Of saints and communists
NEW DELHI: It was the late Brazilian preacher Dom Helder Camara who said: “When I give food to the hungry they call me a saint; when I ask why the poor are hungry they call me a communist.”
Asking the right question indeed is often fraught with risks. Prof. Jean Dreze had been asking difficult questions about poverty and hunger in India. So he was whacked on the head and beaten up as a Naxalite guerrilla.
The world knows Jean Dreze as a development economist who has authored several books with the Nobel laureate Prof. Amartya Sen.
On June 4, a team of citizens on a Rozgar Adhikar Yatra (Right to Work March) organized by the People’s Action for Employment Guarantee reached Ambikapur in Sarguja district of predominantly tribal Chhattisgarh state.
Among the organizers of the march was Jean Dréze. As they had done in several other villages and towns in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, since the march began in Delhi on May 13, they prepared to address a mass gathering of the local tribal people.
The venue was quickly surrounded by the police on the pretext that the group did not have ‘official permission’ for the meeting. The attack followed soon after. A section of the media presumably on information by local authorities announced that the police had mistaken Dréze — he is goatee-sporting Belgian who has taken Indian nationality — for a ‘Naxalite’ and therefore beaten him up.
The Naxalite movement in India as the Maoist insurgency in Nepal are usually played up as some kind of imported menace, bereft of the fact that those spearheading it are the poorest of the poor. Their mainstay are the Dalits and the tribes-people, all victims of centuries of caste oppression. Dreze is neither a Naxalite nor even a Marxist economist. If anything he is a liberal economist quite comfortable with key aspects of free market economics.
But he was also the man who most lucidly exposed the hollow claims of the BJP-led government’s India Shining campaign. That bit of keen research helped the Congress and others disseminate his ideas to their advantage in the May 2004 election campaign.
The vicious attack on Dreze and his fellow campaigners suggests not only a deep social malaise but also a growing unease of the establishment with the Naxalite spectre.
It is not hard to imagine how the police are in the habit of dealing with any stirrings of protest by the local Adivasi tribes-people themselves. The Dreze Yatra was part of a long campaign for a full-fledged Employment Guarantee Act — an act that would guarantee employment for every adult in the country. Moreover, if passed, no other government would have the power to repeal it. It would ensure statutory minimum wages for men and women alike.
A draft for such an Act had emerged from the Dreze campaign but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government diluted it.
The violence at Sarguja is being seen as a message for public-spirited citizens and activists. As one of the activists put it: “What we feel is this. Raising basic issues is taboo, but it can be tolerated if you confine yourselves to well-modulated seminars, press conferences and some formal gestures of protest. The slightest attempt to go to the people, to mobilize the masses on such questions will mark you as ‘dangerous’ in the eyes of the State.”
The attack on the Dreze campaign coincided with the meeting of police chiefs from 13 states that are believed to be ‘infested’ with Naxalites. Indications are that a brutal crackdown is nigh. ‘Infested’ is the word the media uses to target Naxalites, but one that would be politically untenable if it identifies its quarries as the Dalit landless say in Bihar. For officialdom the most convenient excuse for targeting these groups is to label them as Naxalites. After that no justification, no excuses are needed to explain the repression.
The Naxalites operate mostly in the rural and Adivasi areas, often out of the continuous jungles in these regions. Their operations are most prominent in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra, the Telengana (northwestern) region of Andhra Pradesh, and western Orissa.
At the heart of the issue are those who are often left untouched by India’s development and bypassed by the electoral process. Invariably, they are the Adivasis, Dalits, and the poorest of the poor, who work as landless labourers for a pittance, often below India’s mandated minimum wages. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Naxalite movement was popular among urban intellectuals.
There were reports of brilliant students dropping out of college to join the struggle for the rights of the tribals and landless labourers. Romanticising the movement is a fad even today. A Hindi film that has done quite well recently -– Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi -– focussed on the urban youth’s fascination with Naxalism but completely ignored the brutal reality of rural India. Jean Dreze has learnt it the hard way.
CONGRESS party chief Sonia Gandhi has kicked up a big rumpus by using a Bombardier jet belonging to the controversial business group Reliance. Mrs Gandhi arrived in Russia a week ago for a four-day visit as a private guest of President Vladimir Putin.
Her visit follows a series of visits to Moscow by Indian leader starting from the prime minister and the oil minister to the president.
Although her visit is touted as a private visit, she was accompanied by Foreign Minister Kunwar Natwar Singh.
The Congress, however, has been quick to respond to the opposition’s criticism of Mrs Gandhi for using a business group’s jet.
The party spokesman says the BJP should first give details of senior leader Jaswant Singh’s flight back from Israel on June 9. The former foreign minister had also used a Reliance aircraft, it claims.
—jawednaqvi@gmail.com
Ghosts from the Raj
YOU ALL know what has been happening in the Punjab Assembly this past week. I am reminded here of a passage from Verdict On India, a book written by Beverley Nichols in 1944. The author concludes thus:
“But whether it is tomorrow, or a day a little more remote, there will be one sense in which the British will never quit India, and that is a spiritual sense. With all our faults of omission and commission, we gave India peace, and it was not the peace of the desert; and we gave India law, and it was not the law of the strong; and — in the final judgment, we gave India liberty, for it was the ideals of Milton, of Locke, of Wilberforce, Mill, Bright and Gladstone that first kindled the Indian mind to an understanding of what liberty really is. Long after we have left, the students of the future will be opening the golden pages of the Areopagitica, and thrilling, as all young men should thrill, to the revolutionary music of Shelley. The ghost of Byron will brood in the quadrangles of universities yet unbuilt, and in the council chambers there will be heard the echo of the distant cadences of Burke. These things we gave to India, as we gave to the rest of the world, and may be it is in India that they will have their finest flowering. In the fulfilment of such a hope lies much of the future happiness of mankind.”
Milton and Locke? Wilberforce and Mill? Bright and Gladstone? Shelley and Byron? And Burke? In all these 58 years of independence, I tell you, we have exorcised all these ghosts from the Raj. No longer in ‘the council chambers is heard the echo of the distant cadences of Burke. For all we know, Burke might have been a smuggler in Burki Mill, Bright and Gladstone might have been the men for the founding fathers of our independence. But not so for us today. Of all the poets, philosophers and politicians named by Nichols, none is known to our lawmakers even to those who are doing their O and A levels today may know of them but only in name. Dot Com, yes, but Shelley and Byron? good heavens! You must be off your rocker. History never repeats itself and if it does it is straight for the dustbin.
Let us, then, forget all these men from a distant age in our schools and colleges and universities. The computer is the new competence and inspiring ideas are vaguely remembered by men and women who are now in their seventies and who were sidelined decades ago. Let us talk instead of real estate, of kabza groups and of franchised food and of private schools and hospitals and of quick money and of editorials no body reads or it bothered about. Locke? Let us lock him out together with Mill and Bright and Burke.
MANY, many years ago, there was a jungle. As will all jungles, it was ruled by a magnificent lion. Everything went well strictly in accordance with the laws of nature. As the years rolled by, however, the mighty lion began to grow old. Old age led to malnutrition. It began to find the Impalas, the Zebras and other animals too fast for him to hunt down.
The lion’s love for power was too strong. It wanted to live and rule the jungle for as long as it could. One day, it summoned the jackal and the fox, two of the wisest animals in the jungle kingdom. The two came accordingly and sat at a respectable distance from the lion.
“I have called you today, wise animals, to help me solve a grave problem.”
“What is it, sire?” the two animals asked in unison.
“Well, it is like this. As you know, I am getting on in years and am finding it increasingly difficult to hunt. In consequence, I am growing weak by the day. Can you find a way out for me?”
The jackal thought for a moment and then clapped its forepaws. “That should be no problem, sire. I have a solution which will enable you to get all the food that you want and at the same time wake you immensely popular with your subjects”.
“What is it, wise one? Out with it this instant.”
“Proclaim democracy in your kingdom, sire”
“What good will that be to me”? asked the lion.
“It is simple, sire, under the new democratic dispensation all animals will be required to hunt together and to distribute the booty according to the needs of each one of your subjects.” The fox agreed enthusiastically with the plan and the lion gave its assent. Thus it was that democracy was proclaimed by the lion in the realm.
After the first joint hunt, all the animals filed their kills in front of the king who was mightily pleased. It asked the jackal to distribute the food among all present. The jackal wise as it was, was greedy, too. So it gave all the juiciest cuts to the animals present and reserved some of them for itself. The lion was left with a handful of bones and bits and pieces of completely unattractive meat.
This enraged the lion and weak as it was, it was still powerful enough for the jackal. It walked up to the jackal and administered a resounding southpaw blow to the jackal which sent it hurtling into the air a good thirty feet away. The lion’s subjects were stunned into silence. After a while the lion summoned the fox.
“You are the wisest of my subjects, little one. And you can see that the stupid jackal has sabotaged the democratic process. I think the wretched beast is in league with the enemies of my kingdom. Let us see if you can do any better.”
The fox dragged a big hunk of meat to the lion and said, “This is for your breakfast, sire.” Then it presented three mouth-watering pieces and said, “These are for your lunch.” Finally, the fox presented him with a smaller but equally good piece of meat and said, “As the hakims say, sire, one should have a frugal dinner because sleep comes easily after a light reapest,” and withdrew respectfully.
The lion dug his teeth into its breakfast and after a morsel or two, addressed its subjects, “You have seen the wise and wonderful distribution of available resources at our command. We are mightily pleased with the work done by our loyal subject, the fox. But tell me, my clever one, where did you learn your great sagacity?”
“From that stupid jackal yonder, sire, “said the fox and went back to the rest of the animals.
From that day on, democracy was fully established in the jungle and the lion reigned for long and happy years. This is a story without a moral but between you and me, the jackal belonged, to the PML(N) while the fox owed allegiance to the PML(Q).
Old animosity
Localities which fall under the National Assembly’s constituency NA-249 have lately witnessed an unexpected resurgence of violence, fuelling speculation that the recent confrontation between the Sunni Tehrik and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement will have a direct bearing on the upcoming local body elections.
A close examination of the constituency’s political make-up shows that the Muttahida does not enjoy as much support here as in other areas which are regarded as its strongholds. Indeed, Dr Aamir Liaquat Hussain won in NA-249 in the October 2002 elections with great difficulty. (He was one of the three Muttahida legislators who received a little over 30,000 votes. Other candidates of the party won by far wider margins.)
Since the Muttahida regards NA-249 as its soft underbelly, it is upset that the establishment has been quite accommodating to the Sunni Tehrik whose overtly religious complexion finds favour with the electorate who, oddly enough, do not lend support to other politico-religious parties like the Jamaat-i-Islami and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam. (The Sunni Tehrik has often crossed swords with the outlawed Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan over control of mosques in New Karachi and old city areas.)
Political analysts recall that the establishment of the Sunni Tehrik in the 1990s coincided with the initiation of a crackdown against Muttahida. Persecuted by law-enforcement agencies, Muttahida activists found sanctuary in religious parties of varying sectarian orientations. All they needed to do was grow beards and wear turbans. It was after the assassination of Sunni Tehrik founding leader Saleem Qadri in May 2001 that hostilities between the two parties came out in the open.
Their current antipathy notwithstanding, the organizational structure of the Sunni Tehrik and the Muttahida has many similarities. For instance, their cadres, equally militant, are divided into well-defined sectors and units. Activists in charge of sectors and units wield considerable influence in their localities and are responsible for maintenance of law and order.
Political observers fear, not without reason, that a breakdown of law and order in the city at this time could be used by the establishment as a pretext for the postponement of the local body elections.
Since it is difficult to resist the charm of these waves, no amount of convincing is enough to make people understand the danger of going too far in. Known to swallow up the most proficient of swimmers, our coastline is one of the most dangerous during these monsoon months, which continue from May 1 to September 15. The waves are deceptive and just when you feel that all is calm, a ferocious swell can take you unawares, catching you with full force and sweeping the ground from under your feet. Whether it’s a first-time visitor or someone who thinks they know the sea well, the tide can be merciless.
Many deaths by drowning occur every year along the 35-km stretch of Karachi’s coast including the Sea View beach, Sandspit, Hawkesbay, French Beach, Paradise Point, Neelum Point, Cape Monze, Sunera Beach and Mubarak Village. It was only last year in June that the Pakistan Aquatic Life Saving organization began providing a lifeguard service to the estimated 1.5 million picnickers who frequent these beaches. Now, around 150 lifeguards are deployed along the beaches.
Despite the enhanced security, all beach visitors still need to bear in mind that all life-saving measures have limitations and extreme caution along the shores is still a must. To venture in deep when the waves appear calm is not an option to be explored at any cost.
The added problem of blue bottles strewn on the sands near the edge of the water line is another thing to be careful of. Though a blue bottle bite can be treated effectively, it can become poisonous if one doesn’t apply remedial procedures immediately. The sting of the blue bottle can cause severe cramps and especially if the swimmer is in deep waters, it can immobilize the muscles and hence create a critical situation. Immediate treatment for the blue bottle bite includes rubbing onion or vinegar (alkaline-based products). A cup of black team helps.
A colleague who wanted to cover a sports event in a school in the Korangi industrial area recently ended up in Landhi instead. The invitation card she was given had neither a telephone number nor the school address. The address had been explained to her over the phone which she had jotted down. Everything was fine till she reached the Brooke roundabout in Korangi. From there she had been told to turn right and go on straight for a couple of hundred yards before reaching a huge signboard where she had to make a left turn before reaching a particular marriage hall.
The signboard was nowhere to be seen, but since she had also been told that the road she was to take was bad and bumpy, she turned left when she saw one bad and bumpy road. Coming to a dead-end instead of a marriage hall, she turned around to go back only to realize that she had a flat tyre. When she approached a policeman to ask if he knew about the shadi hall, he pointed her in the direction of a number of marriage halls, saying “Bibi, these are fine halls too. You can book any one of them.”
Following the line of marriage halls on a straight road she reached Landhi. Moral of the story: print road maps at the back of all invitations.
The regional languages have been given an undoubted fillip, and you can find many of those who do not know Sindhi watching Sindhi programmes. The mixture of languages that you may encounter in the course of one chat show is also interesting, a bit of English, a bit of Urdu, a bit of Sindhi or Punjabi or perhaps the odd Pushto phrase. How the languages are faring in the hands of broadcasters and telebiz personalities is another matter. PTV still in its main Urdu programmes maintains strict standards, although some of the stringers it brings on screen and many of the composers on private channel Urdu programmes leave much to be desired. It is not so much a question of getting the accent right or particular words right: it’s the cultured tone that sometimes galls.
But what can you do when you hear one commentator on the BBC’s Urdu service, once the reference point for Urdu-wallahs, say “loag sharab pi key tun hojatey hein”? He was reporting on the issue of English pub licensing hours during a recent programme.
— By Karachian
email: karachi_notebook@hotmail.com