A Tale of a Headmistress, a Professor and Truant Students at the Congress Conclave
Gobind Thukral

Forty five countries have enacted new laws that explicitly prohibit domestic violence, while 21 countries are said to be drafting new laws. Twenty-five countries have adopted laws and policies addressing female genital mutilation, 16 countries have passed distinct legislation on sexual assault, 14 countries have adopted laws on sexual harassment, and another 46 have incorporated provisions related to sexual harassment in non-specific legal codes

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan terms this violence as “perhaps the most shameful human rights violation." Unless tackled systematically at all levels of society with zero-tolerance policies and a concerted effort is directed towards this   socially unacceptable and a crime, gender-based violence will stall any advancement towards equality, development and peace.

Domestic discord often leading to verbal or physical violence, sometimes degenerating into serious and grave injuries as sociologists tell us, is a world wide phenomenon. There could be several reasons for this malady in which often the dominant partner is blamed. There is no denying the fact that domestic discord and violence often disrupt families and there are sometimes chain reactions leading to futile violence including murders and suicides. Attempts to set the homes in order have been numerous and shall continue at the level of the couples, families, friends and elders, besides leaders from religion, community and professional groups. The State too has been intervening from time to time. Several Indian penal laws are witness to this attempt. In the year 2005, India enacted a specific provision on domestic violence where women, considered meek and the sufferers have been provided protection. What exactly is this law and how it is expected to work is discussed threadbare by a legal expert and senior advocate Joginder Singh Toor. We shall offer further comment once the basic premise is clear and the act becomes operational and is tested in the courts. It would be helpful for Indians settled aboard as more violence is coming to notice at several levels.

The Vienna Accord of 1994 acknowledged that domestic violence was a human rights issue. Beijing declaration reiterated the same.

United Nations Committee on "Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women" recommended that all the member countries of the United Nations should act to protect the women against violence of any kind especially occurring within family.

Women and children are subjected to alarming degree of domestic violence in India in a large number, has been the worry of all concerned.

Considering that the existing provisions in various laws are inadequate to tackle domestic violence which is widely prevalent but remained largely invisible in public domain, the Govt. of India has enacted a law known as 'The Protection of Women From Domestic Violence 2005 which has received the assent of the President on September 13,2005 and has become an Act of Parliament to come into force on a date to be notified by the government after the infrastructure is created as contemplated under the Act such as appointment of Protection Officers in each district, the registration of service providers and the like. The Act has divided violence into three heads physical violence, sexual abuse and economic abuse.

(i)  'Physical violence' means any act, omission or commission or conduct of the respondent which

(a)  harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life, limb or well-being, whether mental or physical, of the aggrieved person; 

(b)  harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved person with a view to coerce her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any dowry or other property or valuable security;

(c)  has the effect of threatening the aggrieved person or any person related to her by any conduct; or

(iii) 'Verbal and emotional abuse' includes insults, ridicule, humiliation, name calling and insults or ridicule specially with regard to not having a child or a male child;

(iv) 'Economic abuse' includes—

(a)  deprivation of all or any economic or financial resources, she is entitled to her stridhan, property jointly or separately owned or possessed;

(b)  disposal of household effects, any alienation of assets whether movable or immovable, valuables, shares, securities, bonds etc.

(c)  prohibition or restriction to continued access to resources or facilities which she is otherwise entitled.

Who then is the aggrieved person mentioned as the subject of domestic violence. The legislature has defined an aggrieved person not only the wife but it includes "any woman who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the respondent and who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by the respondent."

It includes the wife, husband's sister, mother, or any other woman related by blood who is or has been in domestic relationship with the respondent.

'Respondent' in the case can be any male person including husband, father-in-law, husband's brother or any other male person who is or has been living in the shared accommodation in the domestic relationship. The respondent can be only a male and not female.

'Domestic relationship' has some extended meaning. It means "a relationship between two persons who live or have, at any point of time, lived together in a shared household, when they are related by consanguinity (blood relationship), marriage, or through a relationship in the nature of marriage, adoption or are family members living together as a joint family."

Living together in a relationship in the nature of marriage is an extension to a female partner living together by relationship of marriage or blood relationship. Henceforth living together in a relationship in the nature of marriage was considered equal to that of a concubine or that of a keep. It had no legal recognition or status. For the first time such relationship has been given recognition and the female partner living in such relationship has been given rights equal to that of a wife or a female by blood relationship.

In Western countries and in North America this is common phenomena that male and female start living as domestic partners without marriage and some times produce children. In those countries three types of agreements are generally seen i.e. (i) agreement of marriage, (ii) agreement of cohabitation and (iii) agreement of separation. The courts recognise these agreements and give effect to the terms thereof some time in supersession of the provisions of family laws.

Relationship in the nature of marriage for a considerable time in some States two years and in some three years gives a presumption of marriage even if there has been no ceremony or no registration. Want of ceremony or registration does not hinder the presumption of marriage after they have been living together for a considerable period in such relationship.

But in this Act no such period is provided. More so, not even a cohabitation agreement is required. In such an uncertain relationship, with no options to terminate, how and when or by whom or under what circumstances as in the case of divorce such a provision is likely create complications than solve them. 

The aggrieved party i.e. any of the females mentioned above if subjected to domestic violence of any kind, mentioned above, may herself or a Protection Officer or any other person on her behalf, present an application to the Magistrate seeking one or more reliefs under this Act.   

The reliefs which the Magistrate can provide are in the nature of protection orders or residence orders or monetary reliefs or custody orders in respect of children and are of civil nature to be provided by a criminal court in accordance with procedure meant for trial of criminal cases.

The Magistrate may after giving an opportunity to the other party of being heard, and on being prima facie satisfied that domestic violence has taken place or is likely to take place, pass a protection order in favour of the aggrieved person prohibiting the respondent from—

Any relief available under this Act to be granted by the Magistrate can also be sought in any legal proceedings before a Civil Court, Family Court or a Criminal Court and the relief so sought shall be in addition to the reliefs claimed under this Act.  The Judicial Magistrate in whose territorial jurisdiction the aggrieved person resides or carries on business even temporarily or the respondent resides or carries on business, or the cause of action has arisen, shall have the jurisdiction to entertain such application and provide relief. The choice of jurisdiction from amongst the three above is that of the aggrieved person. An appeal lies to the Court of Sessions within 30 days from the order of the Magistrate.

Protection Officers as for as possible are to be females and are to be appointed in each district to assist the Magistrate, to make domestic incident report to prepare application in prescribed form for the aggrieved person, to ensure legal for her, to provide shelter house if required, to get medical examination, to ensure the implementation of orders of the Magistrate, to prepare the list of service providers i.e. any society, company or Association registered under the law for this purpose.

The existing laws which have been considered inadequate, in India, provided some measures e.g. a woman if subjected to mental or physical cruelty could seek divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act. Desertion, conversion to other religion, mental or psychopathic disorder, suffering from virulent disease, renunciation of world for entering a religious order, bigamy are not part of mental or physical or sexual cruelty but independent grounds for seeking divorce under Hindu Marriage Act which became law on 18^th May,1955. Sexual Abuse contemplated under this Act is rather vague.

Since then various suggestions and recommendations were made. The Law Commission examined the matter and suggested that provisions of Hindu Marriage Act should keep pace with the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 which applies to all irrespective of religion consequently some amendments were made in 1976 reducing the period of waiting in court from one year to six months in cases of divorce with mutual consent.  Also providing a right to the woman to have marriage declared repudiated if the marriage has not been consummated owing to the impotence of the respondent or has after the solemnization of marriage voluntary sexual intercourse with any person other than his or her spouse. Earlier in 1955 Act it was "living in adultery" which meant more than one instance of extra marital sexual relations.

Desertion, cruelty, virulent form of leprosy, bigamy, conversion to another religion, or for any other justifiable cause a Hindu wife is entitled to live separately from her husband without forfeiting her claim to maintenance under Hindu Adoptions & Maintenance Act,1956.

Bigamy and adultery are two different things contemplated under the existing laws. Bigamy is an offence against wife the second against a third person i.e. the husband of the woman with whom adultery is being committed, is punishable for 7 years under IPC. It is also a ground for divorce under Section 17 which declares such marriage as void and punishable under Section 494 and 495 IPC

Adultery on the other hand is an offence against marriage.  

Authors of the Indian Penal Code observed "though we know the dearest interest of the human race are closely connected with the chastity of women and sacredness of the nuptial contract………….while the law admits the privilege of the husband to fill her zanana with women is a course which we are quite reluctant to adopt…………..an evil so deeply rooted in the manners of the people of this country as polygamy……..

How for the present Act would safeguard the interests of females, how for would it be practicable, how for can it be abused, how for would it keep families united are still question of public debate.

The Act applies to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.  It applies to all irrespective of religion or personal laws. How it gets implemented by the courts at several levels  in view of the past experience of Shah Bano's case which she went  up to the Supreme Court so as to get maintenance under section 125 Cr.P.C from the husband after divorce till her remarriage. The judgment met a strong protest from male sections of the particular religion as violative of their personal laws. It had to be annulled by The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 providing her a right to receive the amount of "Mehar" settled at the time of marriage and not the maintenance as a divorced wife under Section 125.  She can claim maintenance for the period of "iddat" i.e. three months and maintenance for children for two years besides her own properties given to her as gifts at the time of marriage etc. Her relatives are supposed to maintain her.

In the ISRO Spy Scandal, the Indian Scientists were comparatively lucky to be finally left off, on the CBI eventually clearing them and also getting some respite from the Hon’ble Apex Court.  However, unfortunate victims of the infamous Samba Spy Case are even now in search of justice although it has been held by the Delhi High Court that the entire case was based on falsehood.

Little did Capts. Rana and Rathore and 42 other army officials arrested in 1977 and 1979 respectively, imagine that they had on arrest, entered in an unending tunnel full of harrowing account of physical and mental torture, humiliation and scorn.  Even after over 25 years of their arrest they are still nowhere near getting final justice.

Briefly the genesis of Samba Spy Scandal is that the real culprits, two soldiers of the Indian Army, Aya Singh and Sarwan Dass were arrested in 1975 on charges of spying.  They in turn alleged Capts. Rana and Rathore of Military Intelligence had sold Indian secrets to Pakistan.  In 1977 these two soldiers were Court Marshaled, sentenced to 7 years imprisonment and dismissal from service.  However, in 1978 they were granted remission of imprisonment, their dismissal orders were revoked and they were reinstated in service, ostensibly for naming Capts. Rana and Rathore as sellers of India’s secrets to Pakistan.

Capt.’s Rana and Rathore, who were arrested in 1977 were proceeded against by the Indian Army and for their allegedly confessed act of selling secrets to Pakistan, were Court Marshaled and sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment and dismissal from service.  Eventually, as per Mr. T. V. Rajeshwar, Ex-Director of I.B. and presently the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, due to his efforts, the Government reviewed the cases of these two Officers and in 1989, they were released from prison after spending 9 years in Jail and some financial benefits were also granted to them.  Capts. Rana and Rathore, during their trial had named 42 other army officials and 11 civilians for having been involved in spying activity.  Out of these, cases against the 11 civilians were dropped based on the recommendations of the joint investigating team headed by V. K. Kaul.  Of the 42 army officials approximately 20 Officers were initially recommended for Court Marshal.

However, the then corps Commander Lt. Gen. K. Chiman Singh had the first inkling of the case being false when he found that Officer of Maj. S. P. Sharma’s integrity, caliber and loyalty to the nation and profession had been implicated in the case.  On going through the cases the General recommended Court Marshal of only one Officer against whom there was slight doubt and did not recommend Court Marshal of the balance 19 Officers as there was nothing against these Officers? It was recommended that these 19 Officers be sent to their respective units.  This one Officer, Capt. Kochhar, was Court Marshalled, acquitted and he subsequently retired from the Indian Army as a Colonel.  Ironically the other 19 Officers, against whom there was no evidence, were not as fortunate and they were dismissed from service under the Doctrine of President’s Pleasure in Jan., 1980 under Section 18 of the Army Act even without a show cause being given.  This dismissal was later on changed to termination of service in April or May, 1980.  Some of these dismissed Officers challenged the dismissal in court.  Even out of these, some Officers who initially challenged dismissal later withdrew from the cases due to reasons of financial constraint, ill-health and other personal problems.  Eventually only 7 Officers were left who continued to challenge this dismissal before the Delhi High Court.   The Courts initially declined to intervene in the case on technical grounds i.e. Doctrine of President’s Pleasure not being subject to judicial review.

However, in 1994 the Hon’ble Delhi High Court gave a landmark judgment that the Doctrine of President’s Pleasure was subject to judicial review.  This view was upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.  Consequently, in 1996 these 7 Officers again went to Hon’ble High Court against the termination and the arguments in the case were over and the judgment was reserved in 1997.  From 1997 to Dec., 2000 the judgment was not pronounced by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court as it repetitively asked the Ministry of Defence to provide certain documents and eventually the judgment was pronounced only in December, 2000.

Before the main points of the judgment are enumerated, it is relevant to mention that. V. K. Kaul, Deputy Director, I.B., who was the Chief Investigator in this case had established after investigation, which had been painstaking and thorough, that the entire case was based on falsehood.  In 1980, RAW Chief Shankaran Nair expressed similar view.  Even Lt. Gen. K. Chiman Singh had held the same view but he openly came out with this view in 1995. Though he claims that he put an end to the D.M.I. directly controlling these cases from Delhi and permitted the Court Marshal of only one Officer and had recommended that the other 19 Officers be permitted to rejoin their units.  He, however, now regrets that had he permitted Court Marshal of the balance 19 Officers also, they would have been free too, because in his opinion there was nothing against these Officers.

T. V. Rajeshwar, Ex-Director, I.B., had also been repetitively going to the government for review of this case and grant of justice to the falsely implicated Officers.  However, he only succeeded to the extent that the sentences of Capts. Rana and Rathore were remitted after undergoing 9 years of sentence by each and they were granted certain financial benefits.  The dismissed Officers, however, did not get any relief.

The judgment of Hon’ble Delhi High Court now confirmed the view of these Officers:

Capts. Rana and Rathore were convicted by the GCM without a shred of evidence,  Court Marshal proceedings against other Officers were dropped due to fear of acquittal for want of evidence and  without any basis, reason or assigning any cause, the services of the Officers were terminated. The case is completely void of law and is liable to be annulled. Ministry of Defense should grant consequential relief to all Officers including monetary gains within four months. The court also pronounced that the Military Intelligence Directorate assumed the role of Prosecutor and the Judge.

Even though this order speaks of grant of benefits within four months of the order, the order was put under challenge in an appeal filed by the Ministry of Defence and has been admitted in the Hon’ble Apex Court, which has also ordered stay of operation of the order of the High Court.  The case is now awaiting its turn in the Apex Court.  Almost 5 years have already passed in waiting and God alone knows how many more years will it take for this case to be finally decided.  In the meanwhile, out of the 19 Officers who were dismissed or whose services were terminated two i.e. Lt. Col. Balraj Kayastha and Capt. Thind have already died and have carried their shame along with them to the next world.  It is anybody’s guess as to how many of remaining Officers will survive to see the justice being done as most of them are mentally and physically shattered due the trauma and anguish that they have been through and are still going through.

Spying is a very serious crime.  Incase these Officers are guilty they must be proceeded against with all speed and be given exemplary punishment.  However, falsely implicating the innocent officials in spying cases is a graver crime and the innocent should get justice without delay.  Justice will be fully done when those who are guilty of framing these Officers are also punished along with those who are guilty of dragging the case so for long.

In a country where politically motivated/initiated cases are taken up urgently, a case as serious as the Samba Spy Case, involving lives and reputation, honour and prestige of Officers of the Armed Forces should be decided with utmost speed so that justice done is not too late.  Nothing can possibly reduce or compensate for the damage caused to the reputation of the personnel involved or their mental anguish. Neither can anything dim the scars left by the case on the minds and bodies of the personnel involved.  It has been often said that the wheels of justice grind slowly but the pace should not be as slow that one life time becomes too short for getting justice as has already happened in the cases of Lt. Col. Balraj Kayastha and Capt. Thind.  The least that can be done by the Army and the Hon’ble Apex Court is that even at this stage the case is taken to its final logical end with the speed a sensitive case like this deserves and it not be treated at par with other routine cases pending with the Apex Court.

Maj. Gen. Satinder Kapoor [retired] is a decorated Indian army officer and  is a defence analysist.

According to estimates, Muzzfarabad, capital of POK and epicenter of the earth quake and hundreds of small villages were just flattened. The death toll could be anywhere between 50,000 and 80,000. Thousands of houses had collapsed and even Pakistan’s capital Islamabad suffered heavily with a  number of buildings collapsing as did the North West Frontier Province  India’s Kashmir too suffered badly particularly the areas around Uri. In fact Uri town was nearly finished as scores of villages.   

The earthquake that struck northern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir was a bigger catastrophe than last year’s tsunami in terms of the number of people made homeless and the extent of destruction to infrastructure. World Health Organisation estimated that the quake rendered 2.5 million people homeless as against 1.5 million displaced by the tsunami. Besides, another million people are in extreme grief, needing immediate help. It was nearly impossible to reach by road, although had a very large presence of troops all over.   Pakistan was in a desperate situation with survivors cut off beyond major towns five days after the disaster; still racing against the clock Pakistan needed more helicopters, more water, more tents and more money.

At least 7,000 school buildings in the public sector and 1,000 in the private sector have either collapsed or have been damaged in five districts of the NWFP. 5,000 primary schools had been destroyed in five districts of Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan and Shangla.  1,000 middle, high and higher secondary schools had either collapsed or been partially damaged.

Curiously, the worst casualties of the temblor occurred on either side of heavily fortified Line-of-Control (LoC), that has served as the border between the Pakistan and Indian controlled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. This area has been a sore point  leading  wars and bloodshed ever since it was carved up by the South Asian neighbours in 1947, following  the two attaining freedom from the British  control. The two neighbours had gone to three full scale wars and an undeclared war over Kashmir has claimed over 50,000 lives in the last ten years in Kashmir.

A Reuters report had put it plainly enough — on fourth day after the earthquake: “The only aid anyone from Bagh has seen from the government since the earthquake struck has been on television... Three days after the disaster the people of this once-prosperous little town set deep in the hills of Azad Kashmir have all but given up hope... ‘The government is only showing us the relief on television,’ said Abdul Razzaq, a storekeeper in the town. ‘We haven’t seen a drop of water or medicine coming to us, not even a single grain.’”

Columnist Ayaz Amir commented October 14 in mass circulated daily, the Dawn this way. “George Bush has reason to rue the coverage of Hurricane Katrina. It showed the emperor without his clothes. President Musharraf will have plenty of reasons to rue the coverage of the Pakistani earthquake because it has shown the entire circus of Pakistani government at its most incompetent.”

This earth quake indeed presented a rare chance for the two countries to show magnanimity and human face to deal with the situation and save life and mitigate suffering in the aftermath of the calamity. Politics, one-upmanship and hegemony could take backseat. Help for the hapless victims of the natural disaster taking precedence over the lingering issue of Kashmir or false pretensions and prestige. 

Musharraf and Pakistan both disappointed. First, the government as per Musharraf himself admitted took over 72 years to realise the gravity of the colossal tragedy and organise any help and then reacted half heartedly for foreign aid except in case of western countries and America.  

A day after the worst earth quake in the last 125 years on the fateful October 8, 2005, the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh expressing anguish personally spoke to President Musharraf and offered any aid that was required. There was first stony silence and then a firm no to any help across the LoC. Pakistan only permitted one air force plane to land with medicines and other relief material and later allowed a train load of material. India could have helped save many lives because of its proximity to the LoC where the unprecedented tragedy had struck. It would have been a dividend for peace.  

“The fact that Saturday's earthquake -- with a death toll in the tens of thousands and climbing -- had its epicenter in Kashmir, one of the most heavily militarised areas of the world, presents a test for India and Pakistan, which have contested the divided Himalayan territory for over 55 years but are now on a path of reconciliation.” Reported Inter Press Service in a dispatch from New Delhi and regretted that the warring nations could have behaved better.  India did offer and at the highest level. But the Pakistan government was not sure what it should do. One reason could be losing its face. 

But Indian establishment privately reasoned that Pakistan was scared exposing its militant camps and other army establishments and thus avoided any help. It is a foolish way look at the intelligence gathering this way when satellite imagers up to each military vehicle are available for the asking. Second reason could be to deprive India from establishing empathic relations with the people in POK.

Commenting on Pakistani predicament, Lahore’s influential newspaper Daily Times wrote caustically, “This is certainly a defensive reaction to what its opponents are getting to ready to do. There is bureaucratic nitpicking in the decision not to let Indian rescue personnel enter our areas of disaster, especially Azad Kashmir, which is disputed with India! It is again the imagery that the government dreads. Imagine an Indian soldier, who has been killing Kashmiri Muslims, pulling our women and children out of collapsed homes! But such thinking cannot be achieved without forgetting the fact that every time the British rescuers pulled victims out of the Margalla Towers wreck, the people standing around clapped and raised the cry of “Allah Akbar”!

To make matters worse, Pakistan stoutly denied that any soldiers was allowed to cross over to POK to help Pakistani soldiers stranded in the bunkers to repair the bunkers. India government a day earlier had stated that Indian soldiers had done indeed gone after their help was sought to help Pakistani side. 

It was also ironical not to listen to even those who had been fighting even at the risk of their life and limbs for the cause dear to Pakistan that is All Parties Hurriyat Conference [APHC].  Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairperson of the APHC had made a tearful appeal to India and Pakistan “not to let politics interfere with helping earthquake victims in the disputed region, and urged them to launch joint relief efforts”. He added, “This tragedy has not respected the ceasefire line. We have seen that both India and Pakistan have been hesitant in accepting each other’s relief. Let’s not play politics over this”.   

The Mul Mantra is enunciated thus- “The sole Absolute Eternal Being, the creator of all that exists, without scare and spite; beyond time and the cycle of birth and death; self-luminous; realized through the grace of a godly preceptor”. This description of the Supreme Being can be understood in the light of ‘Advita Vedanta’ tradition of the Indian philosophy and the Hegelian thought in the Western philosophical tradition. The ideas of Sankara, the 9th century sage in the culmination of Advaita Vedanta tradition. He says there is only one real thing called “Brahman” or “Atma” and it is not the indescribable – ‘not this’, ‘not this’ (neti, neti) it means no positive language is adequate to describe it. Even Brahman has been distinguished between “Higher Brahman” (Paar Brahman) and “Lower Brahman”. “Higher Brahman” can be realised through knowledge (vidya) and it is free from all adjuncts.

That is why it is also called “Nirguna Brahman” (Brahman without attributes) and its realization leads to ‘liberation’. The “Lower Brahmin” is manifested through God and It is also called “Saguna Brahman” (fully attributed Brahman) who participates in the worldly phenomena. It is viewed from the aspect of ignorance (avidya) since the creation itself is ‘Maya’ a kind of dream world. “Paar Brahman” is without qualifiers (nirvisesa), without form (arupa), without change, without parts and without end. It has three properties (a) truth (sat) (b) consciousness (cit), (c) bliss (ananda). Now the question is – has the universe sprung from “Being” or “Non-Being” i.e. from truth (sat) untruth (asat)? “Higher Brahman” being pure consciousness cannot be an object of thought. Brahman being self- luminous, everything shines in its light and is made conscious of. Since “Paar Brahman” has no specific from so whatsoever is cognized is not intrinsic to it. Since It is pure consciousness It has no differences or distinctions.

In fact differences and distinctions are the product of ignorance (avidya). That is why “Paar Brahman” is unrelated and without unrelated diffentiation through the “Lower Brahman” (Isvarsa) or God is the cause of all differences, sustenance and destruction is the “Saguna Brahman” who is the material cause of the world and is about immanent and manifest. Being omnipotent and omniscient Its consciousness and light reflect, in “Avidya” as individual selves and objects of cognizance.

Why would “Saguna Brahman” (Isvarsa) create the phenomenal since it has no unsatisfied desires, no selfish ends to serve, no motivation whatsoever to act? Even then it creates and it creates out of play (lila). It responds to worldly actions and potentials without any personal interest. It has to express itself in creative activity. Maya or the play (lila) of the “Saguna Brahman” is an illusory superimposition on the phenomena, which sometimes is called “Prakriti” or the false awareness of the objects. True knowledge therefore does not remove the objects themselves but their false awareness only. “Saguna Brahman” which manifests in the form of God is them further realized through its power to create the world of illusion (Maya) which the ‘Jiva’ or an individual being usually considers as real out of his “avidya” (ignorance). So the creator of the world of appearance is God, which is false since only “Nirguna Brahman” (Paar Brahman) is reality and this reality is an undifferentiated unity. Differences and diversities are the result of the creation of the world of “Maya” when “Saguna Brahman” as God constructs various things from Itself through Its ‘differentiated’ perception.

Now against this conception of ‘Sankara’s Advaita Vedanta which is broadly followed by the Sikh Preceptors (the Sikh Gurus) while mediating over the nature and essence of the Supreme in Its quintessential Absolute form, there is a stream of Western philosophical traditional beginning with the Parminides and Plato and culminating in the thought of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831).

He used neutral terms like Absolute Mind or Idea or Universal Spirit to designate basically the same Supreme Being. But the Hegelian Spirit unfolds and ramifies into infinite forms and bodies in nature and society while on its march along the temporal axis, after alienating Itself from Itself and then returning to Itself after having completed the cycle of creation. Hegel observes – the substance which the Spirit is consisted of, is the development of Itself explicitly to what it is inherently and implicitly, and only by this process of reflecting Itself into Itself Is it then essentially and in true Spirit. It is inherently the movement, which constitutes the process of knowledge – the transforming of that implicit inherent nature into explicitness and objectivity; of Substance into Subject, of the object of consciousness into the object of self- consciousness, i.e. into an object that is at the same time superseded and transcended. This transforming process is a cycle that returns into itself, a cycle that presupposes its Being and reaches its beginning only at the end.

This journey of the Hegelian Spirit is not an empty exercise through the world of Maya as Sankara’s Advaita would have started rather at the final stage the Spirit forms an integral whole with the entire historical process which the Spirit has passed through because it preserves the entire accumulated value of the process at the end of its journey unto Itself. The mode of the march of the Spirit is that continual ‘mediation’ and self-differentiation of the Spirit producing infinite forms and categories and then assimilating them by deobjectivising them. At every stage the Spirit proceeds in accordance with the ‘dialectic’ of thesis and anti-thesis that leads to continual self-negation, spawning ever new forms in nature, society and ideas which are then negated in course of time but still retaining all the valid substance and value which are absorbed into the next stage of development.

The ‘Mul Mantra’ (the fundamental creed) of Sikhism the succinctly described the nature of the Supreme Being has all the three states of the Supreme as enunciated by Sankara through his seminal concepts of “ Nirguna Brahman” (Paar Brahman) and “ Saguna Brahman” (God) and the Hegelian concept of Universal Spirit realizing Itself through Its temporal unfolding in the world. The attributes of the Supreme propounded by the Sikh faith like  “Sole Absolute, Eternal Being, without scare and spite, beyond time and cycle of birth and death and being self-luminous” etc. pertain to “Nirguna” nature of the ‘Brahman’ of the Adaita Vedanta. But the Supreme Being as a Creator brings It closer to Hegelian Universal Spirit because when One creates One has to enter the domain of Time and Space generating ever new forms and categories in the cosmic economy of the universe. The process of motion and development of the ‘created forms’ is not explicitly stated in the Sikh scriptural discourse as it has been stated by Hegel in definite terms in the concept of the ‘dialectic’ and ‘meditation’. In this way the essence of Sikh scriptures as enunciated in the ‘Mul Mantra’ follows the ‘Advaita Vedanta’ tradition of the Indian philosophical meditations and it precedes the Hegelian scheme, though partly, in its concept of a ‘Creator’ who really creates a ‘real’ world of organic and inorganic forms and categories. Parallel to this conceptualization is the Semitic idea of the Supreme particularly the one propounded in the Islamic scriptures (the Quran).

Yet millions of individuals tie the knot the year around. As they say shaadi ka ladoo jo khay so pachtaye aur jo na khaye who bhi pachtaye. Whether the couple lived happily ever after or not, one thing is certain that weddings in India have always been stylish. And have evolved over the years from free love of hunters during the early centuries of man’s evolutionary path to the arranged matrimony or marriages of convenience.  The present one man, one woman relationship during the industrial society has come through a long onerous journey, thorny, but always with lot of fanfare and fun. For sometime marriage is the only occasion of rejoicing in the life of a young couple.

The advent of the wedding planners has changed the entire concept of organizing, enjoying and celebrating the marriages. And considering the fast pace at which things are moving and the busy lifestyles which today’s youth follow, wedding planners are their one-stop solution.

And in an age where people are ready to shell out money to buy convenience, it is only understandable that the weddings too be outsourced. Talking about outsourcing, the wedding planners offer a whole range of services under one roof right from pre-wedding events to sending thank-you letters.

Their USP: to provide a hassle-free wedding to the customers. The increase in the disposable income of the rich and the upper middle class led to this trend, where weddings are no longer a mere ritual but have become what people aspire for. 

And thanks to these wedding planners who have actually made people realize their aspirations. Be it a Niagara-type waterfall in the backdrop to the rituals or the bride and groom coming out of a lotus or getting the groom to reach the bride’s house in a chopper or getting married in the middle of a lake! Well their slogan is you dream and we will deliver.

According to Mr Jai Gupta, CEO of Shaadionline.com, the internet based matchmaker, “Majority of the people do not understand the role of a planner which is to manage their money and not add to their cost. We offer collective expertise as we understand the market and can thus get them the best within their budgets.”  

The trend he admits is still to catch up with the middle income groups. And is so far limited to the NRI’s and the high income groups. Spate in wedding exhibitions like Vivaha, Bridal Asia, Bride and Groom et al have also provided a platform to the professionals on one hand and brought them in to focus on the other. And, why not? Considering the lucrative wedding market estimated at a whopping Rs 5,000 crore – 50,000 crore, (most of it still in the unorganized sector).  

Agrees Gupta, “These exhibitions are in fact the only platform which brings us face to face with the clients.” At Shaadionline, they have a fixed fee revenue model where the fee depends on the size and complexity of the wedding. 

Gupta mentioned a wedding where the theme was water and lotus. Apart from the whole mandap being done up as per the theme, the couple too was made to appear from a lotus which was created on stage with a waterfall in the background. “It actually looked as if the lotus was in the pond and that the ceremony was happening inside the flower,” he added. 

On the flip side, are we not losing the original essence of a wedding somewhere down the line? So much so that sometimes the ceremony becomes another corporate function which reflects on how much one can afford to spend.  

Despite the fact that all the ceremonies are carried out smoothly. For they are professionals and will offer the biggest bang for the bucks spent. But let’s take a closer look at what these ambitious and over-the-top weddings have to offer.  

For one amid so much tamasha many a times even the bride and the groom go unnoticed. But who is to blame as the guests are either too busy admiring the décor or savouring the elaborate fares laid out. Others would be seen getting mehendi or bangles, probably not even aware that the pheras are being carried out simultaneously. Obviously when more than a quarter of the guests have only an acquaintance with the bride and the groom why would they even bother whether the couple has already been bound in matrimony, they would rather gorge on the feast spread out. After all so much investment has gone in to the whole show so one should be glad that it is being noticed. 

So much so that once you walk out of the mandap, you may not even remember whose wedding it was but you might still marvel at the lavish arrangements.

Several studies in last three years have clearly indicated that Punjab, particularly Malwa is turning into a toxic hotspot. It is facing an environmental and occupational health crisis that is unprecedented. The abnormally high cases related to cancer, reproductive health, mental retardation infertility and several other pesticides caused or related diseases were reported in surveys that were generally observrd during last three years.

Epidemiological study done by Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER)- Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has indicated the rise in cancer cases in Cotton belt of Punjab. The study indicates that Cotton belt of Punjab is engulfed by lethal pesticides and causing major health problems. Though this study was done in one Talwandi Sabo block of Bhathinda district but the similar symptoms are emerging from entire cotton belt.   The situation is so grim that village after village is reporting cancer, reproductive disorder, birth of mentally retarded children and other pesticide related diseases.

The PGI study clearly indicts pesticides for high prevalence of cancer in the area. Study found both tap and groundwater laced with carcinogenic chemicals. Tap water contains high content of arsenic, chromium, iron, and Hg. Where as ground water also was replete with arsenic, chromium, nickel and iron. Even these deadly pesticides had seeped into locally-grown vegetables as well. The cauliflower got toxicity   with Heptachlor Endoepoxide, Chlorpyrifos, Alpha Endosulfan and Alfa HCH.

Though banned about two decades back or even more the Pops are also found in blood samples too. According to PGIMER study blood contains the residues of Pops like Heptachlor, DDT, Adrian, Chlorpyriphos, Ethion and Endosulfan.

Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) also founds six to thirteen pesticides in virtually all blood samples. Some of are Pops as: HCH, Aldrin, DDT, Monocrotophos, Endosulfan, Phosphamidon, Chlorpyrifos, and Malathion.

What these studies indicating is not a new fact .There are several studies done in past  

The use of pesticides (technical grade material) in Punjab was only 624 tonnes in 1960-61 which increased to 7600 tonnes in 1995-96, thus the per hectare use increased from 132 to 986 g during this period

However, most of the pesticides whose use is restricted or banned in developed countries are dumped into the developing countries like India. The problem is further compounded due to their unregulated use. Therefore, the scenario of pesticidal contamination of our environment is quite grim. Being lipophilic, the insecticides are persistent in nature and their residues are likely to be present in various components of the environment such as soil, food animal feed, etc.

Milk and milk products. Mother's milk is the primary food for an infant. All the 130 samples of mother' milk collected from Punjab during 1979-80 were contaminated with the residues of DDT and HCH at levels for more than reported from most other countries including Canada, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and USA. The levels of DDT and HCH residues in human milk samples collected from Ludhiana during 1983-84 did not differ significantly from those collected during 1979-80.

Due to special significance of bovine milk ion human diet, analysis of milk samples collected from various sources were analysed for pesticides residues. It was observed that during 1976-80, more than 90 per cent of the sample contained levels of DDT and HCH higher than the maximum residue limit. Even 15 per cent of the samples collected from the PAU dairy contained DDT and beta HCH residues above the tolerance limit (ICMR, 1993). The levels of DDT contamination came down from 0.20 per in 1976-80 to 0.11 ppm 1986-87 and that of HCH from 0.13 to 0.07 ppm during the same period, which shows that there is considerable decline in contamination level of DDT and HCH in milk. However, the residues still continue to be excessive. Quite a number of studies also brought out the presence of high quantity of residues of DDT and HCH in butter desi ghee and infant formula.  

Animal Feed. The contamination of milk and milk products results from intake of feed contaminated with insecticides. High level of DDT (0.37 ppm) and HCH (0.67 ppm) found in wheat straw may be due to their usage in malaria control programme. A recent study has also shown that out of 105 samples of different animal feeds, 80 and 100 per cent were contaminated with DDT and HCH respectively. The magnitude of DDT and beta HCH contamination exceeded the tolerance levels in about 35 per cent of the samples. Wheat straw contained 0.36 and 0.13 ppm of DDT and HCH, respectively.

Soil. The contamination of soil has environmental hazards for plants and animals. The studies conducted in 1978 revealed that 85 per cent of the soil samples collected from agriculture and non-agriculture lands of Punjab and Chandigarh had detected amount of pesticide residues. The residues of DDT were the most common; the maximum level found was 1.63 ppm. The highest mean level of DDT (0.78 ppm) was found in cotton growing areas due the recommendation of DDT against cotton pests during the period of study.

Since most of the pesticides which leave high amount of residues such as DDT, HCH etc. have banned, the pesticide residue scenario is likely to change. Most of the organ phosphorus and synthetic parathyroid are reported to leave residues much below the tolerance levels. However, they cause other environmental problems like insecticide resistance, pest resurgence, secondary pest outbreaks, etc. in Punjab, he maximum use of pesticides is made on cotton crop. The garments prepared from cotton sprayed with insecticides do not find favour with the importing countries and may be rejected under purview of "Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures" clause of GATT Treaty.

It is worrisome  that traces of   Persistent Organic Pollutants -POPs are found at large in Punjab. This is slow poisoning of Punjab. POPs are banned in majority of countries. POPs are known Endocrine disrupters and the main reason behind neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, reproductive disorders, testicular cancer,   and congenital malformations. Even the motherhood is challenged by POPs through foetotoxicity.

Depleting ground water

Nearly 90% area of the state is facing a problem of falling water table. Most of this area falls in the central part of Punjab. In 1964 the entire area Central Punjab was having water table above 15 feet depth. With the inception of green revolution in the sixties the water table started declining and the area having water table below 30 feet depth has increased from 3% in 1973 to 90% in 2004. During 1993-2003, the average fall of water table in the central Punjab was 2 feet per year. However, in some of the areas, the fall of water table is even more than 3 feet per year. The maximum fall of water table was 3 feet/yr in Moga district followed by Sangrur and Patiala (2.3 feet/yr). In the central part, out of 70 blocks, in 40 blocks the water table has gone down below 50 feet depth and in these blocks submersible motors are being installed to replace the centrifugal pumps. The worst affected districts are Sangrur and Moga where water table has gone down below 50 feet depth in 12 blocks out of 13 and in 4 out of 5 respectively. Similarly in Patiala, out of 10 blocks, water table has gone down below 50 feet depth in 8 blocks. In Jalandhar and Ludhiana the affected blocks are 6 in each case. At present 30% area of the central Punjab has water table below 70 feet depth. It is projected than by 2023 in central Punjab the water table depth will be below 70 feet in 66 % area 9 and below 100 feet in 34% area and below 130 feet in 7% area. Correspondingly in each district the per cent area below 70 feet depth will be 100% I Moga and Sangrur, 80% in Patiala, 70% in Ludhiana, 60% in Kapurthala and Jalandhar.  

Impact of falling water table 

Owing to declining water table, water has to be pumped from lower depths that have greater energy requirements. For example, lifting of water from 40 feet depth requires 1.5 times more power than needed to lift war from 20 feet depth. This has increased energy requirements by 20% by 2005 as compared to 2001. Similarly, by 2023 the energy requirement would further increase by 20% as compared to 2005. At present about 35% of electricity generation in the state is being used for agriculture and that too at the cost of industrial development. Transfer of more power from industrial/domestic sector to agriculture sector areas would not be possible. Another implication of declining water table is that submersible pumps, which will cost about Rs.5000 crores to Punjab farmers, are replacing most of centrifugal pumps.

In addition, quality of ground water is also an important parameter for irrigation. It varies with rainfall pattern and depth. The quality of ground water is interpreted in terms of salinity (electrical conductivity) and sodicity (residual sodium carbonate) hazards. The ground water quality deteriorates (becomes saline/sodic) as we move from Shiwalik foot-hills from north-east to south-west direction.

The deep waters in the south-west part are saline/sodic and unfit for irrigation. In a recent ground water quality survey in Nihalsingh Wala block of Moga district it has been observed that as tube well depth was increased from 140 to 240 feet the number of fit water samples has decreased from to 51% in 1977 to 28% in 2004. During the same period the number of unit water samples has increased from 11% to 29% and of marginal water quality increased from 38% to 43%.  

Out of total geographical area of 5033 thousand hectares, about 84 per cent is the net area sown. The uncultivable and barren land which was 208 thousand hectares in 1970-71 and only 96 thousand hectares in 1980-81, further declined to 86 thousand hectares in1995-96. Similarly, more and more of fallow land have been brought under plough making more and more area available for cultivation. Since the maximum possible area has already been brought under plough, very little scope is left for increasing agriculture production through horizontal expansion in area.  

The Punjab state having just 2.98 per cent of cultivated area and 4.2 per cent of cropped area accounts for about 10 per cent of the total fertilizer consumption of the country. The use of fertilizer started in the early sixties and picked up during sixties and seventies. The state is using 1.01 million tones of nitrogen, 256 thousand tones of phosphorus and 16 thousand tones of potassic nutrients. One per hectare basis, the use went up to 163.9 kg of nutrients in 1955-56. It may be seen from Table 10, that the consumption of nitrogen is increasing but that of phosphorus and potash is one the decline. The fertilizer price policy has been mainly responsible for this change. The price of phosphates and potassic fertilizers increased at a faster rate than that of nitrogen. The response of crops to nitrogen has also been obviously higher than the other nutrients. There fore, this is likely to disturb the balance of nutrients in the soil.

The high nutritional requirements of paddy and wheat, the major crops in rotation  have exhausted the soil of nutrients leading to higher and higher doses of major nutrients especially nitrogen leading  in increase in the cost of  production.  

Deficiency of micro-nutrients like zinc, sulphur, manganese and iron has appeared even on the other crops in rotation raised on paddy soils. Further, the standing water and burning of paddy straw restrict the aerobic activities in the soil. The puddling of field for paddy has disturbed soil texture and structure. Therefore, in the traditional paddy growing areas, there is deceleration in the growth of productivity of not only rice but also of some other crops.

But is anyone listening? The Punjab government is aware of the colossal tragedy and in order to meet the growing criticism from the environmentalists and the public, it constituted high powered committees in June 2005. These had not met even once till September 2005. Could governments be more criminal?    

Umendra Dutt, a relentless fighter for sustainable growth is Director of Kheti Virasat, Giddarbaha, Punjab [India]