Issue 59 Vol III, March 15, 2008
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Issue 59 Vol III, March 15, 2008 |
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F E A T U R E S The role of
intellectuals I don’t know how many times we who write in the public domain feel it is time to wind up and do something else -- perhaps start a career in buying and selling stocks, or float some ingenious business idea in the hope of becoming millionaires overnight, or start growing a long beard, look pious and marry a woman one-third our age.
The fact remains that in all societies men and women of conscience dare to dissociate from the wrong or bad policies of their governments. The only place where no dissent is heard of is where totalitarian or severely authoritarian regimes exist. The last time we heard of any protest in Saudi Arabia was when some Saudi women, taking advantage of the fact that a large number of foreign troops were stationed in their country, started driving cars during the First Gulf War. As far as I remember, they were all punished heavily and the old rule prevailed: women have to cover themselves from head to foot if they step outside their homes and a male escort closely related to them must accompany them all the time. That I focus on Pakistan and not the USA, India or Israel is because I know men and women of conscience in those societies do the same. The way the world is structured and organized, we are all placed in an almost inextricable relationship with the state where we are born and the culture we are raised in. It does not matter if I live in Pakistan or not, but my fundamental concerns will always be about what happens in that country. On the other hand, I have many times condemned the pernicious influence of the caste system, the United States’ imperialistic policies and Israel’s policy of occupation of Palestinian territory. It is nevertheless imperative that we take up our responsibilities to advance a culture of peace, tolerance and human rights with reference to the country in which one was born and grew up. If everybody does that, one day a better world will come about. Yet, it is also important that from time to time one expresses concern for the rights of the oppressed and exploited elsewhere in the world. In 2002 and 2003 millions of people all over the world came out in the streets to protest the invasion of Iraq. It was an expression of genuine internationalism irrespective of religion, nationality, ethnicity or gender. We could not prevent Bush and Blair from launching the invasion, but in the higher court of history their action remains illegal and immoral. It is equally right to protest the oppressive regimes that brutalize people in Saudi Arabia and Iran. I am even willing to say that nothing would be more disastrous for the Middle East than Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Whether it would induce Israel to go to war with Iran or not is beside the point. There is no doubt in my mind that the Sunni Arab world will be up in arms, thus setting in motion another round of nuclear proliferation. Even Turkey can be expected to start thinking in terms of acquiring nuclear weapons. What are needed in the Muslim world are regimes that are democratic and respectful of human rights. Such a need must arise from within Muslim societies, and not through some foreign intervention. Muslim intellectuals have to learn to be self-critical rather than become apologists for outmoded, corrupt and oppressive regimes. Nothing would be more disastrous than writers becoming apologists for the ruling class or the powers that be. [The writer is a professor of political science and a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore. Email: isasia@nus.edu.sg Courtesy News Pakistan]
Second Freedom-1 FORTY per cent of the poor in the world are Indians. Thirty crore Indian’s daily income is less than RS 40. Ten crore Indian families have no source of water at home. Eight crores Indians are homeless. One in every four Indian goes to bed hungry every night. Five crore Indian households have no electricity.
And, 13.3.5 Crore cases are pending in Lower Courts. To clear this back log with the present speed will take 140 years. 2,500 obsolete central laws need to be scraped according to a 1998 Law Commission Report. During the freedom struggle Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh and 120 other martyrs were hanged to death, hundreds were exiled, 2646 were imprisoned in Andeman Nicobar cellular Jail (Kaale Pani) notorious for inhuman repression, thousands other were sent to jails and their property forfeited. Our people fought them well and after a long drawn struggle ultimately succeeded in getting political freedom in 1947. Yet Imagine now Shaheed Bhagat Singh, who laid his life for our freedom, coming alive today and getting to see politicians devouring animal feed, police torturing an innocent, judiciary not punishing criminals, a minister making money out of sacred defence deals, a shrieking girl being raped in a running train. Imagine his plight upon finding administration, judiciary and legislature turning almost 100% corrupt. He certainly did not die for all this. In fact he had dreamt of a different azadi for Indians. |
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The rot starts always from the top. If the top man is fair, those down the line can never dare to stoop that low. Our leadership has collectively failed and has intentionally deceived the nation. Our political freedom has landed in mockery. Democracy is curtailed to the voting right only as single day democracy. It has failed to meet the expectations of people, especially the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, weaker section of society and women. Consequently, people are revolting against the political system, and are looking for alternatives for their emancipation. Emergence of hung parliament and legislatures over the past decade is a manifestation of people’s disenchantment with the political parties and parliamentary democracy. Undue Exploitation of poor especially the tribes, inadequate employment opportunities and failure of good governance has contributed towards resurgence of Naxal Movement in 16 states of India at present. The Contours of the “New World Order” of the 21st Century are already shaped and visible to us. Democratisation and good Governance have been recent addition in the new policy agenda for achieving a sustainable society. A major question confronting the developing community is how to strengthen the civil society in the context of an imperfect state. How to promote basic values, principles and ethics of life. Societies in transition like ours have to rearrange their policies and restart the course of their journey to create a tolerant, humane, democratic, socially just and ecologically sustainable well informed civil Society. In fact few hours before his death Bhagat Singh had written a letter from Lahore Jail to one of his co-revolutionary as under:- “The dream of independent India is always on my mind. How great that day will be when our country men will be able to walk with their head raised high on international level. We will have our own rule, our own constitution. We will be able to talk to them as equals. Future generations will lead and build a nation which will have no high or low, everybody will have means of livelihood and everybody will be equal in the eyes of law. It is true that I will not be able to see this dream with my own eyes.” To translate the above dreams of Shaheed-E-Aazam Bhagat Singh and his co-martyrs into reality there is a need to start 2nd struggle to liberate the nation from all evils through socialism, secularism and democracy in its real essence. A group of dedicated and sincere people have to come forward and demonstrate in practice for service to society and nation, not for power, position or personal benefit so that the coming generations could live with dignity, honor, peace, prosperity and with equality before law. [Continued]
Snowfall forces reclusive
Himalayan pheasant to move to villages Though many rare animal and bird species have recorded a population increase in Jammu and Kashmir over the years, the recent unprecedented snowfall in upper reaches has affected the wildlife adversely. The snowfall has forced the beautiful and reclusive Himalayan pheasant to move close to villages. When snow falls, the wings of pheasants become heavy, so they cannot fly and they just loiter around. Then the sunshine glare causes a blinding effect and they stray into human habitations in search of food. Hundreds of pheasants of different types have come down to human habitations and there is possibility that people might have caught them or even killed some of them. However, wildlife department officials claim that their men were on the job to rescue the beautiful birds from captivity.
Other affected animals are leopards, wildcats and small mammals. These animals have also come down to lower altitudes and leopards have caused damage in terms of killing or maiming people and lifting cattle. So far two people have been killed, five injured and over a dozen cattle lifted by these leopards, officials said. In some remote mountainous areas, the administration had got villages evacuated during snowfall earlier this month for fear of avalanches. In some cases the leopards used these abandoned houses as shelters. Officials claim that the population of Hangul (the famous red deer of Kashmir) had gone up to 300 in 2006 from slightly over 100 in 1990. There were about 800 Himalayan black bears in 1,990. By 2007 the number went up to 3,000.
Experts point out that Kashmir got a 'good' snowfall in 1992, after which there was a dry spell for a few years. It also snowed heavily in 1996 and 2005 but February 2008 was the heaviest. This leaves a confusing impact on fauna. Now when these people are going back they are making these animals captive and might go for their illegal trade as well officials added. The department has fanned out to rescue and release such animals. “We have got four wild cats and three leopard cubs rescued so far. Two wildcats that had fallen ill are under treatment while others have been released,” officials said. While the wildlife population has decreased the world over in conflict areas, it has increased considerably in J-K, claimed Wildlife Department officials. The increase in population has been registered, department claimed, because all licensed guns were required to be deposited at Police Stations when militancy erupted in the State. Second, no hunter would go deep inside a forest for fear of militants or getting caught in crossfire. The males are adorned with beautiful metallic colours of green, purple, red and blue; they also have a large white patch on the rump. The breast and under parts are black and the tail is copper. the males also have a very long crest, much like a peacock. it has a bare patch of turquoise blue skin around the eye. The hens, while much duller than the male, are still attractive. They are basically mottled brown overall, with black, buff and white streaks. Her throat is white and she has a short crest. Hens also have the blue patch around the eyes. First year males resemble the hens, but are larger and have black feathers on the neck and breast.
Pashmina goats of
Kashmir losing their pastures AT least 1,00,000 rare Himalayan goats whose wool is used to make Indian Kashmir's famed pashmina shawls are at risk of dying as heavy snow blankets the entire region.
However, reports said that Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) has approached the State and Central Governments for airdropping fodder in inaccessible areas, lest the precious species become extinct due to starvation. Some herdsmen in Changthang, who possess mobile phones, have reported that animals have started dying and the situation will worsen if fodder does not arrive. With no other means of communication available, the authorities are airing special programmes on the local radio station to pass instructions to the cut-off nomads. Every winter scores of herdsmen leave for Changthang pastures along the India-China Border in Numa Block of Leh to feed the cattle. The winter migration is a pre-requisite for growing special wool on the Pashmina goats' skin. The fine wool is used to manufacture Pashmina shawls by craftsmen in Kashmir Valley. The Korzuk sheep, a rare breed, is used by the nomads to carry their belongings. Reports said that some of the pastures are around 300 km from the district headquarters with no road link available to access them. Herdsmen from Tsomoriri, Kharnag, Karzuk, Tegazone and Champoor are in the far-off pastures along with around 2, 00,000 cattle and the Pashmina goats are the mainstay for these wandering tribes. Over 1, 00,000 Pashmina goats have been affected by a shortage of food because winter pastures near the Chinese Border have been covered after unexpected heavy snowfall. Over 90,000 goats are facing shortage of food and many of them will die if fodder could not be provided immediately. Pashmina goats, which grow a thick warm fleece, survive on grass in Ladakh where temperatures plunge to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 29 degrees Fahrenheit). After a ban on Shahtoosh, the world's finest wool derived from the hair of an endangered Tibetan antelope, shawls made from Pashmina wool are considered the finest and are exported worldwide. |
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Wouldn’t it be good to do exactly
that and have a jolly good time, instead of being accused of being in the pay of
some foreign power the USA, India, Israel -- for writing critical essays on
Pakistani social and political events? People who reason in such a way are of
course too impaired intellectually to understand that patriotism is not keeping
quiet and letting injustice prevail, but just the opposite of it. They would not
know what to say about a Jew who is critical of Israel, the Gush Shalom Movement
and its most well-known spokesperson Uri Avinery are cases in point. Or imagine
an American who is opposed to the imperialist adventures of Bush and company.
Where would they place Noam Chomsky or the anti-Vietnam-war movement that
emerged in the United States? And was it not a high-caste Hindu, Harsh Mander,
who resigned his post as the deputy director of the Indian Administrative
Service Academy in Mussoorie to protest the carnage of Muslims by Narendra
Modi’s goons in Ahmedabad and elsewhere in Gujarat state?
The mess prevailing in the country
even after 60 years of independence is self explicit from the harsh facts.
Please read on, though it hurts. 30 percent Indian villages are not connected by
roads. India is having the world’s largest begging population out of which 66%
are able bodied. 10 Lac new born children die every year in India which is 25%
of all deaths occurs in whole world. According to United Nations World Food
Programme report 2007, India has the largest number of undernourished people in
the world and one third of the world’s under weight children. According to
National Crime Record Bureau there were 32000 murders, 19000 rapes, 7500 dowry
deaths and 36500 molestation cases committed in India during 2006. 12.55 Crore
Indians defecate in public. It will take 200 years to provide them toilet
facility with present pace of development.
Wildlife officials said that their
department swung into observing wildlife behaviour and noted that several
hundred pheasants, leopards, wild cats and other small mammals had been
affected.
The Musk Deer’s population
increased from 300 in 1990 to about 2,800 in 2007. The Pir Panjal Markhor, a
member of the mountain goat family was about 100-odd in 1990 but increased to
about 500 in 2007. Similarly among birds, rare species like pheasants and black
partridge have registered a 50 per cent increase in population.