F O C U S

Disproportionate Assets Case Haunts Badal
Court Orders Framing of Charges

ON March 9 when a Ropar court ordered filing of a charge sheet against Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, in the disproportionate assets case pending there for the last three years, it was a bomb shell for the newly elected Akali BJP government. The blow was indeed had and its political ramifications adverse.

Special judge G.S. Saran also ordered framing of charges against his wife Surinder Kaur, the MP-son Sukhbir Singh Badal and others for having disproportionate assets amounting to over Rs 78.39 crore. The cases against the Badals and their associates were filed during the reign of Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress Government.

Political morality would demand Badal to step down immediately and let a fair trial proceed. But in India, the political principles have taken a backseat. If Badal’s rival Amarinder Singh was in the same position, he would run a campaign to seek his resignation and so would have the BJP. In fact, the latter party has been demanding resignation of several central ministers when charges of criminal nature were framed against them. No longer so. Congress opposed that demand and is in the forefront seeking resignation.

Yet the moral authority to govern and focus on the promises made to the electorate would take a backseat.  Badal do his utmost to get out of the situation as if the charges are maintained by the court, this would not eclipse Badals’ political career, but spend some years in jail. It has happened s to some powerful big politicians and could happen in this case too.

And despite protracted efforts by some lawyers in the prosecution team and the defence, the special judge Saran also dismissed the plea by both for further probe in the case in view of the Income Tax Department reports submitted by Badals, which reportedly gave them a clean chit in the case. The judge has ordered that charges should be framed under all eight clauses cited by the prosecution in its proposed charge sheet, which was submitted by special public prosecutor A.P.S. Deol.

Terming their application as premature, the judge also dismissed the plea of Badal’s counsel to declare the status of the witnesses who were public servants as accused in the case.

Pronouncing his order in a jam-packed court in the evening, the special judge ordered the framing of charges against the Badals and six other accused under Sections 13(1) (a), (d), (e) and 13 (2) 8, 9, 10 and 14 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Charges under Section 120-B were also framed against Jagnandan Singh in the case.

 Badal, members of his family and another accused Gurpinder Singh Garewal were not present in the court, six accused who were Narottan Singh Dhillon, Nirabhjeet Singh, Pavitar Singh, Darshan Singh, Harbans Lal were present.

The accused present in court signed a copy of the charges framed against them. As for the Badal family, judge Saran directed them to be present in the court on the next date of hearing on March 13 to sign a copy of the charges framed against them.

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) had filed a challan against the Badals for accumulating assets worth over Rs 78.39 crore, in connivance with other accused, between 1997 and 2002, when Badal was the Chief Minister. Besides the disproportionate assets, he is also charged with other corrupt acts, including the misuse of authority in making postings and transfers of public servants, accepting gratification for government jobs and acquisition of properties in foreign lands.

Under the new dispensation when Badal is not only leads the government, but heads the home vigilance departments finds himself in a bind. Lawyers representing the prosecuting that is the vigilance department had changed their stance and now ere helping the defence. The vigilance has changed its stand on the income tax reports.

While before the elections, both the VB and the prosecution counsel had termed the IT reports, which purportedly give a clean chit to the Badals, as irrelevant and even denying any knowledge of their existence, after the change of government, investigating officer and VB SSP Surinder Pal Singh had informed the court that about the IT reports as also the letters exchanged between the VB and the IT Department.

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Green  Agenda for Sustainable Punjab
Umendra Dutt

THE SAD-BJP government has taken the reins at a very crucial juncture; it can play a historic role by evolving a green agenda to sustain very life in Punjab.  The new government can demonstrate its concerns about the impending ecological and agricultural catastrophe leading to farmer's suicides, depleting natural resources, degraded environment, and intense environmental health crisis posing a serious socio-economic crisis.

The first step is that to bring out its 'Vision Punjab' without any delay. The vision paper should target the issue of ecological and agricultural sustainability. it should be widely circulated in public for discussions to evolve a road map for sustainable  development and environment. The government must work towards a political and social consensus on this Green Agenda so that becomes a participatory programme.

Secondly, another new initiative is the formation of 'Punjab State Environment Commission' as a statuary body with Chief Minister as its Chairman. This Environment Commission, first of its kind in India shall protect the environmental rights of people like to get clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, historical, esthetic, cultural values. It should fix and monitor the environmental duties of the people, as natural resources of Punjab are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. The present generation is mere trustee and it is their duty to conserve it.

The government should establish Cancer Hospital in the Malwa region as promised by Akali Dal in its election manifesto. Since cancer is only one aspect of environmental health catastrophe, there are other dimensions also. There is need to establish Punjab Institute for Environmental Health Research and Studies in the Malwa. The proposed institute should be headed by an eminent environmental epidemiologist of the international repute and exposure. The institute shall have Regional Centers in various regions of the State and undertake a widespread and multicentric environmental epidemiological mapping through an extensive study and participatory research. This study is already recommended by PGIMER –PPCB study on cancer.

The Environmental health crisis of such intensity can only be mitigated by large scale community intervention and participation thus the new government should form a Environmental Health Mitigation Task Force under the aegis of Institute for Environmental Health with majority participation from NGOs and farmer groups.

The south western Malwa now facing severe environmental health crisis should be treated as the toxic hot spot. The government must declare a state of ecological and environmental health emergency. For this specially drawn plans are needed with  focus on the natural and organic farming, with adequately allocated funds for the targeted problem.

The SAD-BJP government should evolve special support systems to promote sustainable agriculture practices of natural and organic farming. The government should take lead to implement the recommendations made by Task Force on Organic Farming headed by Dr. Kunwarji Bhai Jadav constituted by NDA government in centre, which brought out its report in November 2001.

The new government should provide incentives to farmers for community level production and supply of natural and organic inputs and produce as it is offered by some other states. The Government should also make sure that farmers get proper price for their natural and organic produce. Of course there is Punjab State Organic Farming Council is already working in this direction. But, its entire thrust is export orientated certainly it will not benefited the farmers of Punjab. More there is wider question that is pesticide free produce is only meant for foreign markets? Do the ordinary citizen of Punjab not have right to get pesticide free stuff? When the data from All India Coordinated Research Project on Pesticidal Residue clearly indicates presence of DDT, HCH and BHC in cereals, milk, butter, fruits, vegetables and even infant formula samples from Punjab and the edibles have residues of other pesticides like Phosphamidon, Quinalphos, Chlorpyriphos, Endosulfan, Malathion, Parathion, Monocrotophos and lindane it is a alarm bell for a devastation in offing. More over the presence of pesticides in blood as detected by Centre for Science and Environment also raises serious questions. CSE report states the presence of cocktail of 6 to 13 pesticides in blood samples. CSE also find organo-chlorine and residues of the newer and so-called 'non-persistent' pesticides – organophosphates in blood. This situation demands that pesticide free food must be first offered to Punjabi people, but Organic Farming Council of Punjab has no vision and commitment in this regard. The new government should take initiative to revamp and reconstitute the organic farming council.

Other critical issue of ecological sustainability is crisis of water resources. Depletion and contamination of water resources and providing safe potable water to the people is one of the most sought after task for the new government in Punjab. The water crisis in Punjab is escalating day by day. In 1984 there were 53 blocks as dark zones, in 1995 they were 84 and in 2005 the figure went up to 108 out of total 138 development blocks in Punjab. Ground water level falling much faster then assumed. In 1973 only 3% area of Punjab has water table below 10 meters, it goes up to 14.9% in 1989, 20% in 1992, and 28% in 1997, 53% in 2000, 76% in 2002 and in 2004 the situation goes beyond expectations when 90% area of Punjab is drawing water from the depth of more then 10 meters.  More over 30% area of Punjab has depth of 20 meters or even more. In 1980 there are 3712 villages identified as drinking water problem villages, this figure went up to 6287 in 1990, and then in year 2000 the number goes as high as 8518 and as of now 11849 villages or habitations out of total 12423 in Punjab are facing drinking water problems.

It is high time to save every drop of water by a participatory community action. Punjab has sufficient amount of rain fall and harnessing the rain water shall revive its empty ground water aquifers. More over the traditional water wisdom could provide potable water to large number of villages in Malwa, where water scarcity has brought doom for the villagers.

The government should make rain water harvesting mandatory in whole of Punjab accept the areas under water logging. To administer this community led initiative, 'Save Water Mission' should be formed with large scale membership of community groups.

Lastly an important aspect of water conservation is State Water Policy. The Punjab has a draft water policy from last two years and it has to be finalized. But, this draft is totally based on National Water Policy which is corporate oriented. The government should redraft state water policy in accordance with water heritage and ethos of Punjab. The government should call open dialogue on water policy and circulate the present draft for  public participation.

Author is Executive Director of Kheti Virasat Mission, Jaitu, Faridkot, Punjab. : 9872682161,: umendradutt@gmail.com)

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United Kingdom: MPs for all-elected Lords

ON March 10, 2007 British House of Common voted to sweep away 1,000 years of Parliamentary history as they passed by a huge margin a landmark motion calling for an all-elected House of Lords as a cold night descended on the British isle, the fate of those who wanted to buy peerage for money or those who inherit their peerage from their ancestors was sealed. The House called for an all-elected House of Lords. This gives the upper house greater legitimacy.

They voted by 337 to 224, a majority of 113, for an all-elected upper chamber after a series of votes on the various options for reform. On a free vote, many Cabinet members also voted for 100 per cent of the Lords to be elected MPs also backed a plan for an upper house that is 80 per cent elected, with one in four peers appointed, but by a much smaller majority. They tremendously rejected conciliation options, including a half-elected, half-appointed upper house.

Pro-reform MPs were jubilant in the lobbies last night as news of the vote was announced. "It was like body surfing in the aye lobby," said one. But the vote was seen by many as a "train wreck, part two", with the vote for a radical all-elected Lords threatening to push reform into the buffers.

Jack Straw, the Leader of the Commons, gave triumphant thumbs up sign as the first vote for reform passed. He said: "This is a historic step forward on an issue which has been a matter of debate for decades. The House of Commons has broken the deadlock. It is a dramatic result in the history of the British Parliament. I am delighted that MPs of all parties have come together to signal the way forward."

These votes are not binding and represent an attempt to gauge support for reform. Peers will vote on options for reform next week before ministers consider the next steps forward with a cross-party group of MPs and peers. Ministers plan to draw up a draft Bill outlining the detailed plans for reform.

Prime Minister Tony Blair voted for 50 per cent of the Lords to be elected but abstained on the other votes. His successor Gordon Brown voted in favour of 80 per cent to be elected but abstained on the vote for 100 per cent to be elected.

The motion now forms the basis of legislation to end the reform of the Lords which started in 1999 when the Government removed the bulk of hereditary peers. yet long delays could be there  before proposals became law.

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The terrorist within
Ishtiaq Ahmed

THE last couple of weeks have seen terrorism acquire proportions that must begin to be unbearable for Pakistanis. A doctor shot dead for bringing the polio vaccine to remote rural areas in the NWFP, a woman minister shot dead at point blank range by a fanatic for allegedly not wearing proper Islamic dress (whatever it means) and then potential suicide bombers blown to smithereens in Chichawatni by the same device they were carrying on a bike to strike some target: and one wonders who is no longer on the hit lists.

These brutal crimes occurred a few days after suicide bombers had blown up 15 persons, including a senior civil judge, in a court in Quetta, and an earlier attack had taken place at Islamabad Airport causing several casualties. These I call acts of terrorism derivative of an ideological-political conviction. There are deeper, more culture-oriented types of terrorism such as honour killing and karo kari that have become more frequent.

The theoretical literature on terrorism is now extensive, but one should avoid reading too much of it because it would be natural to become paranoid knowing that all the different types of terrorists -- the lone operator (very often one with pathological misogynist convictions), the highly-motivated ideological terrorists who would kill in the name of nation, God and race, the so-called freedom fighters who would blow up a market place full of poor peasants selling their vegetables and customers trying to find a cheap deal for themselves -- are on the prowl in Pakistan.

All Muslims are not terrorists and suicide bombers, but Muslims, especially Pakistanis, are on an average more likely to be in the headlines for some brutal act of terrorism. The exception is of course Iraq, where foreign occupation may be partly blamed for sectarian killings. I find absolutely no reason for so much violence in Pakistan.

The late Pakistani prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was sentenced to death by a divided supreme court on charges of having entered into a conspiracy to assassinate a political opponent. Such a verdict was purported to convey the message that the life of a citizen was so precious that even an elected prime minister could not be given immunity if found guilty of being involved in such a crime. He was ostensibly hanged to convey to the world that Pakistan had a zero-tolerance on murder.

But Pakistani ulema are the most notorious for issuing fatwas that goad on their fanatical followers to kill alleged blasphemers, NGO workers, women activists and all those they believe are working against Islam and Pakistan. The state does not have laws at hand to charge such men with conspiracy to kill. Ghulam Sarwar who shot dead the woman minister of social work of the Punjab, Mrs Zille Huma Usman, on February 20, 2007 had already been put on trial for murdering six so-called call girls and even had intentions of killing former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. How come the courts never found reliable evidence to convict a serial killer?

The latest culture-oriented terrorism known as karo kari prevalent in Sindh took place in Sanghar, interior Sindh, where two uncles killed their nieces because they were allegedly seen in the company of alien men in a banana orchard. They were hacked to pieces and buried without a religious funeral.

I think there is a causal relationship between General Ziaul Haq's Islamisation measures which gave us the Hudood and blasphemy laws and the so-called law of evidence that effectively reduced the testimony in court given by a woman to half in worth as that given by a man.

In the 1980s and 1990s several Christians were gruesomely killed by fanatics allegedly for having blasphemed against Islam. One of them in Faisalabad was a school teacher, Nemat Ahmar. He was also a noted Punjabi poet and writer. He was stabbed to death by a young fanatic called Farooq on January 6, 1992. Niamat Ahmar's old friend, Masood Qamar, himself a noted poet, who lives in Stockholm, described the young Christian teacher as a very fine human being fully conscious of his social responsibilities who would never show such indiscretion as to blaspheme against the Prophet. His gruesome murder was motivated by sheer religious fanaticism coupled with a desire to get his job. The culprit Farooq was released later.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has been providing evidence every year in its annual reports of how Hindu girls in Sindh are abducted and forced to convert to Islam and Ahmadis and Christian places of worship are set ablaze by fanatics. It is worth keeping in mind that such crimes against women and minorities began to increase dramatically much before 9/11 or the occupation of Iraq. So, the usual victim-hood argument populist Pakistani scholars put forward to explain the current dismal situation in Pakistan is sheer baloney.

Yet, the fact remains that until the end of the 1960s Pakistan was a fairly liberal society. People were no doubt religious and pious but in a good sense. The only noteworthy violence against minorities was in 1953 when elements in the Punjab Government connived with the ulema in launching the Khatam-e-Nabuwat movement that resulted in the loss of Ahmadi lives and property. At that time the state acted with resolution and crushed that movement.

I remember Ahmadi families who lived in Mozang, Lahore, from where I hail, returned to their homes. Within no time we were playing again with Ahmadi boys and nobody cared about the sectarian differences. The Ahmadi issue was revived by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto again for purely opportunistic reasons. It emboldened the ulema who since then have never hesitated to blackmail the state in adopting their obscurantist agenda.

I am not inclined to believe that Muslim societies are innately violence and terrorism-prone. If that was true we would never have had peace ever since the first group of fanatics killed the venerable pious caliph, Hazrat Usman, in 656 AD. Persistent terrorism is unthinkable without an organisation and powerful agencies being involved in it. The sooner we grasp this point the better it would be for all of us.

The terrorists are now targeting the state and its functionaries as well as their usual objects of hatred: educated and independent women and minorities. Therefore, the state will have to decide which way it wants to proceed. It can either be a modern, rule-of-law oriented entity or the Taliban type of medieval regime will supplant it. There is no middle way between terror and non-violence. Pakistan has to make a choice.

Courtesy: http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=46247

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