F O C U S

New Land Wars: Special Economic Zones
Gobind Thukral

Faced with growing opposition, the United Progressive Alliance government has drastically limited the size and use of special economic zones (SEZs) that are meant to attract foreign direct investments and promote exports. The government has imposed limits on the size of the SEZs, called for an end to compulsory acquisition of land from farmers by provincial governments and proposed a new scheme to provide livelihood to one member of each family that loses land for the setting up an industrial or a commercial venture.

No SEZ can have more than 5,000 hectares of land those entrepreneurs whishing to setup these zones shall have to make their own effort to purchase land from the farmers. The government according to its latest thinking would protect this acquired land from the intervention of courts by enacting a law that would provide setting up land tribunals. By now the central government has sanctioned 300 such zones.

Remember the Congress President Sonia Gandhi telling the country in Nanital last year and later the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram telling us that the country would be soon losing a whooping Rs one lakh crore in tax concessions alone in these tax free zones. Opposition within the ruling alliance apart, widespread and sometimes violent protests in different parts of the country against the acquisition of agricultural land for establishing SEZs and other projects were making their kind of impact. The most violent was last month at Nandigram in West Bengal, a state ruled by farmer friendly Left government with the CPM in command. Here 15 peasants died in clashes with the police trying to defend their land from being taken over for a chemical complex. There had been protests all over including Haryana and Punjab. There is strong protest movement in Sangrur district over the land acquisition by the government for the Trident group.

So far each successive government has treated shabbily the farmers while acquiring land either for public projects for private industrialization. Provincial governments had been acquiring land for SEZs using legal provisions enacted during British colonial rule over a century ago.  Years ago, I met a farmer whose land Chandigarh administration had acquired and later sold to a rich man to set up a cinema.  Sons of this farmer had wasted the compensation they got and he was now working as a labourer lifting bricks on his head at the very land he owned proudly owned. In the name of fast economic development, this sacrifice by the peasantry is considered too insignificant to be noted. No longer now. Popular discontent over farm land being acquired for commercial ventures would not die down in a hurry.

There are now two main changes. One is the size which cannot exceed 5,000 hectares and is applicable with retrospective effect and includes at least two SEZs in Maharashtra and Haryana. These are planned by one of India's largest private corporate groups, Reliance Industries.

Another significant decision of the group of ministers was to impose a limit of 50 percent of the land area of a SEZ that could be could be converted for non-commercial activities. This was in response to criticism that the SEZs would be "misused" for real estate. . In addition to the compensation, one member of each displaced family would have get employment in the project. Smart, rent-seeking industrialists could always acquire large tracts of land for real estate development in the name of establishing industrial or commercial ventures. Asian Development Bank has criticised the Indian government for offering "unnecessary" tax incentives to developers of SEZs. These incentives could open loopholes for tax evasion and undermine investments in firms located outside the SEZs.

Basic questions like land reforms in reverse whereby rights to land had been transferred from underprivileged sections to affluent business elites still remain answered. Also, how would the government ensure that farmers are not cheated by the clever developers? Already each district in the country has some such cases of the poor farmers being duped by land mafia and industrialists. Government is half clever by washing its hands off as far as acquisition is concerned as it was politically proving very volatile. But how about the cheating and thuggery. And, now what kind of land acquisition law the Rural Development ministry is going to enact in next month is any body’s guess.

At one level there is every chance of the tax concessions being misused as many industrialists would just relocate their industrialists and may sell the product in the local market showing them as exported. Our traders are notorious for inventing new ways to cheat the public exchequer. Relocation has happened in case of Baddi complex in Himachal.

A landowning family may be quite willing to sell its land, but what happens to the livelihood of those who are working on the land or so-called share-croppers?"  Problem of rural unemployment in India is an enormous and complex and this would only increase with this kind of policy. There is no need to follow china where discontent is growing and causing trouble to the ruling Communist Party.

The Economic Survey released last month has talked about,” The challenge ahead lies in appropriately sequencing to sustain the popular support for reforms and reconciling the conflicting interests of the various forms of constituencies.

The survey also admitted there were fears of large-scale land acquisition by developers, leading to the displacement of farmers with meagre compensation. Concerns were also expressed over SEZs leading to uneven growth, thereby aggravating regional inequalities.

In fact, these problems have some simple answers provided the government is honest towards the aam admi and his needs. The government could acquire land for setting up industries and all industries can come up in the air. A simple solution suggested is not to provide jobs to the landowners, but to make them partners in the projects.  There should be no outright purchase of acquisition. The land should be given on say 50 year lease to be revised after that. Part of the lease money should be paid in cash and the rest should form part of the equity in the projects and the farmers get monthly payments. Do not oust them, make them happy partners. The industrialists would have ready stakeholders instead of g disgruntled land owners who would be deprived for ever of not only their land but their way of life.

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Baisakhi: the birth of the pure
Democratisation of Sikh Society
Jagpal S. Tiwana

THE Punjabi society is comparatively free from the caste biases that are otherwise so widely prevalent in rest of India. A story 'Where people vote for charisma not caste' in the Indian Express of January 27, 2007 on the eve of Punjab elections reported Punjabi voters paying little attention to the castes of the candidates (1). This transformation can be traced back to Sikh Gurus who rejected caste distinctions and preached universal brotherhood.

Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, refused to recognize the caste divisions, which created such disparities and exploitation in society.  In one of his famous hymns he says:

Fakkar jati fakkar nao
sabhna jia ika chao

“Worthless is caste, and worthless is an exalted name;

For all mankind there is but a single refuge.”

Guru Nanak instituted Sangat, Pangat and Langar (mixed congregations and mixed community dining) so that people of all castes could sit and eat together and forget their high or low status.  In this context, Dr. W.H. McLeod remarks “There can be little doubt that the institution (of Langar) was developed as a deliberate attack on caste distinctions.” 2.  Guru Nanak started the tradition of addressing his followers as Bhai (brothers) as for example, Bhai Mardana, Bhai Lehna and later Bhai Gurdas.

The third Guru Amar Das was also quite vocal against the caste system.  He declared:
car varn akhai sabh kai
Brahm bind te sabh opit hoi
“The Hindu say there are four castes:
 But they all spring from One seed.”

The fourth Guru Ram Das exhorted his followers to forget caste and remember that the only true nobility is his holiness:

brahman khatri sud vasi
car varn car asarmah hi
jo har dhavai sa pardhan
There are four castes and four traditional stages in life.
But he who meditates on God, is supreme.”

In Adi Granth, the fifth Guru, gave equal status to the hymns of the low caste Bhagats - Sadhna, a Muslim butcher, Kabir; a weaver; Ravidas, a chamar, and Sain, a barber - along with the hymns of Gurus and other Bhagats. Guru Ji got four doors built to Harimandar Sahib, a symbolic gesture to welcome people of all castes from all directions.

The sixth Guru Hargobind put the Khatris of his own high caste under the authority of the lower caste Jats.  The Persian author of Dabistan-i-Mazahib visited Kiratpur in the forties of the 17th century and noted that, although the Gurus had been Khatris “they made the Khatris subservient to the Jats who are the lowest among Vaishyas.  Thus most of the great masands of the Gurus are Jats.” 3

It was, however, Guru Gobind Singh who brought the campaign against caste distinction to a grand finale.  On March 30, 1699 at Anandphur Sahib on Baisakhi day he founded a new order of the Khalsa brotherhood, for members who would abjure their castes and would be all equal as “children” of the Guru.  The first five converts, the Panj Payares, were all from different castes.  Except for one, Daya Sigh, who was a Khatri of high caste, other four were from lower castes. All five of them were asked to take Amrit [nectar] from the one same bata (bowl). According to S.M. Latif, Guru then admonished thus to the newly initiated Sikhs, "There must be no caste among you. And you all must all be equal, no man greater than the other...All must eat from the same table and drink from the same cup; caste must be forgotten. (4).

At Nander before his death, the tenth Guru put an end to personal leadership and authorised Sangat to take decisions collectively in the presence of holy Guru Granth.

According to the Bhatt Vahi Talauda Pargana Jind and Bhat Vahi Bhadson, pargana Thanesar, the Guru passed on the spiritual Guruship to the Adi Granth and transferred the corporate Guruship to the Khalsa. (5). Guru merged his identity in the Sangat, and made it sovereign.

The new order of the Khalsa with its five distinctive symbols appealed immensely to the Punjabi peasantry who had inherited from their early stage an egalitarian social structure, to which both Hiuen Tsang and Chachanama bear testimony.  Prof. Irfan Habib pertinently observes in this context “Sikhism which rejected in theory the earlier system of caste and whose Gurus in practice raised Jats to the highest positions without hesitation, could not fail but to win over and command the loyalty of large sections from amongst the Jats. 6

The egalitarian emphasis in the teaching of the Sikh Gurus considerably influenced the subsequent course of Sikh history.  The institutions of Sangat, Pangat and Guru ka Langar had a levelling and democratising effect upon the followers of Sikh faith. In the Sarbat Khalsa assemblies in the 18th century, decisions were taken collectively. “The organising of Dal Khalsa and the republican nature of the Sikh Misals during the eighteenth century,” remarks Dr. Ganda Singh, “also had their birth in the Sangats.” 7

A Sikh, however rich or powerful he may be, if violates Sikh traditions, is summoned at the Akal Takhat to explain his conduct and punished if necessary. In history such explanations have been sought from such powerful men as Ranjit Singh, sovereign of Punjab, Zail Singh, President of India, Surjit Singh Barnala, Chief Minister of Punjab and Buta Singh, Home Minister of India.

However, under Ranjit Singh and in the second half of the 19th century, Sikh society started to show signs of decay.  Old Hindu practices began to creep into the Sikh society.  To stem this tide, the Singh Sabha Movement came into being (1873).  It reclaimed Sikhism from a state of ossification and inertia and inspired what Prof. Harbans Singh calls a “Sikh Renaissance” 8.

A study of the census reports from 1881 to 1921 shows that Sikh society regained the egalitarian appeal, which it had lost.  Between 1901 and 1911, the number of Sikhs had increased by 37% although the number of Hindus increased by only 15% and Muslims remained almost unaltered.

The great beneficiaries of the Singh Sabha Movement were the Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikhs. According to Marenco, 80% of the Mazhabi Sikhs in 1911 dropped their traditional menial pursuits, turned to agriculture, the army or labour in industry 9. Although the Jat Sikhs retained their numerical superiority (66%), by 1921, the Ramdasia Sikhs (5.9%) had become the second largest group among the Sikhs, and had superseded the Ramgarhia Sikhs (5%) who were number two in 1881.

The Gurdwara Reform Movement of the early twenties continued the momentum and further strengthened the democratic and the egalitarian tendencies in Sikh society.  Sikhs threw out the priests who discriminated against the so-called untouchable Sikhs in the Gurdwaras.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) founded in 1920 to manage the historic Gurdwaras of Punjab is a democratic body in constitution.  Now it has a house of 190 members, 170 of them are elected directly by the Sikh populace quinquennially. Every Sikh, rich or poor, irrespective of caste or status can vote in the elections.  Similarly Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) founded in 1971 to manage the Sikh historic shrines in Delhi has 55 members, 46 are elected directly by popular vote every four years. Even in ordinary Gurdwaras, the Sangat elects the management.

It is, however, not correct to claim that Sikh society is a completely casteless society. Sikhs still generally marry within their castes and use caste surnames.  But the democratic practices and institutions initiated by the Sikh Gurus have played a great role in bringing about some transformation in Sikh society.  Khatri, Jat, Ramgarhia, and Ahluwalia castes are now more or less equal in status in the Sikh hierarchy and inter caste marriages among them are taking place. , Kharak Singh, the most outstanding figure of the Gurdwara Reform Movement, was an Ahluwalia Sikh.  Giani Zail Singh, a Ramgariah Sikh, rose to be the President of India. The Mazhabi and the Ramdasia Sikhs have also shown a noticeable upward mobility in their status.  Buta Singh, a former Home Minister of India, is from the scheduled castes.

Thus the message of the tenth Guru on Baisakhi day in 1699 has exercised a profound influence on the whole subsequent evolution of Sikh society.

References:

1. http://www.indianexpress.com/story/21856.html

2. W. H. Macleod, Guru Nanak and the Sikh, Oxford University Press, London, 1968, p.20.

3. Quoted by Irfan Habib in “Jats of Punjab and Sind” in Essays in Honour of Dr. Ganda Singh, Punjabi University, Patiala, 1976, p.98.

4. S.M. Latif, History of the Punjab, Eurasia Publishing House, New Delhi, 1964

5. Sangat Singh, The Sikhs in History, Singh Brothers, Amritsar, 2005, p.76

6. Quoted by Irfan Habib in “Jats of Punjab and Sind” in Essays in Honour of Dr. Ganda Singh, Punjabi University, Patiala, 1976, p.100.

7. Ganda Singh, Guru Nanak’s Views on Sikh History, The Sikh Courier, Autumn 1969, London, p.5

8. Harbans Singh, The Heritage of the Sikhs, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1964, p.147.

9. Ethne K Marenco, Transformation of Sikh Society, Ha Pi Press, Portland, 1974, p.185.

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Feudalism, fascism and militarism
Ishtiaq Ahmed

A dear friend and a faithful reader of my weekly columns, Brigadier (retd) Yasub Ali Dogar, who has served as the Mayor of Lahore-- in which capacity he probably showed the keenest interest in making Lahore green and clean with very cost-effective home-grown technology to help, but was not able to get much help from anywhere-- has posed a puzzle which I am sure we all have been wondering about.

The puzzle is the following: Pakistan seems to be facing a political crisis again. But Italy and Japan have had more frequent changes of government than Pakistan. Both Taiwan and South Korea have been ruled by corrupt military dictatorships. Yet all four are more progressive, transparent, dynamic and far more economically developed than us. How do we explain that?

I shall proffer a plausible solution here. The first thing I notice about all four successful cases of development-- Italy, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea-- is that they abolished feudalism or big landlordism before they embarked upon economic development after the Second World War. Italy and Japan had been under fascist rule which led them into a most destructive war which ended in defeat but also a rupture with the fascist past.

In the case of Taiwan and South Korea, indeed corrupt and authoritarian regimes were present for a long time, but land reforms had already done away with feudalism in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Moreover, both countries faced strong competition and perceived military threat from China and North Korea respectively. In such circumstances they had no option but to prove themselves better than their rivals. The result was that corruption was attacked in a determined manner, economic development was adopted with great vigour and democracy introduced gradually. They sought military protection from the Americans to take care of the military threat.

Now to the Pakistan situation. Here, feudalism has survived and the landowners continue to represent a hierarchical social order and value system. This keeps the vast majority of people in the countryside under their tutelage through both economic and extra-economic coercion. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that we have a very strong Islamist lobby with its strongest support base among the lower middle class and unemployed young men-- the petty-bourgeois and lumpen proletariat that historically provided the shock troopers of fascism and Nazism. Such an ideology represents an anti-modern, anti-liberal, anti-democratic, anti-human rights, anti-female equality, anti-non-Muslims and now, an anti-dissenting sects content as well. It is important to distinguish it from Islam as the religion and moral code of Muslims. Conflating or confusing the two is unwarranted.

Islamism is a political ideology and not a spiritual system. It generates a moribund mindset that harks back to a golden age that serves no useful purpose in the present, except to obfuscate the disconsolate reality around us. Nothing can be more stultifying and paralysing for a nation or civilisation than to be intoxicated with the past to such an extent that it cannot relate to the present in a sober and realistic manner.

Fascism develops when the landowning class forms an alliance with a militant petty-bourgeois movement or, in other words, a movement of the lower middle classes and lumpen proletariat in order to prevent democratic forces in creating an open, liberal, egalitarian and human rights-respecting political culture.

On March 27 niqab-wearing armed women of the Jamia Hafsa at Lal Masjid in Islamabad, very aptly described by someone as the Lal Brigade, raided the premises of an alleged madam who runs a brothel, arresting her and her family and forced a confession from her under duress that she was indeed guilty of running the sex trade. They have subsequently announced that they will run Sharia courts and impose punishments on offenders.

Ostensibly such an action was meant to uphold the dignity of women, but the way it was carried out it had all the hallmarks of brute methods always employ by the fascists to override the normal legal procedure. By taking the law in their own hands they hope to terrify people into submission. It is also a typical way of demonstrating that the state and its authority are null and void.

Pakistani writers and scholars do not usually have a sound background on comparative history and think that something aberrational and temporary is taking place these days. The fact is that there are striking similarities between what has been happening in Pakistan in recent times and the way the Italian fascists and German Nazis employed street power and mob terror preparatory to the ultimate objective of capturing state power.

Now, finally a few words about competition and perceived threat from an external source. Pakistan's biggest folly has been to believe that competition with India can be kept in balance by purely military responses. This policy dictated by the so-called national security paradigm is doomed as it is single track and one-dimensional. India is engaged in economic development and is doing very well. Wherever it abolished feudalism and carried out radical land reforms it has done well. No doubt a Hindu fascist lobby exists at all levels of Indian society, but the consensus on democracy remains stable and has not been subverted despite several attempts.

The fact is that corruption is rampant in Pakistan, but military rule has made it well nigh impossible to do anything about it. Transparent government is not possible without some sort of free and fair elections and civilian institutions enjoying power and authority to punish those who sustain corruption. The armed forces have to return strictly to the role the state needs them to perform: to maintain a credible defence against external aggression.

We in fact need to look for ways and means of replacing narrow military competition with India with an all-round strategy of a positive engagement. An efficient way to achieve this would be to develop SAARC as a common market where member states compete with each other as well as collaborate and co-operate in setting up industrial and commercial ventures.

Now if we recapitulate the argument proffered for making Pakistan a progressive state and society we have to do the following: abolish feudalism, defeat Islamism politically as well as theologically so that Islam and other faiths continue to flourish as spiritual and ethical norms, adopt a comprehensive programme of economic development and make a determined effort to lay the foundations of genuine civilian rule.

[The writer is professor of political science at the University of Stockholm, Sweden.
Email: Ishtiaq.Ahmed@statsvet.su.se] COURTESY http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=51088

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China and Japan Forging Asia’s Century
Dr Sawraj Singh

THE Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s current visit to Japan is one of the most important steps towards making the 21st century “Asia’s Century.” Prime Minister Wen Jiabao first went to South Korea. China, South Korea, and Japan, the three countries of North East Asia, are the biggest industrial and economic powers of Asia and are making their mark on the world economy. These three countries are the key players who have transformed the 21st century into Asia’s century. China and Japan have changed the equations between the East and the West. The East is rising, and the uneven relations between the East and the West of the last two centuries, and the Western domination of the world are going to end soon.

The relations between the two countries cooled down during Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s rule. He visited the Yasukuni shrine; this really enraged the Chinese, who considered this a provocative act. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has tried to improve relations with China. After becoming Prime Minister, China was the first country he visited—giving a clear signal that he considers China as one of the most important countries for the Japanese. Japan is China’s largest trading partner. Prime Minister Abe realizes that China and Japan have complementary economies. Japan needs China as much as China needs Japan. Prime Minister Abe’s visit to China was an icebreaker; Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s visit to Japan is an ice-thawer. China-Japan relations have come a long way in the last thirty-five years, when diplomatic relations were restored.

Since the year 2000, this is the first visit of a Chinese high-ranking official to Japan. This is the first time that a Chinese Prime Minister has addressed the Japanese Parliament. He will also be meeting the Japanese Emperor. Japan wants to send a strong signal of how much importance is given to this trip. Prime Minister Abe will visit China later in the year and the Chinese President Hu Jin Tao will be visiting Japan next year.

The relations between the two countries will develop based upon the principles of equality, mutual respect, and peaceful coexistence. The two countries are considering joint projects to develop resources. They will cooperate in the offshore development of energy resources in the East China Sea. There have been some differences regarding the ownership of these energy resources but the two countries are taking a more conciliatory approach. Both  the countries want peace in the Korean Peninsula and want to keep it nuclear-free. Japan is very serious about North Korea developing nuclear weapons and feels that China has more influence over North Korea than any other country. Japan is also aware of the growing Chinese influence in the third world, particularly in Africa and Latin America. The strategic alliance with Russia also gives China a great edge. Japan is also keenly aware that China has become the leading power in Asia. All these factors made Japan change its attitude toward China.

 China also realizes Japan is very important for it if it wants to counter the efforts to exclude and isolate China. The West may try to use Japan, India, and Australia to contain China. China wants to convince Japan and India that their future lies with the rest of Asia. Trade is also a very important consideration in maintaining relations. The western share in the world economy and trade is declining, while the Eastern share continues to rise. China’s relations with South Korea are a good example for Japan and India to follow. As the trade between the two countries rose, the percentage of the South Koreans who felt that China is the most important country for South Korea kept on rising.

There are some historical issues, particularly the Japanese invasion of China during the Second World War. This left deep scars in the Chinese psyche. Most of the Chinese people realize that the relationship with Japan is too important to let history come in its way. However, they expect Japan to show sensitivity to Chinese feelings. Mr. Abe seems willing to show an understanding of the Chinese sentiments. China and Japan, the two leading countries of Asia, have to play their historical roles in transforming the twenty-first century into Asia’s Century.

[Sawraj Singh, M.D. F.I.C.S is Chairman, Washington State Network For Human Rights and lives in Ellensburg, WA 98926 USA]

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