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BJP’s helplessness
THE death toll in the communal riots following the Godhra train attack continued to rise even on the third day. The reaction to Wednesday’s incident has left close to 300 people, mostly Muslims, dead and caused damage to property worth millions of dollars. Mosques have been attacked by Hindu mobs not just in Gujarat but in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. It goes without saying that the loss of life and property is deeply regrettable and unfortunate, but what is perhaps equally distressing is the inaction on the part of the police, security forces and senior functionaries of the Gujarat government to deal with the situation. Credible reports suggest that the BJP-controlled state government took inordinately long in deploying the army in the most sensitive areas well after the killing had begun. In fact, this lapse on the part of the authorities has been so serious and conspicuous that India’s human rights watchdog — the National Human Rights Commission — has asked the state government to submit a report on the steps it had taken to control the violence and what it was doing to prevent further escalation. Unfortunately, the presence of even the Indian army did not deter the mobs from pillaging whole neighbourhoods, laying siege to homes and then lynching and burning the Muslims inside.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told his country on Saturday he was “confident all secular-minded people” would “observe peace and help the government in maintaining communal harmony”. However, that seems easier said than done. For one, the appeal comes from the head of a government controlled by a party whose ideology is grounded in Hindutva, the Hindu way of life. And, who exactly are these “secular-minded” people the prime minister is addressing? Some even in Mr Vajpayee’s inner cabinet cannot be called secular. The most obvious example is that of Interior Minister L. K. Advani, whose involvement in the Ayodhya issue has been so communal and provocative that he would be the last person one would expect to act impartially in the present frenzy of violence. Mr Advani is on record as having said in 1992 that regardless of the Supreme Court’s verdict, a Hindu temple would be built in Ayodhya. A few months later, thousands of Hindu activists, among them many from the BJP, descended on the town and destroyed the mosque.
The blame for the widespread violence lies also on the rabidly anti-Muslim Vishwa Hindu Parishad, whose senior vice president Acharya Giriraj Kishore described the massacres in Gujarat as a “little violent reaction” and who held the “Muslim psyche” responsible for whatever happened after Godhra. Another VHP hard-liner, Sharma Prem, said Muslims were “being paid back in the same coin”. Now, since the BJP is closely aligned with the VHP, it is quite likely that Mr Vajpayee’s well-intentioned appeal will fall on deaf ears. It is time parties like the BJP, which has risen to power by exploiting religion, did some soul searching and acted swiftly to stop blood-letting instead of paying lip service to secularism. A good step forward could be a settlement of the Ayodhya dispute in a manner that addresses the concerns of the Muslim minority.
Cricket with a difference
Whenever a cricketer stands on the threshold of a record, references are made to Don Bradman’s phenomenal feats. But cold statistics quoted in a particular context can hardly do justice to comparisons. Sachin Tendulkar, today’s leading batsman is set to equal Bradman’s record of 29 Test centuries. This achievement will formally put him in the gallery of the greats. In fact he has had the distinction of being mentioned by the legendary icon in glowing terms. There is no doubt about his extraordinary calibre and prolific scoring ability, yet touching the soaring heights scaled by the immortal Australian is a tall order. Bradman’s tally of 29 Test centuries in 52 tests is amazing. If so much cricket all the year round had been the fashion in those days as now in vogue, the count of centuries to his credit would have crossed imaginable limits. Tendulkar is, however, the second best in the line. He has played 91 Tests and is still one short of Don’s figures. When Sunil Gavaskar reached this milestone after many more outings in 1983-84 and greetings poured in from all quarters, he had the modesty to point out the difference. Tendulkar will also be conscious of this gap.
When Bradman was the ruling deity in the game — a distinction he still enjoys even after his death — fantastic suggestions were proferred to change the parameters to hold him in check. England, after a series of reverses in the Ashes battle against its main rival — Australia — was driven to such desperation that Jardine commissioned Larwood to unleash the bodyline blows for taming the tiger. These negative tactics bordering on terrorism did work to some extent but as the critics pointed out this was not cricket. In the normal circumstances he could successfully counter all sorts of attacks in terms of pace and spin. This cannot be said about Tendulkar or Gavaskar. Bradman’s mastery may be gauged in several ways but he was himself unsparing in making judgments about his performances. For him the best knocks were not necessarily those yielding the highest scores but those where he could command every stroke. This is the quintessence of quality cricket that the contemporary version of the game, heavily quantity- oriented, sadly lacks.
Containing hepatitis
A RECENT study conducted by the National Institute of Child Health has some shocking findings regarding the spread of hepatitis C through blood transfusion in Pakistan. Though not deadly in all cases — the death rate is under two per cent — hepatitis C can lead to other complications, including liver cancer, which can be fatal. The study confirmed the rise in the spread of hepatitis C in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad through unsafe blood transfusions, particularly among the poorer sections of society. It went on to say that 60 per cent of the children suffering from thalassaemia — who require regular transfusions — were found to be infected with hepatitis C, which puts some 60,000 families in the country at grave risk of contracting the disease.
These disturbing facts call for serious soul searching on the part of those involved in the administration of public and private hospitals and clinics. Public hygiene standards in Pakistan are among the poorest in the world, and people contract infectious diseases by eating in an unclean environment, by going to roadside dentists and barbers, by using infected syringes and through ear-piercing. Unfortunately, hospitals and clinics, as reported by the study, add to the spread of deadly diseases. Maybe it is time to follow the example of the incinerators installed at bigger public hospitals, which serve as a pool facility for destroying hospital waste generated by smaller hospitals in the same city. The government should seriously advocate the pooling of blood transfusion facilities among hospitals and clinics along similar lines, so that the spread of hepatitis C and other infectious diseases through unsafe transfusions can be contained effectively.
