US plan for Kashmir
BIT by minuscule bit the broad contours of a future US plan for Kashmir peace are becoming discernible. A leading American newspaper, the Washington Post, has come out with details; a US expert, Michael Krepon, has echoed them and a Pakistani daily, Jung, repeats the same quoting “authentic sources”.

Collision and collusion
AS expected, no clear picture of the railway disaster at Gaisal in West Bengal has emerged even after 48 hours or more of the soul-searing happening.

Targeting Himachal Pradesh
MILITANTS fomenting trouble in Jammu and Kashmir have always tried to use the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh as safe haven. But now it seems that they have decided to target it not only for hiding there but also to further their bloody agenda.

INDIAN INITIATIVE AT ASEAN
Shadow-boxing over N-free zone
by Sunanda K. Datta-Ray
MR Jaswant Singh may have pulled off a diplomatic coup in Singapore. Indian approval for a nuclear-free Southeast Asia, which he proposed, will not enhance the region’s security. Nor will it immediately win India a place at the world’s nuclear high table.

A shattering tragedy forgotten by government and court alike
MANDI DABWALI: Those who perished in the country’s worst-ever fire tragedy in this dusty subdivision of Sirsa district four years ago were relatively lucky, considering the trauma the survivors are undergoing now.

India as economic super power
by Bharat Jhunjhunwala
INDIA is all set to become an economic super power. All the major countries of the world are beset with at least one of the three problems of export-oriented economy, large-scale foreign investment and welfare state.

The airconditioner
by A.P. Saksena
AFTER year-long persuasion I decided in April last to be admitted to the PGI for cholecystectomy — a medical term meaning the removal of the gall bladder which, according to a layman like me, does not have much vital function to perform.

75 Years Ago

Enhancement of water rate
MONTGOMERY: The Punjab Government has, after all, passed orders for the enhancement of water rates to the extent of about 75 lakh annually.

US plan for Kashmir

BIT by minuscule bit the broad contours of a future US plan for Kashmir peace are becoming discernible. A leading American newspaper, the Washington Post, has come out with details; a US expert, Michael Krepon, has echoed them and a Pakistani daily, Jung, repeats the same quoting “authentic sources”. This kind of coordination may be coincidental but it tends to vest the report with a degree of credibility. The three components of the peace process are (a) greater autonomy to the Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC), (b) an open border applicable only to the local residents and (c) investing bilateral talks with more seriousness. These three steps are presented in a varying order of importance and carry different emphasis, but form the core of what appears to be an embryonic US idea. The association of the leading newspaper and the sharp and unambiguous comment of the specialist (carried in a national daily) are highly significant. In Washington it is a common practice for journalists and researchers to interact intimately with the Administration and often they are used with mutual consent as a sounding board. Even otherwise, the differently authored write-ups in the present case carry a number of telltale signs of official briefing. Obviously the US Administration is either a party to the analysis or is quite happy with it. That should prod Delhi to sit up and take note of the clear implications of the plan and take evasive action in time.

The Jung report lacks the intellectual sophistication of the American output, but throws the spotlight unerringly on the three parts of the unfolding idea. Pakistan is willing to lift all restrictions on the movement of men across the LoC. It will grant greater autonomy to the people of that part of Kashmir which is under its control but those in Baltistan and Gilgit are out of this. (Pakistan has always claimed that these districts are part of the country since 1947.) India can exclude Ladakh from the open border plan. A closer reading reveals the underlying design. The disputed areas of the state straddling the LoC will be brought under the new dispensation or, to be more precise, will be delinked from the present arrangement. Simultaneously these areas will gain a pronounced measure of self-rule and will decide their future after a few years. The last point suspiciously sounds like — if it is not a cruder version of — the much-discredited plebiscite demand.

This package is being touted as a road map to a permanent solution to the half-a-century-old problem. As Mr Krepon argues, the alternative is highly worrisome. Pakistan can always set up militant training camps along the LoC and perhaps occasionally push a few insurgents into India. This country will be helpless to counter this without making war-like noices and thus lose the international goodwill it earned recently. Anyway, as a thinly veiled comment says, the bilateral talks have not progressed because Delhi has not been very enthusiastic about clinching the issue. Read it all together, and the signals on the screen are, if not red, at least of a reddish hue. Which means that there is just about time to go to war on the diplomatic front to slice off the more unacceptable parts of the plan in the offing.

Collision and collusion

AS expected, no clear picture of the railway disaster at Gaisal in West Bengal has emerged even after 48 hours or more of the soul-searing happening. When the Awadh-Assam Express and the Brahmaputra Mail collided on the same lines of the double track section of the NF Railway, 80 km from the new Jalpaiguri junction, the authorities concerned started preparing a plan for creating deliberate confusion. The bomb-blast theory was propounded and rejected. It appears that the fear of the loss of about 500 lives is going to come true. The telescoped coaches have not been cleared of all bodies—alive or dead. Hospitals are reporting several deaths. In this situation what the local Superintendent of Police asserts or the Railway spokesman claims does not have much credibility. As pointed out by us earlier, the tragedy was avertable through vigilance and technical measures. Railway Minister Nitish Kumar acted according to our suggestion and resigned. Nobody would take his resignation as a salving measure but the step had the potential of elevating the Minister from the pit of negligence and failure to the level of realistic repentance. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee did not do any good either to the Railway system or to the Minister by advising him "not to hurry with the extreme step". Mr Vajpayee said: "He (Nitish Kumar) said he is resigning on moral grounds after the train accident. I told him not to hurry with his resignation and asked him to come to Delhi and discuss the matter with me. "

Mr Nitish Kumar would lose some ministerial perks and facilities after quitting his job at its fag end. But he would follow the example set by no less a person than Lal Bahadur Shastri. Did this fact not occur to Mr Vajpayee? We had written (in sorrow and not in anger) in these columns on Tuesday: "If Mr Nitish Kumar has a sense of shame, he should resign here and now. He will not lose much. Nobody knows what the next election has in store for him." The Prime Minister's counsel to Mr Nitish Kumar was disappointing, to say the least. The pace of relief and rescue operations is extremely slow. Facilities made available for the victims are inadequate and a large number of people have suffered avoidable agony inside the coaches that had them trapped. There is no effective crisis management system in operation in the country. A life-saving structure should be evolved meticulously to deal with accidents and situations like earthquakes, floods and epidemics. Gaisal's lesson is loud and clear: Mr Nitish Kumar should not be prevented from owning moral responsibility for the terrible mishap. Within days, the collision will yield place to collusion—the coming together of such persons as would like to save their skin by projecting the killing and maiming of numerous persons as a mere act of providence. What has happened to earlier reports and suggestions submitted to the Government by experts? Sir Robert Peel rightly cautioned the state years ago against adding "alleged public opinion" to private opinion in matters concerning catastrophes. Saying that only expert opinion should prevail, he observed: "Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy and newspaper paragraphs."

Targeting Himachal Pradesh

MILITANTS fomenting trouble in Jammu and Kashmir have always tried to use the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh as safe haven. But now it seems that they have decided to target it not only for hiding there but also to further their bloody agenda. Villagers claim that they have seen suspected terrorists in the Pangi area, although the police is yet to confirm this. Officials of the Border Road Organisation have also spotted such intruders occasionally. The intelligence agencies had issued a warning about the possibility of militants sneaking into the high ranges of Chamba district a fortnight ago. That is a cause for concern because only last August, the qualmless terrorists had massacred 30 innocent persons, most of them poor labourers, in Satrundi and Kalaban areas of Tissa subdivision of Chamba district. There are again reports that the Kashmiri militants entering the Chamba area from Doda have been making enquiries from the locals about police and security forces' strength and checkpoints. Not only that, they are also reported to have sent threatening letters to several leaders of the State, including some Ministers. The State has tried to gear itself up for the challenge as best it can. Security forces have been put on high alert in Chamba, Lahaul Spiti and the Pangi valley. Armed security guards have been provided to threatened politicians — who happen to belong to both the BJP and the Congress — and Special Police Officers (SPOs) are being trained to combat terrorist activities. Besides, 300 ex-servicemen will be recruited to check infiltration in the border areas. Welcome that these steps are, these are just not adequate to face the grave challenge. There are reasons to believe that the terrorists may no longer use the State just to hide and lie low. To shore up the morale of the Kashmiri militants, they might strike at soft targets in Himachal Pradesh in a big way. Besides trying to harm innocent citizens, they might also try to blow up some bridges on the Manali-Leh road, which is vital for transporting military supplies to Ladakh. The J and K-Himachal Pradesh border passes through formidable mountains where maintaining vigil is an extremely difficult task.

The general apprehension is that Himachal Pradesh is not fully equipped to face the challenge. There is an acute shortage of sophisticated weapons and communication equipment. Even sufficient numbers of trained security personnel are not available. Despite being aware about the gravity of the challenge, the Centre has not been prompt in fulfilling various demands. For instance, the State Government had demanded two battalions. The Centre even promised to send one. But ironically, the promise has not been fulfilled till now. Such lack of advanced preparedness can play havoc. It is imperative to nip the evil right away. Terrorists have proved time and again that they mean business, which happens to be horrendous. The government is yet to display a similar determination.

INDIAN INITIATIVE AT ASEAN
Shadow-boxing over N-free zone
by Sunanda K. Datta-Ray

MR Jaswant Singh may have pulled off a diplomatic coup in Singapore. Indian approval for a nuclear-free Southeast Asia, which he proposed, will not enhance the region’s security. Nor will it immediately win India a place at the world’s nuclear high table. But if the Association of Southeast Asian Nations responds positively, it would send a signal to the nuclear Big Five not to imagine that they can stand resolute against other comers for all eternity. However, India’s emphasis on total disarmament is no longer a realistic option for nuclearisation is a one-way street that permits no retreat. The safety of Southeast Asia, as of South Asia and the world, must eventually be rooted in good sense and nuclear equilibrium, not in nuclear exclusiveness, defence guarantees or idealistic prescriptions.

This is a time of change for ASEAN, the much bigger ASEAN Regional Forum and for India too. Created to manage the region’s diversity and differences and its relations with external powers, ASEAN has had to come to grips with a devastating financial crisis. It hopes that the ARF, in which India participates as an ASEAN dialogue partner,will help to preserve the peace so that the region’s economy has a chance of recovering. Mr Singh’s initiative will be judged in the context of this priority. In carefully weighing all the political, strategic and economic implications of his offer, the 10 ASEAN countries will not fail to recognise that for India this could mean a foot in the jealously guarded door of the nuclear club. But since they are also now wary of China and less than sanguine about America’s commitment to the region, they might see merit in a countervailing force. Mr Singh’s further suggestion of improved cooperation in trade, investment, science and technology, and food security — but especially in the first two categories — is bound to influence thinking on the strategic partnership.

Hard-headed Southeast Asians see every connection as a trade-off. They would welcome a greater Indian role in their region only when they see how it benefits them. Given the Spratly Islands dispute, the nightmare prospect of war across the Taiwan Straits, North Korean missile adventurism, the proposed American defensive shield to cover Japan and South Korea, and uncertainty about Indonesia, all compounding the economic crisis, this should not be very difficult. Discussing the implications of the Indian test, Dr Derek da Cunha, a senior fellow at Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, noted that “there is one school of thought which would say that having India inside rather than outside the ARF —a forum to discuss regional security issues — might well prod Delhi to take a responsible approach to its new-found status.” It would be no skin off India’s nose if Singaporeans have to rationalise their need for India’s diplomatic backing for a nuclear-free Southeast Asia.

Of course, the plan itself is as much a pretty illusion as King Birendra of Nepal’s peace zone vision for his landlocked Himalayan kingdom, wedged between India and China. When it comes to the crunch, no nation respects vulnerable borders buttressed by such fragile concepts. This the world’s best-known nuclear objector, Mr David Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989, failed to realise. Declaring himself to be “thoroughly on the side of the Indians,” the idealistic Mr Lange went much further, refusing to trim principle to pragmatism. Whereas India turned a blind eye to visit by American nuclear vessels, Mr Lange would not allow such ships in New Zealand ports. He denounced the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty as “the perfect way of ignoring the duty to disarm”, bellowed at a pro-nuclear heckler, “I can smell the uranium on your breath”, and called the French destruction of the Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior, “state-sponsored terrorism” in which Britain and the USA had connived.

He would have welcomed Southeast Asia’s peace zone proposal, which has been hanging fire for years, not signed by a single nuclear power. India’s endorsement would not make it any more real, but ASEAN might calculate that it would place the Big Five on notice. First, however, the proposal could do with clarification. Do its authors fear nuclear hostilities against them or testing in the vicinity? Are they objecting to the transit of nuclear armed and powered ships? Or is the real purpose to prevent a nuclear power emerging in their own ranks?

Countries like Brunei, Singapore or the Philippines, which are not ever likely to develop nuclear weapons, suspect Indonesia’s intentions and capability mainly because it is the biggest kid on the ASEAN block, as the Americans would say. They explain in confidence that the real danger is that because of inefficiency or corruption, the Indonesians might bungle their nuclear energy plants, thereby placing the neighbourhood at risk. That might be the only misgiving at the moment. But by all accounts Indonesia is showing-surprising signs of recovery from the slump; the outcome of the June 7 election might also lead it to political regeneration under a democratic President. If ASEAN leaders are haunted by the prospect of a strong and populous Indonesia one day flexing nuclear muscles, it may be because they have not forgotten the tense years of Confrontasi, as the military and economic standoff between President Sukarno’s Indonesia and Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Malaysia was called.

The main reason why General Suharto’s new order dictatorship had been supported regionally for more than three decades was that he made it absolutely clear that he would not embark on any kind of interventionist policy abroad. That tacit understanding will not necessarily apply to whoever might succeed the stopgap President B.J. Habibie. But ASEAN was taking no chances even in General Suharto’s time: that was when the nuclear-free zone proposal was drawn up.

Pakistan is a crucial reason why Southeast Asia might balk at Mr Singh’s initiative. Pakistan is geographically remote, militarily less relevant and not seen as a potential economic partner of the same order. But where India treads, Pakistan must rush in. Pestered by Pakistani diplomats, regional governments force themselves to be less affable to India than they would wish. That inhibition will persist until New Delhi can offer adequate recompense for incurring Islamabad’s displeasure. Compensation can only be economic.

Though national security is not subservient to trade, as Mr Singh wrote in Foreign Affairs, there would be no security worth defending if the market is not developed. His proposal to set up an ASEAN-India think tank is of especial interest in this context. But the panel must not get bogged down in a range of issues like information technology, for instance, for which the Southeast Asians can easily tap more sophisticated sources in the USA. What India can offer are consumers and manufacturing opportunities. No time should be wasted, therefore, in completing the promised study on improving trade and investment cooperation. Only an economically attractive India can ensure the success of Mr Singh’s astute gambit, extracting diplomatic dividend from shadow-boxing over an illusory nuclear-free zone.

India as economic super power
by Bharat Jhunjhunwala

INDIA is all set to become an economic super power. All the major countries of the world — erstwhile East Asian Tigers, Latin American and European countries, China, Russia and Japan — are beset with at least one of the three problems of export-oriented economy, large-scale foreign investment and welfare state. Their prospects will be limited. The USA and India alone are free of this drag. Of these, the USA will score over India for some time because of its technological edge and inflows of profits from foreign investment. No other country can beat India in the coming times.

The first problem is that of the export-oriented economy. This approach is okay as long as the world demand is buoyant but it becomes a liability once the world economy slows down. As of today the USA is the buyer of last resort. The US demand though is not self-generated. It is the capital flows from other countries that are the base of this demand. The Japanese invest their money in US dollars, and the USA uses these dollars to buy goods from Japan. This can continue only as long as investors across the globe perceive the USA as a safe haven and continue to invest there. Once the USA is perceived to be shaky there may result a stampede to get out of the dollar grip. Then there will no longer remain a buyer of last resort.

The East Asian countries, Mexico and China, have all taken the export-oriented route. The share of foreign trade in their GDP is rather high: China 40 per cent , Mexico 42 per cent, Indonesia 51 per cent, Thailand 83 per cent, Philippines 94 per cent and Malaysia 183 per cent. These countries are likely to come under a severe pressure as soon as the world’s investors stop the present free ride of the US economy.

The second problem is that of foreign investment. This route to growth works well as long as fresh investment continues to pour in. The foreign exchange received from new foreign investment is used to repatriate the profits of earlier investment. The problem starts when new investment ceases to come. Then the foreign investment becomes a drain on the economy. Thus we see that countries like Ghana, which received high levels of foreign investment in the seventies, are in dire straits today.

Foreign investment has been substantial in many of the leading economies of the day. In 1995 alone, for example, Brazil received foreign investment to the tune of 3.3 per cent of her GDP, Mexico 4.3 per cent, Thailand 5.7 per cent, China 5.9 per cent, Indonesia 6 per cent the Philippines 6.57 per cent and Malaysia 15.3 per cent. Most of these countries have been receiving foreign investment since the seventies or the eighties. The total stock of foreign investment would in most countries exceed their GDP. If the rate of profit on foreign investment is 10 per cent, that would imply that 10 per cent of their future GDP will be used for repatriation of profits. That will be a massive drain on these economies.

The third problem is that of welfare state. This issue is significant for Russia, Europe and Japan. The Soviet government had taken upon itself the responsibility to provide “roti, kapada aur makan” to all its people. The strategy worked as long as its economy was protected behind the iron curtain. The high cost of production due to welfare expenditures could be sustained as long as imports were restricted. No longer now. Today Russia is caught in a no-go situation. If it reduces the welfare expenditures it faces social unrest. If it continues, it has no money left to invest in state-of-art facilities. If it takes the foreign investment route then it sinks deeper into the problem in the long run.

Europe too is weighed down by the welfare state. In the last century it excelled in looting other countries of the world. That money was used to finance the welfare state. As a result European goods were cheaper while the living standards of their workers were high. Now that loot has virtually stopped flowing in and it has few options. If it dismantles the welfare state there is social unrest. If it imposes taxes to finance it then its industries are rendered uncompetitive in a global economy.

The role of the welfare state was discharged by the companies in Japan. In the sixties Japan pioneered an export-oriented economy. Once it had penetrated the world markets its companies were able to look after their workers well while maintaining their profits. This is no longer possible as other low-wage countries like Thailand and India begin to compete with Japanese products in the world market. Thus Japan’s own economy has turned placid.

The result is that other than the USA and India all the major economies of the world face one problem or the other. East Asian and Latin American countries face the problems of an export-oriented economy and a heavy burden of foreign investment or debt.

China faces all the three problems of export orientation, foreign investment and a welfare state. The saving feature is that being a large economy itself, each of these problems is not as severe here as in East Asia. As a result, it may not entirely collapse. But it will not fly either.

Russia is deep in trouble due to the burden of foreign investment and debt, and of welfare state. Its ability to put up state-of-art industries from its own capital is extremely limited. It can neither dismantle the welfare state speedily nor increase domestic investment.

Japan’s problem is that of company-sponsored welfare state. As Japan gives up the benefits of permanent employment, etc, social problems will become pronounced. That leaves only the USA and India. These two countries alone are not beset with any of the three problems. The USA’s and India’s foreign trade is relatively small at 24 per cent and 27 per cent respectively. The role of foreign investment in India is comparatively small. The USA, of course, is a major beneficiary of foreign investment. It will continue to receive profits from its previous investments. The USA and India do not have a bloated welfare state either.

Of the two, the USA will continue to stay ahead for two reasons: technological advantage and profits from earlier foreign investments. Thus India may soon be expected to rise to the number two position soon.

The airconditioner
by A.P. Saksena

AFTER year-long persuasion I decided in April last to be admitted to the PGI for cholecystectomy — a medical term meaning the removal of the gall bladder which, according to a layman like me, does not have much vital function to perform. Getting a room in the private ward without much hassle was apparently quite encouraging. I was assured one when I booked it some 20 days in advance. Many attendants of patients were seen haggling for rooms. Little did I know when I was allotted room number 14 in D block on the fifth floor that it would give me nightmares.

My wife secured the allotment letter after a wait of over an hour. We had been called by “His Majesty the Clerk” to be present at his counter at half past eleven on the day of admission. Those who waited on me head and foot tried to reason with the allotment authority (in this case the Medical Superintendent) to change the yet-to-be-vacated room. He expressed his inability to do so and directed my co-brother and doctor nephew to meet “His Majesty”, who refused to budge. There was no option but to wait for the vacation of the room.

During the first two days of my seven-day stay everything was fine. The room airconditioner, though quite old, functioned all right initially, if only to show its true colours very soon.

To be frank, I was mortally afraid of a surgical operation for various reasons and had been procrastinating all these months ever since I was advised one following acute abdominal pain in November, 1997. I was suffering from the gall- stone disease. But to my utter surprise, the apprehension of surgery, the attendant pain and possible contraction of such deadly diseases as AIDS and hepatitis ‘B’ and ‘C’ had almost vanished as the “day of the scalpel” approached. I was quite composed on that April morning for the inevitable while being carried on the stretcher for my long-winding journey from the fifth floor through the ramp to the operating theatre on the fourth floor . On reaching the operating table, I enquired of the doctors present there whether the consulting surgeon had arrived. He was on his way, they replied and continued with their preparatory work. What happened immediately afterwards for another two and a half hours or so is oblivion for I had been administered an anaesthetic.

Though it must have been an easy task for the expert hands that operated upon me, I was told the contrary by the surgeon later. Mine was a complicated and difficult case, he said. I must indeed be grateful to the premier institute, its hospital and its team of doctors for repairing my body and removing, in the process, the storehouse of bile from it to make me literally gall-less, a happy outcome, I should say. The pretty nurses were caring and nice. Seeing them morning and evening was a pleasure, their tender, healing touch all the more.

While being shifted in that semi-conscious state from the recovery room I heard some faint, recognisable and pleasant voices, of course, of relatives and friends who were present all this time waiting outside to transport me to my room in the private ward with the wily airconditioner waiting in the wings to torment me.

When I regained full consciousness, I thought everything was fine for me. And I started enjoying my sojourn in the hospital. I was entirely oblivious of what was in store for me. The room, with the ancient airconditioner, was cosy. Since I was heavily drugged, I mustn’t have realised then that the airconditioner won’t let me convalesce in peace with its unannounced jarring music, and it did exactly that, not allowing me the much needed rest, particularly at night during my post-operative stay, which could be termed uneventful without a mention of the airconditioner. I complained to a helpful nurse, who called an electrician. The poor man did make an attempt at repair but in vain. I dared not switch it off for the obvious reason. Except for the old, worn-out curtains, the leaking cistern, a broken bathroom windowpane, and a patch of dirtily laid new floor, etc., the other things were fine and tolerable. My sincere apology to the institute’s estate and maintenance wings which would please pardon me for the haughtiness. I would have forgotten the episode of my surgery but for the airconditioner, buzzing at will. Long live the airconditioner.

Awaiting Judgement
A Follow-Up

A shattering tragedy forgotten by government and court alike

MANDI DABWALI: Those who perished in the country’s worst-ever fire tragedy in this dusty subdivision of Sirsa district four years ago were relatively lucky, considering the trauma the survivors are undergoing now.

Sitting in a one-room house with his 14-year-old daughter, Suman, her face totally disfigured (her eyelashes, nose, lips, and ears are all burnt ) Daya Nand, a tractor driver with the Haryana Forest Department, bemoans: “My younger brother, Radhey Shyam, and his five-year-old daughter, Dhaneshwari, perished in the fire. My real problem now is the treatment of my own daughter. She has already been operated upon six times. Doctors at the Rohtak Medical College Hospital say at least seven more operations will have to be performed to cure her partially. Until now the government has not reimbursed a single bill of mine since 1996.”

The operations are performed in April and December every year, says Daya Nand. He has to seek two months’ leave without pay every time Suman is admitted to the hospital for an operation. Until now he has taken loans totalling more than Rs 1.50 lakh from friends and relatives. Arranging money for the next operation due to be performed in December is his main worry now.

What he regrets the most is that the government has not given even the minimum concession of free travel to the victims and their attendants. “My wife accompanies me every time I take Suman to the Medical College Hospital. The one-way bus fare for each passenger for the 300 km long journey between Dabwali and Rohtak is Rs 100. It means we have to spend Rs 600 only on one visit. Add to this the expenses we have to incur on food and stay. Each visit costs me half my salary,” he reveals.

The suffering of 13-year-old Neha is equally, if not more, poignant. With a disfigured face, amputated fingers of one hand and contractures all over her body, she is operated upon every three months. Until now four operations have already been performed.

Doctors at the CMC, Ludhiana, treating Neha have told her father, Sanjay, also a fire tragedy victim, that 10 more operations will have to be performed on his daughter. Of late her sufferings have worsened with frequent epilepsy attacks caused by the damage to her brain in the fire.

Sanjay says the CMC, where Neha was initially admitted, has no arrangements for MRI. The government does not permit victims to get treatment at other hospitals, except the ones where they were getting treatment earlier. The MRI is a very costly affair and he does not have enough funds.

He says: “I cannot take Neha to Ludhiana every day for her physiotherapy and there is no physiotherapist at the local civil hospital. I have to pay Rs 50 per day to a private physiotherapist. I have also to buy a T. Bet ointment tube costing Rs 60 which does not last beyond two days. Thus I have been spending, on an average, Rs 80 per day or say Rs 2400 a month or Rs 28,000 a year on my daughter. But the government has denied me reimbursement.”

With both legs amputated and sitting in an arm chair at the entrance of her house, 20-year-old Gagan Deep has an ambition of becoming a doctor. Undaunted by her disability, Gagan continued her studies through correspondence courses and passed her plus 2 examination. She had thought that the government would honour its commitment of making reservation of seats in medical colleges for the fire tragedy victims.

Her paternal aunt, Supinder Kaur, who is a B.M.S. doctor, has abandoned her roaring private practice and decided to remain a spinster so that she can take care of her niece. “How can I leave her alone?” she asks and adds: “Most of the time Gagan remains depressed. I make every possible effort to keep her cheerful.

Once a distinguished dancer, Seema Balna looks wistfully towards her feet the rhythm of which used to keep her audiences spell-bound, or where they once were.

She had gone for a performance to the function organised by a local school at the Rajiv Marriage Palace. She was caught in the fire and sustained serious burns leading to the amputation of her legs and the fingers of one hand. Undeterred by the tragedy, she started her studies and completed her graduation and obtained a B.Ed degree. Now she is waiting for the government to honour its commitment to give jobs to the fire victims.

Jatinder Girdhar, whose one son perished in the fire and the other, Viplove alias Bobby is left with an ape-like face due to burns, says it is a painful sight to see scores of handicapped children going to school. And then he beckons Bobby whose nose, eyelashes, ears and lips remain to be reconstructed. His treatment will continue for the next 15 years.

Dabwali is virtually a no-man’s land. Located on the Rajasthan border, one-third of its area falls in Punjab and two-thirds in Haryana. Therefore, it is the most neglected subdivision of Sirsa district. With a total population of about 45,000, its residents belong primarily to the middle or lower-middle class. No wonder their simple request for uninterrupted power supply to avoid discomfort to the victims has gone unheeded. The long power cuts make the victims writhe in unbearable pain.

A member of the Fire Victims’ Society, Mr K.L. Mittal, who himself has suffered more than 30 per cent burns and is incapacitated from working, says when the tragedy took place on December 23,1995, devouring more than 450 lives, mostly children, there was all- round public sympathy for the victims.

Powerful politicians, including the then Prime Minister, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, visited the town and made all sorts of promises. The victims were told that they were free to get treatment from any hospital of their choice not only in India but abroad and that all expenses would be borne by the government. They were also promised jobs and reservation of seats in professional institutions. He admits that the Haryana government did release funds at the initial stage for the treatment of the victims.

He adds that after some time there was a change of guard in the state. “One Lal (Bhajan) was replaced by another Lal (Bansi). The former was generous and kind. He gave us a healing touch by ordering the district administration to reimburse all our medical bills and pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 to each victim. The latter turned indifferent, if not hostile, to our sufferings. Immediately after taking over the reins of the state, he stopped payment for our treatment,” Mittal says, and shows his own medical bills which have not been passed by the authorities so far.

He reveals that a delegation of the Fire Victims’ Society went to see Mr Bansi Lal when he visited Sirsa. Initially, he refused to meet the waiting delegation. Later on when a local journalist intervened, he agreed to give audience but summarily turned down their request saying the coffers of the state were empty and the government was not in a position to meet their demand for the reimbursement of medical bills and compensation of Rs 50,000 to the left-out victims.

Disappointed with the government’s attitude, the victims turned to the judiciary for help. On August 26, 1996, they preferred a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court praying, inter alia, for directions to the state government to pay compensation to the families of those who died in the tragedy and provide free treatment to the injured, including plastic surgery, artificial limbs and physiotherapy, apart from honouring their promises of jobs to victims and construction of a hospital, stadium, community hall and memorial.

In their interim order dated December 10,1996, Mr Justice R.S. Mongia and Mr Justice N.C. Khichi, before whom the petition was fixed for hearing, held:

“The Dabwali fire victims would be allowed to have their medical treatment at the hospital/institution where they are already getting their treatment and the state government would ultimately reimburse the medical and other ancillary expenses that may be borne by the patients. In case of any specialised treatment on a reference from a doctor from where they are getting the treatment now, the patients would be at liberty to get their specialised treatment from the referred hospital.”

As for other prayers, the case has been adjourned from time to time since then and is now fixed for August 13.

Advocate Anju Arora, who piloted the cause of the hapless victims before the High Court, reveals that notwithstanding the directions of the court to allow them to get treatment, the government created all sorts of obstacles. She says the Director-General of Health Services told them that their bills would be reimbursed only if they got treatment at government hospitals, although the court had ordered that they could continue the treatment from those hospitals from where they were getting before the filing of the petition.

As for the concession of free travel by bus from Dabwali to the Medical College at Rohtak, the AIIMS in New Delhi and the PGI at Chandigarh, this facility was available to them only up to December 31,1996.

Mrs Arora says she has moved another application in the High Court praying for directing the Haryana government to allow the victims to get treatment at non-government hospitals. She said the government did not permit the patients to get treatment in CMC and DMC at Ludhiana.

This application has also been pending before the court since December 2,1996.

As for raising the promised memorial, the Deputy Commissioner, Dr Avtar Singh, unhesitatingly admits that the government has not as yet been able to acquire land. The owner of the land where the unfortunate incident took place, is demanding the market price while the government has offered him the collectorate rate.

This sea-saw battle between the government and the land owner has been going on for the past four years. Until this dispute is settled, the question of constructing the memorial does not arise.

He claims, however, that the government has allotted land for the proposed stadium. That the construction of the building did not progress beyond the boundary wall is a different matter.

The construction of the community hall has been progressing in fits and starts, thanks to the irregular flow of funds. The government has not given any money for this project. The Rajiv Foundation had promised to release Rs 15 lakh. Until now it has sent a sum of Rs 13 lakh.

Ms Shelja, a former Union Minister, has donated a sum of Rs 5 lakh out of her personal account. A sum of Rs 2 lakh has been collected locally. Thus the total amount received and spent on this project is Rs 20 lakh. Since this is a Rs 30-lakh project, the district administration is still short of Rs 10 lakh.

The building of the hospital was started in 1997, says the Deputy Commissioner. It is at the finishing stage. Houses for the medical and paramedical staff have been completed.

As for the CBI enquiry into the tragedy ordered by the government following a public demand, the investigating agency had completed the probe within six months. It had filed the charge-sheet in the court of its Special Magistrate at Ambala as far back as May 28,1996.

In its findings the CBI held that the cause of the fire could be an electrical spark and ruled out the possibility of any sabotage. It has named Krishan Dhamija and Chander Bhan Dhamija, partners of Rajiv Marriage Palace, and Rajinder Kumar and Devi Lal, temporary electricians who worked for the hall, as the accused. The prosecution has lined up 29 witnesses and appended a supporting list of 21 documents.

The Haryana government had suspended nine officials of the HSEB for their alleged negligence.

They have since been reinstated.

We would have liked to carry pictures taken by us of some young survivors of the Dabwali fire of December 23, 1995, for words alone cannot convey the extent of the tragedy that has befallen them. But the pictures are too gruesome and shocking to be publicly displayed. On second thoughts, therefore, we decided not to publish them.

— Editor

75 YEARS AGO

Enhancement of water rate
unjustifiable in every way
By Syed Mohd Hussain, MLC

MONTGOMERY: The Punjab Government has, after all, passed orders for the enhancement of water rates to the extent of about 75 lakh annually. And this heavy taxation has fallen upon the agricultural population like a thunder bolt.

The imposition of such heavy taxation without consulting the Provincial Council, which has been cooperating with the Executive Government in every possible way, trying to meet its deficit by raising fresh taxation and retrenchment, has given a real colour to the allegation of the extremists that Councils are mere toys for the play of the country.

Economically, the Government was not at all justified to raise the water rates for the following reasons:

(1) The Punjab canals have been receiving the highest percentage on the capital outlay both in India or in any other country in the world. The percentage varies between 14 and 40 on the perennially irrigated canals to about 6 per cent on the inundation canals.

(2) No taxation was necessary under the present circumstances. The revenue is being underestimated in the present year’s Budget, and no due regard has been paid to the avenues of income which will open to the country by the completion of the Sutlej Valley Project and the completion of settlements, now proceeding, in the course of two or three years.