Mideast conference - Mr Bush Takes A Major Initiative

Salman Haidar
The Statesman, 6 December

Finally, in its last year, the Bush Administration has undertaken a peace initiative in the Middle East. Until this point, it had remained conspicuously detached while the unsolved problems of the region simmered and occasionally erupted in strife and tension, adding further burdens to the already overburdened lives of the local people, especially the Palestinians. US quiescence meant that Israel remained virtually unchecked while it embarked upon a series of measures, including military strikes, against Arab targets, like assaults on persons believed to be Hamas activists in Gaza, with civilian bystanders often caught in the fire.

We were also obliged to witness the last months of Yasser Arafat besieged by Israeli armour in a crumbling redoubt in Ramallah. A massive wall came up to divide Israel from Palestine, encroaching openly on Palestinian lands. Even severe military action between Israel and Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon did not procure early diplomatic intervention by the UN owing to US reluctance: many lives had to be lost and much damage done before that took place.

The quicksands

With these and other incidents, great and small, it seemed evident that the Bush Administration had no intention of plunging into the Middle East in any serious way. Earlier US Presidents had made their respective bids, most recently Mr Clinton, but Mr Bush was not inclined, it seemed, to enter the Middle East quicksands. Yet now, as the lights begin to dim and the campaign to elect the next incumbent takes centre stage, a major initiative has been taken by him to revive talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and to address other regional questions that remain troublingly unresolved. A two-day conference under US auspices brought the principals together at Annapolis. While deliberately short of the pomp and circumstance of a great international occasion, it was nevertheless a major diplomatic initiative by Mr Bush, who was himself noticeably in the foreground. The leaders of Israel and Palestine were there, as well as senior representatives of other Arab countries, especially significant among them being Syria and Saudi Arabia, who were persuaded to attend even though they have no relations with Israel. The conference was bulked out by adding representatives of several organisations and countries, including India. It was carefully prepared, the Secretary of State herself undertaking the task of bringing the protagonists together through an extended series of visits to the region, and by prolonged talks and persuasion. There is no mistaking the scale of the US effort. While this late initiative has received a considerable welcome, it is not clear why it was pursued at this juncture. The well-known problems of the Middle East may continue to bubble beneath the surface but the region is relatively calm at present. Nor can there be any expectation of a quick or simple outcome to Arab-Israeli issues, to provide a diplomatic bouquet to send off a departing Administration. It would not take much for either side, if it fears disappointment, merely to go through the motions and wait for a new President to arrive in Washington. So to take the steps it has now done is a considerable act of commitment on the part of the present Administration. Perhaps even at this late stage it feels the need to contribute as best it can to easing the chronically dangerous Middle East situation.

In view of the intense preparatory work, expectations had been building up as the conference convened. Some leading experts were of the view that this was a real opportunity for the elusive two-state solution to emerge, and with it permanent peace in the Middle East. Many issues divide the parties, among them the boundary question, the status of Jerusalem, including special arrangements for the Old City where the holy places of three religions are to be found, the refugee problem, which could be among the most difficult, and arrangements to assure Israel’s security. This is a big and complex agenda which is not to be solved in a single meeting. Hence the best that could be expected from the conference was that it would restart the negotiations and put them on a track that stretches out ahead, probably beyond the term of the current White House incumbent.

At the same time, everyone recognised that the difficulties were not to be underrated. Within the region itself, the Hamas group, which now controls Gaza, dissociated itself from the proceedings and said it did not recognise the credentials of Mr Mahmoud Abbas as the Palestinian spokesperson.

In Israel, Right-wing groups staged large-scale protests to underline their fear that undue concessions might be made by Prime Minister Olmert, who has no end of political troubles to face at home. Thus neither of the chief protagonists has a strong domestic base that could encourage bold action in the negotiations.

In the event, the conference delivered as much as could be expected. A process of talks between Palestine and Israel has been initiated. The hope has been expressed that the outlines of a full peace deal may be shaped by the end of 2008, by the time Mr Bush’s term comes to an end. All outstanding issues are on the table, for there are complex inter-linkages between the many outstanding issues.

The leaders of the two states chiefly concerned made guarded but basically affirmative remarks when the meeting ended. Mr Abbas drew particular attention to the need to talk about the status of Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, and about the future of the refugees. Mr Olmert said Israel would make compromises for peace.

Central role

The venues, timings and other details of the impending talks have not been spelt out and it seems that the parties themselves will be in charge of such matters, in contrast to past meetings at Camp David, where the US President was actively involved. However, in recognition of the obvious reality that US good offices are indispensable, Mr Bush has moved swiftly to appoint a special envoy to the talks: no doubt his role will be central.

With a negotiating process now initiated between Israel and Palestine, the Annapolis conference achieved what seems to have been its principal objective. Bringing Syria and Saudi Arabia into it was a considerable achievement in itself. But there is no room for any complacency, and the conference hosts have been careful not to build false expectation. There is a long history of failure in Israel-Arab talks, so one must be cautious while assessing the prospects this time.

Moreover, even if the two principals should be willing to make progress, their cause may fall foul of the wider problems of the region: the situation in Lebanon, Iraq or Iran could flare up and derail the talks. Yet with all the caveats, something useful has been done, bringing with it a mild revival of expectation.

(The author is India’s former Foreign Secretary)

Marxists bungle on

Bibhuti Bhusan Nandy
The Statesman, 6 December

Long before Bangla deshi author Taslima Nasreen thought of seeking shelter in India, Comrade Biman Bose had joined the chorus of calumny and disinformation against her, orchestrated by the Bangladesh Directorate of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) at home and abroad.

At a drink and dinner session arranged by the DGFI at the residence of Mr Humayun Kabir, deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata, soon after the publication of Nasreen’s Lajja, the comrade said the Bangladeshi writer was a “paid agent of RAW” and she had written the book at the instance of the Government of India.

As a former Intelligence professional, this writer is in a position to confirm that other guests at the dinner, including RSP leader Mr Khiti Goswami and his wife, CPI-M leader Mr Manab Mukherjee, Jadavpur University’s International Relations Professor Baladas Ghosal and some journalists were flummoxed by his baleful indiscretion; their host was embarrassed as well.

One can confirm from personal knowledge that till then, Nasreen was not even known to anyone in the Indian establishment, let alone RAW, but it cannot be said with equal confidence that Mr Bose was not linked to any foreign Intelligence outfit.

Hounding Nasreen out of the Marxist haven of Kolkata to Jaipur is the latest example of the Left Front government’s policy of diversion, duplicity and decadence.

The disclosures made since the gratuitous violence had rocked the metropolis on 21 November, it is again clear that for the sake of minority votes, the pseudo-secular CPI-M leaders pander to the bigotry and intolerance of a fringe group of Muslim fanatics. In this case, they were willingly privy to provoking the orgy of violence in the city.

The manner in which Kolkata Police and a government-friendly Marwari businessman executed in tandem the “Oust Taslima Operation” perceived to be conceived and designed by Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is reminiscent of the trader-police nexus that ruined the lawful marriage of a young couple and drove the husband to violent death. As if that was not enough, the former Kolkata Police chief Mr Prasun Mukherjee first, and Mr Vineet Goel, DC (Headquarters) later, pressured Nasreen to leave the state against her will.

The fact that Imam Sayed Mohammed Barkati of the Tipu Sultan mosque claimed that Mr Bhattacharjee had described Nasreen as “a horrible woman” is testimony to the fact that the chief minister was the master conspirator in this case. As a writer, Nasreen has been fighting for equal rights for women ~ the victims of gender bias and religious bigotry. She has raised her voice against persecution of religious minorities in Muslim societies.

Her novelette Lajja, written and published in the backdrop of the post-Babari cataclysmic Hindu-cleansing in Bangladesh, is an account of the unrestrained loot, arson, rape, destruction and desecration of Hindu temples and idols that swept rural Bangladesh in 1992.

Lajja is an indelible blot on the history of Bangladesh. The then Bangladesh Nationalist Party regime in Dhaka, in league with the Jamaat-e-Islami and other allied fundamentalist groups, wreaked vengeance on the author for “tarnishing the image of Bangladesh abroad”.

Encouraged by the cynical Bangladeshi government, mullahs mobilised Muslim masses on the streets, declared her apostate (murtad) and issued fatwas sentencing her to death. The government of Begum Khaleda Zia banned Lajja, impounded her passport and exiled her to Europe.

In 1998, she returned to Bangladesh in cognito to be at the bedside of her dying mother. When she was spotted, hell broke loose again, with mullahs baying for her blood. When her mother died, no cleric agreed to perform her burial rites. The dead woman’s crime? She was the putative mother of a daughter judged apostate by mullahs trading in religion!

The persecuted Nasreen went back into exile, in the USA this time.
In 2003, a socalled Muslim poet in Kolkata secured a court order staying the sale and circulation of Nasreen’s autobiographical piece Dwikhandita, on the allegation that it contained unsavoury, defamatory references to him.

The Marxist government of West Bengal banned the book to ingratiate itself with Muslim voters in the state. In the face of the uproar sparked off by the politically-motivated government action, the chief minister claimed that 25 writers consulted by the government believed that parts of the book could offend Muslim religious sentiments and incite communal violence.

These eminences were known to be pliable pro-establishment intellectuals and one of them had repeatedly derogated by his blasphemous writings Hindu gods and goddesses ~ Kali, Saraswati, Radha and Krishna.

The Bangladeshi military ruler General Ershad banned a feature film based on one of his books because it had hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community in that country.

The Marxist government’s rationale behind proscribing Dwikhandita being thus suspect, the publisher challenged its legality in Calcutta High Court. The court held the government action banning the book “unjustified and untenable”.

During the two years that the case lingered in the High Court, fundamentalist Islamic groups held street demonstrations against Nasreen, demanding cancellation of her visa. Imam Barkati, who was in the forefront of the agitation, announced monetary rewards for publicly insulting Nasreen and even issued a fatwa to behead the writer.

All the time, the state government and the police played footsie with these fundamentalist fanatics, ignoring the criminal offences, including incitement to commit murder in police presence. The state administration prevented the holding of literary seminars at Midnapore and Siliguri, which Nasreen was scheduled to address, by imposing prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code on the specious ground that these could disturb communal peace.

In August, at a book release function in Hyderabad, Majlish Itthadul Musalmeen leaders, including party MLAs and their hoodlums assaulted Nasreen to press the demand for cancellation of her visa.

The police in Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh did not take action against the criminals, but in the face of public criticism, later registered a case. That did not deter the culprits from ganging up with the likes of Imam Barkati in Kolkata to iterate the fatwa to kill the Bangladeshi writer, with a huge police possé headed by two DCs looking the other way.

Among the people arrested for the day-long violence on 21 November are known CPI-M cadres and elements involved in the community policing programmes of the Kolkata Police. Many illegal aliens from Bangladesh were involved in the violence.

Most of the hoodlums were non-Bengali Muslim followers of the non-Bengali imam of a city mosque and were mostly from the constituencies of Mohammed Salim, MP, and Assembly Speaker Mr Hashim Abdul Halim.

Other Muslim-dominated areas in the city represented by non-Marxist parties in the Assembly were unaffected by the anti-Nasreen violence.
Except for aimlessly firing teargas shells at random, the police did not do anything to address the crisis, requiring the Army to be pressed in and night curfew imposed.

The ruling clique has showered encomiums on the police for the “patient handling” of the violence and the pliant section of the media parroted the same view.

But to anyone with a modicum of professional experience in handling law and order, it was clear the police were under instructions to allow the crescendo of violence to build up unchecked.

That was meant to prove to the world how well-founded the contention of the Marxist ruling clique was that Nasreen’s presence in West Bengal was dangerous to maintaining communal harmony in the state. And that justified Mr Bose’s fatwa, pronounced with the flourish of revolutionary cussedness that the Bangladeshi writer must leave West Bengal and its subsequent execution by Mr Goel, successor of Mr Gyanwant Singh at Lalbazar.

This operation may or may not help the CPI-M to retain its hold on minority votes in West Bengal but it could help ensure the victory of Mr Narendra Modi in the upcoming Assembly election in Gujarat.

As for Nasreen, she has since wilted under pressure and withdrawn the “objectionable” portion of Dwikhandita. After the government ban on the book, I wrote: “Taslima Nasreen is not a paragon of virtue, but she is a brave woman” (The Hindustan Times 8 December, 2003). I regret having to admit now on hindsight that the accolade I had showered on her then was premature.

(The author is a former additional secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat.)

Oris-saga

Statesman News Service, 7 December

Meeting to assist in Posco work

JAGATSINGHPUR, Dec. 6: Unfazed by the hullabaloo over massive police deployment, panic at Dhinkia village and grave concern expressed by various quarters, the government went ahead holding a meeting with representatives of Nuagaon, Govindpur, Gadakujang villages in the presence of Posco authorities to explain the rehabilitation package.
The meeting held at Erasama block office today was yet another step forward in trying to expedite land and socio economic survey work at the proposed plant site.Barring Dhinkia, the rest of the affected areas were represented at the meeting. The claim is that families facing displacement in these villages have formed working committee to iron out doubts before facilitating expeditious implementation of the project.
The representatives of this committee interacted with Posco officials and
district administration at Erasama Block. They sought several clarifications on the special package and compensation to affected people, issues relating to the Special Economic Zone, impact of a dedicated port.

The district rehabilitation officer Mr Surjeet Das highlighted theR & R policy. He informed that Rs 1.50 lakh is to be given to affected people for construction of house, and to provide rehabilitation colony,
drinking water facilities, electricity, housing and other compensation
to beetle vine farmers.

Some of them wanted locals who are not affected by the project should get employment opportunity. They cited instances of Nuagaon where people are not going to be affected by the land acquisition process. Each family of the affected panchayats should get employment, they said.
A few others pointed out that 90 percent of people had acquired or encroached upon what is now being identified as forest land and hence they may not get any compensation whatsoever.Reliable sources said Posco India officials requested the villagers to present specific demands for consideration. Villagers agreed to present their demand after consultation with the villagers next week.

Mr Priyabrata Patnaik, the transport secretary who has been appointed as nodal officer for the project also explained the benefits and economic growth that will take place in the area. The district collector and other officers were present at the meeting.Villagers of Nuagaon ,Gadakujang, Noliasahi, Gobindpur have formed all party committee to bring peace in project site. Sarapanches of Gadakujang and Nuagaon participated in the discussions today.

Social worker denied entry into plant site

BHUBANESWAR, Dec 6: The very fact that I was prevented from entering Dhinkia by few people at Trilochanpur who had absolutely no stakes in the Posco steel plant project reveals that it is ‘money which is talking’ in the area, remarked Mr BD Sharma, eminent social activist and president of Bharat Jan Andolan.

Talking informally with reporters here today, Mr Sharma said he had been stopped by some people at Trilochanpur yesterday. They asked me to return without entering Dhinkia and all this was right in front of the police.

He also pointed out that one of the groups told him to vacate the area within two minutes.

I talked to these people, enquiring about the situation in the area, the benefits of the proposed Posco project and then realised that these people had nothing to do with the project.

They were not being displaced, their land was not being acquired and they had absolutely no stakes in the project, yet they were determined to prevent me from reaching Dhinkia and they claimed to be pro-Posco, he noted.

Sharma denounced the government of remaining a mute observer.
A government is duty bound to act in the interest of the people, it has to intervene, it just cannot remain passive as it has been till date, he charged.

The veteran activist was accompanied by Ajay of Visthapan Virodhi Janvikas Andolan, Reetam Bhattacharya of United Students Democratic Front who said he was at Nandigram for five months, Ms Jayeeta Das and Chati Maiti both of whom belonged to a women samiti which was active in Nandigram.

The entire team had to return from Trilochanpur yesterday. But they will visit Dhinkia tomorrow.

We met the SP Jagatsinghpur yesterday and he assured us that we were free to move around the proposed Posco plant site areas including Dhinkia, informed Mr Sharma.

Mr Sharma said on the face of it the entire process of a global giant negotiating with villagers and the government remaining a mute passive spectator was like asking a lamb to negotiate with a tiger.

He also pointed out that as per the recent forest rights enactment, the area locals have a right over the land and they cannot be termed as encroachers any longer.

Meanwhile, a handful of youth carrying placards in favour of Posco and raising slogans against Sharma stormed Lohia Academy where the social activist along with his team and others including Prafulla Samantaray were present here today.

They left the place before the police reached the spot.

It is apparent that even these people know nothing about Posco project nor do they have any stake in it, it goes to prove that money is talking quipped Samantaray.

NHRC moved against ‘state repression’

BHUBANESWAR, Dec. 6: Rajendra Sadangi, convenor of Loka Pakhya and Prafulla Samantara, president of Lok Shakti Abhijan have filed a complaint before the National Human Rights Commission alleging serious violation of human rights at Dhinkia, Gadakujang and Nuagaon areas of Jagatsinghpur district.

The complaint is based on a series of incidents that had taken place since 29 November when anti-Posco project activists were attacked and driven away from Balitutha bridge. Bombs were hurled and tents set ablaze by hired goons, they charged.

Listing out the injured in the incident they named six and said 10 others had also sustained injuries. The second list provided by NHRC related to torture of four persons (named) and 10 others after the 29 November incident.

The complaint levelers hurled allegations against the ruling BJD, a local leader of the party and others.

Villagers protesting against displacement are facing a Nandigram type of combined assault by armed goons and the police, they charged.
The right of people of three gram panchayats to differ with the government over the project, right to agitate and protect their own interests, right to life and lead a normal life have all been trampled, alleged the petition.

It prayed for immediate directions to the government to withdraw the police force, ejection of goons from the area, adequate compensation to those whose rights have been infringed and an end to ‘state repression’. The government is trying to manufacture support for the project by intimidatory presence of police, it charged.

Missiles testfired

BALASORE, Dec. 6: India today carried out its air defence exercise involving two of its test ranges Integrated Test Range, Chandipur and Wheeler Island, Dhamra of Bhadrak in the Bay of Bengal.

The surface-to-surface medium range missile was test fired at around 11 a.m. from a mobile launcher LC- III of Chandipur as attacker, the other missile as an interceptor was fired from Wheeler Island LC-IV after two minutes 40 seconds of the former to have an alignment with a pre-designated point.

Sources said the test mainly to ascertain the interception capability for the low altitude hostile ballistic missile was successful. Senior scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation Air Defence Programme were present.

For the test, defence authorities have evacuated nearly 3,000 villagers of five villages along with their live stock under two gram panchayats within two km radius of the launching complex of Chandipur, they were stationed in two temporary shelters erected at Khadupahi and Kalimandap.

Health camps in Kalahandi

ROURKELA, Dec. 6: As part of its corporate social responsibility, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) is going to organise free Health Camps at Bolangir and Kalahandi districts from 7 to 16 December.

The health camps in Bolangir district will be organised at four villages -Belpara, Sindhekela, Bharsuja and Tusra from 7 to 10 December and in Kalahandi District, the health camps will cover Nakrundi, Adri, Ghutrukhal and Mohulapatna from 13 to 16 December.

This initiative will involve the services of specialist doctors in medicine, ophthalmology, ENT, skin, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology and pediatrics who besides carrying out health check up and diagnosis of the villagers will also provide expert advice and free medicines to the patients in these camps.

This apart, the steel plant through its Ispat General Hospital (IGH) has already established a modern medical and health services centre in the steel city catering to patients from Orissa and outside the state as well.
RSP also runs free medical aid centres five days a week in a number of periphery villages and has recently set up a free medial consultation centre for the underprivileged as part of its CSR in the steel township.

The income divide

Jonathan Power
The Statesman, 7 December

National income figures give us only the bare bones of a society’s progress. They neither reveal the real beneficiaries nor the composition of that income. Neither do they value the things that human beings consider important for themselves but have little or no market value for other people or for those beholden to statistical aggregates ~ better nutrition and health services, greater access to knowledge, more secure livelihoods, better working conditions, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours and a sense of participating in the economic, cultural, religious and political activities of their communities.

Of course, people also want higher incomes. But income is never the sum total of human life. For most people, health, security and love are the three important things in life and how many people can put their hand on their heart and say they are sure that in their own lives these three things are eternally spoken for?

This debate reaches back in European thought at least to the time of Aristotle. “Wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking, for it is merely useful for the sake of something else,” he wrote. Even the 19th century philosophers never were gross national product absolutists after the fashion of today. Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill, from very different perspectives, all saw the creation of wealth as only one part of a complicated whole. How marvellous it is then at the gloomy end of a gloomy year to be presented with a report by the UN Development Programme that makes the reader feel good about human progress.

In its just released human development report there are long, sophisticated tables encompassing all the world’s countries in which countries are not ranked by income per head but by yardsticks considered more telling ~ longevity, knowledge and a decent standard of living. Cold and wintry though it is, Iceland comes out top, followed closely by Norway, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and Japan in that order. (The weather obviously is not a factor.)

Hong Kong is higher up the table than Germany or Israel and Barbados is the top of the developing countries with, surprise, surprise, Argentina, yesterday’s basket case, not far behind, which goes to show how with dynamic leadership, sound economic policies and a social will, how quickly a country can be turned around.

The report also presents another way of looking at progress ~ countries with a relatively crime-free environment. If you want to live in a country with a high standard of living, low violence and a miniscule murder rate one would choose Japan first, with Hong Kong as a close second, or perhaps Jordan (though poorer) where I am now.

Indeed all the Muslim countries, in particular the Arab ones, have murder rates. Then come Norway, Austria, and Greece. The countries best to avoid are Colombia, South Africa, Venezuela, Jamaica, El Salvador and Russia. Surprisingly, the USA, though much worse than the European average, compared with these six countries is only moderately violent. But then, as is true with all these statistics, if you exclude the urban slum parts of the USA, its status improves remarkably: it is not only fairly low in crime but also high on the human development index. Today, many governments are finding, after many decades of stressing the pursuit of high growth rates, that they have failed to reduce the social and economic deprivation of a substantial number of their people.

At the same time, we have become aware that a number of low-income countries have achieved high rates of human development by a judicious use of their scarce resources to ensure a basic level of wellbeing throughout their societies ~ Costa Rica, Uruguay, Cuba, and the ex-British Caribbean islands are good examples. Few outsiders looked at China, Taiwan and South Korea 30 years ago and anticipated their present fast growth rate. The present income of a country may offer little guidance to its growth prospect if is nurturing its resources by investing in its people, as these countries did in the early years of their decision to modernise and develop economically.

Not least, we should be aware of how misleading aggregate figures can be. Income is a means, not an end.

It may be used for essential medicines or narcotics, for sitting in a luxury car in a traffic jam or for a high-speed train link. For green spaces or multistoreyed car parks. Everyone in any country that has experienced rapid economic growth, whether it be a mature economy like the USA and Denmark or an up and coming one like Malaysia and Brazil, knows from their own firsthand experience that it doesn’t tell you that much about a society. It gives a kind of useful benchmark of aggregate economic momentum. But, beyond that, the more one looks at it the more misleading it can become.

Jharkhand bleeds

Dipankar Bose
The Statesman, 7 December

Since the creation of Jharkhand, the youngest state of the country, extremism unleashed by Maoist outfits has affected the state’s businesses and economy.

And the loss, which makes everyone pay hard, is when Maoists give calls for statewide bandhs to stress their agendas. Trade, commerce and industry in Jharkhand bleed during every bandh called by the Maoists and the statistics are overwhelming.

Jharkhand was created on 14 November, 2000. Records state that from that day till the third week of November this year, the state has witnessed more than 48 bandhs called by the Maoists. The business loss during these 48 bandh days is close to a whopping Rs 1.30 lakh crore!

The state finance department calculated the figure after considering the details from several industry and business sectors, functioning in Jharkhand. A state finance department official puts it this way ~ a bandh call, if considered to be a total success, means a loss of Rs 2,700 crore a day, in the form of approximate turnover loss from industries and smallscale units, besides manday losses.

The state finance department has based its calculations on the basis of Jharkhand’s gross domestic product. The state’s GDP is Rs 60,000 crore a month. Leaving aside the four Sundays and Saturdays, which are official holidays in the state, the number of working days a month is 22.
If the GDP is divided with the number of working days, the turnover comes to about Rs 2,700 crore for each day. The loss has been calculated by multiplying the number of days on which the Maoists had called bandhs and paralysed the state, with the turnover value for each day. The result ~ Rs 2,700 crore, when multiplied by 48 days, comes close to Rs1.30 lakh crore.

But this is not the end of the long list of losses in terms of economy. The second to come is the Railways, which has been hit by the Maoist bandhs. The East Central Railway (ECR) zone has one of the most profit-making divisions within its ambit ~ the Dhanbad Division. Freight loading and wagon handling done every day by this single division rings sweet bells for ECR coffers. And the section through which most of the freight trains of Dhanbad Division run is the Coal India Chord (CIC) Link. Most of the CIC Link of Dhanbad Division passes through areas of Jharkhand, which are considered by the state police and Union home ministry as the Core Red Corridor.

That means the trains, both passenger and freight, pass everyday under the shadow of assault rifles and explosive devices of the Maoist extremists. As soon as a bandh call is given by the extremists, the first thing that the ECR authorities do is to suspend trains in the CIC section.
That means no loading of wagons along the busy section and no running of goods trains, resulting in unnecessary delays and bunching of rakes in the yards. The situation is more or less the same in the South Eastern Railway network area, in the Ranchi and Kharagpur Divisions and also parts of the East Coast Railway. The routine cancellation of passenger and freight trains only indicate that the Railways has virtually surrendered to the Maoists’ diktat. The Railways suffers losses that run into crores of rupees when trains are suspended along various sections of the ECR, the SER and other zones, where Maoists have a strong presence.

And senior Railway officials only say that they are helpless. “We are helpless during the Maoist bandhs. We have had a series of meetings with the Jharkhand chief secretary, home secretary and the state’s director-general of police. Senior officials of Ranchi and Dhanbad Divisions and also senior officials of the East Coast Railway attended the meeting to review railway security during these bandhs.

“We urged the state police to provide adequate security cover to the Railways so that trains can ply. Every time we got assurances from the state government authorities about security, but on bandh days, all assurances fall apart,” a senior SER official said. Maoists have always targeted the Railways during their bandhs.

During the bandh of 24 September, the extremists blew up the Kajrat-Nawadih station on the Garwah Road-Dehri-on-Sone section. Tracks were blown apart in the Koderma section of the busy Howrah-Delhi Grand Chord route, suspending trains running for long hours. Railway officials estimate that on an average, the ECR Division loses more than Rs 10 crore if train services are suspended on any day along the CIC section. The losses just keep mounting as the Railways practically surrenders to Maoists during bandhs. Passengers and transporters using the Railways are the worst sufferers. These bandhs also hit the operations of the Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation-owned coal projects, CCL’s mining projects in the collieries and Hindalco’s Tori bauxite sidings, creating further dents in the state’s coffers.

With little control of the state government over thriving Maoist extremism in Jharkhand, everyone is at their mercy ~ from the masses to the state exchequer.

(The author is The Statesman’s Ranchi-based principal correspondent.)

High & low of oil prices - The Quicksand Of Consumption, Imports And Losses

Bharat Jhunjhunwala
The Statesman, 7 December

Oil prices have shot up by 35 per cent in the last four months and have now touched an all-time high of $95 a barrel. State-owned oil companies, however, continue to sell at lower prices because the government is concerned about the fallout on the coming elections in Gujarat and Himachal. Oil companies are incurring huge losses in the process which is expected to reach an astronomical level of Rs 70,000 crore by the end of the financial year. This is approximately 10 per cent of the total budget of the Government of India.

Oil companies are issuing bonds which are being bought by the government in order to make up for this loss. Technically, the loss is borne by the companies while the government owns assets in the form of bonds. But this burden will ultimately fall on the people of the country. Just as the loss incurred in business cannot be made up by continually borrowing from one’s brother, similarly the loss incurred by public sector oil companies cannot be made up by endlessly borrowing from the government.

The loss suffered by the oil companies is always incurred by the government which owns them. This policy is like that proposed by Charvaka ~ borrow today and drink ghee because no one knows what will happen tomorrow.

Reduce taxes

One suggestion that may help surmount this problem is for the Union and state governments to reduce the taxes on petroleum products. This will immediately provide relief to the oil companies. For example, the taxes may constitute about Rs 20 out of the price of Rs 40 for a litre of petrol. Oil companies are getting only Rs 20 out of the sale. Reduction in the taxes by Rs 10 will increase the receipts of the oil companies by same amount and reduce their loss.

But this too is a fictitious solution. The revenues of the government will be less and it will have to impose higher taxes on other items such as match boxes and bicycle tyres to make up for the loss. The burden of the higher taxes will fall on the people. We must face the hard truth that there is no free lunch. The oil that we are consuming cheap today will have to be paid out of our hard-earned income tomorrow. Instead of tinkering with such non-solutions we must consider the pros and cons of increasing the domestic price of oil.

If the price of oil is lower than the global levels, it can have a negative impact. The low price adversely affects our economic sovereignty. It encourages people to burn more oil which, in turn, forces the oil companies to import yet higher quantities. We sink into the quicksand of ever increasing consumption, imports and losses. Higher consumption of oil makes our economy more energy-intensive. Oil supplies can be curtailed in the event of a war or a natural catastrophe such as tsunami and that will inflict great damage on our economy. The bullock-driven water wheel can continue producing food without these imports but not diesel-driven tubewells.

High consumption of oil also affects our political sovereignty. We have to make friends with dictatorial regimes like those of Saudi Arabia and ignore the violations of human rights of the people in Nigeria by their government in order to secure our supplies. Our income is geared to the consumption of oil and we have less money to develop an ambitious programme to help other developing countries. We also have less money left to buy or manufacture radars, fighter planes and patriot missiles. We have had to make a less-than-equal agreement with the United States to obtain supplies of uranium because we consume a fair amount of energy.

The importance of oil in preserving national sovereignty has been highlighted by the editor of Newsweek, Fareed Zakaria. In an essay written in 2005 he contended that the most important issue for America’s foreign policy is to reduce the domestic consumption of oil. That would lead, he says, to a decline in the global price of oil and have the following consequences: (i) The cash obtained by Saudi Arabia and Iran which gets into the hands of terrorists will be reduced; (ii) Autocratic governments like those of Saudi Arabia will not be able to bribe the Wahabi imams and suppress demands for democratic reforms; (iii) Iran would not be able to fund its nuclear programme; (iv) President Putin of Russia will not be able to destroy competing centres of power or continue the "disastrous" war in Chechnya; and (v) President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela will not be able to rebel against American influence. The success of American foreign policy, says Zakaria, will depend on the reduction in the consumption of oil by America. That holds equally for us. Less consumption of oil and other forms of energy will give us more free play in international politics.

A lower price of oil prevents the development of alternative sources of energy. This writer had an opportunity to study the working of gobar gas plants in Shyampur village near Hardwar some time ago. At least 50 gobar gas plants were in operation successfully for more than 20 years. The LPG gas cylinders became available in the mid-nineties at a low price. Farmers found it easier to cook food with LPG than with gobar gas. They were saved the work of having to mix water with gobar to be fed into the plants, drying the slurry, maintaining the pipelines and water supply, etc. This alternative source of energy was dismantled as soon as cheaper LPG became available. The same applies to wind, solar, micro-hydel, thorium and bio sources of energy. Cheap oil distracts our attention from these sources and traps us into imports.

Other alternatives

The government should consider other alternatives to issuing bonds and reducing taxes. The main reason for not passing on the increase to the consumer is to protect the common man from the price rise. The simple solution is to pass on the same money to the consumer directly. Our population totals approximately 112 crore. Of these about a third are poor. Taking the average size of a family to be four, the number of poor households is about nine crore. The Rs 70,000 crore being spent by the government to insulate oil companies from high prices can be paid to these households directly. Each household will get Rs 6,700 per year.
Alternatively each household will get Rs 2,200 if the amount is given to all families irrespective of the level of income. Such a payout will be politically rewarding. The burden of increase in the price of oil will then fall mainly on those who consume more energy in gas-fired geysers and room heaters, air-conditioned cars and the like. This policy will be a boon for the common man. He will get more money than he spends on the purchase of expensive oil.

The larger benefit to the country will be that high prices will lead to reduced consumption of oil and help preserve our economic and political sovereignty. It will also encourage development of alternative renewable sources of energy which will be beneficial for mankind in the long run.

The author is former Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Oris-saga

The Statesman, 4 December

Farmers in quandary over seed issue

BARIPADA, Dec. 3: The farmers of about 25 blocks are worried and have not yet made up their minds as to what they would do after they have been harassed by the State Seed Corporation, which has failed to provide paddy seeds for Ravi cultivation. The farmers alleged that though the officers have been maintaining that seeds are not available, the same are on sale behind their back..

However, hundreds of farmers of undivided Mayurbhanj district, are reportedly returning bags of paddy seeds to the government seed counters, which they had taken earlier, as they are of inferior quality and have failed to germinate.

After a weak monsoon, which delayed cultivation in the district, the framers now find themselves in a quandary, as thousands of quintals of paddy seeds provided by the State Seed Corporation have failed to germinate.

While the district administration did not heed the farmers’ complaints, tests by the State Seed Laboratory have confirmed that the seeds were of inferior quality. Though the plan was to cultivate paddy in 1, 23,435 hectares of land during the Ravi season, it failed due to low quality seeds.

“We have decided to stage a dharna and gherao cooperative offices in the district and will not allow the officers to do their work, until they provide paddy seeds soon,” said one of the farmers.

Farmers misguided on pesticide menace

BHUBANESWAR, Dec. 3: With decreasing number of agricultural extension workers, the farmers are misdirected by pesticide manufacturers, alleged Orissa Coalition for Food Safety & Sovereignty. The mandatory warnings on labels are not adhered to, in direct contravention of international regulatory laws, it added.

Each year approximately three million people are poisoned and 200,000 die from pesticide use. While acute cases of pesticide poisoning are very common, the chronic long-term effects such as cancer, endocrine disrupting effects are of increasing concern, the organisation maintained.

It observed that the pattern of pesticide usage in India is different from that for the world in general. In India 76 per cent of the pesticide used is insecticide, as against 44 per cent globally. The main use of pesticides in India is for cotton crops (45 per cent), followed by paddy and wheat.

The threat to Orissa has risen considerably with the stress on cotton cultivation. This has habituated the farmers to use pesticide and they now use it in increasing quantities in paddy and vegetables.

The introduction of GM crops has resulted in more pesticide use as secondary pests have emerged.

As pesticides kill the natural predators of pests, there has been no appreciable benefit from their use.

It may be mentioned that 3 December is observed the world over as “No Pesticide Use Day” to commemorate the world’s worst chemical disaster- Bhopal pesticide factory explosion in 1984.

People starve in Dhinkia

JAGATSINGHPUR Dec. 3: The Jagatsinghpur district SP Mr RK Sharma tired to underplay the recent spate of violence and the alleged ‘sealing” of Dhinkia village, by insisting that police deployment around Dhinkia was meant to check outsiders and pro-Posco elements from creating a law and order problem. “We have not surrounded or sealed Dhinkia disconnecting it from the rest of the district as has been projected or alleged,” he observed. Villagers, media persons are moving freely, he said before adding that the anti-Posco group has not moved out of the village fearing arrest.

The SP’s statement comes in the wake of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti leader Mr Abhaya Sahoo’s charge that people of Dhinkia have been surrounded by police and are starving since four days. Even the Left party leaders had, yesterday, issued a call for sending relief material and foodstuff to Dhinkia as the village had been sealed by the police.

It is a case of human rights violation, they charged.It may be noted here that Dhinkia is the stronghold of the PPSS and several of its leaders including Sahoo are camping there.

Since 29 November when bombs were hurled at PPSS activists at Balitutha bridge, the entire area is surcharged with apprehensions that the police may forcibly enter Dhinkia and arrest PPSS leaders.

For two years now the police had not been able to enter Dhinkia, Nuagaon, Gadakujang panchyats which come under the proposed POSCO steel plant site.
No government or company authority was allowed to enter as PPSS activists had blocked approach roads and created check gates.

But the recent spate of violence has had the PPSS on the run and taking advantage the police has entered a few areas.

The police has been deployed in large numbers at Balitutha and Trilochanpur villages. Mr Sharma however claims that the deployment is to prevent escalation of violence.

Meanwhile the PPSS has started training local youths in armed struggle and a few tribals have been engaged to impart training in archery and sword fight, PPSS leader Abhaya Sahoo confirmed this and said they were forced to prepare for a violent battle against goons hired by the company who had attacked them at Balitutha recently. For two years it has been a peaceful struggle but from now on it is going to be battle to protect our land at any cost, he said.

The pro-Posco groups have also started holding regular meetings to discuss their strategy.

They assert that police deployment has ushered in peace in the troubled villages.
They alleged that a lot of outsiders including suspected extreme Left elements had infiltrated the area. SP Mr Sharma has appealed to the local people not to take law into their hands and help police to restore peace.

He is keen on forming a peace committee for the purpose but has not yet been able to negotiate with the PPSS leadership.

Plight of a disabled youth....

BHADRAK, Dec. 3: Today is the world disabled day, Speeches are being rendered by VVIPs and meetings and seminars are being held. But the plight of Jagannath Sahu (26), a physically handicapped graduate, remains unchanged.

Without hands, he does everything with the help of his legs. Not only can he write, but he has also completed his studies from Fakir Mohan University in 2004-05. Jagannath, the son of Ramesh Sahu of Jantuali Nuagaon village under Chandabali block is envied by others. “From my childhood, my aim was to complete at least graduation, so that I would able to take up a job to serve my family. Now I think my graduation has no meaning, because a job for a handicapped graduate like me is a dream,” said Jagannath.

“I had gone to the grievance cell of the chief minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik, thrice to meet him, but failed. Then I wrote a letter to the President of India seeking a job. On 3 September, President”s office replied by advising me to meet the chief secretary of Orissa. On 2 November, I went to Bhubaneswar and tried to meet the chief secretary. But he was busy. I was told by his staff to meet the district collector of Bhadrak and that a letter would be sent to the collector," he said.
Jagannath continues to narrate his woes. He said that he returned to Bhadrak only to be told by the collector that no such letter has been received by him.

Police intensify vigil

BARIPADA, Dec. 3: The Mayurbhanj police have intensified vigil, as Naxalites sneak into border districts of the state in order to observe the annual Peoples Liberation of Guerrilla Army (PLGA), which will continue till 8 December.

Security has been beefed up and round-the-clock vigil has been enforced along the border. The reports of massive rallies, meetings and recruitments held by the Naxalite outfit, CPI (Maoists), recently at Belphari in Midnapur district of West Bengal, had prompted the security alert, the police said.

The superintendent of police, Mr Dayal Gangwar, today said that para military personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Orissa Special Armed Police Reserve (OSAP) have been deployed in vulnerable areas of the district.

He, however, declined to divulge details on the size and area of deployment.

However the SP denied having any information, regarding the recruitment drive of the Naxalites.

No such activities have taken place in the district so far, besides the gun battle between the police and the ultras on 28 November, in which there no causality occurred.

The week long annual recruitment drive of the Peoples Liberation of Guerrilla have been held for the past five years since 1999.

Rehabilitation binding on industries: Samal

ANGUL, Dec. 3: The decisions of the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) in matters of rehabilitation of the affected, are binding on all operating and upcoming industries, including private and public sectors, the state revenue minister, Mr Manmohan Samal, said yesterday.

The revenue minister was addressing a gathering, to mark annual function of Jagannath club, one of the premier clubs in industrial Angul district. Claiming that Orissa Rehabilitation policy-2006 is the best in the country, Mr Samal warned that in case of non-compliance, the government may go to make it an act. The government has immediate plans to go for it.

Mr Samal asked the authorities for a regular session of the RPDAC in their respective districts and regions, so that the issues of the rehabilitation can be effectively addressed.

RPDAC is vested with vast powers and authority to deal with these rehabilitation matters as per as the rehabilitation policy are binding on the government and all concerned. He welcomed a recent Supreme Court decision, which has asked all the industries to spare five per cent of their annual profit for peripheral development in their surroundings.

“Certain Central industries are reluctant to spend even one per cent of their profit for community development, Mr Samal said, asking RPDAC members to spend money properly in their areas. The revenue minister disclosed that by 2008, there would be no person without land in the state and till date 80 per cent of people of the state have been covered under the scheme. The rest of the 20 per cent of the landless population will be given land on time.

Mr Samal gave a detailed picture of some of the reforms introduced in his department to simplify the system in order to eradicate corruption in the revenue department. He described that land pass book is a right step in that direction, since the book holder will not be required to run to the tehsil office for income, residential and other certificates, where there is a scope of corruption. Presided over by the club president, Mr Rashi Mishra, the occasion was addressed by the Rajya Sabha MP, Mr Rudra Narayan Pany, the local sub-collector, Mr Nirmal Mishra, among others.

Stir to take place over land loss


BALASORE, Dec. 3: The villagers around the Chandipur defence establishment have expressed their discontentment regarding compensation towards land losers. They have submitted a memorandum today to the district collector and urged him to take immediate action, or else they would resort to agitation.

The villagers who live in close proximity to the defence installation, namely, Jaydevkasabapahi, Bardhanpur, Sahajanagar, Bhimpur and Kusmuli, under the banner of Purvanchala Surakshya Committee(PSC), under the of Mr Biranchi Narayan Panda, met the collector to apprise him of their demands. At the time, the latter was in a meeting with the district level officers, including the superintendent of police and the defence officials, in connection with the ensuing final test of Prithvi’s advance air defence exercise likely to be held on 6 December.

The villagers, besides demanding a notice for evacuation, 72 hours ahead of the test also has demanded Rs 300 and Rs 150 respectively for each adult and minor, against the present compensation of Rs 120 and Rs 60 slated for each day of evacuation.

They too demanded Rs 20 for each cattle head against the prevailing Rs 10 per family for any number of livestock. “ How can the compensation be justified when the defence authorities are adopting a flat means for compensating against any number of cattle heads for one family? Hence, besides demanding a higher rate for adults and minors, we demand compensation against each cattle head" said Mr Panda, the president of PSC.

He further informed that the land losers have not been adequately compensated and alleged that the district authorities are not executing the court order.

The defence has acquired 324.76 acres of land for expansion vide notification in 1998 and payment was made in 2002 varying between Rs 18,000 and Rs 25,000 per acre Mr Panda informed that the amount was given when the state government rate was Rs 2,25, 000 per acre.

He further alleged that despite order by the court against appeals to pay Rs 50,000 per acre with interest, the same has not been executed .

The villagers alleged that they were often prohibited from using the range road, which is owned and maintained by the defence. Under a special agreement it was agreed in 1971 by the defence authorities to allow the villagers to use the road.

Many a times, the defence all of sudden prohibits the road for us. As a result of this, it causes inconvenience. It becomes difficult during emergency. The villagers further alleged that the stretch connecting the Range road to Salt road via Bhimpur and Bardhanpur is not maintained properly. The collector has assured us that he would take steps within 15 days.

Suspected Maoist activities around Satkosia

ANGUL, Dec. 3: Suspected Maoist cadres have reportedly been seen moving around the Satkosia forest area, 40 km from here.

Recently villagers of Laimunda, Kantapara, Baghamunda, Alaberi and Dandabahali reported district police about movement of many suspected uniformed people in the surrounding jungle. Police team led by local circle inspector of police here rushed to the area each time but returned empty handed describing the report to be false. They hardly went up to the suspected hideout locations in the jungle.

The first report came to them on November 20 when villagers of Laimunda said two unknown persons wearing black uniforms interacted with a villager. The second face off took place by some village youths of local village in Tainsi jungle with some strangers. People also saw fire and smoke from the forest located near Gojamundia hill in the night indicating cooking by those people inside the forest.

A couple of days ago a 12-year-old child from village Loiamunda was intercepted by a stranger in uniform near their village jungle who enquired about the movements of police in their village. The father of the child informed Angul police superintendent about the incident.

The ultras are reportedly trying to establish their base in the area as the villagers near the sanctuary are in distress and provide an ideal situation for Naxals to entrench themselves.

Teachers take to roads

BHUBANESWAR, Dec. 3: Teachers of block grant high schools and non-grant schools were back on the streets today laying siege to a stretch of the road leading to the state assembly The agitating teachers community rejected CM Naveen Patnaik’s recent slew of announcements which were basically aimed at an upward revision of the annual block grant.

It is a devious attempt to fool everybody, alleged teachers here while noting that they had never demanded more money or allowances. The one point demand is to abolish the block grant system and provide full fledged grant in aid, they pointed out.

The recent upward revision announced by Mr Patnaik is also dangerous in the sense that from block grant of 40 percent meant for teachers, the present revision makes it a bulk grant in favour of the managing committee of respective educational institutions. This may lead to misappropriation and wide variations in payment to teachers of different institutions depending on their staff strength etc. Again, the announcements are aimed at dividing the teaching community between block grant and non-grant groups, alleged the teachers. The message being given by the government is as though the block grant teachers were interested in their own cause and had ignored the eligible non-grant institution teachers.

Tribals rally for jungle entry

KEONJHAR Dec. 3: The Bhuyan and Juanga, two primitive tribes who are claiming to be the architects of this tribal district, are unwittingly living in an altogether different climate and condition; thanks to the defective jungle rules of the government.

Hundreds of Bhuyans and Juangas of six primal pidhas* (villages) today took out a rally that ended at the collectorate where they staged a demonstration before giving a memorandum to the collector. They claimed that in 1948 when Keonjhar was about to merge in Orissa, a memorandum was signed between the then king and the government. As per that memorandum the Bhuyans and the Juangas should in no way be kept refrained from using the jungles and streams. At the time of 1970 bandobast, their areas were not surveyed and consequently their lands are still unsurveyed.

They also allege that as mining is increasing too fast, these mining houses are depositing crores of rupees for compensatory plantation. Unfortunately the forest department is planting eucaliptas and akasia in their lands in the name of compensatory plantation. So far the department has planted these plants on 1,030 hectares of land of 20 villages. And the department is going to undertake the plantation on 4,588 hectares of 32 villages at a cost of
Rs 79,008, 500.

They allege that their lands have been illegally transferred to various crusher owners. While 264 families of 33 villages have lost their 276.46 acres of land, in their six villages, nine crushers are so far operating threatening their livelihood. These rushers are polluting the salubrious air and water. As a result they are suffering from various diseases. This apart as the corridors of wild animals like elephants are being damaged by the mines and crusher owners, they are considerably damaging their lives and property.

They claim that the government is undertaking and leasing the areas where they have been living since ages but is paying little attention for the development these areas.

Violence worries Amnesty

BHUBANESWAR, Dec. 3: The Amnesty International is concerned over reports of violence in Jagatsinghpur and urged the state government to desist from forceful eviction. Farmers of the area are fearful of forced eviction by private militias and the state police have reportedly not taken any action to protect local communities, it observed.

The organisation is further concerned that full consultation on the potential displacement has not been undertaken with the communities by the state government. A note on the organisations observations was circulated amongst media persons here. AI observed that lessons should be learnt from the unfortunate episodes of violence which took place in Kalinga Nagar in 2006 and Nandigram in 2007, where local communities were protesting possible displacement due to the planned construction of an industrial project. The state government has a responsibility to ensure the protection of the human rights of all individuals, it said.

Any action by the police must be proportionate and should avoid unnecessary injuries to civilians, it noted.

It implored upon the state government to carry out full consultations with affected communities on the human rights, impact of its actions, including in relation to plans to carry out evictions. The organisation reiterated that sustainable development cannot be measured solely in terms of economic indicators: it should be seen as a holistic process that embraces a range of factors, including the development of civil society, the strengthening of the rule of law and the fulfillment of the human rights in the civil and political, social and cultural as well as economic spheres.

Workers agitate for absorption

JAJPUR, Dec. 3: Contractual workers locked the main gate of Rohit Ferrotech limited (RFL) located in Kalinga Nagar demanding permanent jobs today. The contractual workers allegedly assaulted workers and officials of the plant and chased them from the plant premises.

Later, they barged into the machine rooms and switched off different machineries of the plant and sat on dharana before the company gate and held a protest meeting. Production of the plant came to a grinding halt following the agitation. Later, the agitation was called off. Workers issued a 15 day deadline to company authorities to fulfil their demands.

The contractual workers claimed that they have been working in the plant for the last three years hence the steel company should make their jobs permanent.

Company source said, the agitators prevented the officials and workers of the company from entering into the plant demanding permanent jobs to them and paralysed the plant over six hours.

“At first the contractual workers, many of them of supply department of our plant prevented our men and materials to enter into the company campus by locking the entrance gate. Later, they assaulted our security officer and other officials mercilessly and took the plant into their control.

They switched off the entire machines of the plant and stopped the production. As they stopped our plant from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. we incurred a huge loss,” said KC Sasmal GM, personnel and administration of RFL.

They are outsourced and engaged through the labourer contractor. They are not company men and it is impossible to make all of them permanent. This apart, to run the plant smoothly some technical expertise is badly needed and the contractual workers lack technical expertise, he added.

“I have not received any written complaint from the company site. Getting a tip off our police team reached the company premises and persuaded the agitators to unlock the plant gate;” said Kalinga Nagar police station IC, KC Mund.

THE FLORA OF DEMOCRACY - It takes an average of ten years for land acquisition in Britain

Ashok V. Desai
The Telegraph, 4 December

In February, I visited Luxembourg by courtesy of its government. Soon after I returned, I watched the government of West Bengal’s handling of the Singur affair. It made me aware of a difference between the Indian and European practice of democracy, which I wrote about in The Telegraph of March 13. In India, democracy is taken to be a way of deciding who is to rule a state. The party that wins takes it as a licence to do what it likes for the next five years. In Europe, on the other hand, an election is used to decide who will form the government, but even more important, it decides who will take part in a never-ending debate. Members of legislatures come to the house respectably dressed, observe decorum on the floor, listen to whomever the speaker has given the floor, and use debate as a way of settling differences and reaching solutions. The killings by the West Bengal government were a way of settling differences in Nandigram; the channel the Europeans would have used — debate in an elected house — was defunct in Calcutta.

Two months later, the government of West Bengal did call an all-party meeting to discuss Nandigram, but the format — the chief minister staying away, the presence of a single representative from each of too many parties, and a scarce half-day allowed for speeches — ruled out any serious discussion. It was designed to fail, and it did. It was Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s failure. But he could not continue to fail. I wrote on June 6 that he should establish lines of communication with the opposition in Singur and Nandigram, listen to his adversaries, and become his own man, not his party’s marionette.

Well, Buddhadeb preferred to dance to his party’s tune, and it next time organized killings on a much larger scale in Nandigram, in the obvious hope that overwhelming violence would teach its opponents that if they resist, they will be “paid in their own coin”, and will learn that violence against the Communist Party of India (Marxist) does not pay. A few days later, Muslim rioters in Calcutta showed that they had not learnt the lesson. And this time, the CPI(M) itself learnt the lesson that it was prudent sometimes to capitulate to violence, and asked Taslima Nasreen to leave Calcutta as the rioters had demanded. Now the CPI(M)’s message is no longer so clear: does it want its subjects to believe that they can bend it to their will by violence, or that it will still put down opposition with an iron hand? Its opponents will just have to endure some more killings, loot and arson from the CPI(M)’s captive police and hooligans before the answer becomes clearer. It may take time for the CPI(M)’s mind to clear; meanwhile, its opponents will have to pay with their lives and property.

Because the government talks with the stick and the gun, there is no one around to talk to it. Recently, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation took me to Brussels to look at how the European Union functions. There I came across another feature of European democracy that I had not been aware of: Brussels simply teems with lobbyists. Daniel Guéguen is a prominent one. For 20 years he worked for the sugar lobby. Then he graduated to working for the agricultural lobby. For the past decade he has been a lobbyist on hire. His knowledge of the political landscape of Brussels is unparalleled. According to him, there are about 3,000 lobbies in Brussels, employing some 15,000 people. The most interesting one I came across was FACE — Fédération des Associations de Chasse et de Conservation de la Faune Sauvage (Federation of Associations of Hunting and Wildlife Conservation). Most are offices of trade associations, corporations or trade unions. But there are also professional lobbyists — consultants and legal firms — who would lobby for anyone who paid them a fee. Then there are NGOs and think tanks. Even some regional authorities and municipalities maintain lobbying offices in Brussels. The most influential lobbies are COPA-COGECA, the agricultural lobby, ETUC, the trade union lobby, and BUSINESSEUROPE, the employers’ lobby. But the largest is CEFIC, the organization of chemical producers; it employs 140 people.

These lobbyists have flourished because the government of Europe provides a structure that is conducive to lobbying. Everyone in the government is required to follow a Code of Good Administrative Behaviour. It requires him to be fair, impartial, independent and objective. He is supposed not to abuse power, and to impose charges or restrict citizens’ rights only to the extent required by his objective. He must reply to every letter in the language of any member of the public who writes to him. Within two weeks, he must reply to every correspondent, give the name and telephone number of the official who is dealing with the matter, and pass on the letter to that official. The relevant official must take a decision within two months, communicate it to the correspondent with the reasons for taking it, and tell him how he can appeal against it if he wishes to. If a citizen needs to make an application or follow a procedure, the official must explain to him how to do it. In sum, it is the duty of every official to help and satisfy every citizen and institution.

That duty extends to lobbyists as well. The European government does not think it enough that members of the European parliament are elected by, represent and take up the complaints of their constituents. The entire government is supposed to satisfy every European; thus, lobbying is a legitimate part of administrative practice. And this is not just in Brussels; the European Commission would ensure that lobbyists had the same access to national governments. The lobbies themselves are generally federations of national or industry associations. So their members have access to every level of the government, from their local authorities to the government in Brussels.

So if Nandigram had been in Europe, it would have had farmers’ associations and trade unions independent of political parties. The government would have appointed a responsible official, and set up quasi-judicial court to manage land acquisition. The court would have given an exhaustive hearing to the local lobbies, and would have worked out a solution that was acceptable to all. On top of the court, there would have been an appellate body; citizens who were dissatisfied with the court’s decisions could have appealed to it. The court and the appellate body would have been set up specially for Nandigram land acquisition; the ordinary courts would not have been burdened with it. The administrative decisions would have been available on the web. The responsible official would have readily given copies of documents to any concerned citizen who asked for them. The entire process would have been designed to ensure maximum acceptance for the process adopted, and an assurance of fairness even to those who did not accept.

It might have taken ten years; but that is actually the average time taken for land acquisition for new towns in Britain. West Bengal is hung up on the outcome — land acquisition — but in a democracy, it is the process that is important.

Pakistan’s crisis A Country In A Constitutional Limbo

Salman Haidar
The Statesman, 29 November

Cascading events in Pakistan since President Musharraf declared emergency on 3 November have added up to a sense of uncertainty about what could happen next. The initial threat to challenge the President’s authority on the streets fizzled out, after being suppressed by harsh police action and the blanking out of the media. Major political leaders were confined, released, detained again, in a cat-and-mouse game that left everyone guessing.

There was a considerable international hue and cry, but President Musharraf did not relent, moving instead to build further on the power he had assumed through the declaration of emergency, and to try to give it some semblance of legitimacy. The reconstituted Supreme Court, which is now packed with handpicked judges, has been moved to endorse his actions since November 3 and legitimise the presidential orders that tamper with the constitution.

Through these means, it would seem that the President has taken to himself the authority he needs to resume the transition to civilian rule and elections that he claimed was his goal, with himself at the centre of it, and to thwart the disruption threatened by violent insurgent groups, a reckless opposition and an irresponsible media.

More problems

But though on the surface there may be a semblance of control, many problems are bubbling up. The shock effect of the emergency has not prevented the political parties and other activist groups from raising a challenge to the President. His formal authority may have been buttressed through the Supreme Court but that has not enhanced his domestic power in some key matters. Insurgent groups in the frontier region are undaunted, witness the continued armed resistance in Swat and elsewhere in the North West Frontier Province. Urban terrorism also shows no abatement, several incidents having occurred, including suicide attacks, and there is no sign that emergency rule will help bring matters under control.

Internationally, the emergency has lost the President support and backing. That was slipping as it was, and the ambiguities of his dealings with the Taliban and Al Qaida were catching up with him. Even earlier, when there were signs that the President was contemplating the declaration of emergency as a way of dealing with his mounting problems, there was an immediate response and much pressure from the USA to head it off. Thus when he finally went ahead with it, he could have been under no illusions about how it would be received. Yet he felt it necessary to proceed as he did, no doubt because an adverse judgment from the court was feared that would have unraveled the presidency.

There has been a great deal of pressure from abroad to compel a change of course by President Musharraf. A spate of statements has come from Washington and other Western capitals bemoaning what has happened. Under pressure, the President has promised to shed his uniform and function as a civilian leader, and he may feel compelled to go through with it very soon. Though overall support for him has been reiterated, US actions do not suggest that he is any longer viewed as the indispensable leader of his country. A few days ago Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte was in Pakistan on a mission of persuasion. Pakistani observers did not fail to notice that Mr Negroponte spent more time with the Vice-Chief, General Kiyani, than he did with President Musharraf. One need not read too much into it but these meetings have been interpreted in some quarters as indicating that he was hedging his bets. And once any notion of finding alternatives to the present regime appears, there is no knowing where it can lead.

Currently, Pakistan is in a constitutional limbo and more than one way of resolving the present situation can be envisaged. For instance, in the fertile political imaginings of local observers, the caretaker Prime Minister Mr Somroo, widely known and well respected, under appropriate conditions could be a credible presidential candidate; and there could be others, depending on how the elections go and on how relations between the major political parties develop. This is not to suggest that anything along these lines is in the works, only to point to the inherent uncertainties in Pakistan’s current situation. The pre-emergency idea of a smooth transition that would retain Mr Musharraf in the presidency, without his uniform, sharing power with the PPP chief Ms Bhutto, appears increasingly remote.

The demand for free and fair elections is being raised from all sides. This is not as straightforward as it might seem, for the fear has been expressed that fair elections will not be possible while the Provisional Constitutional Order is in force, as it gives untrammelled authority to the government. So lifting the PCO is demanded as a necessary condition for the polls. But where would that leave Mr Musharraf? Would his position be affected? There can be a difference of view on this point. Indeed, there is plenty in the constitutional niceties to keep many lawyers engaged and to add to the directions in which the crisis could evolve.

There is also the fast changing political setting. Ms Bhutto is already back home, her power-sharing deal with Musharraf seemingly in tatters. Nawaz Sharif has also returned in time to make a bid for success through the elections. These former Prime Ministers, each heading a strong political party, will surely have a say in the future turn of events.

Political formations

There are other political formations, too, that will have to be taken into account. Beyond that, there is the role of the army. Gen. Kiyani, who is expected to move up to the top when President Musharraf sheds his uniform, is described as a thoroughgoing professional who would like to see the army keep away from politics. But does this mean that the army under him, or under anyone else, will be prepared to shed the part it has played for so many decades in national security affairs? These and other similar questions are reminders of the looming ambiguities about the future.

It is noteworthy that Pakistan’s discomfiture has not stirred India to any attempt to take propaganda advantage of it. Official statements in New Delhi have been restrained, and the media reaction sober. Even the suspension of Pakistan’s membership of the Commonwealth has not had much significance attached to it. It could be that the opening up of contact over the last few years, however limited in scope, has served to blunt the fine edge of animosity between the two countries.
Nobody in India finds it untoward that the Pakistan cricket team is touring the country at a time when civil liberties and the rule of law have been abruptly curtailed in Pakistan. Perhaps there is an underlying realisation that trouble in Pakistan does not necessarily bode any good for India. Rather, what is desired is an early internal settlement and an end to the current uncertainty.

The author is India’s former Foreign Secretary

Put the brakes on nuke race

Anjali Sharma
The Statesman, 4 December

The UN Disarmament Committee has said nuclear threats have become more dangerous and complex, with the emergence of an illicit trade in nuclear technology. Problems become more complex with the reported interest of extremist groups in acquiring nuclear weapons, greater difficulty in verifying nuclear production and insufficient progress in addressing energy security concerns.

More countries are interested in mastering the full nuclear fuel cycle, "a step that brings them closer to a potential nuclear weapons capability”.

The representative of the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr Gustavo Zlauvinen said there are a reported 27,000 nuclear warheads in the arsenals of at least nine countries. The cold war "hair trigger" alert deployment status of a significant number of those weapons contribute to the fears. The critical aspects of the nuclear non-proliferation regime need to be strengthened if a cascade of nuclear proliferation is to be avoided, Mr Zlauvinen said.

There is a need for the security of existing nuclear materials and improved controls over the transfer and production of nuclear material as effective control of nuclear material remained the "choking point" for preventing the production of additional nuclear weapons, he said. The second aspect is the need to strengthen the verification authority and capability of IAEA.

The nuclear watchdog agency's safeguards system had evolved from one focused on declared nuclear material and nuclear facilities to a more comprehensive information-driven system, able to provide credible assurance regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities. A third aspect was the need to give disarmament the prominence and priority it deserved.

Executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Mr Tibor Toth, said a nuclear test provided the "final and irreversible proof" of a state's intentions. The CTBT provided the "last and visible barrier between the peaceful legitimate use and the misuse of nuclear energy. The test-ban treaty that was in force was a "logical and necessary" element of the system, if present and future nuclear non-proliferation challenges were to be addressed credibly, Mr Toth said. Nuclear energy production and nuclear capacity were projected to increase in the coming decades and the differentiation between permitted civilian and prohibited activities was a complex challenge. Mr Sergio Duarte, UN representative for disarmament affairs, said the growth of international organisations in the disarmament field devoted to specific types of weapons had reinforced the UN’s role.

The UN was indispensable in creating a synergy among the diverse activities of international organisations at both the global and regional levels, he said. Highly technical work needs to be undertaken, free from political interference. That collective work on global disarmament challenges is coordinated and integrated must be ensured, so that the international community does not find itself mired in duplication of effort, or worse, working at cross purposes, he added.

Personal representative of the secretary-general for the Conference on Disarmament and the UN Director-General’s Office in Geneva, Mr Sergei Ordzhonikidze, and the director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Mr Rogelio Pfirter, were the other panelists. The US representative said his country's emphasis was not on what to do to control and eliminate nuclear weapons, but rather, on how to create an environment under which such an elimination process would be the most stable and realistic policy choice. There must be an environment in which nobody requires nuclear weapons for security. The key issues are adherence to non-proliferation; suppression of trafficking of weapons of mass destruction; elimination of other forms of those weapons; finding other means of deterrence; use of ballistic missiles; and creating a system of detection, deterrence and response.

The Indonesian representative said in the context of implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, there was widespread perception that nuclear-weapons states had attempted to avoid their obligations under the treaty. Post-Cold War, the world had seen more failures than successes in nuclear disarmament. It had emerged in the last review of that treaty that the non-nuclear-weapons states believe it is unfair to demand that they comply with their obligations under the NPT, while the nuclear-weapons states failed to live up to their own obligations and commitments.

Failure to deal with that issue ran the risk of rendering the treaty irrelevant. Statements in the thematic debate on nuclear weapons were made by the representatives of Bangladesh, Mexico, Portugal (on behalf of the European Union), Uzbekistan, Japan, Republic of Korea, Switzerland and Syria. The thematic segment was focused on weapons of mass destruction; outer space; conventional weapons; other disarmament measures and international security; regional disarmament and security and disarmament machinery.

Mr Sergei Ordzhonikidze, personal representative for the Conference on Disarmament and UN Director-General’s Office at Geneva, said disarmament had been neglected in international forums, and the Conference on Disarmament was probably the most neglected.

The origins of the impasse were at the end of the Cold War, which changed the international security equilibrium, and led to a re-evaluation of priorities and a changing perception of security.

He said with the possibility of the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by terrorists, international relations had become more complex and unpredictable.

Multilateralism had given way to predominance of a particular national interest, and the Conference on Disarmament had been unable to start negotiations on any item on its agenda. Mr Ordzhonikidze said efforts to break the deadlock had not yielded desired results and the conference had been trying to forge a consensus on disarmament priorities, instead of negotiating multilateral agreements.

Disarmament could liberate resources for development, building confidence and strategic stability. It would also be of use to the development agenda and the Millennium Development Goals. He stressed that the multilateral disarmament machinery must be overhauled and called for joint efforts based on new, imaginative approaches. It was vital to develop a political consensus on priorities, and to go beyond national interest. Mr Ordzhonikidze said that without political decisions at the highest level, even the most determined efforts of the Conference on Disarmament would not succeed. The current impasse could not be broken through procedural means, but only through a new political consensus.