tribuneindia...Mailbag

MR M.L. Kotru must be congratulated for his well-focused article, captioned "Kosovo and Kashmir — tragedy of ethnic engineering (April 5), underscoring the home truth of "the nation put together by Marshal Tito at the end of a long and painful resistance movement led by him throughout the years of World War II falling apart".

The other fact mentioned by the author that "during the years of World War II the Serbs resisted the Germans till the very last even when Yugoslavia as a nation had come under Hitler's iron heels", only reflects the agony of their having to stand up against Mr Clinton, the new incarnation of Hitler who must be turning in his self-chosen grave to ask himself whether he was punished by these lovers of freedom only to be outstripped later.

The USA has for too long trampled upon the freedom of small nations like Vietnam, Granada and Iraq, all the while boasting of championing the freedom struggles in Cambodia, Afghanistan and elsewhere. As long as the USSR was there, it could always call the former's bluff.

The fact that "a Yugoslav leader.... today sees no difference between the bombs Hitler showered on them and those being thrown at them by NATO planes" only goes to corroborate the bluff and the historical irony. Or is it that the USA, in spite of all its swear and swagger about democracy and human rights, has been getting rogue elephants for its Presidents? It is high time this rogue elephant of a Clinton, breaking loose from the Senate's shackles in L'affaire Lewinsky must be stopped in his tracks if the world is to be saved for freedom-loving and civilised people. In this context, the warning issued by Russia to NATO and their Supper Ally of a backlash, not excluding the use of nuclear weapons, has to be welcomed. If the stationing of missiles in nearby Cuba could be resented by President J.F. Kennedy, the USA should have understood that their bombardment of Yugoslavia cannot go unchallenged, that too when the latter was prepared to grant due autonomy to Kosovo. All that Yugoslavia disagreed with was the stationing of NATO troops.

As for the tragedy of Kosovars going through massive displacement, India shares their anguish, having itself gone through similar experiences — whether at the time of Partition or in the recent wholesale migration of Pandits from the Kashmir valley. The only pity is that our persistent pleas for sanity in international relations and disarmament fell on deaf ears; only the thud of our reluctant and long-deferred Pokhran blasts was taken note of even by countries like Japan and Australia, let alone the international cop ever ready with its economic sanctions.

Water isn't for destroying

Water has now become a rare commodity, especially during the summer. At some places to acquire a couple of buckets of water one has to stand in a queue for hours together. In the flat type of houses, water-taps upstairs are found dry in most parts of the country.

For HUDA in Panchkula this situation does not matter much. Here we find leaking supply lines unattended to for several days. A case in point is a leaking supply line near the round-about of Sectors 4, 11, 10 and 5 towards the Panchkula bus stand. Here a lot of water has been leaked out for much of the time round the year. The spot of leakage has become a pond-like site. The number of people who defecate in the open can be seen here cleaning their limbs in this small pond. Thus the unhygienic water goes back to the supply line through the leakage point. The residents consuming this contaminated water are likely to contact diseases.

Would it be possible for the HUDA authorities to ask the official concerned of the sanitary wing to attend immediately to all such leakage points so that the valuable water could be preserved for good use.

DIWAN SINGH BISHT
Panchkula

Why have our best educational institutions so far failed to reach the standard of the best Western institutions? Why don’t we have the proper psychological gestalt for a fully academic atmosphere and scientific creativity in colleges and universities? Why are they faction-ridden and bedevilled with moral corruption? Why are teachers isolated from their culture and less of a person for being a teacher? Why is it that the vitality of the teacher’s innovative role has completely been shattered, and limited only to class-room teaching? Why are they not allowed to act as the modifiers of modern India for its economic, social and scientific progress.

The simple answer to all these queries lies in the fact that the government has no respect for the educational institutions in the country. Had it not been so, the police would have not dared to act so irrationally, brutally and in a barbaric and pernicious manner when recently it resorted to a lathi-charge to disperse peace-loving teachers who were marching towards the assembly building to get their genuine demands accepted. Attacking teachers unwarrantedly and injuring even women teachers — in a nation which owes much for its rich tradition, high civilisation and prestigious scientific progress to them — is not only a shameful and condemnable act but it also reveals the government’s malicious and cynically indifferent attitude towards the country’s educational institutions. In fact, the government, to our bad luck, is least bothered about them and their progress, for they can hardly stand to be counted as its vote banks.

Though the value of educational institutions is understood and appreciated by a vast majority of our people even if they are impoverished, illiterate and inarticulate, the government deliberately shows a lack of responsibility towards their growth. They are not allowed to function freely, justly and for the betterment of the nation. Belligerent interference on its part, particularly in our universities, has spread cynicism among teachers, impeded the development process and rendered smooth functioning difficult. If the government continues to act in this way, universities and colleges will be unable to produce great researchers and teachers which the country necessarily needs today. And if the country is to be saved from being divisive, contentious, faction-ridden and from its massive poverty and its endlessly noisy Parliament progressively packed with people of less calibre, the government must hastily shed off its detrimental attitude and change positively its policy towards educational institutions. It should not only encourage teachers but also live up to their expectations and involve them actively in the progress of the country.

It cannot be overemphasised that in a poor, developing country like ours, it is the most important function of the government to focus attention on the condition of our educational institutions and keep vigil on their academic progress. It should also be on its toes to be sure that all the genuine demands of their employees are accepted.

This is in response to a news-item in The Tribune dated 2.4.99 about inviting the Prime Minister for the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa panth.

In my view there should be no objection to inviting the Prime Minister for the opening ceremony of the tercentenary celebrations. Sikhism firmly believes in secularism and perhaps Mr Tohra is forgetting that the foundation of Sri Harmandir Sahib was laid by a Muslim pir.

Guru Granth Sahib includes the "bani" of many bhagats and fakirs. The content of Sikhism is not restricted to a single community; rather its relevance is universal.

This principle was behind the baptising of the Panj Piyaras who were all from different parts of the country as well as of different castes. No Sikh who is true to these teachings can be considered poor as he is a symbol of humility and valour.

	M A I L B A G	Thursday, April 8, 1999
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