll!t~ 3000

p t~ l'S OfI S

\V1~1'f '

hroad davlighl. ill1d

lliu ll

kill e d 1101

;n ( IIll'

pel'son has III:!en cundl: lf'd I()I' the killings," )w; licr l'.ri1 rkll/l( J, ~ e '~ III 'e~s('(1 his indignalion. ~Irldin g th at thi :-. was du l:' to th e IIlIrl' neglit:l' l1cr" ;u lt l iw;u1 1(Jssness ur Ihc BII\'c l·nmtml. Hr pointeo 0111 that if Justi n' ~1i sra

own

was Ie)

E'\'clll s stw silid. " that \\'c-' c:a nnl1t dcpf! nd 011 th r

I ig-ali'"t, m'l c hill C' I) 1 sh oul d hil\,(' been put al Ihb di spos~11 lu c·ollOG! e\'idr~n cc Bill Ihi::- \\'a~ nOI clon e. Thr glln:l'llIl1c llt did nO I

gO\'('rl lIIU'llt So \\'helll'\'['1' SU I11P ' thing lik(' Il li s hllPP"IlS Wl~ wi ll nol :II ltl\\ IU!oplf' 10 rO ~ PI iniusli n' li kr thi:-," She point ud oul Ih"t Ill(' in camer'it procf'durcl' of Il w Cu mmiss ioll were agai nsl til(' tn!edom uf th e press, but at

th ai 1 (~s1.

4

11I1 1t-

Ihc

Nn' v

pl't !~ S did 11 0 1 proIh(~ papers have

20 March-4 April 1987

~t l t:('ec tl ll1a s~i ve il1\£';-'-

put a si ngh' \\ itnf'Z'ls in the $tand , did no l 11l'lp in .1I1Y \va_v, .Iu::. li ce Tat'kund f> an !!minmll mt"llllw.l" of the Cll izt:ns Justice Committee, whi ch \ \- a ~ I~s lab · li slwd 10 il S~ ist till' Mi.... ,.;, L ornmissio ll. hul whic h wal).. t~ tl Oul ill rti sgust at Ih(' pf'Ol ' I ~ ( 'd tn gl) ,

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

IlI ld

!l01 Sll.\'

'T he OUi

y t·1. in Sp ill' o t l't!ljlll !!'< ts Ir'om aJl ()\ c'I' IhE' C'Ulltl)" thl' W)vt!rrIl IWlll

b" i'li killed

\\0'('

fid led tn ~e l III' an inqui ry tt ltllnli:-;""icJl l I hI:' Th;lkkilJ' LlI rtl tlllS:->1t111 \\; I ~ ap llUill led

aW!: F ll('I'

gll\ l ' I 'nI1li ~ nt (' itl/Plb

dill

11.:.1\('

1111.1:-.1 ti ll sn JlIl:l hu lg i:l IJnul

it

Tarh.undc nIJ:-c·!vp!l

;1I1t.! ,11 1"'111'1'

1,.1t ut lll' r cOIll Il1 I;o;sioJl:. \\'ill lJ e(,i.Ju:-- ~ 1

l'itiwi

:-tlC t 't'l· d

nOl hll

II/"'II" !' IflVP:'l ig,l li\f? Iliadli lll'r) Ii:[.... 11""11 r ':. , ; dlh~ I !(~ d _ E\'(~ n JI \~- ;

-\H

,t

gulll,\

I

;f ll fw

\U'I ', · I H P\ j~ liI

WlJ\ d c!

11"\t'

~U II1 t'

I,

f, I

fill"

I ll ,,,,

imp,It·1,

:

Iw

I I,..' d(!Srlillct..i hllw tH', S(',li SUI'Llhjt!(, OI lld otl1 e l';.., int'ilitlill,Ll Ih ree \\'o nll! 1l 10w\"('I:-- :.;1\ \ with IIll'l l'- U\\-II I" 'l '~ \\ 1lol1 \\-d :. 11.'1 , pl~Jli n~ rl _ .

~

fl,ult1

nll(

~ '\I'" pro f~(: ­

lioll. \\ ~ (:u uJd nu

blVIJ wt:~V

in,l4" all IIit' wa ,\ . Wt! told th e

l'll lll ' hnlt'rI

Powerlul People Behind Killing 01 Indians by Indians.

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

il lIllI e ! Jj : lrl~ l vl '

!

c IlI lt!

nIl!

h . I\ ·p

Assista nl

Co mmisliioner

oi

Polic' e, Inill Ihcl'C \Vas luoting

goin.14

011

and ' why doni

YOLI

il?', He: mId us, 'All is shand' . . \nd "'t ~ ~\V aU Ihis in

~ toJJ

h('oo:n l dayUW-Il. Wht!11 Ihe ~e d Mar \\'a h

CommiHcc

.-ol'med , \\'(' lalke d

£0

was

him. lie

( II

l' tJ l,,.·d 11 11 11':-':' I'0Wt'l'iul I H'II ph_: \-\l t ~ l'(> 111 ·hlrld Ihl' kll lin,c.: Il l'

!oIhcd

lnd iims 1)\ Ind,il /ls"- " \\'e ;,dl\ ' 111<' ma~.'Ii;1 II II I i nllut:l~rlls \ \·rlil (1111" (/\\'II l ' \ I ' .... Wn bl-ol lght tlli l !JIll n:p0l'l ' l I Ill! ,flY.: Ifli~ Guilf,l ") nul LIS d c'Oltfrll lllalil)n witl1 Ihl '

ha\'c M ,! tm no thi n",. lIa\'c ~ou foIecn Ih e Palam area? no vou knnw how nmny people h'ave

L: l IU'I'IH1IC:n t 1111 1 ,IS j.J tlLlt\' it ." ritl/.I'Il:- III IIIJ~ !'il \ MI' hhikh p

Ie., Sl,twd 'lU I'S IS a glNt"ll1nH'llt 11.\ fol' ,lfltl LI t the rf"up lt'

Ical'!!>, ves, Iw shed h"a r s , and hI"! ~.. aid 10 us '\ '0 11

Imm1 killml fhm'c'! ,,"

Government Should Resigned :\n gli ly ' E,,' Ct'pl

Have

MI' i\ll1khll1f ~y a~)..e u .

lu['

JlIh ~utn es bt.U'g.

is

11 1f'11.!- 1.lIl_" nlh (u' l:ilp·ili.ll wher'C

sumelhing

like this cou ld alld Ihe govenmc nt 1i()l!s ll '! resign?' He conlinued: ha ppen

" \rtisr,1 sr.t lip Ihe Inq uiry 'in camef'a . Was

the

raping 'in

The kilLinJ(! The luotinl-f' Then why \Vil S the lnquiry 'in ca mt~ra ' ? \Vc ' have great rt:~spt-'I' t 101' thuse lionhcal1cd CilHWl'a"!

r ('(}ph~

w ho cam e befo re the

r ,',1"1 1~, , ~,:;lnn W,. as kpd for pro· tectuJII lo r them csgUrii$.'j ~IlIj'lU~ wel''C ordinary peuple_ While Ihey WP.I"e being e xami lH-~d .

Misra admitted their l'Ol1lpi<linl s (Jut he eou ld give: Ihcm no protet: lion," Mukhotey poi llt ed out Ihill Misra did nol ,ll1u\\ Ill e CJC tu CI'OsS examin e \\-iln c ~ scg ilnd rl enicd p;,uticipa· lif lll 10 PlI CL and PUDR. The Lie was ·stiflod· h e said. ··Our ho:m d s a nd legs were ti ed . our Illou!h ~ mLlzzlcd . There Wi.J5 no jll:-:. til.':c 1'01' citizens and while hl b'r.:i had lime 10 qu o te all kil1ds of peopl e in his report . he h .:i d no time 10 inves tigate the r h. '1(o of I'olilical pressu re on tile poli ce~ "

T hl~ sf'

Continued on page 5. col 1

The

_o..::..::ur~TiJ.:...:·=n.::...:e~s_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

Farum Gazette ______---~----

Of Misra Report

Message from K. Rustomji

Who Saved Life -

--_.

"Normally , th ere are series 01 inter· locking arrangements to prevent a breakdown . It the ci vil police fails, the armed police is called in . " further is required , slren gth ening para· miiitary lor ces are pushed in. and if even these prove inelfective, the Army comes in. All the tim e, a watch is supposed to be kepi by the Home Ministry and th e enUre governme nt. so that lurther measu res may be taken if all Ihese fail . Never in our hi slory has there been such a lolal lailure of all agencies. The rio t was not put oul. It ju st die owing to

exhaustion, leaving behind a death toll of thousands over which the Commission has started a needless controversy - 2307 or 3870. Even if one man was killed with the brutality dlsptayed in the rioting, the nation ought to weep in agony". " The Commission has blamed the police , but has not commented on the failure of the government, which in my view was a bigger failure. How did this happen? It could not have happened unless someone In authority gave wrong directions talked about teaching lessons - irresponl· bly sent word that firing should not be resorted to or, lacking in experience of law and order malters, added fuel to the fire of communalism by trying to impress the administration with altitudes of inverted firmness. Who was Ihis individual or individuals - Ihat led Ihe administration astray? It could not be Ihe sickly Governor, nor Ihe confused Home Secretary nor the frighlened Cabinel Secrelary.

It was 'obviously someone in authority at the political level.

Why was this question evaded? ... Perhaps it would be an evasion ' to blame the Misra Commission, and not blame the syslem which allowed Ihis shameful tragedy 10 occur, and Iried 10 cover ;1 up with a facile explanallon.

The examination of this report will prove to be a futile exercise if we are unable to delermine who evaded the responsibility of taking efleclive action in our hour of peril, and handed Ihe administration over to hooligans .... "

1f11I~!

\\"IH ~ n

Mr K, Rustomji sen I a message to the meeting.

Excerpts follow: "It Is clear thai the responsibility (lor the rio ts) is that 01 the Government. 1\ is specitied by Ihe Constitution . by law. by rules , by conventions, and th e very basics at good government.

To evade responsib ility ot a breakdown is the biggest crime that a government can comm it; and th is is what has happened and had bee n condoned. The events 01 Ihe lasl week 01 October and the lirst week ot November 1984, will remain as a blot on our history which can never be removed. The manner in whic h a woman Prime Min is·

.-----_.

'.

~

-'

ter

was

assas sinated,

and

hordes 0 1 people too k it upon themselves to kill and loot the Sikh s. wilh Ihe mosl revolting cruelty , will remain as a blot on th e hist ory of our time, and may even leave a permanent rash on our body politic , whatev~r Commissions may say.

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

.\ IarAt' n\lll1l)l'l' of

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•

by

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

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

20 March-4 April 1987

5

~um _R_e_vi_ews __an_d_R_e_ile_c_ti_oO_"_S_ _ _ _ _ _ GazeUe f you \Van! an Introduction to nalure,lhe besl Ilme!O ask for il is now. Delhi's parks, gardens and roundabou ls dre a riOf of colour. Ii will la51 only a couple of weeks when our short spring will give way to summer and Ihe scene wil l undergo a complete change. Now is also the best time 10 get acq uain ted wit h some species 01 birds. Mosl of them are looking fo r ma tes and the males showing off their fi nesl plumage. In a mont h's lime they will have

(po lla/s) are made.

Say Hello To Nature

I

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

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

Lonfuse

them With each ot her

becau5~

IIw flC)l.I.'fHS d l"~ The same

colour and tlw t ree~ about the

same size. But they are qU ill? dillereni. O nt! is Ihe Coral; Ihe ,"her Ihe Flame of the Forest which has many Indian na mes:

j

consumat eG their marriages and

will be busy making their nests, laying eggs and keeping Ihem warm.

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

Start with the three va rieties of flowe ring trees. all a flaming red.

The first to flower is the Semul, or the Silk Cotton Iree. Ii begins 10 nower sometime in mld·J anuary.

By March il sheds ils blossoms and pods appear. You can recogl1lse il quite easily . Ii IS a huge Iree wllh prickly spikes round its bole. The flowers are also large. waxen and wilhaULodollr. When pods appea r

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

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

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

.. ~rrr.l·

.i~· ,~l /+1,~ -'j

," . " II/!)

By Ihe lime these varieties of red·nowered Irees shed Iheir flowe rs. Ihe blue Jacarandas arein flowe r. Their Indian name Neelam is al'l. There is ~ ciuSier of thel11 on Ihe ro undabout facing Parliamenl on Sansad Marg. The only other brighl red flowering Irees common in Deihl are Ihe Afriean Tulip and the Gul Mohar.

African Tulips are a recent IntrOduclion; Gulmohars can be seen in plenty everywhere including Connaught Circus.

.

.

,. ,'.

yo u will notice crows pecking at

Ihem. By May Ihey will have bursl and released flu ffs ofcallan Ihence

ll'ttushwant Singh

Sportl Cricket

India Needs A Change Of Captain

A

I Ihe very out set, let us

no p revio us stra tegies lu work.

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

oul on the lield. bUI laltJiv he has been Jrequen lly conStiliing

ro und el'. He has just become

(lthe r me mbers o f the tcam -

Ihe world's fi l.,.1 player to have l:OmplOled Z.OOO rUllS and taken

Shastri. his clepuly. and his senjol' colleag ue, Sunil Gavaskal',

to(1 wic kets in une-dav int erna- ,\nd vet. he has 5ho\...'11 that he tion als. Hi s p mfomlance in Tes t is mie o f th e 1I10s t Unillli]ginacric ket is also 1J(!y ond questi on. I-ive ca ptain s we have Sf.~(!n .

Ami o ne sny:; thi s despite th e lile t Ihtll il is obvio us Kapil Dev Kapil Kills The Game is pas t his plime alre ady, at th e ngc of ~9, and th elY-! are pP.I'S istOm! I:an quite u nd erstand e n! d ouht s ahou t his fi tness and wro ng moves nm de in the he,lt pen e ll'ilt lV(~ IIn\-\ cr play, ~heth er o f IhL! on e-d ay m omenl. one »i lh tilt' h.. : 0 , the baU. ca n und ers tand a gam ble no l But captain cy is quite another paying 00: hut many of his IhinJ;. i\ sk Mike Bl'e.arley, for' m O\ 'f! S arc beyund com p rehenone. An o rdina ry player, he was- sion. Oli en, this n ev(~r a grea t success on the 'positive' captai n killed the field but retai ned his captaincy game in the ill$t co nd ucted 5CI'so le lv bc!cau sc h was a great mOli\'atol' of men. an excellent team-man. a born leader and

knew how to get the best out of his mates. His being a professor

of psycholoK" millhl have had so m ething tu do \ovith all thi s. but he was l:unsi d ('I"{!d o ne of th e finest captai ns there HVCr was. \OVhe n Ia n llot hal11, an other grea t all roun dt!!' in the muuld Qf f\ apiJ DI:\' and Imra n Khan, was 11Ill0 e ctl pl a in, he failed P\ '('11 as a player and \vas

qu it-kly !'Cplal·ed. Since Ihe n.

Bu th illll has unc(' a~a.in cume inl O h is own, The $i mpl r. fal'l o f Il l(! llla lWr is thai sOlli e ma ke gllod ca ptains, so me d o not. i l1'(~ s peC li v(! o f th eir me ril s ,IS a pJaym'. You II);] \, (lr Olav not ha\l' on £! of th e Shl;lw dest . cri cke lins brains in the busin ess, as Sunil Gavl1 skilr's

6

20 March·4 April 1987

""

.

\

qlli te pl ai nly b . hut there am oliler lea rtcrsh ilJ q ualities, too.

ies against Pakis tan, but what is worse, he actuallv s natched

And this. Kapil has pro\'l!d time ami a~ aj n ,as l'Cpe.atcdl_, as he

defeat from the jaws of victory, something which India has hecome infaagains t Pakistan,

l os(~s the t o~ s, lliat he docs not hiW(: tha i sCl n1t:!fhi ng Spt'ci,11 as il t:a ptain.

Eal'lif'r, \o\'h (~ 11 he had o ne uf Ih~ worst I1.IIlS as a cJ l-'l ain, he h;trl some alihis. Jikl' that I", W ilS cap ta ill in mos t of the

which India lost in the series aftc!' four dead Tests, is a case

in poinl. The defeats in tl1e Pune 'and Nagpur one-dayer mat ches. showed up Kapil as han"n, stmtegically. in stark

malches agai nsl tlte fOlTnidahle West Illdif!S and otten Ihe

co nlrast to Imran Khan, who won som e of th r. mat ches

\vp.a thcr gods were again ~ t him. tou_ But since then . he h ilS WOn some m atc-h es and selies, but h,I5 no ali bi \VhaI SOvCI' fl.)!' di sa stro u lca dr'rs hip. Prc\';ousl.v, he ex plained away d efeills land even $marl decision sl sayi ng he \\'3S an 'insti nctive' captain. had

simply by rallying a new team, despite chop and change in lht, team and balling orders, and adopting clever strategies even if he has all but failed as a strike bowler. which he himself atimits. Bishen Singh Bedi, in his column in a national daily. has IlIso come down hr.avily on Ihe lack of imagination of Kapil Dev. Il is useless 10 elabomte in a round·up uf the series about the man.v mistakes Kapil made on the fi eld. hour by hour. Hut he confounded Ihe viewers. spectator'S,

TI'

a nd

mruo

experts, jus t about evelyone,

with 100 many or his decisions.

1\vo glaring e,amples in the recent mat ch es we re: in the last Bangalnre Test. he sent in Kiran More as nig ht watchman with an hour 10 go,in order to pro-

te.:t

Azharuddin!

And

as

expected. More losl hi s \o\~c kct \\; th t5 minutes to go. and then

comes in Azharuddinl In the lasl one·dayer at Nagpur. with a huge s!:ore looming large before Ihem. Az haruddin, traditionally a s luw scorer by one-day s tand-

aros, was kepi towards the very

lasl for the "slog overs" - and what does Azhar do? With Prabhakar at the other end, and Maninder to fotl o·.v. and a rid· iculou s

number

of runs

to

score. they play out the overs defensivllly. having already can· ceded the match.'

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

And to think that the same Kapil has been retained as cap· tain in Sharjah. What will come of the World Cup? Even as a player. Kapil has shown that he can play beller for himself lhan for the team. Hmv many t"irnes

has he hit stupid. callous shots in dangerou s situations? Why is Gavaskar alo ne conde mned ?

Kapil can say that he can play only this style of cricket and get away with irrespo.nsibiUty bul those given a bad name and hanged. cannol. In the interests of India. it is time that Kapil is give n a rest - as a captaill.

INEWSCHlf7f1

By Kumar Guha

F8rum ______________________________

R~~e"~'~ew~s~an~d_R_e_ft_eC_ti_'o_n_s____________ (3azet~

years 1111 0 pigmy replicas of their white oppressors of the past).

Even when the new opposition in

THE GUARDIAN

Third World Review

these countries agllates against

Voices From The South Tragic Irony Th" Guardian Thi ..d World Review. Voices from the South.

Edilol'!l - Viclona Brirain and Michael Simmon!i. London.

1987. pp. 26.'!. $5.95.

For all our concern abou t the need fur ueller SOUlh·South communication. the gafekeepers of our newspapers have shown

pretty lillIe initiativi! 1111 now in keeping ollr readers abreast uf devefopments 111 other parts of the SOllth . While we agree with thalT Susp,c,on ul the prupa· ganda sl uff emill1dllng (mm the Information Minist nes 01 Ihe differen t ('oull tries. which is dished out th rough the Non'dligned News Pool, what prevents the big na tional dailies from ke"lIl" their own corresponden ts III the major capit als of the Third Norld" London. Woshl1l9ton.

Bonn or Moscow s.illl .main the news·cynosures lor the fndian newspaper establishmen!. and covetable datelines for Indian correspondents. This is in spite of the drainage of foreign

It IS therl.:! fore a tragic Irony that for a perceptive analysis of developments in Asia, AfTlca, Lalln Amerira and the Middle East, we are lorced to look elsewhere. The present book is a (ollecllon of articles .vhieh (ame out .n the Third Wo,fd Reuiew pages of THE GUARDIAN of England during the last · live years, wrilten by journalists, WTl' ters and con tri butors fr om both the North and the Sou.h.

Although " few articles ohen appe" . 'u be slightly odd the mark , gen~ra ll y the pll?res un Alrica Ito whit'h almost nne· lhird of the bonk IS devoledl, Lati n America and the Caribbean . provide the readers With a lairly balo nced account of the alii· Itldes and lwi1av;our pallerns of Ih. rlliers and the ruled ill tho.e cQu nl rips,

O ne wonders ilgam why a ptece like the dlsll nguished Afri·

Burnham's Tl'gime in Guyana,

'soc lalism', vii.'IOUS repression

01

the opposit.on parties and inde·

can ~vriler Ngugi wa Thlong'o's

pendent rrade unions continues?

critical anolysis of the efforts of Kenya's presen t day rulers to bury the history of the militant

The ~ic ture that emerges from the reports is the familiar une of the white colonial masters bemg replaced by the black and brown

( auyh l III li lt!

Our people, but 110 t aJlracllve ~nough for our big newspaper ()Wners.

the Sandinista armv and i he US backed 'Contras" giving a chil· ling description of a Village

Mau Mau movement. or a leit er rlH l1]

Dar (Fear)

~

Ilripsl I

in ' Nicaragua jI.c :: 1l11.l 1.<.1 lv.. o "11

indigenous polil icians (some am· I

Jll'1

whom like Kenyalla or did pl'IY ~I 1111111 ,lJI I II,I{'

UUIIIIl,111)

in the struggle against imperial· ISm. bu ' degenerated over the

Hindi and Urdu Novel

By: Harbans Singh K, Publisher. Hlndl-Binnl Pocket Books, New Delhi-11 0005 and Urdu-Drama and War Publications, New Delhi, Pages Hindi 115 and Urdu 88, Price: Hindi Rs 3 and Rs 2.25

T

Why should our readers be dellJed Jl'cess to a repurt abou t where, behind the fdC ade of

l')(I ' h'-lII~1" tolll" lI po~ tlllqs IIwolve Nairobi, [(udla Lrlflqud I ilIO n " I Beirut may be more rel~va l1l tor

he clamping of Emergency in India in June '75 , which set into motion the pro· cess of the marriage of the underworld with the apex polir;· cal apparatus and generation of a fear psychosis, is Ihe subject matter of the novel DAR (fear) in which Harbans Singh has pro· jected the impact of .his draco· nian measure on the life and thinking of the common person.

Beginning wi th the setting aside of the Lok Sabha election 01Mrs Indira Gandhi by the U.P. High Court, he ends his novel - pub· lished both in Hindi and Urdu under the same title - with the rout of the ruling Congress in Ihe 1977 General Election.

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

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

attac ked by the laller. cannot ilppear in tlw Indian Ilewspap~rs.

and are enjoying life. TheIT skin is safe and they are having i1 good time. Otherwise, even multi· millionaires h<lve to labour in jai1."

like to mortgage his pen for a job and crush hIS cons"ience lor a living" Ipage J0), Wi ; thrown out totally Out of work due to restrict ions on the Press. fn reta· liation. and for" living, he takes to blackmailing the blackmarke· lers. smugglers and the neo·rich and in the process contacts and renews friendship with Khanna, a class fellow, 'V llO is nmv the Youth President and a right hand man of the Chhote Sarkar.

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

'Strike Fear In The People' But even Joilllng .he Chhote Sarkar bandwagon could not save ShatIu from being humil· ia.ed. for he wanted the youth to have a clean image 11 resulted in Shalru being slapped by Khanna in the police station, where ev~n the sub·inspector was surprised how a journalist . was being deal! wi.h. Later Khanna told him in remorse, "Dear friend , don't ashame me. ThiS was the only \I,!ay 10 save you. The entire

affair had rearhed Chhote Sar· kar. These two boys had seen yOll writing the letter. They are our touts in Ih~ coffee house ...

Our mel hod IS entirely different .

Ihat is 'shake well before use' and it Illeans shake the people, stri ke fear in Ihem and then sit on lheir neck. This IS the only way to correct Ihese people.

People worship money and wealth. Look how we slruck lear among the wealthy seths. We spread a rumour that such and such market would be demol· ished .. . it created panic in the market ... Our game succeeded

and we collected five lakhs", (page 83).

This fear element was created

Ihese ,"digenous ruling powers, Or olt en manages to take over from them the relOs of the stale, it seeks opPoTlllnist alliances to ret ai n the newly won power ~ thus sowing the seeds of future betrayals and compromises. The National Resistance AmlY took over power m parI'S uf Uganda, but sought the goodwill of Presi· denl Moi of Kenya · a politician who had had a long notorious record of repression in his own count ry. The schizophrenic situa· lion of uncompromising courage at the level of fighting on the one hand , and lInprinciple adjust· ments al the level of maintaining state power on the olher cannot las. long, and invariably the lat · ter comes to prevail over the former . As John Gillings puts it succinctly 10 one of the articles ,"duded in the collection: "The real casualty has been Ihe loss of confidence in lhe ability of human belllgs 10 transcend ma terialllll1ilalions."

from him the other side of the picture - the company's repres· sian of the trade union move· ment wi thin its industrial empire).

One would also have expected Richard Gall to show a more discerning attitude in analyzing the position of Islamic fundamen· talism in tvitllaysia instead of a ralher lacile attempt to draw a parallel with Iran. It is more complex. I happened to be in Malaysia in the same year 1985 - as Gatt, when Muslim students on the campus success· fully resisted Islamic fundamen· talist allempts to ban their annual musical soiree, and to impose the 'chador' on Muslim girls (who in Malaysia wear the 'hejab', which coverS the head and shoulders leaving the face open). "Our Islam is generous!"

- said a Malaysian Muslim when I asked him about the dif· ferences between Iran and Malaysia.

Occasional gaffes notwithstan· ding, the present collection pro· vides an interesting insight into soc iety and politics of the coun· lTies of the South. many of which are hardly known to the Going 'Ga Ga'! readers of our national news· When a corres ponde;'t visits a papers. Of particular interest is loreign country he/she is some· the section on West Asia which times led astray by the appear gives a rare glimpse of the intel· dnce of things .vithout having lectual climate of this war· torn enollgh time to go deeper. region - of the Palestinian poet Jeremy Seabrook's piece on the Mahmoud Darwish, of the Egyp· Taids is a typical example of tian poet Lotfi EI Khouli whose going gaga over the showpieces works are banned in his own (apparenlly displayed to him duro country. and of the Turkish intel· ing a conducted tour by the lectuals pulling up a fight against slIllI?l'eHiclenl public relations people of Ihe industnal house. a repressive regime. _ Sumanla Banerjee who succeeded in kel'pl1l9 ..lV.MY

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

And what type of yout h had gathered around Chhote Sarkar?

Says Harbans: "Ten thousand youth presidents had gathered from every nook and corner of India . 11 is said Ihal all yooth are presidents and none 01 them a worker . .. as if every youth had a three metre high neck and broad sholders, as if they had come for a lvrestling bout rat her than a conference. . There was every arrangement for len thoosand unemployed leaders.

But in the morning, the cleaning staff found heaps for empty bot· ties and a number of ot her things,"(page 79) .

Even when the Congress was being routed in the elections.

this lear psychosis had gripped government officials and one of them told his friend, a retired police officer, "Our Government is being routed. Our jobs are in danger. ... All orders were oral and who will be a greater offender than us, we who carried these orders without thinking.

But a man goes on commilling one offence aher another for a living." (Page 107) Though a large number of treatises have been written on the Emergency, this novel is perhaps the best and powerful work for the ordinary person of the street. Harbans, while using a language understandable for all and sundry, has a message even lor the elite .... When one of his characters, a scooter driver, says "Now the Emergency has ended. What is the risk' You pay the fare and I will drop you, wherever you say" (page 99).

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

Akhil Anand 20 March-4 Aprtl 1987

7

Viewpoint

F8rum

GaZette

• • • • •

Minority Righi.

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

Credibility Zero II l!'o 1111 101l~f'1' a '111( ~S'iOIl ~)f how IlIlJd\ CIT:oihilily th n gnn:rn1I1t '1l! \'nju\'!'1 in lilp ('\'('S of 111(: p(~opl(~ \\'huSt' inICJ1 ~s l :> is plt"dgf:d 10 St',y(' ':111: qtlf'~liun lod~l.v is: is ',hl!I'!! all,v r.1'Cdit~ilil.V ':'Il1;lillin1-.(!

011 ·\plil l si lilt' I'lil11(, Minister. la."lIltt Ihe rOllndatlllll 0 1 H;~JY~II~il s rl'll l1 t'I,\' il l 1\.ll'Ilal. IOILl thp crowd Ihal Ilw law and ordr.r ~lIualinn

III I'llI iiah had imprtwcd. The f;:u.:ls hil:,cd on nOWS .Igc: m:y Il!pnrl s. u!'ou.lll.\' d('j1('lltlanl on onidal info'1n'l lioll, giVf ' til,' !'o l al Cl1lenl the lit' Uti! th is kind of pl'C\'ali c..:'l1ion wt' art' used 10 and 110 DIU' lakes , ul'll PJ111l111ll1L'1'llll'nl s ~el;ollsl.\'_

Ihl! ill Ilip pitSI forllliAht lilt' qu estiun uf l:I1"clihility ha s tou ched ti ll: lu\\ ":-. 1 It'n~ 1 SHlCC i J1(ll~ I.)(:mh~ncp., A Ip.\v days a~o th e hurning i~sll(, dl'h<tll'u bnt h in l'arlii:tllWl11 ;:lIu l in Hw press. was-th e Pn:sitlt'll l ,:. It' lh ~r 10 Iht! Prime ~lill is l ('J' (;on ll'aciic1intt i.J s talt ~l1Ielll Iht! lilll i"1" hat! mac\(' ill POIl'iiamf'nl. Ttl(' dehat" 1'iI~(!{1 on whel hl 'r in 1;\('1 IIII' lInnif' ~lfllislCr hau wi.lnuclt:d (rufIl tlw truth in IL~ lling P'Ir1i;lIl1l'nl til ;!! hI! had kepi (he PJl!sidclll infol111ed un all lWCt ~SSaly ' ll1alll 'r~ ,'H 'cordi l1 g It) Ihl! Constitulion . Al1cgc'dly the Pri!l1C Minis[f ' I' )o., " d llt'n Il'ply tf1 th e Prt~sirl c lH cunlil1l11!d the slalcllwnL So, ;1 :,1- [t w jll'llpl u, whu is wandming' frolll Ih(! trulh tilt' Presilh'llt 01' li lt' I'li nll' ,"finislf!r, the 1\-\'0 higl1l.ls1 mlthorili('s in Ihe land, Quil'tly ti ll' 1!,\pl •.matiol1 is now hein~ sli pppu in here: and Ihrl'c that it is afle!" OJII II maltl!1' or intcl'prelalion, i:t l1liSllf'ulprsl:tllding pCl'hap:-., ,-\nd :0>0 rOll' Ihere are no .UlS\\'ers.

Ho\\' till'

P rcsi u c nl ' ~

alleged lellcr m'er I'c at:hcd IlIl' In(/jilLJ ;llto~clher, nlll suddenl." w(! lind Ihul lIgly silualiun has e lllcrw~cI , ilml "Wlin, Ihe ~o\t'nlnWl1r S son 1I,,\\,h.1 I larnished rredihilil v, is at s taku, Tilt! CUI I'il id Ull Ihe I,~sid('n cf' of Ihe Inc/hill F.,prc,..~ ()\\11CI'. MI' :111111.1 111 t:ol!llka - Ihe CUI is a[ gn~a t p~lin~ In explain Ihal Ill£' rait! ha s n{l[hinA to du wi lh lilt' m~ltWI' of Illl.' Pl'c.s i tll ~nl' s lell!!1' - illlcgcrtly un eal'lhs .1 IclIpl' 1,(!\'I'alill ~ t'OfllH'C li(JIlS with all t\11lClkan im'cioilig:ltin,.: ag(,l1 cy, whit'h it lalm' Ilirns 1)111. alsu hilS l: UIlIU'Clioll with thl' Gm'l'nlOlI'lH ur India, TIll' agency l o~c~ 110 tillle in t:a llinJ.t li n- IUIII'I' i.1 Il lI'J.{CIY, " Ili\ ' h:-.l" "HU.... l l\t'l' ha\;II1:' wl'ill£.'n to II", 1'('llnl'lC!1' COlllw(,tr.cI wi lh Mr l.ocnka tu whom the' u nc'anhr-d IcHer wa.>; ad dl'c~sed £ .\/I.'Y',' ,"; ~lI lu tl ll'r

is :.11101111'1' mailer

H o\\'(~\'cJ' the SUnll1 a~t!llC." \\" .I ~ appoinlf'd hy Iltt! ~ Iin btly' of Finallt't!, ( ; o\'mT1I111~ 1\1 of India, to il1\'csli~atr til ... lin:lIlt'ial dt~illil1~.s

and ilccounts 01 Intij;,Hls with r\llld ~ ilbn);td, particularly in Switz~' I'­ la nd, When Ihn matter is brought up in 1';II'!ii.UlIlm l. th e ltlinistcr 01 St.llt' for Finance wid members that Ihe i.lgrncy WiJ,S nOI ill'pllinH'd as 'in i ll\l(·~ tiga til1~ agency !lui in the mit' (If "infol1l1pr' , The fonner Finance ~" il\islcr \\ h u Iwld Ihill position a t the lime tll1'iHlgenmn [s well' mach! wilh 1111' \I~tm('y. onl.\' nli.ulc a cI)1)t i(' n:rnal'k 1J\'\,l1illf{ n!spollsillility for il11." ;1I1',lngt'nWn ls 111i.1lle, hut neitlu'I' co ntil111p.d nor denied Whit! 1111' ilH"lImlll~ llI Mil1i:..ler of

Sial" I",d slalCd. TIlt! hend of tht~ Amcliea n agelll'y. qtwstiullt~d lI,v Iho WilsllingIbn fl.C. 1" PI'CSC III (llivI~ of ,I nalional daily c:onlil1'lll'd tlli.1[ 1101 only wa~ tlll~re an agrcement but he addml Ihal tll hi s klluwil !dge the ;:lgreclIlI'llt wa s co ntinuillg, He told tilt' HB C Ilwl hi s ae:elH:Y \\'<lS hil't1" hy Mr Hhurt, Lal. a Finance Minisll:" nffi Gi al , ~t S i1l1 inves ligalinJ.{ iI~CIl Gy, i.1uding thai hi s agml!lIIcnt WiI:; d('aJ't~ rI hy [iI e 1!.lI111er Financu Minist er, On the BUC sp.lyicc beam(~ d III India or1 S;llul'uay

IIp,il .llh. Ih" agency head sial cd calegolic:all." Ihal III' had Ipllel:' of Ihe a~ I'()e lllent in hi s possession and tllal cu nl ra!':" 10 whi.11 Ihe Minist('r of Sta tc 101' Fin~ncr. had laid Parliament. Ihe agency had in ra el pa,:, ..t.:d (lfl \;tal infOlmalion to Ihc Governme nt of India, WhY the Govenln lellt had nol la ken acti on he cou ld not sa\'. He also s taled caleJ.{oricali,v that th e Imte r alleged 10 have bL'Cn round 11:; Ihe CBI was a IOI'gClY, Ihat although hi! had \'crhal eommunication \\~Ih thc reporter in qu(!stiol1, (;onnm.: ted \\i th Mr Goenk.a, he had never I.mlte n a i' I'eceived a (ellef' from him. ;\gain Ih e people al'e left wondering: who is wandCling rmlll Ihe Iftllh? i\n .\u s tralian scholar, obin Jeffrey, analysing the changes in Indi a, has written that to-day morc Indians are exposed 10 mOIl! idetls, more Indians are talking to one another because of the revo· lution in communications, So more Indian!S. and Ih is includes the yo ungel' genemtion who ha\'e gruwn to maturity withoul the II'aeli·

lions of Ihe fighl for independancc, wilhoul Ihe knowledge of Ihe dignily of the Cunslilulional Assembly debales. wilhoul Ihe levcl of Parliamen tary discussion and responsibility when men like Nchru

and Palel. Shaslri and Azad laid down Ihe guidelines ann sel Ihe s tan dards. so all Ihese Indian.; are lalking 10 one another ahout whal they read in Ihe press - lei us leave out mruo and 'IV

whuse cl'CdiIJilily is finished - and whal Ihey.are saying. what Ihey am asking. is ·Who do we beliL'Vc·! The Amelic.n Agency?

The accusi ng Opposi tion? The exa nd ]Jl'esmll Finance Minis ters?

And if so. which one?"

In reply to Ih ese questions Ihe Plime Minister announces Ihat a

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

8

20 March-4 April 1987

The Electors And The Elected C.B. Muthamma The lasl Gene· ral Elecllons were won by the Congress(l) wilh jusl under 50% of Ihe votes cast- a ~~~~ minorily. Wil h look roughly 80% m of Ihe seals in Ihe presem Lok Sabha. Mosl earlier Lok S.bha majorities - including under Pandil Nehru and laler Ihe Janata GOVI , were based on even lower percentages of the voles caSI, Ihus running a fairly ('onsistent record of large majorilies based on a minority of Ihe voles casl. II one of Ihe purposes of all elecllon is 10 renee I Ihe views of the major· ilY of Ihe volers in Ihe crealion of Ihe governmenl and ils poli· cies. Ihal purpose has been consislenily nouled.

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

Nevel'lheless. is il possible for Ihe governmenl parl y 10 be res -i\'e to the electora te in general or al least 10 the mmor-

ily of Ihe eleclora le rhal vOled il in? The answer is provided by many ins lances: du ring 1986. Ihe Government's dec.:ision fO raise Ihe admi nislered prires and 10 pass Ihe Muslim Women's bill; earlier Prime Minisl.r Desai's decision on prohib'l lon and nuclear policy; and Prime Minis· ler Nehru's deCision 10 leave Ihe China border undefended. These policies were unacceptable. nol only 10 Ihe parliamenlary opposi· lion bUI 10 Ihe public al large . and to Ihe governmenl pany ils£ll. In eac h case Ihe Head of Governmenl could impose a decision on the govemmenI party Ihrough the pany whip.

The Stale legislal ures are in a similar situation.

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

Artificial Restrictioo II could be argued thai Ihe government pa rl Y's majority is

the resull of Ihe nalion's SUppOri 10 the leader of Ihe parly. As shown above. generally Ihe Prime Minisler has laken office

on less Ihan half Ihe voles casl.

The Janala Governmen!'s Prime were not obvious national c hoices, Besides, in the

M inisters

exisling syslem of parly majnri· lies. Ihe nalion arlificially res· lriCIS ils choice. Th.,e are sev· eral polilic"ns who mighl be credible candidales for nalional leadership bUI Iheir parlies can· nOI win a majoril y in Parliamenl.

In faci. Ihere could be cases where il mighl be advanlageous 10 keep a party oul 01 power while electing a compelenl member 10 power.

The inabililY 10 vole direclly for a leader could involve vOling for his local parly candidales whom one does nol wanl. Only a minute fraclion of Ihe nalional eleclorale voled in Amelhi for Shri Rajiv Gandhi; and Ihen only as an M.P. not as Prime Minis· ler. The choice of Ihe Prime Minisler lies wilh Ihe pany. nol Ihe people. In a silllillion where Ihe leader is nOI an obvious vote-cat cher and the government parly is fraclured . we gel insla· bilily al all levels. In Ihe Janala Governmenl Ihe Prime Minister.

Ihe government party majority,

and Ihe very conliguralion of Ihe parries in Ihe coalilion were all under aliack.

Ir "'·GS a ca.;;e whIC h destroyed Ihe argumem Ihal the firsl-p;JSI· Ihe posl syslem of eleclions would ensure slabilily. There is no inevilabilily abOUI Ihe Con· gress majorily. It is quile con· ceiva ble Ihal il will have a minor· . ily. It has already 1051 ils majorilies in many slales, In India's silualion. coalilion go. vernmenls have a high possibilily of governmenlal inslabilily,

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

NEWSHOUND

lem lunclions in Ihe same way, wilh power lied to parly majori· lies and parly palronage. raiher Ihan nowing from popular sup· porI. Where parly patronage is denied, we see Ihe phenomenon of splinler parlies - a feature of both nalional and regional par· lies. Where palronage is denied, we also have cases of fruslraled polilieians regislering Iheir nui· sance value. as recenlly in Karnalaka. over Ihe publicalion of a slory. Reporledly, Ihe slory had appeared over a decade ago in Kerala where Ihe large popula· tion of Muslims had seen nOlhing objeclionable in il. But when il was published in Bangalore in English - a language which Ihe vasl majorily of Karnalaka Mus· lims (as indeed the vasl majorily of Ihe lndian populalion) cannol read. Ihere was violenl. deslruc· live agilalion, which would nol have been possible unless inler· esled polilicians slirred up Ih, senlimenls of Ihe communily.

This and olher similar manoeu· vres slir up anger againsl the agilaling communily, and resull in dividing and deslablising the populalion. Elections al all levels - Ihe Parliamenl . Ihe State Legislal ure. and all down Ihe line - including Ihe bright new Mandals in Karnalaka - func · linn in r~~cIlY Ihe same way. wilh Ihe same tesulls.

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

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

•

By Rap

IT Mll~T Bi: NO FllN PLAYING tlOL.1 WITH AN INQUIRY' COMMISSION JLJ~~~ ~ 'JJHYPO YDLl9!4Y ~T!

~OLpe~n_F~o~nnn~

F8'rum __________________________ __________________Gazettc

Secessionists All? Asks·The Economic And Political Weekly

~

e last ten days have seen more knee·jerk reactions to developments in Punjab.

On February 3 the five Sikh head priests issued a 'hukum· nama' dissolving all the Akali Dal fa<:tions and directing their office·bearers to submit their resignations to clear the way for the formation of a united party.

Though the development can· cerned the Akali Dal and the Barnala government in Punjab, the Government of India took the unusual step of issuing a statement describing the action of the head priests as "machina· tions of communal , separatist and secessionist elements" and wa rn ing that these would not be tolerated. Home Minister Buta Singh called upon Punjab Chief Minister Barnala not to permit any thing that could "undermine and jeopardize the democratic institutions and the governmenl established by law", suggesting thai the centre's intervention 1as as muc h intended to warn Ihe chief minister Ihat he must not give ' in to the head priesls' directive. II is also intriguing that the Centre did not react any· where near as strongly to the 'sarbal khalsa' organised by the 11\1!iIl\n!> il\ the Golden Temple on Republic Day which adopted a resolution "endorsing the dec · laration of the state of Khalistan" and at which half·burnt national nags and black pieces of cloth are said to have been hoisted at some places in the Golden Tem· pie. As newspaper reports put it , "securit y personnel and officials saw the militants hoisting the nags, including the saffron nags of 'Kholistan' but did not

inrervene,"

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

'hukumnama have this week culminated in Barnalas excommunication from the Sikh 'panth'. It is not quite clear how many of the ministers in Barnalas cabinet, office bearers of the Akali Dal (L) and MLAs have deserted him in deference to the high priests' call or will do so in the next few days, but there can be no doubt that these develop· ments have rendered the Bar· nala government

even

more

dependent Ihan it alrilady was on the Congress (I) and the Centre for cont inuing in office.

This evidently suits the Centre, for it would appear that keeping Barnala in office a whik! longer , more or less as a puppet , is an importanl element in the Prime Minister's current strategy for dealing wi th Ihe situation in Punjab.

The Sikh priests have in the meantime announced the forma· tion of a 'unified' Akali Dal with a five·member presidium. The appointment of Simranjit Singh Man n as president of the rear· ganised party and Bimal Kaur Khalsa as an adviser has been taken as proof of the terrorists' hand in these developments, though there are no specific charges against either Mann, who has been in continuous det· ention under the National Secur· ity Act since soon after Operation Bluestar. or Bimal Khalsa.

Similarly very few have bothered to take a look at the ll·point charter of demands framed by the 'unified' Akali Dal. There is nothing in the charter that can be fairly. termed secessionist.

Most of the demands, such as the release of the Jodhpur dete· nus, investigation into alleged false encounters and withdrawal of trumpedup cases, the release and rehabilitation of Sikh soldi-

Passing as we are through a ers and the withdrawal of the central security forces, the BSF very difficult period of our his· and the CRPF from Punjab, tory, the Sikhs in general ' were have been raised by the Akali feeling a great handicap in the Oat (L) and the Barnala govern- absence of a media that could men t. The call to saleguard the present their point of view before "separate and independent iden· the general public and were tity of Ihe Sikhs" has been made delighted beyond measure when with explicit reference to the The Forum Gazette started pub· Anandpur Salhib resolution. It is lication, although only as a also necessary to emphasize fortnightly. how very different these demands are from those advanced However, I am cOllstrained to by the milita.lts at the~ 'sarbat write that lately I am getting the khalsa' on the Republic Day just impression that the Gazette does as it is useful to recall that the not project the Sikh version of 'sarbat khalsa' and the militants' the events as forcefully as was demands were rejected by the expected of it. To illustrate my SGPC as well as the head priest contention, I would point to the of the Akal Takht, Darshan latest issue in our hands, that is Singh Ragi, who has lately been Volume 2 No. 3, February 6·21. portrayed as the arch villain.

Jethmalani's call for Akali unifica· Even Baba Joginder Singh, tion is commendable. However, Bhindranwale's father, who has that is all about the events of the been included in the presidium previous fortnight , which was full of the 'unified' Akali Dal, had of turmoil amongst the commun· walked out of Ihe 'sarbat khalsa' declaring that he did not agree with the resolution adopted by it.

It. canllot even be ruled out that it was the 'sarbat khalsa staged by the militants that induced the Sir. Sikh high priests to launch their On March 25. t9tl. fire which effort to bring together the war- claimed the lives of 145 workers ring Akali factions in a bid to engulfed a garment factOI)' in counter the spread of the mil· New York. All was over in 20 minutes during which the t45 itants' innuence and appeal.

All told. there is enough evi- workers met their honible dence to indicate the !oily o[ tar· d"ath 11,e 1\\\1 ,l\\\\il\'; Ill' lh~ ~!I!' ring with the same brush the ment factol)' were charged with actions of the Sikh high priests criminal negligence for these and the doings of the militants. deaths but the trial court The Centre would have lost acquitted them " ' th a clean nothing by adopting a wait and chit. watch policy. By not doing so The daily New York Tribune. the possibility of the emergence reacting sharply to the verdict. of a credible political forma,tion wrote: "The monstrous conelu· in Punjab with whom it might be fruitful to engage in a meaningful dialogue, has been rejected out of hand by the Centre.

T

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

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

Beds At The Cost 01 Culture

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

ity arising from the Head Priests' unity move and excommunication of Barnala. The Misra Commission report had been pres· ented in Parliament about a week before the issue was despatched.

All that the issue contains of the Mishra Report is a piece written on the basis of reported leakage.

Having been associated with the Citizens' Justice Committee I know that we have a good case that can prove that the Mishra Report is a deliberate, distorted, lopsided attempt to deny justice to the victims of the November carnage. I hope that the next issue will contain enough material to expose the injustice perpe. trated by a government that has made a mockery of commissions and the judicial system - Inder Singh Kohli, Advocate 272, Guru Harakrishan Nagar, New.Delhi.

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

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

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

From EPW, Feb. 14, 1987

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

A New God-Money

Gazette Not Projecting Sikh Viewpoint

lamented the destruction of the 6nest specimens of Goa's architectural heritage in order to build new concrete structures without aesthetics or beauty.

This is being done with the safe aim of increasing the num ber of beds for tourists. He maintained that strong public opinion alone can halt the deterioration of the Goan culture. and art and architecture arc the major vlctims of this deterioration.

The tnspector General of Police, Goa, Mr paramjot Singh Bawa, intervening in the discussion, pointed out that there are no statistics to show that rowdyism of ciJ"Jnkards or crime and anti·social behavlour have increased in recent years.

Nevertheless. he cautioned the enthusiasts of tourism in Goa that some conttul is necessary.

"We have to be conscious of the concealed effects o[ casino culture. nudity, vulgarity and drug

addiction", said Mr. Bawa.

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

Infllcllng Deep Wounds

There was a consensus that commercialization of art and cultu re is inDicting deep wounds on the organic culture of Goa. The statement adopted at the seminar said: "Tourism in Goa should be planned. controlled and become peopleoriented. It is necessary that,

instead of threatening and eroding Goa's cultural and social identity, tourism should strengthen and enrich them. At pres-

ent. publicity by the promoters of tourism, distorts and vulg..... izes the image of Goa and of the Goan people. This is deeply hurtful to Goan sensibilities and may lead to a severe backla.h.

In coming to Goa, tourists should feel that they are coming to the home and land of a friendly, hospitable people. As honoured guests they enjoy the hospitality of these people and should show con-esponding courtesy and respect. If tourism offers opportunity for development. it also places social responsibility on the tour organizers, official bodies and other social agencies. tn-esponsible commercial tourism is the bane of art and culture of the local people. But an authentic sh ..... ing between people enriches both host and guest and it is an enduring contribution 10 solidarity and integiotion. This we believe is something that domestic tourism in Indian can foster. " The seminar was organized by the In8titute of Social Science8, New Deihl in collaboration with Goa Unlwrsity_

20 Merch-4 April 1981

•

9

F8rum ________________________Gazel~-----------------------THE BIRLA'S Sikh Opinions On Punjab

Enter The Heiresses Jay Srinivasan

Just after the death of Birla par· fIarch , Ghanshyam Das, 101lr years ago, !lis son, Krishna Kumar, had ruled alit any possi· bility of the Birla 9rouP breaking up, saying, jill is nol easy, even if someone wants to (break away), and I don't think it is going to happen ." Yet, it was KK Birla himself, who caused what could prove to be the first crack in the Birla empire when he announced his dec ision last year to leave his companies to his daughters. For the first time in Marwari history perhaps, and certainly of the Bir· las, married daughters will be inheriting their father's business.

The heiresses are Mrs Nandini Nopani, Mrs Shobhna Bhartia, and Mrs Jyoti Poddar, wives of well ·established first or second generation industrialists. This break with tradition could well mark the beginning, if nol the end, undoubledly, of a sea change in the luture course of the Birla monolith.

"God has given them every· thing except sons," it has been said of Ihe Birlas, and it was in recognition 01 this unfortunate truth that the clan met lor con· fabulations at Calcutta in August las t year. It was decided that in the absence of sons , companies

may be left to daughters and in Ihe absence 01 any childern at all, willed to any Birla relative.

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

Separation Mechanics

The modus operandi lor work· ing oui the separation of the companies and, consequently, the holdings, is yet to be fina· lised . The only viable solution was reportedly ofIe red by GD Birla's youngest son, Basant Kumar, who suggested that the various Birla investment compan-

ies swap Iheir shareholdin9s, to be bought and sold at Ihe ruling market prices. Whatever IS decided, the most affecled Birla family will be Ihe GD Birla branch. GD Birla's oldest bro· ther, Jugal Kishore, ' had no children; Ihe second brother, Rameshw"r Das, had two sons Gajanan, who was a bit of an

10

20 March-4 Aprlt1987

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

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

Chemicals. An added bonus lor the daught ." could alsc> come from th. childless MP Blrla whose companies were place.d under a recently formed trust,

Ihe MP Birla Foundation. Tho\lgh Nandini NopallY is chairperson of the trust and Shabhana and Jyoli Irustees, it is unlikely thai Ihey will gel comple te cont rol of Ihe MP Birl. companies. What they cuuld expecl is a direct say in the running of the companies.

Whatever the decision on KK BIrIa's crossholdings and the dis· tribut ion of MP Bida's Rs 4000 crOre empire. The Birlas have Indeed come u long way star! ing

wit h Raja Baldeo Das Blda's opium Irade with China al the turn of Ihe century . Today, their operations include lextiles. min· mg. shippmg. en9i · . ~er1l1 9 and tea. The Birla'" six sugar com· pallies produce 30 per cenl of Ihe country's entire sugar outpUI, lh~ir cement lactories 20 per cent of the 11c11 1onal gross.

TheIr 200·odd companies cOIl"ol assets estimaled al Rs 2500 crores and have a sales turnover 01TOughly Rs 3000 erOres a year.

No Longer A Monolith

For four general ions, Ihe Bir· las have worked as a tightly knit I ~am , drawing S lff! n~th iWIl' tlw (lOllP'~ \l m (l~d 1I11~g,-,

Luyalty

the other hand, virtually built his own empIre. The Zuari Agro Chemicals, Texmaco, India Steam· ship and the six sugar mills were eit her lounded , acquired or managed by KK Birla lrom the

within lhe clan has inspired loyalty of employees. some of whom have stayed on wilh the Birlas for life and become part of Ihe fami ly. "There is more Ihan just crossholdings thai has kepi the famil y togelher," says one

ver)' beginning.

such employee.

l\ullldr

\Hl

Who Gets What

While the Birlds have never aired grieva nces in public, KK Birla is believed to have been disappoint ed when his falher lefl the blue·chip companies of Ihe group 10 Basanl Kuma r. KK Birla himself has explained Ihe absence of an inherilance be· cause he had n O sons. His dr!ci · sion 10 gIve his compames to his

daughters seems only nalural in the circumstances, Mrs Nandini Norany is likely to be given Texmaco, Mrs Shobhana Bhar· ti" the Hinduslan Times, of which she is already a director and the six sugar mills , ami Mrs Jyotl Poddar, Ihe Zuari Agro

But whatever has held Ihe Bi,· las together so far is abnut 10 be pul to tesl by KK Birla's break wilh the past. The entry of his daught ers into Ihe Birla empire, if only 10 detract from its stren9th, could trigger off a chain of reac tion that may rock the Birla ship. Will Ihe other Birla daughl ers sit bac k and take it or will Ihey lay claim to their fa thers' (ompanies as well? Will Iraternal ties be able to weather the storm bound to be raised by an unequal distrihulIJ'in of wealth?

There has been some heart burn over property dislribllrion in the past. KK Birla may have put the future of Ihe Birlas al stake.

INEW5CRIPT) [

I

j OVA r(,,qm

EII.jJ " N"l~~l 'f(

15}e ., . ,

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

I"",

I I

• The Shromam Akali Dal started the Morcha live years ago to press the demands 01 the Punjab to the Centre. The Panthic Committee wants to continue the confrontation with the Centre. Tohra realizes Ihat Sikhs cannot secede Irom IQdia but the confrontation against the Centre can be maintained. Akali dal (LongowalJ wanl to regain the last ground for the Sikhs within the Indian democracy and would like ro keep the fight for the rights which are available wilhin the democracy I.e.equalily before lalV. III Punjab it suits the Akalis to communalize politics and outside Ihe Punjab it suits the Congress (I) to do so. Buth parties have won unprecedented success electorally following this policy. Prolessor Darhsll Singh had a rare opportullity where he could have artie/a ted the demand 01 the Punjab within the democrat ic means still available and he could have built a unilorm democralic pressure on rhe centre - this could have given us a common objective for reillstating the honour 01 Punjab, release of Jodhpur detenus amd settlement 01 territorial and'water disputes.

Hasty aCllon on Ihe part of the Jathedars has put us into the present dilemma. (Gyan Singh Sandhu) • In Iracing the Gurudwara Movement it is dear that initially the Mahallls of the Gurudwaras were approved by the Guru bijt as time passed, the Mahants starred misusing/ite GururdlVaras lor personal gains and also started 1V0rking against the Sikh community. We should be able to ddlereniate between the institution of the Akal Takht and the individual appointed as its Jathedar. (Dr. A.S. Narang.)

• A delegation should be organised of all shades 01 Sikh opinion to meet the Jathedar 01 the Akal Takht 10 achieve unity. The leaders of tlte Dellti Sikh organisarions at present appear to be willing to say, write Or publish what the Cenlral government wants. (Mr. Gurb'achan Singh.)

• The Akal Takhl is our supreme authority and like the summons issued by the supreme Court 01 India have 10 be responded to personally, Bamala should have appeared belore the Akal Takht personally and lIot through any agent.(Mr G.S. Chadha.)

• The media propaganda against the Sikhs and Akal Takht by the press and lull page advertisemenls is very harmful.

• The Jalhedar 01 the Akal Takht gave a call for '!llill' hHI il· hil§ ended up lVitlt a cfivide &I"r~ thi. dllll(ie becomes permanenl a Jd~~JIIOIt 01tlte Sikh Forum and other like minded persons should call UpOIl the Jathedar, to first understand how the present sutuation developed, and then impress on him that unity amongst various lacrions l,as 10 be achieved. (Mr R.S. ChhatwaL) • Barnala should have gone to the Akal Takht even ilthere was danger to his life as we should be prepared lor death at all times and not be afraid 01 it. Even il the Jathedar Ilkal Takht has taken a wrong step we should still support him ar" , cooperate with hlln. (Mrs Chandanwant Kaur.)

• A voice against the Akal Takht will weaken us. The supreme authority of the Akal Takht should be upheld, and submi;sion belore it is neccessary. The Prime Minister should call a meeting 01 all fac tions 01 sikhs to solve the Punjab problem. The Sikh Forum shouLd continue its non·political role. (Col. Manohar Singh.)

• The Central government has been insincere, dishonest and anti· Sikh in ils approach righllrom the beginning. They are pushing the Sikhs illto a confrontation against the country as no justice is being given. The Sikhs are fully alienated. The only solution is for Rajiv to seek lorgiveness at the Akal Takht. Repression In punjab in widespreadelegation of the Sikh Forum should meet the Prime minister. (Mr B.S. MainL) • The respect for the Akal Takht is.supreme,holVever the modality of 'hukumnama' has to brought regarding the relation between the Panthic Committee and the Jathedar Akal Takht. IMr. Sardar Singh .)

• Our differences are the cause of the tragedy. The central government appears to be confident that it can keep the Sikhs divided and so long as they remain divided, the centre is in no hurry to lind a solution to the punjab problem. The Akal Takht is our highest authority. On the issue of the 'hukumnama', opinion appears to be divided. Against one opinion that any order of the Jathedar Akal Takht should be accepted unquestioningly, others leel that the matter of appointment of the Jathedar and the constitution of the five Jathedars who assemble to give decisions has to beconsidered rationally. Electrorates only can remove those elected by them. The appointment of the present Jathedars is open·to question .

(Mr Gurmukh Singh Jeet) , • Barnala's letter containing the offer 01 his services to the Jathedar Akal Takht was interpreted in a different way resulting in a duel between the two. No solution is visible at present. (Mr Jogin'der Singh Joggi) • The Sikhs fall with political success and rise in adversity. We area very easily pruchasable commodity but hope that from this adversity we will rise again.

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

11I1Ii c(~

Farmers Movement Gains Ground

He has rl'fllst' rI to sci till il Commission In illvr,s ligah! illin this affair.

Talkill~ 10 l'Ppnrll!I'S at Barallt, h (~ ~ai d Ihal iI judkial inquiry is !olillirit' llt trlf su r h incidr nt s,

I,,? .\

1

it . 1 mime III agitate f()/' youI' Jigills? Tile ':U'fI1(,I'S toil ria \' in Hlld d ~l v Ou l 10 fend lTIiJlio,;s. Yet. Will:'" the\' ask fur

m.L:Lllar supply of el"ci Jidty ill lIumin .. 1 1'':lll!S, Lhc GO\ c l'I1nwlll ~i\'(!!'O 1111'111 I'lllin' hllll"I!" .11' a /'t'wa rd for hard wlirk 11 0\\ ,\111

Police bullets supprc ~s LIS wl1('11 WP fael' rh e ci.1lalJlilil~S uf 11.ltur,-! t ~\l! I 'V V('ill'. Bul. Ihi!<l lime. we will sh{J\'v " Il t' Gmr.nll11 p. 1l1 wh,lI Ih f' agitateu 1i.1I11lt!rS call 111.):' Tliis S I ~lWI11 Cl1t Wil S :11adc LJ\' a 711 vear old 1~1I'11l' 1" Mukhijal'

Singh of Si~(,I 1i Villa~1' in Distri ct l\1ur.al1~l'1lagilr, 11!' was all l:ye \Vilnc~s Iu Ihe urulal allad. flf Ih£' poli et' on 1111 ' deH10rlSlr.lHom: of f':lI111crs ~ It ShalllJi TI)WI1 )' rv!tlzallilrn,lp;ar ilisllict in eastern Uttar Pratil':-h OI!1II0 ' CI'al'\' had lakr ll had~ :-; I ~a l on March 1. l~lS7 < in Ihi:-o tOWI1

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on Mal'dl I. sill n : till' em·emlllcni had la ilml 10 sui"" Ihl' proltlt:ms of Ih t~ faITl u~I':' , TIll' ilgitiJli on lilundlt:d ill J:lIlltal:V H7 W..IS l:tJIllpl cldy peacdul. Tht : h'!lI dt!l-:t assured IllI: c1isllil'l alil1l inisll'i1li on of .1 similill' PI !iu.:pful (InnlUi1str':llitlll bUI il was fln l (:ol'l\'il1('('tl. /kl'ol'rlil1~ In il pulila' tJllker ul

ISS IIt!.

In Ihr' paSI, faJ111 CI'S Orw(~ s h! rn l lll,11' Pradesh 1i1t1lldwd agila-

BrlJender S. Panwar

"IS

Ih e

Government's Double Standards

,

A Report From Muzaffnagar

For Ihe lirst time since Independence, the traditionally Lok Dal dominated region ot western Uttar Pradesh has witnessed a significant development. A new non·political organisation 'Bhartiya Kisan Union' has emerged on the horizon. The farmers seem to have lost faith in the politicians and have welcomed the local unit of the BKU which is affiliated to the BKU of Sharad Joshi in Maharashtra. With practically no resources at its command, the BKU of western Uttar Pradesh launched its lirst major agitation on March 1 and thousands of farmers from far and wide responded to the call . The farmers have come out In the streets to fight lor their rights. The 'Sugar Bowl' 01 India, as the egion is popularly known, Is experiencing an unique pnsciousess. The agitation which was launched in a specilic pocket may well engulf the entire region in times to come.

of

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.,

•

linn:- fell' a I'f'asnnahll"! Jlrice of s uga r t:0I1l C!. Ihl! main ea!'h crop Ill!' \\'hkh 1111' l'l'gioll is fumous ill lilt' rOlllllrv, In lil t' ll1ajotil v of ,:;t:'I '!", tilt' ;Igilali ull~ Ull!\\I a hla nk ht ~nHl :-:1' ('\'1'1')' lim n polili, (';t! pal'lit!:- iUlllped inlO Ihe fl"I~' "li d d ivided Ilw 1'1r111l'1'S in difti 'I'l!1l I ca mps. " Wl' h ;t\"l ! learned It ~:-son s " '0111 ()UI' pa!"1 mislake!" ~tllll ~11J\\'1I \\~SI! , 111 K:!, Ilw al-ti1aiiI III 1i.1l111('1u'd to ~(' I it rai :;;r in

Ih e' ellsl flf sugal' I',IIl(' \Vas hcatliIII-! lowards iI gl'.md sW·('(!Ss. SI' ll sin~

Ihis. Ihe (;ovt.'rnnWIlI

pla.w d th r policy or 'di\i tl c ami I'll II' , The local le~is l alllrc dildwd li S bv SI W(;l'I'dil1~ ill fi)i1illt:. Ihe ~If,i l-aliun and pI'essur· i /.l'd Culjill' ami St1l1W 1;lt 1 ~ 1I1m~ I'S Itl l1'sl<l 1'1 lilt' stlpply uf ea llt! 10 II", :-'lIHar mill::., We w illllul lU I it h :l)lpt 'll aga ill ,' s<li cl :t t:ujjar l~tI11H'I ' tJt II II! Il '~i un. , rill·' 1'Ct:t'1l 1 dl'\'I'lu)lIlI f' IlI S in till' ;tn'a full v slIpporl tlt b \'iew .

1\11' Il w liI'SI ·lilllt' ~I pon' pfJliliGal (I1~;lIli:;:;llilJl1 Ur..l ' iaffilial cd 10 Ihl' Ur.. V III ~hal-; Id Ju:,hi ) hil !'i t'llH'I'~('d ill th i:, II',--,dilion'll!y 1.1 Il-.,Ila I dom ina led , at't'iJ .

L\l'n~~:-ill.!4 his 111sen lllU!1l1 ano t! i:-~ lI sl hlwOInls Il ll' plllil idal1s, :111 I:dl ll'ilh!d \'Cl lllh , Olllhil' Sill,f.{h :-;;lId, " lilt' 1'I,';J'snn liw our I~li!tm~s ill 1111' poI:-O l \Va:- Ihal WI : I'alipd l ull nlllt'h 1I1I IlIl' polilical leildc'I'"lIip, TI1I':w polili"ian :> used ,I" /illi/" ,lIu / l hn lVl' un I,II,' /'Llt1('/'''' l <It .1'" tit.) ,q L, I 'I l~ 11 11'11' :-1 1)111111'1 I~tnllers al ttH'

rllI ',\

'r,I/' fl~ I

I It!

IlWn.:v o f Ihf'

{;l i\·('rt1 l1lt:n l alltw (ll'ri~'i llJ.( ptllilil-al l:ill'ili.l1 ou t DI Ilw isstu:."

ur

l :ll l1llll n lllil1 ~ 011 IIIP birlh a 111111 pulil ic,,1 ul'~m \ i :.;at illl1 , JH\U,

indicated

ill \\j"'SICl11 Pllilr l'l'adcsh , ;lIIotl wl' "(}lith :omi t!, 'It is a \\'( ~ I · 1'11111(' di'\'I'loll1'lwnl Oll ly Sti ch 1I1 ~;JI1i :-illit1n s Opt:,'j\ lillg al lucal II 'w\:-. t ill l Iwlp IiI/ mel'S ill J<l !l lil1~ Iltdr dun. TIlt' Im-a l lInils :-; hllul tl hit\'(! t:o'{ll'dillalioll al Ihe

wh m 'l'~ Ihe S lal ~ Pulicr upl·ned

h'II1 C:I '

t'I'lI lrallcvcl. "

lire al farmers ancl shot d ead Iwo innor.nn l "ouIIls, ,\ khar I J~ I an d .Ii1ipal Siilljh 1181 tintl Il'ft hundrcdl'i of them inillt'l'd, T he unlv clime Clf th t: fi ulII el's \vas tha'l th ey were prolt:s liliA pl.~aee­ fuil v agilins l Ihe 1"'~('I :1I1 hikl.! in r lr.ctTidtv 1'~II C!'i from lb. 22 ,.5{1 " 10 I~s, :10;· pHI' h Ol~c POWI!I',

Ballalio n:-. Ill" Polit:!' lI l1rtl"' d eanllllanc!os II'AO \\len' SUIlImoned i ll additioll In Ihl! potier ron:(" Ir'tllli Iht: nt~ iJ.( hh tJlllil1g di sllic ts. TIl(' tuwn III' Ilamli WliS ,'om'crlml virillillly il1 10 it politl' ";.11111' Ul l FehruOIry 2X,

,I

After two

day~

hnd pa ssml 1I"It'

cl'uwd was still s\\'clli nfj c o nlin ' uouslv. Thousands of finlllcI':' from ",Ile ndghlm ul;ng \'illil~(!~ I!~ pl'esscd Ih(~ir r\!sentm cnl hy n-'fw,ing 10 hand OVeI' Ihe c!c:ld hucl;es uf Ihld!' cUI111'adc5 10 lilt' administralion, Thl'v hl,IIl Wd IIH'

adminislration

1(.1 1:

tho

so ny

slall' or all~lini. "TIU' pulkn hll\'1! lh:liuura lelv liliw n Ihi :-o n.xtl'CIU(!

lftCP \\~th ilw intentiun 01' 1('1'1'0 1'isi l1~ Ilw f'U1Jlcr s of this l'Cgioll. nul. we \\';1111 10 loll th e (;u\'nl'Il '

II1 l1l1 t Ihal nothing (;a n scal'C liS We have uCI'idcu In fi~hl 10 lilt' fini sh ', saiu RajIJir Singh, a you lh li'UIll \~ll a6u shalnllhalka, Overreaction By Administration

The l'Ou ls ollh l! " :1:1'111 Il'IJuhlc on March I \Vhlch l'C!"lIll nd in pulice filing can be !riH:ed hal 'k 10 th e happf'n in~:-o lit Ih e PiiSI. In .Iallll.I'" '157, Ihe !lewlv IOlll u!d nOll ' polilical UI'J.'tl lli!io1l i on 'Uh;II"

~kl'l'lll Z()II(~, Ilu-1 Lt D, 11'111111

ChilIlCI::-' of disllll" IIllJillg Ihl' del110nSlra-

'I hi' l;:wlI1 crs nl tlw weslm'l1

tiUII .

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

ih it pl'l:caulitHlillY I1lctl sum, Ih e p olice an'1:slCc.I 11100 leaders nf Ihe r'II'mer~ un Fl'llI'uUIV ZS , 1",11'111 ('1':-1 fmlll Ihe ~lI n'Oli litlill#{ \i llilg<,s lold Ihi l" I'eportl!r 11'1 .11 pllli n~ jecps IIHlkinr: Il1l111l1:-. of

II \(' \'iIIagw\

WI'I''(' wa rning !ttl' fanllel's Oil Iht: lIIicfl) phonc of din! ( 'tln~cqu r.nrt~S if Ihl! famll ~ I 'S

n'git)fl

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

and 1't ':IC'l llJd tl w Ilul!"kil'b uf Shcuni i l lna hle III ( '011 11'01 Ihe crowd , Il w polin' opnllc'd lin' ,11 Shilllhh;t1k,1 1t;:lih,.! \ l'I'll!'J:-oi n g and l-.iI1t.:d two \ ; llllit:- T Ilt' fal11lt'l's \-\'f!n l hl'J':-OI:rh ,lOti ~i llf'd I':\C I .la loon l'ulIlIlI<-In d (!1' itS illlll l'l 't!

1lI,1I1\' \',Hlm' ilml

ami

;.tJ!it;tliun

dil~i1 \ViiS

In:,pill! uf all 1'1!:-ou;c:lion:-o ,lilt! ' N~I~ a · l\.:tll d i'

Iw 1111' iH lminisl"l

ri ul' , C;u';.lVan s' 0 1 Ir;J(~I OI,· t I'OHic~ 11I00;IIH lowa l'ds ShamJi TUWII fl'tllll all diI U : liull~ on Mal1:ll I , The

1, : all :~ IIt\' Iilllll crs :-;1i"t1'It!rI

Ihal

Ihl!

lIias ill fa,'otll' !.If ca:-oli!11l U,P, The f;tI1l1l!l'!'I ill Ihl' easlcI11 pal1 gr.t I:!t:t'trit;i t,v al dma pnl' I'illr~ s illld Illl! f.1I1111!1'S MI!I lIIure pricc for

pill1id pall:d ill III(' ~ Igil:l l itln .

Tllese ;I(~ Ii\ 'i l ies irk(;d the 1;1I111l~I'S and Ihtw th:ddml al palll:ha,vats, 10 par l icipaw in 1111'

Defiance 01 Reslrictlons

c.orn pl aillt:d

(~()''I'l'I1ll\c l1l ~ld ()PI douhle sl ~lnd a nb ill dealing with 11m ,'"slem ~lIld wc,:, lt:rn 1'C~ions of Ihl ~ :-o l al e. rh e,,! is a ricar eul

p c l it:I' lJlc n '1'111' a~i1iJlt' d 1\1 1o'It! 1- I"lliml u

tl lll\)

JllI\\ cr

1'C.. u'llI'd

sl " l ir,ln

:1 possillllil,' III :toolh l'l' lI\'cl'lcd II\' rhe 11111l'1\ inl t'''·''lllion nf SP :"1111;111 11'1' Na lh ~i ll 5 h who t'I,rl l:,t:d 10 ;) 110\\ ti l" in~ al th is jtllH'III I'r., '11w f1,\(' hall ;tlliun s WI ' I't ! :-.0 ,J~i1 , til 'd .tt lil (' l (is~ nr lhcll' "OIlIlI I'--l I\lIf'1' Ih;1I Ihe'\, slari ed ht 'tllill ~ tI lt' fill'IIII'I"!" l1H'i-d lt'ss!v, AI" iI n ::-IIIt. lilt , 111111, hlll'lwd . Hr-rnnl !"!l·t'lipn (I ' l Ilt'

.,.11on

~

TIll' pulil 'p hum I ttll'i l .. \\ n \'c l1ir1l'" ill IIlth'r l it illiplil 'il ic thl!

1~1I11lt,l':- ill rilbl' C il!'o l 'S • 111' :-.aid, ,i ll lal 'lnl'I':O ,1] '\ ' !"ti ll IIli:;::-;ing lind 1111' "'adt' rs ltod 111.11 liu' \' haw ! H~I"'II kltll'd hy li lt' pulif't" ' 011 ~1; 1I ... ' h .!, l lopi \::1lh iJixil, HUIlIt' ~ 1i1li:- ll 'l' Il 11'1 ,d fl l1~ \d lh IllIk.... 11I :-, i ]\~11 i\lin i:-.h'" III' ,\ lIilll.11 Il u~I Mn tl:t" d :-;iu!t!

SIt'1l 111i !IlU tlt~, 1,l n ll ;'I~ rr,ru:-I 'd III 1,11 h. lit 11"11'111 Llll 'l' LlIl, .11 Ihl.' 1'1.!:-i 1 I llHI:-l j, 1IIl ' Illllll:-I.-'I'S i!(,I'I 'Ph 't! (I'll I.klll.1I 1I1s 01 thl' f' II'1I1I ' I', hi lt lhl' maill b:-ouP-hikr ill 1'!t 'I' lIid" rah 's - j('IlWilH'd 11IH't,tltlh e<i '-I Ill' It'd dl"" of 1'ii, 11 I'l'fllsl'd 10 !,I'lm il p" lilil'i:lfI!'O III :-.pt'a\.. tM ll l ;11L'il pl clllol1ll \'ir nid 1.1/ 1111' :"1Ilf,h, l I lil ,r ~IiJ1l :' Il'1' 1'11,11' l 'I,(( II ! ~ll . lhl ::' I,I~CII tltt'!:o Ul'y

sligar (',.trll' in lilt' Illill!'i

el1l

l 'II ,II'

or (!asl -

Pr;uit!Sh . "The

liP

(jU\'Cl'nmcnt is ~ tl cki ng- Ilw 1,loo d rrnlll Ihe \VC!'i ICI11 pari and is injl'cling il Iu IllI' l~a~lf" 11l pal1 l iP. Bill. Wf! will nol ICI il hilppf'1I for 1(l11~ ," slIl1HIlt-!d lip illl ilgil:tll!c! ." (n lll~ lalmC\'.

The f'aillaws ill'l~ planning i.t hi~

or

if

"t!:il'lliol1

fail!"d

Ilw

10 1 '(::mO\l~ Ih('

~ovel1lll1Cnl

plUhlcl11s al

til e I'a l'lies!. 1 hi:-. tI;4;taliul1 \vill ~ p rpad in II·w 1'l1lil'l! mgion of \\ 'c~ It 'rIl

Uttar

Pra d{~sh ,

The local

Ullil uf IH\l l has 110 pl'tlpa~anda lIlariliIlCI) , no palllphlel war ha:-o Il(~u/l lau nch ed htll inspite of thai Iht, IIH-~SS..1gl~. has l'1!al:i1e d !'\I'I'\' nnok and ( ' urm~I' o f Ihr

I'f',t.::ioll Tlu-' \ukan o is mali." 10 !'\plod.-, . . 1Ilr1 11ll' lanners ~Ln~ de tl' l'lllim:d 10 con u~ out in Ihe s I J,{,t'I~ HII." d llY, Thm' ill'P. wa iling

1\11'

II

sil-{lHtl

from

Ihe

Bt\U

Il'acir.rsllil ).

20 M.rch-4 April 1987

11

"I :The

FOrum

Gazette Heritage and History •

REMEMBERING BHAGAT SINGH

The Problem of Punjab's Language and Script' IThe Punjab Hindi SalUtya Sammelan had o'lfanised an essay competition on the above subject in 1923. 11 was (or thar comperirion rhar Bhagar Singh wrore rms article. The General SecrerlJ1}' of the SalUtya SammoIan. Shri Bhim Sen 11dyalankar (now expiredl liked the article much and preselVed iI. Bhagar Singh gar a prize o( Rs 50 for tms article. Subsequenrly. it was published in Hindi Sandesh on FebrwlIY 28, 1933.1

"An acquamtaince of the litera-

ture of a society or a country is of prime importance for the understanding of that society or country. because the consciousness of the soul of a society gets reflected in its literature ruSQ," History is witness to the authenticity of the above statement. Cou'ntries have followed the direction detcnnined by the flow of their literature.

Every nation needs literature of high quality for its own upliftment. As the literature of a country attains new heights, the country also develops. Patriots be they merely social refonners or political leaders pil--J /hi! ~est at.te.ntion to the liter-.!ure of dldt W~J/t/IY I/' they do not create new literalure to meet the requirements of contemporary issues and situations, all their effons will fail and their work will prove unstable.

Perhaps Garibaldi could not have succeeded in mobilising the anny with such ease if Mazzini had not invested lhiny years in his mission of cultural and literary renaissan ce. The revival of Irish language was attempted with the same enthusiasm along wilh the renaissance in Ireland_ The rulers wanted so much to suppress their language fol' the ultimate suppression of th e Irish people that even children were punished for the crime of keeping a few verses i.n Gaelic.

The French revolution would have been impossible "ithout the work of Rousseau and Voltaire. Had Tolstov, Karl Marx and Maxim Gorky not invested years of their lives in the creation of a new literature. the Russian revolution would not have taken place, leave alone the propagation and practice of communism.

The same applies to the social and religious refonners.

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

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

12

20 March-4 April 1987

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

e,-,mction

He adopled Ihe Ka.hmili . <:nfll ill ""'f<~ UJ)' an Indian langua~e. La ter Ihe Adj Granth was compiled h.v Guru Arjull Delii and Bhai Gurudasji. Thev lOuk a farl'eaching and \ Iseful !oI te p in creating tht~ ir nwn sC ripl ;.tnd literature 10 propagale Ihc:ir beliefs.

AfteM'ards, as times changed, the flow of liter. ,ul'C alsu changed . The ceaseless saclifi · ees and Sllnp.lin~ s of the Gurus changed the situation_ Whereas we find dl.''\'otion and sclfoblivion in Ihe preaching of tho first GUIlJ , and expprie nce il sense of self·effa cement in the follo",;ng couple t: Nimak nallhc

"i,

ho rohe. ;ais; nanhi r/ooh.

Aur ghas jari joWl hai, doob khoob ki kllo(}/l INanak asks all 10 be as humbl e and insignHk unl as the b""'''. While all olher grasses are bUl11t down. doob continues to floUlish.1 we find a sense of fellOW-feeling and helpfulness for th. oppressed in the preachings of Guru Shli TI!g" Bahadul;i: Baanhi jinhan di pakiJd(l'c. sir di;{ve ban/li na r:hhoc/.''P., Cunl TeK Bah,uJlI1' ho(va.

dharati

Fkli

dhcu.,1U

nif

c/lllOdye.

(W'h umsoever you pl'(I\;dp protection. to you should he prepared 10 sacrifi ce ,YoUl',clf but not that protec tion. Guru Teg Bahadur asks ,vuu not to foresake yo ur relgion on this earth.!

After his sacrifi ce. slIddclllv. \\I( ~ sense a waniUl' spitit iii th e preachings _ of Guru Gobind Singhji. When he reali sed thaI mere spirilual devotion could not do anyt hing. he start ed Chandi wOI'Ship and IUllled Ihe Sikh community inln a com· munity of worshippers and wanior's by synthesising spilit -

uaJisllI <llld fh e marlial spiti!. a IIl!W

\VI~ fi nd in his P 0l' nl S ~ plnt Hr ~" i1II"\

toM prom kheJan d.) ch.n sit' dhar (iJli gali mod a'lI . )(' it m.uu·.~lg p.1;,. dhillijai, si,'

.Ie

d jj;Ji kaa n n" diiai.

III' you arE' interested

in playing I ltl' game of lov(!, pUI yOlll' head 011 .VOlII' pillm an d unl v tl lt'll e lil e r 111\' 1.;1110.

In ease' you put yuur ~rce l on this palh d o n', fall hack, ('\'e n jf .\lOU ha\ c I l.l l os~ "ou r life.!

And Ih lll i' .

Some' ."0 p'lhcJ);lI l~ve. if' hide dnrn k, ' hr /.

Pwia' fJw jiJ kit(

/JIill'C,

na d Jh,fie kh el.

10 nl.1' he is brave who

kilIJhu Ij~ hl s

for Iht' ('ause of th(' poor. His

limhs llIav be tOI11 ascenues bUI he should nul nee from the ha llie field., ·\nd thell suddCl tl v. Ihe "wol'd\\·orsru l' slaI1s. .

LIterature And ResIstance Can'v ing th e ~am e spitit. Bah~1 Banoa and olhers fau~hl Muslim ruler ' n:!ir.ntle!-!slv We find thai I.tter when S'ikhs were re duced 10 mere gro ups of

anardtists. dcclarml llutlaws, a nd we rt: continously compelled 10 Ii,·c in hidil1 ~,' fl O new IiWl'tliUl'C cl.Iuld be ('I'cat cd, They coulll nut. e nthu sed \\;th ;1 IU'W spilil They had it \\'an iol' pili I. a sens,,: of courage and sacriticc alld a spilil 10 continue Iht!ir wa r against Mu slim ru le rs. hut t hel' coulll not chalk out Iheir flll lllt~ bevo nd this.

T his c'\ plajn ~ why these wanior gro ups roughl among Ihe lllselves. II is here Ihilt Ilw ir lack of co nt empul'al), spitil wom es U!:I If a wanior a nd a shrt!wd ru lOl' likl! Ra njit Singh had not cl1wrgr.d aft elwal'ds, Sikh s would ha\lc gone down bereft 01 any high ideal or spitil to 111obi-

lised themselt.

Along \\; Ih all (his, one more point deserves attention. All the Sanskrit literature put together. failed to revive Hindu socielV: new literature had to be written in a conlemporary language. Till dat e. we feel only the effect which was created by Ihat litel'a lure of contemporary spirit.

Even for a person of proper education and comprehension. the hymns of unintelligible Sansklil and avats of classical Arabi c cannot -be as enthusing as is possible by th., simple in a simple statements language.

A short hist ory of Punjabi language and literature is ske tched out above. Now we lum to our times. Swami Vive· kananda in Bengal and Swanli Ramtil1ha in Punjab ,vere born al approximal ely Ihe same time.

Ha th were 'great' in the same sense. Both won fame for estab· Iishing Indian metaphysics abroad. Swal'nj Vivckanand's nusslon uecame a pemlanent insritulion in Bengal while Punjah does not have a single memorial to SWami Ramtirtha.

In spitc of having significan1 djf· fCl'ences in their thinking. w e find slrong similarities at the roots \Vhereas Swami Viveka· r..nda "'._. I)«,,,,,,,jru; iUJma )'oga. Swami Ramti rtha was a.r:,o ~i nging in blissfulness: fI.1m ,ukhe wkade khaycnge. Bha-

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

Punjabi should have been the language of Punjab. like othel' pro\~n ces. but since this has not happened . as this can only be sponlaneous dm'Clopmenl Muslims have adopted Urdu. ) Then comes the. tum of th l!

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

l11Jth is that no countTv or eommunity Gan progress \vith-

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

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

Afielwards, it is said. an Arya Samaji leader. Mahatma Hans· raiii. held consultations with many leaders and proposed that if they would accept the Hindi script. he would get the Punjabi IanKauge in Hindi script. recognised in the University. But they could not understand the importance of this pro posal because of their narrow·mindedness and absence of literruv awareness.

At this moment. - thi... views prevail in Punjab. There is a strong preference for Urdu among Ihe Muslims: for Hindi among the Atya Samajis and cenain other Hindus: and for Punjabi.

oul its literature. But lan~uage is the plirnruy need of literature

Continued an page 13, col 1

rat pal' ~vare iayenge, Ham sukhe chane bayenge. Bhaml ki

ch,,baal

bal1i1.,·enge.

Ham nange umar biwyenge, BhaJ'iJr par jai1n milay cnge.

IWe shall subsist on crumbs bul sacntit:e ourselves for Bhal'al.

We shall live on p~I'C ljed grams, bUI shall live for Bharat.

We shall go naked the whole life, but 'offer-

OUl'

lives for

8hal'<lI .1 Sm'cral times. he we pt while seeing the setting sun in J\Jnerica. and said: "Now you are rising in my beloved counlry.

Drop my Wars like dew-drop. ovel' beautiful water-fed fie lds of India_" Such a great devotee of lhe cuuntry and God was born in our prO\~nce and if today we do not have even a single memadal to him. what else can c.' plain it. except our literary backwardness?

Communallsallon 01 Language This we feel at every step.

Many great men were bom in PUlljab. who are comparable to Slui Devendr-d Thakur and Keshal' ( handra Sen of Bengal. but we did not respect them and easily fOIf(ot them aft el' the ir deaths - for example.

GuJ'U Gyan Singhji. etc. We find onh' one reason for thi s. and that is th e total lack of Iitel'ary intereS! and awakening. The

F'8rum

- - - - - - - - - -__ Gazette Conlinued from page 12. col 5

Then. how much wiU we be Ihat the Punjabi langauge lacks benefiled bv our immediale sweetness, beauty and emoswitchover this. The Puniabi tions. This is absolutely baselangauge wiH star1 developing less. Only recently. the sweelimmediale ly by adopting this . ness or lhis song hypnolised peneet scripl. And there is no Kavindra Ravindra : problem in its propagation.

L.lchhive. jitlhe lu pani Kindu women or Punjab already doliya'know this scripl. The DAV Vllhe ug paye sandal de schools and Sana tan Dharma boole. schools leach onlv in Hindi.

10 Lachhi. where vou had What ca n be the - problem in spill water. . such a situation? We shall plead Salldahvood lre,,-' ha.'e with the supporters or Kindi sprouled.1 Ihat. ultimatel y and certainlv. and 1m slarted Iranslaling: a only Hindi wili be Ihe language Lachhi. where thou spilt water. or Bharal. but il wiU be mOl'O clc .. etc. conYenieni to propagal,· il [rom Many more e.tampJes can be now on. Punjabi will become ciled. Is Ihe t" lIm,;ng coulike Hindi by adopting th e Himti plel in Ihe 10.151 inferior 10 scri pl and then all Ihe differen· the poems of a/u' other ces wilJ diappear: and it is language?

to

Urdu In Punjab?

Indian la n~ua~es and scripts prevail in the rest of India. In such a situation. should we gel absolule lv isolat ed [rom India by propi.igaling Urdu in Punjab?

No. And fh e m ost pertinen t point is Ihal, among Muslim wri h!l's. Ih l! staunch s upporters of Urdu write highly Pcrsiani sed L1n lu Muslim news papers like l amindar and ~ivw;at 1'e\leaJ a stl'On~ AJ'abic inni.wllce \,,,,hieh is quit e incomprehensible to com mOl) people. How can il be propagat ed in such a situation?

We \\Iis h our Muslim brothers. while s li cking to Iheir religion. wou ld Ih ink of Indianising Ihe msel"es like Kamal the Turk.

India's salva tion is possible only Ihal way Inslead of making l an~auge a communal issue. we should adopi " ,vide,' pe rspective.

We "ill now lurn 10 Ihe plllbI.)m of Hindi a nd Punjabi. Many idcalisls ent ertain a vision of th is world as one single nation.

Un" globa l nation. This ideal is beauliful and one shou ld keep it lmforc oneself. But this can· "'11 1.)(' achieved roda v: all the ). sleps . • 11 our efforts should I", dire"l ed lowards Ihe l!lIilancement of happiness by ulliling all nat ionalities. counllies and na tions into one strung hond, But first. we have 10 1'C.1IiSf' Ihal ideal in our own counlry. We have 10 adopt one 1;U11ji111~(,· 0111' scri p,t. o ne litera·

'UI". ",,'c id'c.i '&\\1 uut Ihe ado ptiun dl 11? Il f"n"

IIt l\ \ '

\

Ghar aa \'e sawa/i nu k,'on

nu rnilaun joga.

Gallh..,· barhiy a rokh band kJuwne JwmiUJIJ

amon~

Ihe peo ple. On the basis uf this IUE.r]c. we say Ihat you can sLlcceed in Pun jah unly in Ihr Punjabi lang-Jage.

Till now. Pu njabi has 11 01 heen able 10 hecome a lilerary language, and it is lIot even a la nguage of Ihe w hole of Punjab. The popular language or CentraJ Punjab, which is written in the Gu rumukhi script. is now kno\\011 as Punjabi. II is neither widely pl'evalenl nor has any litera rv ur scientific significance.

II w.s left unaHended earlier. but eve n now th e deficiencv uf ils script di slurbs th ose who' are now <tltending to il . All Ihe words r.a nnol be accurately w,; lI on hecause of Ihe lack of 'hit /ant' (lett er ending without thp sound 'a', and its inahililv to ",lile compo und le iters - m'en the wurd 'POOI'IIi1 (co mplell'1 ca nnot be \V1ill en. This Clipt is thu s eve n more incompletr Iha n Urdu , bU I whe n we al rea dv hil\'c a scicntifindi scrip' : why hesililh! In .tdopl it:' The Gunllllukhi sCripl is only· Hindi scripl. I\i~h' &-om Ih e start. the i~ a mI h. hem. ar,d , , e tc. are same , All the n, les ,,,.,, Ihe same.

desi rable. 100. Ihal common people can be educal ed which is possible on ly Ihrough our own language, in our own sc,ipl. See thi s Punjabi poem : a rah{va rahe janrlya, sun

;a

gall me,; Sir to pag tere balait W.

ihnun fuk mualara la.

10 passer by. listen 10 me. lJum Ihal foreign 'w-ba Which Ihou ar1 wearing on thy head. and lake 10 ·Mualara·.I E,'en lYrical Kindi poems cannot cast an impression compar· able 10 lhis. as Ihev have not vet acquired a place 'in Ihe hearts of Ihe people. They still seem somewha t alien. II is so because Hindi is based on Sa nskrit. And Punjab has gone farther away from thai , Persian has maintajn ed its dominance in Punjab 10 a large es lenl. For example. a culleC'lion or things becomes .clteezan here inslead or 'chee2.1111 .

This principle prevails Ihl'Oughout. Whal is being empha sised here is thai Kindi. in s pile or being close to Punjabi : is still rar Ii1he Punjabi heart. or course. Punjabi will Gome closer 10 Hindi when it will a dopt Ihe Hindi scripl a nd attempt creating its literature.

Bv now almost every major

PipaJ de pally. \'11 kern khadkhad la vee ae.

Paue jhade purane hun rul

navayan eli aayee ac.

IPipal leaves. why are you making noise?

The old leaves have rallen and Ihe season ror new leaves has come.)

And w hen a Punjabi is si tting alone or in Ihe glllup. will any other language move him to the e.len! thaI these lines of Gauhar can: Lam lakkhan to /caroran de shah vekhe Na musaJiran /wi udhar denda.

Dine raarin jinhan de kuch

dere.

Na unhan de Ihain koi irbar denda: Bhauren b.hande gulan di l'asana te

Theatre Of The ,Absured In J&K Continued (rom page 16. col 5

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

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

nahin tu nekjy a n joga, 'Why kill living beings whe n you are nol able 10 bring the de.d back to liIe'? ~\11Y do YOll stare al the beggar who has come to vour door when yo u are no t able to give him somelhing? Why break the union of heans if vall are not ab le 10 ..., unil e h eart s thai A Fluid Political are separaled? 0 Gauhar. ir yo u cannol do good 10 olhSituation e'·s. then keep your good Rajiv Gand hi gave his seal of tood .nd room closed .!

And nuw~Wt:''l-. ~liaf,'lf' f0et.;,:; approval 10 the accord publicly hp. ;tnrl Ahdullah like Darct. Mastana, and OtM'arlH l),l IttR W\o addr'Cssed a lJuut"..: l'l.~\6, are en,ic hing Punjabi poelly.

II is a pity that such a sweel. under slricl secwily. al Iqbal and captivating language has Park in Slinagar on November 6. nol been adopted even by the This was Raj iv's 6rst \-isil to the Punjabis Ihemselves. They still Stale after becomig P.M. in refuse: and thi s is the CIU. or November t984. Congress and the problem. Everyone backs his N.C. worke,'S tried to arguments on the basis or reli- "Out flag" each other at this gio us conviclion. The only plllb- meeting but the red N.C. Dags lem concerning Ihe language oUlnumbered the others .nd a and sc ript or Punjab is to scume rorced Congressmen into remove this obstruction. but the the press enclosure. where hope Ues in the increasing liler' some or the ir leaders were sitary awareness among the Sikhs. ting. virtually occu pying the Hindus also have il. Why not a ll whole enclosure. Rajiv and wellmeaning people decide by Farooq clasped each olher's mutual deliberations! This is hands and he ld them ror a the only way to amve al a solu- good while. symbolizing their tion. The question can be unity. They rererred to their a!l ended 10 by renouncing reli - accord as the haminger or a gious considerations. It ' should new era. be aHem pled accordingly and the recognition or Ihe Punjabi language should he sought [rom the Punjab University by implllving the language or . a journal like Prem or Amritsar.

This ,viII resolve the problem.

Aller the elimi nation of this irritant. Punjab will have such beautiful and 'quality' literature that Punjabi too. wiU also be counte d among the good languages or India.

JekiJP

langua~c

o\vn langauge is essential for crea ting literary awareness

ae

ghuma ae Jekar nahin III '!.lUhin khair paun ;oga : Mile dilan nu ~vun vichhod;ma ile Jew nahill Iu bichhaclyan

.

ed.

II have seen annies of lakhs of millionaires. Noone gives loan to passers-hy who never sta v. never reside at one place. No one lrusls Ihem.

Bla<:k-beetles sit on Om"ers because or th eir smell. No one la\';shes love on the hoods of snakes. 0 Gau har. good behavioUl' and welcome is for those who are alive, but everyqne says good·bye at Ihe time or death.l And agai n : Jeev i.vucliYOln nu ~-yon mam~1 Jckal' nahin tu maya n nu ji"un joga.

,\\11' lIil\\\)I\

of a si ngle precedes all the other unities, so lhal we can com· l1l11ni cill(' with and cOI11(ll'Che nd each uthel'. A PUlljaui and a Madrasi must not sit together mul e Ol a gatheril1~. but try 10 communieat c their ideas ilnd emotiun. and Ihis should be don e in our own langa uge, Hindi. rath er th'ln in an aJien lan~uag" like English. EYe l1 this ;rtc~tl \\~II take \'cal':i 10 be rea· Firsl o r' all. we should cr'Citlc literarv awareness in thi s endeavoLlr. not alllon~ a few but in Ihe masses. The peo ple's

Na sappan cle muhan Ie koi pyardenda.

Gauhar same saJook han iYU,'clva de M(~'ya n giyan un tar ko; \1SM denda.

1HE PUNJAB POLIC.E HAVE

$0 MUCH MUSCLE - WHAT

ARE. i){pY SCARED OF ~

isslie has been discussed here.

Only one Ihing remains to be said now. Many people argue 20 March-4 April 1987

13

f

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

Laughing With Our Humour Master Avtar Singh Judge pot·bellied politician 01Amrit · A sar went on a tour of the city on foot. When he got tired he stopped a tongawalla and said, "How much for taking me to the Golden temple.''?

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

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

"W

h"1 can I do I I you ;" the lilke Ihem 10 your orphanage If poe!! a k. d Ih SI "I09<'I S you like!" who were wallll1 g (or him dl his stud,'nt approached a pro , door. gressl"£, wflt ~ r and asked "We drl?' I r ~!H\g 10 Collell WIM lum 1(1 e plain Ihe meaning of leve r we can (or lil\! (111.,' Capllal and Labou r. orphanage. WI: request you t ~, "If y u givt' mpees. those len do wh, Iev!!r yuu can 10 help lupecs Will be yuur caplldl ," said us. "said one ~l l he vf/lumeelS Ihl! Wrlli~ 1.

Tho poel p, "nled dl his 1100 "And Ielbow .. . whi'll I~ 1 1 ~" children Whll v.'ere plrtYlIlg .,ut· ''The eitoT! Ihal vcu Will have side his house and said lVlth( lUI a In make 10 gel you; m'Jney back moment 's hesl1<llioll "You can ," rephed the wriler.

A

hen Ihe famous Urdu poel WJush Malihdbadi was ~ppoi·

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

J sh looked as " he had swal· somerhlng ~i lt er and said.

"YOlI ,ell me you rself, how would a linn feel if he was har· lo\V~d

nessed

10

a tonga?"

The Jat's Melons

happened T wopass teachers in fronl of Birla's house.

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

IJlTlltlelitiU!l !'11 his uncouTlIable wealth, one of them said, "1 wonder if anyone kno,,~ exaclly how rich Birla is?"

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

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

time",

10

surpnse.

"Well, I would keep giving tUI· tion on the side ar,yway", was his confident reply. anhaiya Lal Kapoor, Ihe K famous Urdu satirist once got annoyed with a man and

Int ~l1l?clual

w.J~

A ngreat admirer of India's paSI.) Wfllu

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

On hearing Ihis. Firaq Gorkhpuri , the famous Urdu poel. brightened up and Sdld. "You seem to be hundred percen l

said, "Damn it, I always Ihought that you were a decenl man !"

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

right. You know when I had Ihe foundalion dug up for my hOUSe I found no elect ric Wires. " He too then paused and added, "Thal shows Ind .. also had w" o· less in Ihose days !"

- .

ajaz, the great urdu poet, M was fairly drunk when, explaining the nature of his poe·

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

"Josh was a master of diction

try to a woman admirer, he said, "I am a master of diction."

ary," said Majaz.

•

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

During one such trip the king went very far. He was very hungry and thirsty. He saw a Jat's garden full of tempting l1Ielons.

The king asked th.Jal ifhewould sell the melons.

"No", replied theJat, "Ihey are not for sale."

"Then what will YOll do wilh Ihem' Sure:y you will nOI eol all these melons yourself." said the king.

14

20 March-4 April 1987

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

Now Ihe king and his minister \Vere ill plain clolhes. The Jat did nOI recognise them. The king was a bll disaPPOinted by the Jat's ref· usal 10 sell him the melons. In dis· gust he said. "You are sure to present these melons to the king?"

"Yes Sir," replied the Jat. "And supposing he does nol accept them?"

"Then h. can go to hell ," the Jat said bluntly.

The king did nOi say anything.

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

The king said, "Well farmer. you have broughl these melons for me?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And supposing 1 do not accept them?"

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

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

•

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

Farooq Romps Back to Power

nnnti c direclion, could help Ih" Kashm iri people to make pro· gl"CSS in ~ rederal In dia \\~ th selrrespec t, wi th their democrati c rif:hts intact and ""ith gre ater regard to ru stribulivc justice and balancerl economic development,.

Continued from page 1, COl 2

From the Manifesio We pledged ttl do cel1a.i1l things in uut' Elcl;lion Manifesto of 1983..~IJ kn o\\' \\'ha l happe ned afl er Ihe elec tion s, Our pnrty fell P('{~.v 10 wavcrill~ loyalties and vi cious defecti ons of some

opport u nis t power·hungry cle· ments, Drcarv days followed , People's faith ~in th e d emoc ratic pmcrss, howc\'cl', su s lai ll ed us all d Utin~ the sln JAAle for i'Cl'itorLlLi on of de moc ra c:.v. Our pl edge

10' disso lve the Assembly pol· luted hy defecti ons became cap· able of being I'c dcmn cd du e to Ihe s ingleminded sll1lgglr waged hy Ihe JJBople of OUI' Slate. In the tes ting tirnel'i ahe.1c1 \\'e iUl~ no\',' pled,gcd III win hat~ k fnr rh e peo· pie their tight tu choose Iheil' accredi ted represcnt,ltivcs, f()r ~o\'el'ancc of the Slate throu~h li'ftt, alld fair t~ I(!('lion s . We pledge ill:,,!) 10 make up for the los 1 d\Jys stage and \\ 110 dell\'cl'c d thr lunges l anti dullesl spt!cc h oflhc )mol11in~.

Till' people did nul like it. But instead 01 c:l.prcssing thei r

feelings a~ainsl Kar and the Co n-

I.ding drinking wa ter facili· li es to cover all \~llage s; - To enSlIl"C democratic func· lioning of th e Conslilulion of Ihe Sia le: - To ens ure de·centr-.J il'ialion of

political <1nd economic power by evoiling sui lab le Pa n c hayat i System; - TD pl'Ovide for l'e-stn.lclured and mure effective anti· defeclion laws, to pm\~de fal' clean and va lu e-based polilics;

There Is Still Hope If Fal'ooq l\hlh ill ilh ('an Ull ' d ~ l's t a nd ,

;Jfuj il hr can I1Hlkc

Ih t! J'es! 01 the lI atiun unuers· talld tll.11 10 hc ,I g:ood Indian. hr must he spen hv Ka s hmiIi~ ;IS a good Kasilmii; tirs t then l ilrl'P is still hope. He' Illusl alsu d(~s i s l trom being cani r d ilW':iY 1,1 \' Ihe rhelnri c nf .xl!l1ophobia tilat is ~\Vt~(!p in A ac ru:.;s the

Hindi 'heartland of Ihis ruun t!'y. :\ ~ntlcl dual. Ih uu}:h 1101 all 111 till' l\1l 1F ph e n ome n o n i ~ lik(' till' Klwlbtan Svm!/'OT11L' in PU ll ' jilil, In p~l rt prllpp(~d lip by the 0 '111 1'1' li nd in part .111 angry I't':ll·tio n again st <J1tf'mpI S 10

UllIll1ccs.sarily aggre ssive agaill st the Muslim U nil!~ d Front and it s SlIpp0l1 C1'S . He took c\'c r)' oppnr· tlln ilv 10 remind the From 's leade,:, ar id su pportf:l '!i Ihatthnj"

gress: a frw young men in the

religion-based flll1 tJa nlcl1taJisrJI audience lo ld me Ihal Ihel' did . had n o place in Ka shmir. that he nol apprecia tE' Faruoq, becau se wuuld eitheI' open Ihl~ doors uf he had becume a hcredilarv Paki'\lan lelr the m or sf'nd Ihmll nJlcr. They y also c(lsligaled hinl pa c king lu iail .1fte !' Ihe elt:!ct iuns, lor his hif.{h -flying image of bei ng klllR llf IIII' 'fl<JI"iJiJ l' life ',The se The all c ndann' itt Faroo,! S v~u ng mr.n we re a j~(I ~1I (1r ,ha l rnccrjng.."i \".a.!t a\'cf'.1f!c hUI Ih r 'an altclllp' wOlild he made to rig enlhuslasm tha t p,\J fttcd in S:I cel1ain I'f.:sults. " If this hal)pcns", was nOli ceah lv ah:::.cnl. His chathey said "we wi ll lurn Kashmir risma was stil i th e re, hut it fail ed illlo something \\'OI'S(~ Iha n 10 COil II line emotion and poli lic~tJ appeal into a vuice W 11ich cou ld Punjah." be recngnisrri ;.IS K,ilshl11jli in Another 'Double -Farooq' essence.

In the helicopter and out of il.

Public Meeting: as W(~ tl'aveJ'scd the vallev sou lhPark Sher-I-Kashmir \~ards, eastward~ and weshyards On 18t h Marc h a cumbin ed laki ng in the con stituencies of Pahalgam, Anan lnag, Baramulla, Nat iona l Cunrc l'en G~( : ongrf' s :-. · 1 ) including hamlets like Doru, l1Ieclin~ was held in Srinagal' s Shangaz, Fakirpllra Clnd towns lasll ionable Hesidr.ncv HUild ilI'13<1, and \i llagcs silliated near the il l II", Sh QI'·i· Kashmi'1' p:llok. Thr Wlilal' lake. a n oth er brand of TlIct!ling COU ll' not be h eld al 'Douhle farooq ' came into Iqbal Park, where II lar'gel' crowd ac ti un . An infor1llal and "nliable cou ld have tJ l11asscd i lllD Ihus farooq in Ihe plane; an intern· end angered tht~ r .M's S(!curity,;\ perate and irllolcranl Farooq al lacklustul'f' P.M, addresse d ~tn unenlhul'iiastic crmvd, vdli eh th c hustings , At L'VClY mee ting Iw praised Raij\' Ga ndhi 10 Ihe skies, h ad 10 be '~' peill"d ly pl'Dlllpled promising Ihe people Iha l Ih e hy F.mo<l AhdrrlJ,d, to clap and accord wou ld bring finance and raise s l u~ll ns in SUpPOl1 of Ihe prosperity \~a Nt...v Delhi. Not· P.i\.·1. and the at:cDl'd with his wilhslanding Ihe Cenlre's hlack pa'1y.

Th e poopl e li>!,,",,,1 10 th e P,M. retord in Punjab and Ihe P.I>L's own nase-d.ivin~ c!'cdibility fur in disnelief as he c1aillle'd thai hi s h avi ng mistrealed Ih e Presidenl party. the Congress. wa s th e on ly and then m isi nforming parlia- party in the countl)" wilh i l ment. Just as he \\'as euphoric record for P1lJtcclillg mi nority about Rajiv Gandhi, he was communil ies, 'J'hey listened

. IlIl SOI1l1(.ll1is('d

Oil the Ill!l:!d ' sl~c ular fOI'Ccs I" uni te and isolate flJn ci<J mcntali :,t 1'011111"11111111 W1) UP :-'. His remarks, dimcl f' d J8ainsl, li lt' MlI F, hLld

it

:.; Irangl! impact on a people wh u knew Illal only till' diJy hnlorP tilt" S3mf' I1.M" leader lIf the saHW part,\', hild taurml (he slatl'! of f\ eral a shaling pla lffl l111S wi lh

hv working ovm1ime in the

SCI'-

d ec or Ihft puoplr whn are

s t rcl1 ~ th enillg thl~ r . tl1.v and in Ih[' bargain Ih(~ I'{'cen t Accord,

We.

tiwl'clore

1'C ll l'W

IIlI!'

P I ('d~e 10: -

- Ensure sp eedily Ih e blJ il din~ of a n cGological and pulluti· unfree elhl)s in nul' Siale to pl'esl'r\'c amJ fUI1hrr huild up

Ihe s artll' kind 01 101'(;!'$ .H1d group s Ill-' \vas nU\\' I"yi nA' to lamba:-. I It \ova!" an ull col1\; ncing

il s ' Paradi se ' qualit.v: - T u dp\'elop fuMhm' lOlllisl pia·

which I'H'k.-d eOI1 fidencc. 1'00wiclion III' cn~di"i lit v. l\·tal1.\' W{'I1' s add e ned w h ilt- others \.\'('1'1 ' angry, tilat Fal'ooq

attrac t domesti c and intcnla'

AbdullaJr sh o uld h", " allowed him se lf lu be so d useh ' c1 uhbed

Gunsolidalion or land initialed. s wi ll enable q u an ·

periUI111<.1 IlCC

\vith a polilical Ci1ilJiSIlHt ,

I1m,i t:t'

who:-w

.tIle!

J'~ pll w·

c; !lan.lctcI'

tioll \,,'en' at.lll all tillll' \(lW in thu J'Cst or ll ll~ I allor-I),.

Alliance Manifesto EW'I1 Ihmlgh li le :\I.e.,CUI1 gl'C'ss,1 l'Ipc tioll 1lI,lI l1fps!o wa s r'C pl t~ l f~ \,; Ih a gond dt' al of d rih·

bll' .1iJutl l IHK7 bdl1~ a lu rning po int in UtiI' hi s tUl y ' and "uu r d.\.Tlam k Prim!! ~ l i l1 i st (, I ' loela)' soullds 1I'll' voice I)f S<J n il\' in all ot h c rwb(, nll rlc al'· nltlc{ w o rld . . " i l lII if;!lll slill l10t h(' 100 lat(,

IIJ1' Fill'UOq and tir e Natiml.1I CIJ Il' frl 'Cllcr In 1l.'! liPt'n! Ih!!i,. fadlllg im<l~(! ill Ihe \'Hll r.\ . 1'111'11: i ~ cnough in lilt' manifes to, whi ch if given d !'InaI' po lili r ai li nd ceo,

CHS

and open lip new areas 10

tiunal touri sm: ro l:omplc W implementalion

of :\gllJrian er0I111S and h ave lunr of land·puol Iu he fina Jlv ide ntified so Iha t land distri· uulilln a mong lan dl ess and a~ri c ulturalla bol1l' is taken up: - Tu encoul'aH(! devel · opme nl of \~ II J,;e industry a nd mari-.elinJ.( of its plu du{'IS , - Tn im:l'casc I~u ' ililics in the' Slate lor science e ducation pal1it.:uklriy ill l'ul'al areas; - To lu rther cu n~oJjd a l c Ihe fnl it indu strv in the Stale , Tu Pr'Oli de fur O'Of' legal aid

and prohx lion 10 pCLliJlc in hari-.wa:--rI arc;,ts ;tnd :.tlso to make prtl\~ s ion fo r special legal rlinh s fo r \\~nnwn and p oor in sllch .I/'f'as; - To comp le te proi llc ts for pro·

IhI' I ll' o p tl~s t.lel11uc r\l lir aSpil'alltl ll!' illt o sU"nl b~i o n.

Ilnl\vl )l!llt

F;d'lInq IlItbl 1101 f,tll int o Ilu' triJjJ uf tl'l' alinr! all ~H I F sup·

flaki s ttlil l ~1 !{C llt s .tnd flllll!i1 l1wn· lalisll1 will havt' lu 1"1(' 1'0u;.::111 polilicil ll.v, n nt \dlh the lIif,: s til'k E\'(" n ti ll! Mil' "'<liz. th e l'clif;tiol1:-; Iwad of Srinag<ll' who pOI'Lt ~ l' ~ ;t S

C U lllIlll l llilli ";; nl

lias j!h'\'1l pulili( 'ill SUpPW1 10 the' <l lIi;ul(;t, he'lic\'cs thLl I the ~ 1l ' F IIlllsl hr ('ha llpngt' cll, n Ih e politirallllJlll TI'Il' fUlldanl(' llta lisl ~rou IJS Wl"re I'UUl l,d in tht' S:i elC'c tiun :c., This tilll(' mOIl.' illl jl0l1ant than th e li n ! s pa t ~ Illt,\· have \\'0 11 is Ih l! sharp uf Il lI" l~Jt; tI "mcs thrv ha\'j! Illillla ged to ('o ll ec t 1 25 ·~10~, in abuul IS I:onstituf·ncir.:s l• In a ll inl c,,;cw with 1111', !Jr, ,\bdLillah f'l1lpl wsbed tilal lll~ \\'as dt,t CJ l'mil1l~ d

II) C\I I1'\'

>lI t

d('( ·,'n ll'ali zalion on ' tht' Kal'lliltai-." paltel'll. Ht· was alsu kt'(!11 tll :o-(:t lip .\ lili llk·li.1llk 01 1;1'11 1'11' li'urll the Il.· ~ t or I ht~ CUU IlIi'V II) inWracl with Ihe SI;II I' s · POlilici;1I1s a nd hUf'l.M lIfTal :c. in a hid In

hlu(' pl1ll t

for

~'a,"'1

U\ 'l)!V(' iI

Ka s hmi r

Th L'I'C i... hop!; !'o till if Fat'()oq lind Il lI'

~ ,t1i o naJ

CU nft 'l'f:Il Cr'

Citll

I'.\ prl tl wir Kashmiri ili PT1t il\ anti 1101 l:o mpmm i:-I' 10 tail Hith till' low h!\'ei o f Ilatiullalil'i t ptlli!i r:o whir" aii\' l;:tndhi ~YTlIbulis {'s tocia,\' _

in

20 March-4 April 1987

15

F&um

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

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

Inllion was

e.~ ·

pressed al th£' fourth dealh nivel'salV of Atidul·

on August "I Mujahid Manzil. fi e deda",d Ihill Julv 2.

1H84 was the day when bOlh

(he St<llr. and rhe Indian constitutions had been J-lcrvm'ted and iI would go down as the hlackcs t da\! in the hililurV of the cO llnlr~', Emotions were highly surchal'ged. Again harlal was declared on September ~) when 11 (,Iickel match between India and Australia was to he playerl in Sri nagar. l'al'3military forces had to fif't~ two munds to ills-

perse an agitatinf{ mob al Nawpora. Thai evening th e city resounded \\~I h Ihp bursting of crackers c clchralin~ India 's dctcal. Audl'cssing a public

meeting at Jama tvtasjid on September 12, Ml"vail. Farooq pointed out the contradictions in the Plimc Minister's staleme n!. that he was not inter-

ested in installing a CongresslII ~twf.H'llIntlnl in thl~ Slate. and ,h lj ::; l iU f:l llllli) ~~ lif Ihp [' Pilll'" 1 l\'linistcl's, Mufti Mul Gultm l Na hi Azad. Ihal Ih e Cenlre·s option uf formin g a govel'n rne nl was open. Ahdullah 's con· linued (tialogue ",," Ihe P.M..

Ihe Mi,waiz said. added 10 Ihe prevailing' confusion. He exp,,,s.,,d Ihe public demand 10 have a fIocsh poll and asked for Ihe ,"Clease of all ;:lOlilieal and I'CliA"iolis leaders.

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

Wages of Drift On September 29. add11lssing

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

attenrung the convention as a

16

20 Mareh-4 April 1987

reader of the press. He refuted crali e tighls of Ihe people, some of Ihe allegalions. saying exposed Ihe pal1isan and peny Ihal no person challenging Ihe inleresls of Ihe Co ngress and accession of the Siale 10 India Ihe lolal mood of servitude Ihat had any claim lu invoke Ihe had gtipped Ihe N.C leadership. fundamental ffcedoms guaran- fie said thai all Ihis added up leed under Ih e Indian conslilu· 10 contempl of the Rajya Sabha lion. He also juslified delention ilself.

But no onc listened to these under the Public Safely Aeon. fie was Ihe final speaker. bUI bonafide cries coming from Ihe his detraclors had ab"ady left people, who. in ulter bisbelief. faced Ihe ,.".liza tion Ihat no

by Ihal time. one cared either about their M.U.F. Deadline sentiments or national interes ts.

Political organizations) mainly Round Ihe clock curfew in 5,i· M.U.f .. had fixed Seplember 25 nagar and SOP011l. a toll of four as Ihe deadline for Ihe release dead and nearlv 100 injured, of lea dCl" delained under Ihe and Ihe lae l Ihai Abdullah was Public Safely ACI, failing which, touring Iroubled Punjab lium Ihey called for a liilndh and October I 10 5, whil e the Vallev biackoul from Seplember 26 was gripped with fear, made it onwards. This b;mdh pl'Oved 10 ob,;ous thai Ihe N.C. and Can· be an unprecedented success, h'T'eSS III were more interested in bOIh. in Stinagar and olher the Rajya Sabha !'inat than in major town s of the vaUev, solving tl1(~ Slale's acut e politibecause people le I! Ihal Ihey cal crisis. The wuoden Mehioor wei" being enslaved by Ihe Bridge was set on fire in the Cenlre. firS! under Ihe Gover· ea rly hours of OGlObe,· 8. The nor. and the n under President's groiving unpopulmity of Presi· rule. The police had 10 bursl den!"s rule was all too eviden!. lear gas shells in Ihe downlown This possibly compelled the area of Sri nagar city. Mob vio- Cabinel Commillee on Political lence following the arresl of Affairs to discu ss the law and some members of Jamal +. order situation in the Valley, so Ihal some decisions co uld be 1 ~ l ami . resulted in the imposiII UII L! I lI H J ~"It"p I' urfpw in laken hefore Ihe P.M. left tor his BaramuJlah. Al'Olt:!lt 1;01 POliI;U,

hJli! -I!t.!II '111 IIHI!" 1111 Odnhrr IJ.

backed by the B.S.f and CR.P.f. look position all over the city. which appea,,,d 10 be under siege. Earlier, the ban on animal .laughler ban on on August 27 because of Janama.htami, had pul an already agitated people into an elrJll... .i"" mood. Thi. ban, p""vaIenl during Dogra rule a. a

Mlrwalz Speaks Oul On Oclober 10. addressing the friday tOl1gregatio n. Mirwaiz FaJ'ooq condemned the subversive and communal act.ivilies indulged in by some indio viduals, and advised his audience Ihal Ih ese should nol be clubbed wilh the genuine,

allil

nil'l l!!; '

IlIlnl rn ilul'f'

Qr

law

and order. Alter Ihd r a l'f"tHU . lit) incidents of anti-people acti\~ty and arson ele. were reported.

Accord With Centre On OClober 27, arrived in Oelhi for round of talks with tre. Before leaving

Abdullah hill third the CenSrinagar

routine onler. was even men,

peaceful

constitutional

he assured a convention oi

routinely ignored.

s,,·uggles of Ih e people. He was in!Jigu.d. hI! said. by Ihe silence rnainlained by Ihe Cen· ,ral and N.C IFI leadership. fie was convin ced that vest ed

the J&K Khatri Welfare Ali..,. ciation that he would .et up a commis.ion of enquiry if he came to pm""r. Obviou.ly this third round ""'. to be

But

the

Governor-'s exces8ive l.eal put a tremendous sam on the Ka.hmlr link with India, and the tolerant communal psyche of the large.t MuoUm populated stale of the country.

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

BUI now Ihi. were changing.

The fornlal candidalurc of Mufti 10 Ihe Rajya Sabha [l'Om

and

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

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

deci8ive, and the controve ..... .ia1 statement. be had been feeding the public and 1'''''•• between the talks, mighl ha"" been jU.1 to hoodwink and allow the rank and file of the N.C IFI, 'which was averse 10 a coalition with Congre•• III, to graduaUy come round to its

acceptance. He was espected 10 chair the N.C.IF),Working

Comminee meet in Srinagar on Oclober 28 and 10 pul the Centre's proposal before il.

Inslead, he took a pDgrimage to Ajmer Sharif, pos.ibly for ble •• ings and courage. The Working Committee mel in his absence and discussed the fonnation of an interim go""mmenl of ilself and the State unit of the Congre •• ill, the pre-condition being thaI

fresh

elections,

whenever

held, would be with an electoral adju.tmenl between the two parties. Bul the N.C. IFI Working Committee .tiD he.italed, and did not gI"" Abdullah fuU authority 10 negotiate

on these tenuN. Arriving in Srinagar by a special BSF plane on Oclober 31 , Abdullah ga"" the imp""'" .Ion of being chief minister designate. At the airport, he declared thaI "My hattie i. nearly over." Asked if there wo,. any snag, he poln.ed toward. the member. 01 Ih@ Working Committee, and said if there was any. it WclS here!

A meeting of the Working Committee was held at the

residence

of

his

mother,

Begam Akbar Jahan, M.P., N.C. iFl with Raje.h PDol, Najma HeptuUah and A.K. Anlony a. Congre •• III repreoentati""., aU participating, as if to protecl the bridegroom!

Confinued on page 13. colS

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the State was announced on Oelober 3. I Polls were 10 be held on October' 15 1 LatCI' in the day, on October 3, Mil'w(liz faJ'Ooq, addressing the Friday congrega· tion at Jama Masjid. questioned the Pl'Opricty of filling Ihis vacant seat from the State on the strength of a discredited assemblv, which had losl its representative char-dcter. as well as Ihe peoples confidence fol· lowing unprecedenled defec·

tions and suspensions. Such

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