After a long pause, retail fuel prices have been inching up over the past week and have crossed the Rs. 100 litre-mark again in several parts of the country, while LPG cylinder prices have been hiked by Rs. 50. India officially has a deregulated pricing regime, but in recent years, this practice has been put on hold during election campaigns. Is the fuel pricing policy problematic? D.K. Srivastava and S.C. Sharma discuss the question in a conversation moderated byVikas Dhoot :
How has India’s fuel pricing regime evolved in recent years, culminating in the so-called deregulated pricing regime?
S.C. Sharma:The story of dismantling oil prices starts from 1997. In 1995-96, India had an import dependency of about 65%-70%, so the government thought of moving from an administered price mechanism on a cost-plus basis to market-determined consumer prices for petrol, diesel and other fuels. The Nirmal Singh Committee made recommendations in late 1996 and it was decided that the oil pricing mechanism would be dismantled gradually from 1997 till 2002, from 75% in the first year to 100% by April 2002. Ram Naik, the Petroleum Minister in 2002, announced full dismantling as oil prices were comfortable.
From 2004, oil prices started moving up, and the United Progressive Alliance government restored the cost-plus pricing system to protect consumers. From an average price close to $48 a barrel in 2006, prices moved up each year and peaked at $143 a barrel in 2008. The average price was $69 then. In 2009, prices moved up to $89, and stayed between $100 and $120 till 2014. The government did not pass on the entire price burden to consumers, and subsidised prices for transport fuels, LPG and kerosene through a mechanism to provide for oil marketing companies’ under-recoveries. Till 2009-10, the government had issued Rs. 1,42,203 crore in oil bonds, but it started providing cash subsidies thereafter till 2014-15. Oil prices came down to about $50 per barrel in 2015, which was a happy situation for the National Democratic Alliance government, which again started implementing the market price mechanism. The prices remained at a low average level of $50-$60 per barrel, so the market price mechanism could be implemented very easily without giving much discomfort to the consumers.
The current high prices are largely due to two factors. The higher level of excise on transport fuels has led to higher VAT levies in States, which have in turn increased the prices. The Rupee has depreciated and the share of energy imports has gone from 70% to 86%-87%. The OPEC countries not releasing production quotas since COVID-19, and the Ukraine-Russia crisis, are also key factors for the high prices.
There is a stop-and-start approach to price changes despite a free pricing regime. As soon as elections in critical States are announced, fuel prices are frozen irrespective of global price trends. How does this affect the economy?
D.K. Srivastava:The broader lesson is that the government has not been able to stick to either the earlier regime or the current regime whenever global price pressures have gone above a certain threshold. When the variations are within a certain range, the mechanism has worked, but the moment there is added pressure on global crude prices, there are political economy reasons as well as sound economic reasons for the government to deviate from the stated policy either temporarily or in a more regular way. Even as a de-administered pricing regime was introduced, it was partial to begin with, and there were repeated deviations as soon as global prices rose. So, when prices cross a threshold, we give up. Right now, we say ‘temporarily’, but we have to really revisit this issue because the Indian economy has become vulnerable to global crude price pressures. In fact, if those prices are passed on fully to consumers and industrial users, they will generate major economic effects. High retail inflation now will lead to an adverse income effect, which will lead to a subdued consumption expenditure recovery. After COVID-19, the economy has not been able to recover fully and investment has not taken off because private final consumption expenditure has not fully recovered and there is a very strong adverse income effect. This is having an adverse impact on inflation and growth and the government is now faced with a very serious problem. If it allows this effect to be passed on fully, then post-COVID-19 economic recovery will take more time, because it has to allow consumption expenditure to recover to pre-COVID-19 levels. And if it does not do so, then there are obviously serious fiscal costs. So, who is going to bear the burden of these costs: the Central government or State governments? This is a critical and a long-term issue, because we are not able to manage a meaningful de-administered price over a long period of time and we make short-term compromises again and again.
In the short term, the only quick solution could be a reduction in excise duties or taxes, which will have a fiscal cost. But the government has had fairly healthy tax revenues this year…
DKS:Yes, in the short run, the tax buoyancy and the prospects for 2022-23 provide certain fiscal legroom to absorb a reduction in excise duty on petroleum products. This kind of buoyancy is also there for States through the VAT on petroleum products, so if the Centre and States can come together, coordinate and balance the burden of adjustment among themselves, then there is room to absorb some of the costs. But this is only for the current period. The corporate income tax reforms, the expected reform on personal income tax and the GST reforms all proved to have a revenue-adverse impact, so the capacity of the Central government to absorb increases in global crude prices became limited even before we hit the COVID-19 threshold. GST is still not revenue-neutral, corporate income tax has still not fully recovered, and if investment does not take place, the expected buoyancy won’t occur. Let us take recourse to the fiscal space available in the short run. But we have to recognise that the tax-to-GDP ratio, particularly of the Central government, has not touched the old peak levels after these reforms. So, we continue to live with important constraints.
SCS:The government has to choose between healthy revenue generation and giving a fillip to the economy through lower prices. The contribution of the petroleum sector to the exchequer in 2014-15 was Rs. 1,72,065 crore, which went up to Rs. 4,53,820 crore largely due to excessive excise duties. The excise today on petrol is around Rs. 29 a litre and Rs. 23-24 on diesel. The States have also benefitted with VAT collections having risen. So, it’s a dual effect for consumers. Over the last 25-30 years, one should have diversified revenue generation from different sectors, but if you depend only on the oil sector, it makes a difference to growth and inflation because everyone depends on oil.
The government has been critical of oil bonds that were issued earlier. Is a direct transfer from the fiscal pool a cleaner way to pay oil marketing companies for losses due to price freezes?
DKS:Obviously, oil bonds are a very inefficient intervention as they only tend to postpone the problem. Right now, the options of the government are limited because of the lack of a macro vision for fiscal reforms. For example, corporate income tax used to contribute 34.5% of the Centre’s gross taxes in 2014-15. This came down to 22.6% in 2020-21 and is at 25.2% even in 2021-22, which indicates that even in this better year, the government does not have the fiscal capacity to absorb the burden of sudden and sharp rises in global crude prices. This is because the timing of fiscal reforms, the rate reduction that led to this massive erosion of growth of corporate income tax, has really tied the hands of the Central government.
It is clear that from 2002 onwards, our strategy for dealing with the vulnerability of the Indian economy to global crude price rises on a trend basis has not been developed. So, we actually have a myopic view — when it is a sudden and sharp rise above trend, we develop some short-term measures like these oil bonds. But knowing fully well that the dependence of the Indian economy on imported crude oil has been rising and is now around 85%, and global crude prices are also rising, there has not been any long-term strategy to deal with this. So, all the time, we have short-term measures and our reforms are also not well-coordinated. This is why we keep landing ourselves in such macro situations that are so adverse for growth and inflation. We have calculated that if the average oil price in 2022-23 settles at $100 per barrel, the growth rate would fall by 70 basis points, inflation would increase by 100 basis points,ceteris paribus. These are major adverse macroeconomic effects soon after the deleterious impact of COVID-19. We have failed to develop the capacity and policy to cope with this well-known trend of increasing dependence and rising global prices on a trend basis. We get lost in the short-term volatility.
How does this stop-and-start pricing approach for fuels affect interest from global investors in the oil and gas sector or bidders for BPCL?
DKS:It is definitely a red flag because investors study closely governments’ behavioural responses to various kinds of shocks that emanate from the world economy. Everybody understands that this policy may not be resorted to for some time, because there are no elections around the corner. Investors also look at the prospects of the Indian economy and capacity utilisation. Unless the capacity utilisation ratio increases to something like 75 or 80, new investment decisions will be postponed, and the cycle can only be turned by reviving consumption expenditure. Passing through higher oil prices will dent investments as well as consumption through cost escalation and income shocks. So, we have a vicious circle for policymakers now.
SCS:Oil and energy are essential commodities and the government doesn’t want to completely let the sector out of its hands because any supply disruption impacts the country’s mobility and the economy’s health. If you see the reforms process towards market prices over the last 20 years and the stop-and-start approach over the past six-seven years, if the government control on prices was 90% earlier, it has become 10% to 15% now.
Should the Model Code of Conduct, to be followed during poll campaigns, include the deferral of routine administrative decisions such as revision of oil prices or small savings rates?
DKS:This is desirable, but it cannot happen unless the decision of determining the price goes to some independent body. I don’t think any government would be willing to give up whatever little legroom it has. We need to develop a proper medium-term growth strategy with taxation of petroleum products as a critical ingredient. Petroleum products are highly polluting, so we have a long-term trend of increasing tax burden on their users. But that long-term path should be determined. As long as we are seeing this prospect of continued high dependence as well as continued high prices, despite the move towards non-conventional energy sources, we have to really increase our tax-to-GDP ratio from other sources. Unless that is done, we will be dealing with various versions of stop-and-go pricing.
The government has to choose between healthy revenue generation and giving a fillip to the economy through lower fuel prices.
s.c. sharma
Springing a surprise, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Mishra Teni, on Monday introduced the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill 2022. The Bill was neither put up for pre-legislative consultation nor indicated in the session’s legislative agenda in Parliament. Seemingly technical, it is a legislative proposal that undermines the privacy of not only persons convicted of crime but also every ordinary Indian citizen as it proposes replacing a law that is over a 100 years old.
What needs scrutiny
Let us first understand why it is being introduced, and what it intends to achieve. The Bill aims to replace the Identification of Prisoners Act 1920 that has been in need of amendment for several decades. Back in the 1980s, the Law Commission of India (in its 87th Report) and the Supreme Court of India in a judgment titledState of U.P. vs Ram Babu Misra had nearly simultaneously suggested the need to amend the statute. The criticism and the need for amendment was predominantly in respect of the limited definition of ‘measurements’ as under that Act. It seems that this is one of the primary issues that the proposed legislation is designed to resolve.
In this regard, it might be unexceptional, being an expression of long-held views within the legal establishment. However, the devil is in the details, with three expansions in the power of state surveillance (in the name of criminal reforms) that merit further scrutiny.
First, the definition of measurements is not restricted to taking measurements, but also their “analysis”, when the definition now states “iris and retina scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis, behavio[u]ral attributes including signatures….” This definition is nebulous and vague. It goes beyond the scope of a law which is only designed for taking measurements and could result in indirectly conferring legislative backing for techniques which may involve the collection of data from other sources. For instance, using facial recognition technology where measurements of persons as under this law are compared with samples taken from the general public.
At present there are extensive facial recognition technology programmes for “smart policing” that are deployed all across the country. For instance, the Delhi police use facial recognition technology originally acquired for identification of missing children in 2018 to also screen for “habitual offenders”. Similarly, the Tamil Nadu police deploy facial recognition systems which are integrated with State- and national-level databases including CCTV footage. Such experimental technologies cause mass surveillance and are prone to bias, impacting the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable in India.
Data capture and ‘choice’
The second area of the expansion of surveillance concerns from whom such “measurements” can be gathered. The existing law permits data capture by police and prison officers either from persons convicted or persons arrested for commission of offences punishable with a minimum of one year’s imprisonment. Parallel powers are granted to judges, who can order any person to give measurements where it is in aid of investigation. While the judicial power is left undisturbed, it is the powers of the police and prison officials that are being widened. The law removes the existing — albeit minimal — limitation on persons whose measurements could be taken. It is poised to be expanded to all persons who are placed under arrest in a case. This is a truly breathtaking spectrum, including petty crime such as violating a prohibitory order for not wearing a mask, jaywalking or a traffic violation.
Here, the proposed Bill also contains muddied language stating that a person, “may not be obliged to allow taking of his biological samples”. This, on its surface, offers a choice to a person to refuse. However the words “may not be obliged” may also be read to offer discretion onto a police officer to confer such a choice. In any instance the exercise of such “choice” is presumed in law, it may not be truly voluntary, given the absence of wider accountability reforms in which existing policing practices are coercive.
Even if these objections are disregarded, the “choice”, if any, is limited only to, “biological samples” from the wider data points captured within what constitutes, “measurements”. For instance, “iris and retina scan” is mentioned separately to, “biological samples”, and hence a person arrested under any crime or preventive detention law if desired by the police will be required to scan their eyes.
Storage of data
The third area of concern is the database of the “measurements” which are gathered. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shall for a period of 75 years from the date of collection maintain a digital record, “in the interest of prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of any offense”. As pointed out by Prof. Aparna Chandra (an associate professor of law) on Twitter, “How will these records be used for preventing crime except through surveillance?” This becomes clear when the provision permits the NCRB to, “share and disseminate such records with any law enforcement agency, in such manner as may be prescribed”.
It is important to consider that the NCRB already operates a centralised database, namely the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), without any clear legislative framework. The interaction between the proposed law and CCTNS is not clearly defined though likely, given the powers conferred under for digital records go to the same government department.
The existence of such legislative power with a technical framework may permit multiple mirror copies and parallel databases of the “measurements” being stored with law enforcement, beyond a State Police department which will be prosecuting the crime and the NCRB which will store all records centrally. For instance, in response to a Standing Committee of Parliament on police modernisation, Rajasthan has stated that it maintains a ‘RajCop Application’ that integrates with “analytics capabilities in real-time with multiple data sources (inter-department and intra-department)”. Similarly, Punjab has said that the “PAIS (Punjab Artificial Intelligence System) App uses machine learning, deep learning, visual search, and face recognition for the identification of criminals to assist police personnel. This app helps in storing and carrying information about criminals”. Hence, multiple copies of “measurements” will be used by State government policing departments for various purposes and with experimental technologies. This also takes away the illusionary benefit of deletion which occurs on acquittal and will suffer from weak enforcement due to the absence of a data protection law.
In sum, once a person enters their “measurements” within the system, they stay there for life given the average life expectancy in India which hovers around 70 years is less than the retention period. The end result is a sprawling database in which innocent persons are treated as persons of interest for most of their natural lives.
While the impact on persons with privilege may be minimal, the masses — many of whom lack social and economic power in Indian society — may face harsher law enforcement. This becomes clear from the primary research-based article, “Settled Habits, New Tricks”, by Ameya Bokil, Nikita Sonavane and Srujana Bej from the Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project (the other writers include Avaneendra Khare and Vaishali Janarthanan). They pointed to the caste bias against the Pardhi Adivasi community which was at one time designated as a criminal tribe. In this context they state, “In reality since these databases are fed by the police’s centuries-long caste-based system of preventive surveillance and predictive policing (which has already determined who is a criminal and what crimes habitual criminals commit repeatedly), there is no possibility of objectivity or lack of caste bias. The CCTNS only adds a technological veneer to a caste-based policing model....” It is foreseeable that if the proposed ambit of “measurements” is expanded and then put in a database, it will likely also target the Pardhis.
Onus is on government
Injuries to privacy are not mere academic debates and cause real, physical and mental consequences for people. To protect individual autonomy and fulfil our constitutional promises, the Supreme Court of India pronounced the Justice K.S. Puttaswamy judgment, reaffirming its status as a fundamental right. The responsibility to protect it falls to each organ of the government, including the legislature and the union executive. For India to fulfil its claims of being a constitutional democracy, rather than a mere electoral democracy, it will have to be better rather than regressing even from the Identification of Prisoners Act passed by a colonial regime.
Apar Gupta is a lawyer and the Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation. Abhinav Sekhri is an advocate practising in Delhi
The visit of Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to India, beginning April 1 — four years after a Nepali leader visited New Delhi — is significant. It is the first bilateral visit abroad for Mr. Deuba who leads an election government; local elections are to take place on May 13 and federal elections are slated later in the year. In April 2018, Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli had a lacklustre-feel good visit to India, with little achievement worth talking about.
Mr. Deuba assumed office in July 2021, his fifth time as Prime Minister, leading a fragile coalition that has not been able to make Parliament function. The Nepal Parliament has been dysfunctional since July 2020 after cracks within the former Communist alliance developed in December 2019. The novel coronavirus pandemic has been a face-saving event for political forces.
Nepal’s relations with India, that plummeted to a historic low after the Indian blockade in September 2015, have yet to recover as Nepalis do not see relations with India improving any time soon. India’s refusal to accept demonetised bills with the Nepal Rastra Bank worth just INRRs. 7 crore and the unknown fate of the report submitted by the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) have not helped in securing it a better image in Nepal. The fact that passengers boarding flights from Nepal to India are still subjected to a pre-boarding security check even over 20 years after the hijack of an Indian Airlines aircraft, determines the perception of trust of India in Nepal. This is despite thousands of Nepalis serving in the Indian Army and Nepali villages expressing grief whenever violence escalates in India as many lose their lives defending a country that is not their own.
Complicated geopolitics
Geopolitics is a complicated challenge for Nepal, whose geography requires it to make best use of its position between China and India. The last couple of months are an example of how complicated it can get. When the Nepalese Parliament ratified a U.S.$500 million grant assistance-Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) pact, there were street protests and big-time social media campaigns supported by China. However, India’s silence and the offer of other routes for power transmission as an alternative to the MCC confused everyone: was India for or against the MCC grant to Nepal? With relations between India and the United States further complicated by the China factor and India abstaining on the Russia vote in the United Nations even as Nepal voted in favour of it, the problems have continued to mount.
The recent visit by the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, to Nepal has resulted in a situation that everyone in Nepal is trying to decipher. Analysts also suggest that Mr. Wang did assure his Indian counterpart that Nepal should work out its internal equations with India and that China would stay out. But in reality, the Chinese engagement has been very deep as seen in the anti-MCC campaign. U.S. grant and investment activities are seeing a revival post the MCC ratification and India does not want to see other powers active in Nepal.
With Mr. Deuba leading a fragile coalition, there are not many issues he may want to accomplish, but he should be able to push some of the key pending ones.
The main priorities
First, the power trade agreement needs to be such that India can build trust in Nepal. Despite more renewable energy projects (solar) coming up in India, hydropower is the only source that can manage peak demand in India. For India, buying power from Nepal would mean managing peak demand and also saving the billions of dollars of investments which would have to be invested in building new power plants, many of which would cause pollution.
Second, while trade and transit arrangements go through the usual extensions, it is time to undertake a complete rethink as the sales of goods and payments moves through electronic platforms — this can provide many new opportunities for businesses on both sides of the border.
Third, the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) signed between India and Nepal needs more attention from the Nepali side. A commitment from Mr. Deuba on implementing this would attract more foreign investments from Indian investors. The private sector in Nepal, especially the cartels in the garb of trade associations, are fighting tooth and nail against foreign investments. So, it will be important for Mr. Deuba to deliver a message that Nepal welcomes Indian investments and that he is willing to fight the domestic cartels knowing well that it may dent a bit of funding for his party for elections.
A new Nepal now
Finally, it is for Mr. Deuba to provide the confidence that Nepal is keen to work with India while at the same time making it clear that it cannot take on India’s pressure to ignore China or the U.S. In the context of Nepalis currently living in 180 countries, India must note that it is a new Nepal it has to deal with from now.
Perhaps there is hope that the situation can improve — in the appointment of Dr. Shankar Sharma, a seasoned economist, who was also Nepal’s Ambassador to the U.S., as Nepal’s Ambassador to India. He was responsible for recalibrating Nepal’s relations with the U.S. Perhaps we can hope that India will engage with him more deeply without the usual condescending attitude. Perhaps, an open moment has arrived.
Sujeev Shakya is the author of ‘Unleashing Nepal’ and ‘Unleashing The Vajra’
Why does everyone love to hate the Academy Awards? I have been befuddled by this ever since I began watching the show keenly two decades ago. My first year of breathless excitement is one for the record books: whenTitanicswept the awards.
Since then, my fascination for Hollywood’s most prestigious awards ceremony has only increased, as my knowledge of cinema and of the lives of the rich and famous have expanded in equal measure. The awards are not just about cheering on the films that captivate us, but getting a ringside seat in order to witness the emotions of the crème de la crème of the film fraternity, on a night when anything can happen.
As a film journalist, my excitement for the awards sets in January, when the nominations are first announced. From that moment, I frantically attempt to watch as many missed movies as possible before late February, when the event is traditionally scheduled. This is no mean feat living in India, where award candidates either have staggered/late releases or none at all, though this has improved in recent times with the influx of streaming platforms. Expectations intensify when the Academy host/s are finalised, by which time firm camps are in place for the Best Picture and Best Actor categories.
I often stay up the whole night in wide-eyed anticipation instead of setting an alarm to watch the show. There’s always a shocking fashion revelation or faux pas to look forward to. And when showtime begins, I try to figure out if the hosts are going to create a viral moment, such as when Ellen DeGeneres took that famous selfie, or if there is going to be a spectacular train wreck, such as in 2011 when Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosted the show. From the presenters’ banter to the jaw-dropping musical acts to the awards themselves, the Academy Awards are a breathless four hours of elation, heartbreak, shock and surprise.
Unlike others, I enjoy watching the post-interviews too, as winners are given a chance to speak in-depth about their craft, as opposed to the dramatic and rushed speeches on the Academy stage. And then comes my one true guilty pleasure: the after parties such as the Governors Ball or the Vanity Fair event where Hollywood royalty cuts loose.
It is a lot to take in. And it’s easy to understand where the reluctance to celebrate this show of avarice and privilege comes from, not to mention the many problems that have surrounded the gala in recent years: the #OscarsSoWhite protest in 2016 and #MeToo and Time’s Up taking center-stage in 2018 in the wake of Academy heavyweight Harvey Weinstein’s conviction. However, it is also important to note that the Academy (unlike, say, the Golden Globe Awards) have acted quickly to correct several fundamental mistakes. They also provide stars the biggest stage to shed light on issues that are close to them. This often makes the Academy Awards a night of political activism, unlike the popular award ceremonies in India. Whether it is Frances McDormand’s demand last year for an “inclusion rider” in clauses or Ariana DeBose this week batting for queer and Afro-Latina representation, the Academy Awards have always led to heated debates and increased awareness on topics of significance (of course you looked up ‘alopecia’ too). After having doubled the number of female members and tripled the members of colour, the Academy has put out another promise: from 2025, films will be eligible for consideration only if they meet the standards of two out of four broad groups of criteria.
This time, after two years of the pandemic (and last year’s pared-down event), it was surreal to welcome the stars back to the Dolby Theatre. While there will always be certain riveting moments from the awards that we will remember years later, the Oscars are a great night to appreciate and celebrate the movies, to appreciate and identify with struggles, to see up-close-and-personal the emotions of stars as they unfold, to root for favourites, to enter a world of glamour. What’s there not to like?
gautam.sundar@thehindu.co.in
The adoption of the Charter at the Fifth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit promises to re-energise the 25-year-old grouping at a time of growing global uncertainties. The Charter is expected to help impart a more connected vision to the seven-member organisation. The Charter, and India’s decision to lead the ‘security pillar’ out of the seven designated pillars of the revived BIMSTEC, has given India’s regional aspirations a new orientation, away from the stalemated SAARC that has been unable to meet since November 2014. The new opportunity is also accompanied by its own set of problems. These inherent challenges were reflected in the time taken to finalise the Charter — one of the key factors was the Rohingya crisis that has weakened bilateral Bangladesh-Myanmar ties, with Dhaka seeking full repatriation of the refugees and Naypyidaw disinclined to respond positively to international pleas. Unlike SAARC, which is burdened by India-Pakistan hostilities, BIMSTEC is relatively free of sharp bilateral disagreements and promises to provide India with a co-operative sphere of its own. Given the complexity of domestic and geopolitical factors, this sphere will require sustained bilateral and group-level discussions to prevent problems such as the Rohingya crisis from becoming impediments to the smooth delivery of economic and security outcomes. India too will have to ensure equally sustained political engagement with partners such as Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to prevent any domestic political spillover from affecting bilateral and group-level working relationships.
With his call for a BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has outlined India’s vision to bolster trade connectivity in the grouping. An FTA spanning the maritime resource-rich members such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka could bring dramatic gains for all members. A ‘coastal shipping ecosystem’ and an interconnected electricity grid, in addition to the adopted Master Plan for Transport Connectivity, have the potential to boost intraregional trade and economic ties. Having walked away from mega trade blocs such as the China-led RCEP, New Delhi’s willingness to explore an FTA within the framework of a near-home regional grouping may provide greater accommodation for multi-party interests. The security- and trade-related lessons from the troubled SAARC and SAFTA experiences also ought to serve BIMSTEC well in the long run. Ultimately though, for the revived grouping to realise its trade and economic potential, India will have to take a leadership role in assuaging any apprehensions among the smaller members of intragroup power imbalances and strive to facilitate greater cross-border connectivity and flow of investments by lowering barriers to the movement of people and goods.
Tuesday’s agreement between Assam and Meghalaya to end their boundary dispute in six of the 12 areas, where discord persisted, is a welcome first step. The agreement signed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma, in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah, also sets the stage to resolve differences in the remaining six areas. Based on a draft resolution of January 29 between the two States, the agreement covers Tarabari, Gizang, Hahim, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pillangkata and Ratacherra under the Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro) and Cachar districts of Assam and the West Khasi Hills, Ri-Bhoi and East Jaintia Hills districts of Meghalaya. By adopting a give-and-take approach, the two States have demonstrated that knotty boundary issues can be resolved — in this case, partially to begin with — if there is a will to arrive at an agreement. Of the disputed territory — a little over 36 square kilometres — the two States will get a near equal share, enshrining the sharing principle that might serve as a template to resolve other boundary disputes in the northeast. Assam, the mother State from which other States were carved out in the northeast, currently has boundary disputes with Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. As the Home Minister underscored in Delhi, the spirit shown by Mr. Sarma and Mr. Sangma should be used in other disputes as well. People living in the six disputed areas should be allowed to choose where they want to live. While Mr. Sarma has blamed the Congress for allowing the dispute between Assam and Meghalaya to fester, Nandita Das, Congress MLA from the Boko seat, alleged that in three of the six “resolved sectors”, there was no give and take. The agreement requires delineation and demarcation by the Survey of India as well as parliamentary approval.
One can only hope that the right lessons will be drawn by Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland from Tuesday’s accord to understand the other’s point of view and come to agreements. In July 2021, five policemen and a civilian from Assam were shot dead in violent clashes with their Mizo counterparts at a disputed point between Assam and Mizoram. The clash came right after a meeting that Mr. Shah had had with the Chief Ministers of northeast States to resolve boundary disputes. It is imperative that Assam and the other States locked in dispute use goodwill and the good offices of the Centre. Rather than entrusting security to paramilitary forces, one confidence-building measure could be to deploy State police without arms wherever possible. It would be a signal that all States are committed to resolving their disputes peacefully. For the moment, Tuesday’s agreement is a moment to savour.
Lucknow, March 31: The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker Mr. Vasu Deo Singh to-day ruled that the newspapers had the right to publish news from their own angle “even if it hurts someone”. The ruling came while he rejected a notice of breach of privilege moved by Mr. Kalpa Nath Singh (Cong. O) against a local English daily for commenting on his party’s strength in the House and thus challenging the authority of the Chair. Mr. Kalpa Nath Singh said the daily had published a statement of Congress-O Legislature Party General Secretary, Mr. Basant Lal Sharma that his party’s strength in the House was 46 but had immediately reduced it to 37 quoting a Congress source. This amounted to demoralising his party members. Mr. Madho Prasad Tripathi (JS) charged the Congress with instigating the newspapers to give news intended to influence the Opposition members. Intervening, the Chief Minister Mr. Kamlapati Tripathy described the charge as “baseless”.
US President Ronald Reagan has invited the Soviet Union to “join with us to substantially reduce nuclear weapons” and thus contribute to “lasting peace on Earth”. Reagan, who was speaking at a press conference in Washington, said he expected the US to be ready for talks this summer, though the exact dates would depend on the international situation. He firmly rejected a freeze on nuclear missiles, holding that it would work to the Soviet’s advantage and give them little reason to reduce nuclear arms. Reagan said, on balance, the Soviets had a definite “margin of superiority” over the US.
Tiff in press body
A rejoinder war is on at the Press Council showing serious differences amongst members on several vital issues. While there is no alternative for the commission’s chairman KK Mathew, to include a note of dissent given by four members, K R Ganesh, who was a minister before and during the Emergency, attacking the dissenter’s note. Mathew who is a former judge of the Supreme Court, and at present the chairman of the Law Commission, has chosen to add a note of his own joining issue with the dissenters on whether the report should contain references to the Emergency. The dissenters, Girilal Jain, Rajendra Mathur, S K Mukherjee and H K Paranjape have given another rejoinder.
Cement probe
Turning down a near-unanimous demand in both houses of the Andhra legislature for a judicial or a house committee probe into the multi-million rupee cement scandal involving the Major Industries Minister Baga Reddy, the state Chief Minister has constituted a one-man inquiry committee. The commission comprising senior IPS officer Sravan Kumar will submit its report in a month.
Even among the more conscientious in India, many will welcome the end of mandatory masking, as announced by states such as Maharashtra, Delhi and Telangana. Experts have cautioned that masks remain the first line of defence against Covid-19, which hasn’t gone away. But it would be hard to deny that before March 2020, few cherished, as they do now, the caress of a breeze on the face, and not many realised just how difficult communication can be without facial cues to read. And while compulsive instagrammers, undefeated by the mask, popularised the #maskfie, could it ever compare to a duck-faced selfie?
No doubt some people would want to continue to mask up, not only because the danger posed by the virus still remains, but because masks give them a sense not of oppression, but liberation. If airing the face, unhindered by a piece of fabric, feels like freedom, the same could be said about being able to hide behind a convenient barrier. The mask afforded privacy in public places, a rare luxury in an overcrowded country — and one that is especially cherished by women. How much easier it is to scowl at bad or sexist jokes from behind a mask, than to force a laugh or smile without it. And how much lighter it must feel to shed the burden of makeup — lipstick sales had dipped by as much as half during the peak of the pandemic— even if temporarily.
But visual evidence available on the streets suggests that those who voluntarily mask up will be in the minority. After all, in an exercise of independent judgement that is better applied in other aspects of life, the average Indian had demoted the mask from the nose and mouth to the chin months ago. In that sense, the mask mandates in India ended sometime last year. The state is only catching up with the fait accompli now.
All major powers are aware of, and act in accordance with, an axiom that governs international relations: In striking a balance between adhering to abstract and disembodied principles and maximising national interest, nation-states often find themselves tilting towards the latter. In this context, the responses by US Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to Delhi’s position on the Ukraine crisis strike a jarring note. Singh’s barely-veiled warning that there would be “consequences” for countries that do not adhere to the sanctions against Russia, and Truss’s moral grandstanding about ending the UK’s dependence on Russian energy supplies while “standing up for the people of Ukraine” appear to elevate the concerns of a particular group of nations to a universal moral position.
Delhi has been both careful and consistent in its position on the crisis in Eastern Europe: Dialogue, not military aggression, is the way forward in resolving territorial disputes. Singh and Truss, on the other hand, come dangerously close to a zero-sum, “with us or against us” approach. Singh, for instance, said that Russia would not come to India’s aid if China breached the LAC, given that Moscow is a junior partner in the “no limits” friendship with Beijing. But why would Delhi expect it to? The understanding between mature actors on the global stage is that they build on mutual interests and values, while acknowledging that imperatives of foreign policy and developmental needs may mean that there are points of divergence. Moreover, as Foreign Minister S Jaishankar pointed out at a panel discussion with Truss, Russian oil imports form a minuscule part of India’s energy basket, while the UK increased its already substantial purchase of Russian oil and gas between February and March — well after Moscow sent its forces into Ukraine.
India’s strategic and economic relationship with the US in particular and the West as a whole has deepened in the last two decades. The shifting world order, the rise of a belligerent China on its borders and in vital sea lanes across the Indo-Pacific have played a part in this — as has shared support for democracy and dialogue. Other members of the Quad — Australia and Japan — too have taken a more strident stance on Russian aggression in Ukraine. But when their prime ministers held meetings with PM Modi last month, they did not insist that Delhi should strictly echo their position, focusing, instead, on strengthening the partnership. The US and UK could draw some lessons from that.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on April 2, 2022 under the title ‘No sermons please’.
The partial withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Assam, Manipur and Nagaland soon after the formation of a new government in Imphal is very welcome. This law, which allows the Centre to suspend civil liberties and the armed forces to override the civil administration, has been a fraught issue in the Northeast for years. Calls for its suspension were heard in the campaign in the recent assembly polls in Manipur. Successive governments at the Centre, however, had held out against pleas for the removal of the Act, citing the security situation. Now, the Union home ministry has credited the “improved security situation”, itself a result of “fast-tracked development” and agreements with insurgent groups, for its decision. Hopefully, this is only the beginning and more areas of the Northeast will be taken out of the AFSPA’s ambit: The law continues to be in operation in nearly 75 per cent of Nagaland, all of the hill districts in Manipur and 40 per cent of Assam, mainly the districts bordering Manipur and Nagaland.
The Act in its present form was first imposed in Nagaland to battle the Naga nationalist movement that gained ground in the 1950s. As Naga nationalism acquired the character of an armed insurrection, the Act was introduced in Manipur’s hill areas, which are home to Naga tribes. The insurgency has survived multiple splits in the Naga nationalist movement and various accords that the Centre signed with different insurgent groups in the 1970s. As Naga nationalism influenced the rise of similar nationalist movements in neighbouring states, including in Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Assam, from the 1960s onwards, the government moved in the army and central para-military forces to the region. The AFSPA provided operational cover for these forces, not trained or mandated to operate amid a civilian population or to report to the civil administration. The contradictions emerging from this situation, wherein the local political leadership and civil bureaucracy have a diminished role in governance, alienated local populations caught in the crossfire between insurgents and the armed forces. The AFSPA also facilitated a climate of impunity and promoted a vision of a punishing state that was also a perpetrator of violence. Civil society has been leading the demand for its withdrawal, particularly in Nagaland and Manipur – Manipur CM Biren Singh has announced his government will honour Irom Sharmila for her long struggle against the Act.
Violence has been a feature of ethnic nationalist movements in the Northeast. However, these nationalisms are not merely armed insurgencies, but also movements born of civic anxieties associated with state building. Since the 1970s, the Centre has recognised the importance of engaging with the aspirations present in the separatist movements and promised to accommodate them within the federal rubric. Its outreach has been successful in Mizoram, Tripura and Assam, and a tenuous peace with the NSCN-IM has held up for nearly three decades in Nagaland. The challenge for the Centre now is to build on the promise of Wednesday’s announcement and slowly restore the primacy of the civilian administration in the areas still under AFSPA. It is a process that demands great patience, negotiation and accommodation.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on April 2, 2022 under the title ‘After AFSPA’.
Given our experience with democracy so far, it is proven beyond doubt that democracy is best suited for a pluralistic society like ours. Our rich diversity cannot be sustained through dictatorial governance. It is only through democracy that our rich culture, heritage, diversity, and pluralism can be sustained and strengthened.
We Indians love our freedom. When any attempt has been made to snatch our freedom, our alert citizenry did not hesitate to seize the power back from autocrats. So, it is essential that all the institutions including the police and the investigative bodies uphold and strengthen democratic values. They should not allow authoritarian tendencies to creep in.
The police and investigative agencies may have de-facto legitimacy, but as institutions, they are yet to gain social legitimacy. Police should work impartially and focus on crime prevention. They should also work in cooperation with the public to ensure law and order. The CBI possessed immense trust of the public in its initial phase. But with the passage of time, like every other institution of repute, the CBI has also come under deep public scrutiny. Its actions and inactions have raised questions regarding its credibility, in some cases. People hesitate to approach the police in times of despair. The image of the institution of police is regrettably tarnished by allegations of corruption, police excesses, lack of impartiality and close nexus with the political class.
Often, police officers approach us with the complaint that they are being harassed after the change in the regime. The need of the hour is to reclaim social legitimacy and public trust. The first step to gain the same is to break the nexus with the political executive. The best of talents enter this system in expectation of recognition and accolades. But upright officers find it difficult to stand by their oath. The truth is, that no matter how deficient and non-cooperative the other institutions may be, if you all stand by your ethics and stand united with integrity, nothing can come in the way of your duty. This stands true for all institutions. This is where the role of leadership comes into play. The institution is as good, or as bad, as its leadership. A few upright officers can bring a revolution in the system.
I would like to point out a few issues affecting the system. These are: Lack of infrastructure, lack of sufficient manpower, inhuman conditions, especially at the lowest rung, lack of modern equipment, questionable methods of procuring evidence, officers failing to abide by the rule book and the lack of accountability of erring officers.
Then there are certain issues that lead to delays in trials. They are: Lack of public prosecutors and standing counsels, seeking adjournments, arraying hundreds of witnesses and filing voluminous documents in pending trials, undue imprisonment of undertrials, change in priorities with the change in the political executive, cherry-picking of the evidence, and repeated transfers of officers leading to a change in the direction of the investigation. These issues often lead to the acquittal of the guilty and incarceration of the innocent. This severely affects the public trust in the system. The courts cannot simply monitor every step.
Reform of the police system is long overdue in our country. The Ministry of Home Affairs has itself recognised the glaring need for the same in the “Status Note on Police Reforms in India”. Unfortunately, our investigative agencies still do not have the benefit of being guided by a comprehensive law. The need of the hour is the creation of an independent and autonomous investigative agency. For instance, in spite of the various issues affecting the Indian judiciary, the public still reposes its faith in the institution. This faith is largely due to the inherent autonomy and commitment to the Constitution and laws by the judiciary.
There is an immediate requirement for the creation of an independent umbrella institution, so as to bring various agencies like the CBI, SFIO, and ED under one roof. This body is required to be created under a statute, clearly defining its powers, functions and jurisdictions. Such a law will also lead to much-needed legislative oversight.
It is imperative for the organisation to be headed by an independent and impartial authority to be appointed by a committee akin to the one which appoints the Director of the CBI. The head of the organisation can be assisted by deputies who are specialists in different domains. This umbrella organisation will end the multiplicity of proceedings. A single incident these days gets investigated by multiple agencies, often leading to dilution of evidence, contradiction in depositions, prolonged incarceration of innocents. It will also save the institution from being blamed as a tool of harassment. Once an incident is reported, the organisation should decide as to which specialised wing should take up investigation.
One additional safeguard that needs to be built into the scheme, is to have separate and autonomous wings for prosecution and investigation, in order to ensure total independence.
A provision in the proposed law for an annual audit of the performance of the institution by the appointing committee will be a reasonable check and balance.
There is a need for regular upgradation of knowledge, deployment of state-of-the-art technology, and international exchange programmes to learn the best practices.
With the police and public order under the State List, and rightly so, the burden of investigation is primarily on the state police. There is no reason why state investigative agencies, which handle most of the investigations, cannot enjoy the same level of credibility as that of the national agency. The proposed Central law for the umbrella investigative body can be suitably replicated by the states.
An issue that needs addressing at this stage is the representation of women in the criminal justice system. Often, women feel deterred in reporting certain offences due to a lack of representation. Their presence in the policing system will further encourage hesitant victims to approach the criminal justice system and report crimes.
Relations between the community and police also need to be fixed. This is only possible if police training includes sensitisation workshops and interactions to inspire public confidence. It is imperative for the police and the public to work together to create a safe society. Ultimately you must remember that your allegiance must be to the Constitution and the rule of law and not to any person. When you stand upright, you shall be remembered for your courage, principles and valour. The political executive will change with time, you as an institution will be permanent. Be independent, pledge solidarity to your service. Your fraternity is your strength.
This column first appeared in the print edition on April 2, 2022 under the title ‘Break nexus with executive’.
Edited excerpts of the 19th D P Kohli Memorial Lecture delivered by Chief Justice N V Ramana on April 1 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi
Over the recently concluded Holi holidays, the better half and I went on a much-awaited trip to the grand old city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. We were celebrating a decade of our relationship. We prepared by reading up on Madurai and learnt that it is one of India’s oldest continuously populated cities. There are historical records of Megasthanes, the ancient Greek historian and diplomat, visiting the city in the 3rd century BC.
Today, Madurai, which is bounded by three hills, is a bustling city of 1.7 million inhabitants and fueled by multiple industries. However, amid a modern Madurai lies an older world of heritage and enduring faith. To be in Madurai is to have all of one’s senses engaged and transported. For your mind, it has a fine museum dedicated to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (which also houses the clothes that he was wearing on the day he was assassinated) and a functioning library of the Theosophical Society.
For your palate, Madurai has what journalist Samar Halarnkar calls “a vibrant 24-hour foodie culture” — that defines the city called “thoonganagaram” or the city that never sleeps. The guidebook Lonely Planet notes that over 30 per cent of the people of the city report trouble sleeping. For your heart, Madurai makes you appreciate the many ways of faith or a multiplicity of ways within Hinduism. Here is an old world of meat-eating that is intertwined with devotion to a fierce goddess, Meenakshi — 97.8 per cent of Tamil Nadu is reported to be meat-eating. Finally, to completely mesmerise and captivate your entire being, by its magnificent architecture and intricate sculptures that tell stories from mythology, the Meenakshi Amman temple.
Nothing really prepares you for the Meenakshi Amman temple, located on the banks of the Vaigai river. Meenakshi (which means fish-eyed) in her form as Parvati, consort of Shiva, is the principal deity in the temple. The temple had its early origins in 600 CE and was subsequently restored and enhanced from the 16th century onwards by the Nayaka rulers, especially Tirumala Nayaka.
The Meenakshi temple complex has 14 gopurams (gateway towers), four gates and multiple halls, with many resident deities including Shiva (Sundareswarar), Ganesha, Murugan, amongst others, all revolving around Meenakshi. The roof is painted with colourful art. Every evening Sundareswarar is carried to Meenakshi’s silver chamber in a procession before being returned to his own chamber the next morning. Each gopuram is a tapestry of sculpture, telling elaborate stories — much like a beautifully-engraved, colourful, three-dimensional graphic novel that communicates across eras.
However, it is the Hall of a Thousand Pillars, which is also a museum within the temple complex, that is the finest showcase of sculpture and art. The wonder within the wonder. Each stone pillar or column in the hall has intricately-carved sculptures of either fierce warriors or the mythical Yali (part lion, part elephant, part horse). At the base of each pillar are further small sculptures of human forms. Pillar after pillar of stone magnificence, all intended to awe the observer. Nataraja is the deity in the Hall, and hence it’s the first museum I have been to where prayers are offered.
One must deposit phones and shoes before entering the temple. So, we were entirely cut off from our humdrum contemporary life and could feel the cool stone flooring of the temple against our feet. We have no photos inside the temple. It resides as an enduring memory that one can revisit quietly, as one waits for cases in court or drinks tea after a long day’s work, or when one wakes up in the morning. Meenakshi provides tranquility as she becomes a part of one’s consciousness. Navtej Singh Johar, the Bharatanatyam dancer and yoga practitioner, said, “If you look closely, you will see that all the sculptures in the temple showcase movement, but Meenakshi herself is completely still”.
Right through our trip, we had the benefit of the insights of Viswa Darini, an architect who lives in Madurai. She is an insider-connoisseur of her beloved city, and much to our great relief provided us with a detailed and heartfelt itinerary. Viswa explained that “Madurai’s core city is planned around the temple in concentric streets”. She had instructions for our activities within and outside the temple: “For Meenakshi Ammal Kovil enter via the East Tower and exit via the West. She would add, “eat at Laala Halwa Kadai, a 100-year-old shop, serving hot halwa in lotus leaves”. Or “make sure to have breakfast at Murugan idlis, where the softness of the idlis is like jasmine”.
Viswa sent us for lunch at Amsavalli Bhavan, telling us to “start with kola urundai (mutton/chicken minced into balls and fried), muttai poriyal (South Indian scrambled eggs with green chillies and chopped onions) and vanjaram fry (a local fish, deep-fried, to be eaten with lime).” In Madurai, I tasted modifications of my grandmother’s recipe for ginger chicken and found my grandfather’s favorite mutton dishes. Chicken kari dosai, Madurai’s most popular dish, reminded me of the meat curries served with dosai at my grandmother’s table. Irrespective of what we ate for lunch, it was always followed by a “jigarthanda” — a dessert made from milk, agar agar, almond and ice cream. The perfect way to ward off the heat of the hot Madurai sun and round off a spicy meal.
As we caught the flight back to Delhi after a few days in Madurai, I thought back on what we had seen. Faith is multifaceted in India: Female or male deities, elaborate temples, or no fixed place of worship, vegetarian or non-vegetarian dietary practices. Madurai teaches us that in this easy confidence of many diverse faiths within a religion lies the true heart of Hinduism.
This column first appeared in the print edition on April 2, 2022 under the title ‘Finding Meenakshi’. The writer is a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court.
“April is the cruelest month,” wrote TS Eliot in The Waste Land. Families with autistic children are familiar with cruelty and at this time of the year, a mirror should be held up to society. April is the autism awareness month and April 2 is the Autism Awareness Day — both mandated by the United Nations.
Autism diagnosis usually comes wrapped with a label of being “abnormal”. Clinically, it is appended with a heavy negative list of what a child cannot do and predictions of hopelessness. For a parent it is a devastating experience.
Autism is not a “disease” which can be cured. It is a condition that arises from certain neurobiological factors. It is characterised by a lifelong set of developmental impairments in the domains of communication and social responsiveness and is accompanied by a set of restrictive and repetitive behaviours. If you are autistic today, you will be autistic tomorrow, and the day after.
Families with autistic children in India face a void. After the diagnosis, mothers receive a lot of wisdom from charlatans — circle this or that street crossing, go around trees, make your child drink the water touched by a crow and your child will start speaking, wear amulets and make your child also wear one. At the other end are musings of the educated: Einstein was autistic, he had delayed speech, as was Mozart and a long list of celebrities is produced. Awareness is low, the stigma is high.
Official accounting of those with autism is extremely weak. A Government of India statistical profile from 2021 about Persons with Disabilities (PwD) does not account for autism since it bases itself on the Census data of 2011. Autism was recognised as a disability in 2016 under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016. We have a serious data deficit in this field and consequently getting policy attention is difficult.
The Department of Empowerment of Person with Disabilities runs the Unique Disability ID (UDID) project including the issuance of cards and the creation of a national database. The latest data is not available in the public domain. As on September 13, 2019, the all-India statistic reveals a total of 10,338 persons with autism. Delhi reported zero as did many other states. The ground reality belies this. Learning centres, speech and occupational therapy (OT) clinics are common in Delhi localities. Similar is the status in many cities.
The bulk of learning for autistic children in most schools, private and NGO-run, which is implemented through Individualised Education Plans (IEP) consists of the following: Joining dots, tracing letters, putting objects from one container to the other, cutting, chopping and peeling veggies, packing, threading paper bags etc. All teaching is permanently in Early Intervention Programme (EIP) mode. There is no curriculum, no progression plan and no transition roadmaps for their induction into teen years and adulthood. Families are left to fend for themselves. And they are desperate.
It is a crushing setback for a mother to know that her child will not learn like other children. While other mothers can hang out in the evening at parks as their children play, the autism mom would be rushing to or coming back with her child from some therapy clinic. People on the outside cannot even imagine what a rock and a hard place the autism mom is boxed in. Called mad and feral, the autistic child is avoided in social settings, not invited or befriended in the community. A mother of an autistic child knows what name calling, discrimination and ostracism look and feel like. The physical and mental toll of raising an autistic child is exacting. It’s like being in postpartum for years.
Research suggests that sleep disturbances — fragmented and erratic sleeping, frequent and prolonged night waking — impact over 80 per cent of children with autism. This deficit is passed to the mother on a daily basis. Her life oscillates between vigils by night and therapy hopping by day. A poor sleep hygiene impacts the child’s physical and cognitive function. It can exacerbate problem behaviours leading to a litany of complaints from the school or worse still, the exclusion of the child.
Supervisory load is high. Autistic children have a tendency to wander off. Paediatric literature based on parent surveys puts this at roughly 50 per cent. Many mothers who are professionals drop out. Those who remain have to endure judgmental comments about their mothering and caregiving.
Autism is no longer a fringe concern. In the US, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention keeps a tight lens on prevalence data conducting multi-site studies across states. There is a dynamic Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) under the US Department of Health & Human Services. In the UK, the Department of Education (DoE) reports on autistic students in schools and also honestly puts out exclusion data. Autism strategy (2022-2026), the most ambitious plan so far in that country, has committed big investments for reducing diagnosis waiting times, improving public understanding of autism and training spends.
Health, education and awareness campaigns are the three domains the government should focus on. The first task is ramping up autism screening. Unlike Down’s Syndrome, which is screened prenatally through triple test and amniocentesis, there are no biomarkers to detect the risk of autism. As science advances, similar methods of maternal tests could be possible and might even lead to prevention of autistic children being born. This is an ethically charged debate as it raises the spectre of eugenics and the loss of particular genes from the human gene pool. However, this is a futuristic debate. Scientific practices as they exist at present are standardised tests — childhood autism rating scale — of behaviours and developmental milestones.
In India, routine paediatric health checks mostly focus on anthropometric parameters, cure for seasonal symptoms and the vaccination schedule. Developmental milestone mapping is a gap area. This causes delay in autism diagnosis. To tackle this, in 2019, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), launched an app — PedNeuroAiimsDiagnostics. The app, available for free on Google Play and App Store. makes certain standardised parameters available to all paediatricians. It has two sections. Section A has 28 questions to assess social interaction or communications skills and restricted, repetitive behaviour. Section B has nine questions for analysis of questions in Section A. The official diagnosis has to be carried out by either a paediatric neurologist or a child psychiatrist. But mothers can use the know-how of the app as an early alert system. Despite being very robust, the app has not seen much traction. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare should drive its adoption as a G2C measure in child healthcare systems of our country.
Second, the big tent approach of special education is not working. What works for a child with Dyslexia or a child with Down’s Syndrome will not work for a child with autism. There is no one autism. There are many autisms. Lorna Wing, the towering figure in autism research called it a “spectrum of conditions”, from the severely affected to the high functioning. After changes in global diagnostic criteria brought through DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition without learning disability but with similarities to autism was also included as a sub-group of autism. Therefore, curriculum frameworks responsive to the spectrum of autism are the need of the hour.
Flexi-syllabus and the use of scribes, allowed by CBSE to fulfill the provisions of RPwD Act, 2016 faced a dissemination challenge — this the CBSE itself acknowledged while notifying the progressive exemptions for secondary and higher secondary exams. How many have availed the facilities? There is no government data but based on parental narratives from different cities, it can be safely said that flexi-CBSE syllabus and NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) curriculum can be accessed only by a microscopic minority among the autistic learners.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 states, “by 2025, at least 50 per cent of learners through the school and higher education system shall have exposure to vocational education, for which a clear action plan with targets and timelines will be developed.” This principle should be applied for autism education, given that autistics have special systemising abilities, focused interests and an aptitude for vocational tasks. But before this happens, teaching the teachers is a crucial step. RCI (Rehabilitation Council of India), NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) and NIOS must collaborate for creation of learning material and teacher training programmes. The schools and learning centres can build their IEP layers based on this.
Third, autism awareness campaigns need to popularise legal rights and government benefit schemes which includes free education and financial support for benchmarked disabilities. This is of great help to poor families who have scarce resources. The National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMED) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment disseminates such information, however its awareness needs to be raised. The UDID card issuance facility has to be liberalised and decentralised. Presently, few government hospitals are authorised to do this work, increasing wait times. The process is also cumbersome. Ease of access is required. RCI approved institutions and private hospitals can be added to this list.
Autism is emerging as a major paediatric concern. Our systems have to be ready for it.
This column first appeared in the print edition on April 2, 2022 under the title ‘Joining the dots on autism’. The writer is editor, TelecomLive & Infralive
If the 20th century is remembered as the century of civil struggles for the making of democracy, the 21st century will be recorded as the century of civil resistance for the preservation of democracy. Most totalitarian regimes, either fascist or communist, have been defeated in the past 80 years, either by military action or by nonviolent revolution of citizens. It goes without saying that the modern human condition has been inextricably bound up with the ability of individuals or groups to make a difference to their destinies by fighting for freedom and home rule. Undoubtedly, these could be considered as exemplary men and women who struggled to keep democracy safe while undergoing terrible personal sufferings.
In a world like ours where most democracies are endangered by the lack of passion and the conformist attitude of the citizens, to see the young students of Hong Kong and the Ukrainians fighting for their freedom and democracy is very promising. That being so, one can say that the democratic contract, as much as the process of democratisation of dictatorships, are both in need of heroes. As such, if Pericles was the democratic hero of the Athenians in 5th century BC and Nelson Mandela that of South Africa and its democratic dream, today Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the hero of the Ukrainian democracy and its uncertain future. A former comedian, Zelenskyy’s journey in politics has been that of a courageous soul facing his destiny and reminding us of sacrifice for human dignity and democracy.
In his seminal work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell defines a hero as one who battles either personal or historical limitations and who becomes a source through which his society is reborn. Campbell describes a hero as a powerful human being who embarks on a quest to win a war, gain a mystical object. That is why the hero should undergo a series of tests or trials. For Zelenskyy, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been a great test of courage and a learning process of democratic heroism. Even if Ukraine loses the war of democracy against Russian authoritarianism, Zelenskyy will always be remembered as a democratic hero who achieved a moral victory against Vladimir Putin.
The irony of history is that Zelenskyy never had the intention of becoming a leader, in the sense of someone who goes about the practical business of the masses. And yet, in his confrontation with the Russian Leviathan, democracy, for him, has become a matter of conviction. His pursuit of the democratic ideal has been very much like that of a Homeric hero who has no limits in achieving his goals. This moral and political effort makes him even a more inspiring leader for a democratic world that is desperately looking for democratic heroes. The truth is that without a democratic leadership, à la Mandela, democratic passion cannot be maintained for long. People often talk about strong and specific democratic leadership. What is forgotten, however, is that there are many leaders around the world who are democratically elected, yet who have neither political courage nor the moral integrity to fight the rise of authoritarianism.
The war in Ukraine is unbelievable and tragic and all the more gripping and inspiring for having at its centre a former comedian with a great humanistic appeal. Let us not forget what Shakespeare said, “Be not afraid of greatness: Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Today, Zelenskyy’s greatness is in defending democracy, its values, and its future.
The tragedy of Ukraine is an important page of our political history, raising urgent questions about the fragility of our democracies, resistance to an abuse of power that carries itself as far as it will go (as Baron de Montesquieu used to say), and the moral power of the powerless Ukrainians. As history shows us, chaotic circumstances have always demanded heroes to challenge the evil forces at work. But there is another related matter that concerns the future of Ukraine and the democratic fate of a politician like Zelenskyy.
When Vaclav Havel and his fellow Czech intellectuals and artists signed the Charter 77 against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, they dared to confront an ideological power with the only thing at their disposal — their search for truth and an idea of democracy as a form of associated living where political actors can recognise themselves in the challenges. Tragedies of democracy demonstrate that great human suffering can encourage individual claims to dignity and freedom. Today, more than ever, the spirit of democracy in Ukraine is confronted with a political tragedy in which the feelings of horror and sorrow are accompanied with heroic moments of civil resistance and democratic heroism. After all, the salvation of democracy lies nowhere else than in the human love for democracy.
This column first appeared in the print edition on April 2, 2022 under the title ‘A leader for the time’. The writer is Noor-York Chair in Islamic Studies, York University, Toronto
The “K” in Karnataka brings to my mind two other “K”s. One is Joseph “K”, the protagonist of Franz Kafka’s enigmatic novel The Trial, the other “K” is the psychologist Melanie Klein. Klein had shown that between the fourth and the sixth month of infancy, a child learns to prefer one of its mother’s breasts and starts despising the other one. She proposed this widely-accepted “object relations” theory in 1921. A century later, Basavaraj Bommai, who replaced B S Yediyurappa as Karnataka chief minister in July 2021, classically fits into the “K” theory. During the last eight months, he has put his energy into things he likes with an infant-like attachment. What he likes to ignore is the fact that a month before his induction, the Karnataka State Contractors Association had written to the PMO, protesting the steep rise in government corruption. They claimed in writing that 40 per cent was the going rate for bribes that the people’s representatives and bureaucrats had been demanding. This was a stated case; there were and are more such unstated cases marking corruption as the most urgent challenge. Bommai succeeded H D Kumaraswamy of the JDS and Yediyurappa of the BJP in a context where the BJP could form the government through engineering a large-scale defection in other parties. The results in recent bypolls and panchayat elections have not been too dazzling for the party and the industrial outlook of Karnataka has been unenviable. The river water disputes have not been settled. The drinking water problem, which was identified by social scientists as the most crucial factor in the previous election, has not been addressed. Bommai has turned a blind eye to these issues.
On the other hand, the CM has lavished all his attention and energy on minority-bashing. He has been in the news for passing an anti-conversion act, turning the hijab into an issue, reviving an absurd law banning Muslim shopkeepers around temple premises, inducing a boycott of halal meat, bringing minority institutions under a scanner and getting ready to introduce the Bhagavad Gita in schools. The Christian community made attempts to tell the government that the anti-conversion act would not be consistent with the Constitution, which guarantees the fundamental right to profess and preach any faith. Did the government of Karnataka engage with it in a conversation? The rules related to school uniforms were framed at the beginning of the year, but the hijab issue was raked up later. Did the government consider how it would impact the right to education? The relationship between Hindu temples and Muslim vendors is centuries old. Did the government consider how the ban would disturb the social fabric? No, again. And, posing jhatka meat as “nationalist” and “halal meat” as not fully so is as absurd a binary. The lack of response from the government to the questions raised by Christians and Muslims has been reminiscent of Kafka’s The Trial. Go around as much as you like, from bureaucracy to police, from politicians to courts, there is only a deferment of justice and dialogue. The Bommai government has enacted the Hindutva blueprint with the rapidity of a “drut khayal” in music, an art in which Karnataka excels.
In sync with the humiliation of religious minorities is the proposed introduction of the Bhagavad Gita in schools. Contrary to the assumption about its impact, the move is hardly likely to be appreciated by the “majority” in Karnataka. The “rationalised” census data of 2011 may show the population of Hindus in Karnataka at 84 per cent, against that of Muslims at 12 per cent, Christians at 1.87 per cent and Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs and others at 1.2 per cent. However, the “Hindu” category in Karnataka is no monolith. It is presented as being inclusive of the heterodox schools and anti-Brahmin groups such as the Scheduled Castes (19.5 per cent), Lingayats (14 per cent), Vokkaligas, (11 per cent) and Kurubas (7 per cent). How can they emotionally or spiritually relate to the Gita? The closing section of the Gita, the 18th adhyaya, justifies the varna hierarchy. Do we expect 21st century SC children to accept the justification? Lingayat children may prefer to read the vachana poems of Allama Prabhu (12th century Lingayat saint) and the Kuruba children would want poems of Kanaka (6th century Kuruba poet). Besides, the rich philosophical tradition of Gita Bhashya in Karnataka over the last thousand years likes to depict the Gita as the “possibility of worshipping many godheads”, a theological federalism rather than a unitary vision of an avatar. That tradition has seeped deep into Kannada literature, culture and philosophy, best exemplified in recent times by the poet K V Puttappa (1904-1994), who is seen as a “national poet”. Finally, if the Gita is introduced, the Devanagari script used is bound to be seen as an irritant by students and teachers.
Given these demographic, cultural and historical challenges in a state where Shiva, Mahavira and the Mother Goddess are far more popular than Krishna or Rama, why has CM Bommai taken the path of introducing the Gita in schools? On the face of it, it is a path of self-destruction for the BJP. Yet, the electoral math shows that he does not want to face the emergence of the AHINDA coalition in the assembly election next year. The term, first coined by Devaraj Urs, is a Kannada acronym for minorities, Dalits and backward castes. Siddaramaiah, a Kuruba leader, is actively promoting the idea. The disaffection of the Lingayats towards the BJP is growing. If a new coalition emerges with even a marginal support from the Lingayats, the BJP may once again be placed in its 2018 position or worse. Thus, the only foothold of the BJP in the South could be considerably weakened. Demonisation of religious minorities appears to be a desperate attempt to keep the BJP’s own flock together and to hold back the Lingayats in its camp. On the other hand, the success of this variety of politics can leave the Constitution considerably dented. The Karnataka CM’s path ahead is precarious, or as an Upanishad says, kshurasya dhara nisihta duratyaya, like walking on a razor’s edge.
This column first appeared in the print edition on April 2, 2022 under the title ‘Joseph K in Karnataka’. Devy is an author and a cultural activist
India’s states have largely relaxed Covid-related restrictions on mobility. Now, Maharashtra, Delhi and Telangana have also de facto removed the mandate to mask up in public spaces by removing fines. For sure, all governments recommend that people follow Covid appropriate behaviour. However, by watering down requirements of vaccination and masking in public spaces, there’s a clear signal that the threat of transmission has all but gone. It’s an unwise move. It also ignores the available research by epidemiologists on the likely trajectory of the pandemic.
WHO this week laid out three scenarios of the pandemic’s evolution in 2022. The most likely scenario is the virus will continue to evolve but the severity of disease will diminish. However, in the worst case scenario a more virulent variant can emerge, which can undermine the efficacy of vaccination. This is something governments need to keep in mind. Consider the current situation in Germany, among the more cautious EU countries in easing restrictions. It records daily about 3,062 cases per million people, as compared to barely one case in India. This has happened despite Germany fully vaccinating 75% of the population and providing boosters for 58 of every 100 people. The comparable figures in India are: 60% of the population is fully vaccinated and less than two for every 100 have been boosted.
States have done well to remove mobility restrictions and encourage quick normalisation of social activity. This needs to be accompanied by masking mandates to minimise the risk of transmission and supplemented by a thrust on expanding vaccination coverage. India did well to provide 1.84 billion cumulative doses. But the pace has slackened. States have a staggering 156 million doses lying unutilised. The ICMR chief is right, everyone needs a booster. Centre and states must get on with it.
Allahabad high court’s order granting bail to three Kashmiri students accused of pro-Pakistan sloganeering after the India-Pak T-20 match last October is a much-delayed correction of police overreach and lower court injustice. As HC said, India’s unity is “not made of bamboo reeds which will bend to the passing winds of empty slogans”. This case is another in a long line of abuses of the anachronistic sedition law. The provision invented by the British Raj that suggests that words or actions can put the government in danger endures. This despite the Supreme Court narrowing the scope of the sedition law. SC must also quicken the process of discarding this statute.
While the order accords some relief to the students, it came after five harrowing months in jail. Courts must be quicker to grant bail, especially in sedition cases. And in this instance, the delay was preceded by the Agra bar association’s outrageous diktat against offering legal assistance to these young men as well as the assault they faced on court premises. Unless higher courts perform their responsibility of superintendence and control over subordinate courts with alacrity, the labyrinthine legal process itself becomes the punishment.
Allahabad HC also said students travelling for education to different parts of the country must be treated well by host states, which must also respect their constitutional rights. That our governments need reminders on such basics shows why higher courts are often the only guardians of civil liberties.
In conflict, women and children are the worst sufferers. They are often termed collateral damage though they are the hardest hit in terms of mass displacement, sexual violence, and exploitation.
As Russia’s war in Ukraine rages on, vulnerable groups have had it the worst. With over 2.8 million refugees fleeing the country, visuals indicating a shortage of humanitarian aid have surfaced. According to a recent United Nations (UN) Women survey conducted between March 4 and 10, there has been a significant impact on women’s civil society organisations (CSOs), which have come up against several roadblocks in their efforts to bring succour to the affected.
The report reveals alarming findings. One, the operations of these CSOs have been disrupted, with only 51% fully operational, 42% partially operational, and 7% not operational. Susan Ferguson, country representative, India, of UN Women says, “Conflict affects women and girls hugely. Therefore, women have to be part of the solution through representation at the peace-making tables. Without this, we cannot be sure that peace agreements are durable, or recognise their needs and issues.”
These CSOs are run by both volunteers and employees — in partnership with the UN, the private sector, local authorities, international donors and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). However, CSOs are more active in certain areas, while other regions are neglected.
CSOs work on themes like gender-based violence; women, peace and security; empowerment; political participation; social protection and inclusion. In war, interventions on these become more crucial. Meenakshi Gopinath, director of Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace and chairperson for the Centre for Policy Research, says, “As a group disproportionately affected by conflict, women in fractured societies work through the corridors of human security, namely trying to enforce freedom from fear among the communities they work in. They have demonstrated uncommon resilience in breaking the discourse of victimology and rediscovering agency in the darkest of hours. They have created spaces for peace which we need so desperately today.”
In Ukraine, CSOs face several obstacles, the biggest being lack of funding. For partially and fully operational CSOs respectively, 64% and 50% do not have the ability to move communities; 61% and 65% are suffering due to broken supply chains; 29% and 24% have no access to bank services, among other key issues that inhibit their ability to help women, the report added.
These organisations have, nevertheless, persevered through the crisis by making adjustments in their services, providing remote support, managing with limited funds, relocating their staff to safer areas and providing financial support to staff.
But they need help as the report suggests the conflict will have long-term effects on people, which these CSOs will need to be supported to be able to deal with. The damages of the war on health are devastating, with basic amenities lacking at the moment. Also, the psychological impact due to human rights violations will affect women who have been excluded from any decision-making in this war. These CSOs must become key drivers to ensure that the impact of the war is restricted. Prioritise funding and get women to the heads of decision-making tables.
Women’s issues, in the best of times, are deeply affected by conflict situations. In a war, this is hugely amplified. For Ukraine to finally come out of this and begin, at some point, to rebuild, the women of Ukraine must be at the centre of its reconstruction.
lalita.panicker@hindustantimes.com
The views expressed are personal
In 2022, India celebrates 75 years of Independence, while Brazil has its 200th anniversary. Both countries have, obviously, much longer histories. For most, these histories have little or nothing in common. Indian culture has its roots in ancient times, in the Asian continent, whereas the origins of American cultures are much younger. Regardless of these obvious differences, a closer look sheds light on many surprising links between the two countries.
The clearest way is to observe the intercontinental, transoceanic movements of Portuguese vessels in the globalisation process that took place in the first modern era (15th and 16th centuries). A fleet organised by Portugal and captained by Pedro Álvares Cabral set sail in 1500, intending to engage in commercial activity and establish a European presence on the west coast of India. On its journey, it veered course and landed on the eastern shores of South America — an episode that traditional historiography calls the “discovery of Brazil” (although the term is questioned by more recent Brazilian historians). Thus, it is possible to say that the origins of the country called Brazil are indelibly linked to India.
But there is more to discover. This connection generated by the Portuguese ships that purchased spices in India and took them to Europe, the so-called Cape Route, necessarily passed through the Brazilian coast. These ships carried the spices, but also deposited in some homes of people who lived in Salvador or Rio de Janeiro, small gems such as ivory figurines with images of Catholic saints, finely worked by Hindu artisans filling orders by Catholic priests who did missionary work in southwest India in the 16th to 18th centuries. As a result, it is possible, for example, to see Christ as the Good Shepherd watching over his flock using the gestures of Indian deities, an amazing confluence of cultures. Today, these statuettes are a high point in the collections of the Museum of Sacred Art of Salvador and National Historical Museum in Rio de Janeiro.
The comings and goings of ships also circulated representatives of the plant world that today we believe both in Brazil and India always belonged to us. Thus, an average Brazilian will swear that mango and jackfruit are typical Brazilian fruits, not knowing that they actually came from India — just as the average Indian would swear that cashew is Indian, without knowing that its origin is the sunny coast of Brazil.
If we jump to current times, we can identify some more affinities. Brazilians and Indians on fair days usually drink delicious sugarcane juice. In fact, for centuries, Brazil’s greatest wealth was the production of sugar from this plant, originally from India. Still today, huge plantations of these cover territories of Brazil and now also provide fuel for cars that is cheaper than oil derivatives. It is not a coincidence that Brazil and India are increasing their cooperation in ethanol, working together for a greener future based on their shared past.
An even more surprising point of contact can be found during the best known festivity of Brazil: Carnaval. In the Brazilian city of Salvador, one of the most traditional and popular Carnaval parades is the “Afoxé Filhos de Gandhi” (literally “sons of Gandhi”, playing the “afoxé”, a ritual drum used in Afro-Brazilian religions). The group is composed only by men who, in honour of the Mahatma and his message, use all-white clothes similar to the dhoti. They go out singing and dancing, in the name of peace among all human beings.
India and Brazil share even more affinities. A few years ago, one of the most successful soap operas in Brazil was called Caminho das Índias (Indian Way or Path to India). The plot was centred on Indian and Brazilian families mingling with each other with great ease in cities in Brazil and India. The success was resounding and popularised some Hindi expressions, such as namaste and theek he.
Other elements of Indian culture are also seen in Brazil — the ancient Indian practices of Ayurveda, yoga, and meditation. In cooking, there has also been a lot of cultural circulation. For instance, kenge of Goan origin is now a dish among Brazilians, called canja. The points of contact between India and Brazil are plentiful. We just need to sharpen our eyes to see them.
Celia Tavares is associate professor of modern history, State University of Rio de Janeiro, member of the “Visions of Asia” group, a network of history researchers on Asian History topics
The views expressed are personal
Given the prevailing character of our politics, I’ve come to believe Nitin Gadkari is a unique politician. He has the courage and conviction to differ with his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on issues that might be considered almost a catechism for the BJP. It seems on such occasions he puts his principles and beliefs ahead of the party’s politically expedient positions.
Last week, a Lokmat function in Pune offered the most recent example of what you might call Gadkari-speak. He called for a strong reinvigorated Congress, not Congress-mukt Bharat, which is the persistent refrain of his senior colleagues. “Democracy runs on two pillars – the ruling dispensation and the Opposition. A strong Opposition is a need for democracy. Hence it’s my honest wish that the Congress should become stronger.”
This, however, was only the start. Gadkari went a lot further. “Those who follow the Congress ideology should remain in the party and stick to their convictions. They must continue to work and not despair over defeat. If there is defeat, one day there is victory too… so one should not abandon one’s ideology in moments of despair… every party will get its day. The point is to keep working on.”
Consider for a moment the significance of this comment. Gadkari is one of the most senior members of a party that has opened its doors to a long line of Congress defectors. They’ve become Cabinet ministers, state ministers, and Members of Parliament (MPs) in both Houses. Even if belated, this sounds like an admonition. It doesn’t carry the tone of a warm welcome. It’s bound to make a few former Congressmen squirm.
Startling as these comments sound – because they’re unexpected though in the best traditions of democracy – they aren’t the first time Gadkari has publicly broken ranks with his party on issues it gives enormous prominence to. Last year he praised Jawaharlal Nehru. He called him “an ideal leader of Indian democracy”.
Speaking about the disrupted functioning of Parliament, shortly after the end of the Monsoon Session, Gadkari said this to the Hindi channel News Nation: “[Atal Bihari] Vajpayee aur Nehru, ye Hindustan ke loktantra ke do adarsh neta the, aur dono kehte the ki main apne loktantrik maryada ka paalan karunga.” (Vajpayee and Nehru were the two ideal leaders of Indian democracy and both used to say they would act with democratic dignity).
Last week, in Pune, Gadkari once again spoke about Vajpayee and Nehru in terms that can only be said to honour the latter’s memory. “Atal Bihari Vajpayee lost the Lok Sabha election but still earned Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s respect.” I imagine he was referring to 1962, when Vajpayee suffered a surprise defeat. But let me raise an intriguing possibility. Could Gadkari have had 1957 in mind, when Vajpayee stood from three constituencies and lost in Lucknow and Mathura but won from Balrampur? If that was the case, could this comment also have been hinting at Rahul Gandhi, who in 2019 lost Amethi but won in Wayanad? Was this a way of suggesting Gandhi should be treated with more respect?
Before I finish, let me cite a little example from my limited association with Gadkari. For five years and more, no one from BJP has given me an interview, but on two occasions, Gadkari readily agreed to do so. On the first, after accepting, he told me his party leadership had asked him to back out. He didn’t. Instead, he said, “I gave you my word and I’ll stand by it.”
On the second, his response was almost defiant. “Ek bar diya hai to phir interview dene me kya problem hai? Jo naraz honge unko hone do.” (I’ve given an interview once, what’s the problem a second time? Let those who get angry be angry).
I don’t want to embarrass Gadkari, but his colleagues in government should follow his example. Political parties are opponents, not enemies. Journalists may be irksome, but politicians have a moral duty to answer the questions they ask.
Karan Thapar is the author of Devil’s Advocate: The Untold Story
The views expressed are personal
Political leaders and political parties have to often resolve the dilemma between mechanical legality and moral rectitude. The choice is not easy since there is a third element that intervenes: power. The desire to capture power, perpetuate it, eliminate all opposition to it, and make it even more invincible, propels political leaders towards actions that justify the cynical and repressive use of the law against the moral imperative. In this process, the interests of the State become conterminous with the personal interests of the political leader.
Our civilisational wisdom in these matters is open to interpretation. Broadly, the Hindu view of statecraft reflected two aspects, both diametrically opposed to each other when seen in isolation, but in harmony when taken together. The first focussed on the imperative of preserving the state, strengthening the king and keeping enemies, both within and without, at bay. In securing these objectives, statecraft could be cynically unsentimental, ruthless and amoral. Both the Arthashastra and the Shanti Parva list a series of measures which are entirely devoted to the perpetuation of kingly power, and by extension of the kingdom.
The State was expected to be almost totalitarian, with the theoretical right to interfere in all areas of society, including family matters. To prevent subversion of the possibility of rebellion, espionage was recommended, and elaborate instructions are given in the Arthashastra on how to use it effectively. Deception, in order to confuse malcontents, was considered an efficacious tool. This could be taken to extremes by standards of conventional morality. The Shanti Parva, as expounded by the smitten Bhisma lying on a bed of arrows, states: “When wishing to smite, (the king) should speak gently; after smiting he should be gentler still; after striking off the head with his sword, he should grieve and shed tears.”
While one part of political theory was obsessed with power, the other, quite characteristically of the Hindu mind, prescribed the opposite, viz. limits to the use of that power. The king, although all powerful, was conjoined for the sake of the power that he wished to retain, to work in conformity with dharma, respect established customs, and devote all his energies to the welfare of the people by approximating to the ideal of a rajarshi or a statesman-philosopher. The king was advised to choose his ministers on merit; the ministers were also advised to state their views fearlessly. The State was expected to be sensitive to public opinion; the people were not to be excessively taxed, and cesses were to be collected, as the Manusmriti rather picturesquely puts it, only as a bee would suck honey, or a calf gently drink milk or as a leech sucked blood drop by drop. A king acquired political legitimacy by winning the approbation of the ruled, not by fear. Kalidasa defines a ruler’s rajdharma as pravartatamprakritihitayaparthivah (working for the welfare of all his people). The Arthashastra bluntly says that it is unrighteous for a king to do an act which excites popular fury. The Mahabharata explicitly sanctions revolt against a king who is oppressive, for such a ruler is no king, and has no claim to continue in power.
How does a ruler negotiate these conflicting but categorical injunctions in today’s India? Selectivity cannot be the answer, where one can cherrypick the option depending on the solution desired. Moreover, and most importantly, we now have a Constitution, that, inter alia, guarantees democracy, the rule of law, human rights and individual freedom. Democratically elected leaders must face today the right choice between the temptations to misuse power, and the imperative to do the right thing in conformity with the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
When we look back at the last decades of our existence as the world’s largest democracy, what is apparent is that democratically elected leaders have more often than not chosen power over principle in the running of the State. If this were not the case, Indira Gandhi, would not have invoked a provision of the Constitution to impose the Emergency and rubbish the democratic rights of her citizens. Governments would not have brought in laws that are deliberately draconian and can pulverise a dissenting voice by sanctioning arrest at will and the denial of bail. Rulers would not believe that, because they have been democratically elected, they have the ordained right to trample upon the democratic rights of individuals. Media channels would not be under pressure to toe the government line. And, there would not be an atmosphere of pervasive fear, where ordinary people are afraid to talk on the phone lest their conversation is being recorded, and corporate leaders too scared to voice their opinion lest they are the next to be raided by the forever compliant arms of the IT or the ED. According to reliable folklore, one of India’s most reputed business leaders was raided by the I-T recently, just because reportedly his personal preferences were in favour of political parties opposed to the BJP.
Under the awning of democracy, the predatory powers of the State to take any action that eliminates opposition, should be a matter of increasing concern. Opposition leaders now take for granted that they could be the target of State investigating agencies, and many such leaders have, indeed, already been targeted. Conversely, the most corrupt leaders, if they join the BJP, miraculously find their cases being put on the back-burner. The judiciary is, of course, one ray of hope against this litany of vindictive and arbitrary action, but even the Chief Justice himself was constrained to point out in a recent public address how the complicity between the State’s investigative agencies and their political masters needs to be curbed.
Democracy in India has yet to find a strong bulwark against a democratically elected government that resorts to authoritarian practices. For those who are less enamoured by the Constitution, and more by our ancient past, it would be advisable to read its lessons in their entirety, and not just choose portions that conform to their undemocratic cynicism.