P A G E
Friday, June 4, 1999
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E D I T O R I A L P A G E |
Friday, June 4, 1999 |
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This
verbal crossfire
KASHMIR’S SINS REVISITED
Punjab,
Haryana as economic engine |
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Time
to decolonise information
The
house atop the lonely hill
Akali
leaders’ trial
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This verbal crossfire INDIA is a noisy place and politicians, and of late TV journalists, contribute generously to this. Defence Minister George Fernandes is only an extreme example of incessant talking. The nation has learnt to take this loud-mouthing in its stride whatever be the issue involved. But the Kargil infiltration is a different cup of tea, so to speak. There it is a war-like situation or a sort of war, depending on who is talking. So all noise should emanate from the front and the rear should be quiet, lest the political fussilade distracts the fighting — and dying — jawans. But no, the netas are obsessed with their own voice or words and from day one there has been constant sparring. There was one honourable exemption — on a Saturday when the Prime Minister called an all-party meeting to brief alliance and opposition leaders on the ground situation in the Kargil sector. Every invitee pledged total and unflinching support to the priority task of throwing out the infiltrators and demonstrating the nation’s resolve by standing unitedly behind the armed forces. That was the mood fitting the cause but soon it gave way to old-style skirmishes. True, Mr Fernandes is at the centre of three raging controversies — over declaring the Pakistan Prime Minister and the ISI innocent in the Kargil game, inviting defence officers to brief the BJP national executive and offering safe passage to the intruders. It now transpires that some smart aide convinced a few top leaders in the government that the Lahore spirit could be salvaged if Mr Sharif and the ISI were struck off the list of suspects; it was agreed that some friendly reporters would be persuaded to plug this line. Forever a man in a hurry, Mr Fernandes decided to go public immediately, thereby stepping on a destructive landmine. The other issue is more complicated. As is known, the USA is leaning on both countries to defuse tension across the border and New Delhi believes that Islamabad may agree to recall the infiltrators, provided the whole thing is not shown as a rout of it. And hence this bizarre offer and a unilateral one at that. There is another genuine complaint which is aired in undertones. Too many people are talking from the government side and in too many voices. It would be ideal if the talking is left entirely to the uniformed men with a request to journalists not to ask loaded questions and not to insist on a yes-or-no reply. There are also clear
attempts to score political brownie points. It all
started when a BJP leader declared that Kargil is not
another Hazratbal shrine or a Charar-e-Sharief and the
intruders would be promptly ejected without any mercy.
That cheap retort opened a second front and these days
the Congress is angrily reacting to ministerial
statements on a daily basis. This war of words is
bewildering, at least it should be to the common man even
if the educated middle-class finds it helpful in taking
sides. As the party with many experienced hands in its
leadership ranks, the Congress would do well to convey
its views to the Prime Minister in person, very much like
party president Sonia Gandhi did. It can wait for the end
of the Kargil problem to occupy the high moral ground and
lambast the ruling coalition’s shortcomings. Right
now the nation should fight only one war and it should
not be in Delhi firing statements. |
Najam wins freedom THE release of Mr Najam Sethi, the Editor of The Friday Times of Pakistan, from the ISI’s custody on June 2 is an event of historic significance for the fettered Press in our neighbourhood. Mr Sethi was whisked away from his house on the morning of May 8 in an indecent manner. He was not shown any warrant of arrest. No mention of his “crime” was made to him. He was not allowed to wear his chappals and spectacles, beaten up with rifle butts, dragged for more than 300 yards, gagged, blindfolded and pushed into a car. His traumatised family was misled about his whereabouts. Pakistani lower courts and the world at large were given false accounts of his “disappearance” contemptuously until the ISI interrogators told the Nawaz Sharif government: “You cannot fire this gun from our shoulders.” Mr Sethi was later accused of sedition on the basis of a remark in the course of a lecture at Delhi’s India International Centre on April 30. He had reportedly described Pakistan as a “failed state”. His remark had a global and realistic context. But Islamabad’s High Commissioner in Delhi sent an out-of-context and accusing report to his government. Untruth, fortified by brutality, saw Mr Sethi humiliated. Why? He has been a bitter but systematic critic of the Nawaz Sharif family’s scandals and scams. The Jang was made an institutional victim before The Friday Times fell on bad days. Unfortunately, the bigger newspaper buckled under pressure after some time and decided to “behave”. The Friday Times chose to become the Freedom of the Press Times. A group of 100 courageous journalists told Mr Nawaz Sharif: “The rulers are desperately trying to use the national Press against the foreign Press, one local publication against the other, and a journalist against his or her colleague. A vilification campaign has been launched on the official media against both local and foreign media and mediapersons. Both state agencies and private gangs are being used to intimidate the journalist community and suppress the universally recognised right to speech and expression. In fact, the rise of authoritarianism and fanaticism is undermining democracy, democratic values, fundamental human rights and institutions of a civil society.” Mr Sethi has not just
been granted bail; he has been freed! He has thanked the
thoughtful sections of the world community for their
concern and support. He has paid a tribute to the highest
judiciary of his country. And he has put the record
straight: “I had said nothing in India which I had
not said before..... This (his release) should teach the
government (of Pakistan) not to do something which is
patently wrong.... No government can teach a lesson to a
free and independent Press. The fight for a free Press
will go on....” No government in our times can gag
an enlightening, critical and educating Press. Napoleon
called the institution “the fifth great power”.
True journalists beget veracity. Mr Sethi knows the
limitations of many newsmen of his country. But he is a
convinced critic of such sections of the Press as
genuflect before the power-wielders. The essential point
before him now was put forth by Macaulay more than 170
years ago: “The question before us is not whether
the Press shall be free but whether being free, it shall
be free.” |
KASHMIR’S
SINS REVISITED
NOTWITHSTANDING effective Indian air strikes and shelling, the situation at Kargil, Dras, Mashkoh and Batalik continues to be explosive. From all accounts, it is most likely to be a long-drawn-out battle, though it is in the interest of both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and not widen the operations. Perhaps, this is expecting too much from an undependable neighbour. The present situation has been thrust upon this country and it would not be surprising if Islamabad opens a front or two in the Rajouri-Poonch area. The military establishment in Islamabad has its own calculations. It has certain strategies which are target-specific and offensive in nature. India’s disadvantage is that it generally does not get into an offensive mode. Here lies a sharp contrast in the attitude and strategies of the two countries. The international community may be appreciative of India’s limited response to push back the infiltrators beyond the Line of Control (LoC), but it is Pakistan’s propaganda and nuisance value that draw more attention. And we do not have answers to Pakistan’s one-track approach to grab strategic areas in Jammu and Kashmir. Looking at the Kargil-Dras-Batalik situation in historical perspective, it must be said that the country is suffering because of the past sins of omission and commission of its leaders. Nothing has been right in what we have done in Jammu and Kashmir. We treated it differently. Sheikh Abdullah was once given a special status. In 1947, the Army was despatched to liberate the state from Pakistani raiders and yet it was denied a final say in the strategy. As a result, the most strategic region of India — Northern Territories — which links China and the former USSR was lost. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Indian leadership then did not have proper appreciation of the importance of the area. Perhaps, they went by different calculations. The damage, however, was done because of this obvious apathy. Ironically, a British Colonel in charge of the area took advantage of the situation. He organised a revolt among the Muslim troops in favour of Pakistan. What is worse, the raiders were allowed to advance to Kargil where there was a sizeable Hindu population. It is believed that 40,000 of them were massacred and the rest fled. Pakistan’s idea then was to take over the Ladakh region which consisted of two districts, Leh and Kargil. While Leh was predominantly inhabited by Buddhists, Kargil had a mixed population of Hindus and Muslims. Pakistan’s final objective even then was to take over Ladakh and cut off the valley. No proper notice of this design was taken officially in New Delhi. This must have emboldened Sheikh Abdullah to carve out a Muslim district out of Kargil and a part of Leh. No effort was made to bring back the Hindus who had fled. There are actually three distinct divisions of the state — Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.These three divisions differ not only in geography, culture, religion and language but also on such issues as state autonomy. The people of Ladakh have their own sensitivities. A majority of the inhabitants of the Jammu and Ladakh divisions have continued to nurture a sense of discrimination against the valley-dominated power politics. They carry a feeling of deprivation. As stated earlier, the Northern Territories are of vital importance to India from the strategic point of view. There are a million and a half Shias in the Gilgit area, living in almost primitive conditions. The Pakistani forces in 1947 not only occupied “Azad Kashmir” areas but also the snow-clad and rocky Northern Territories. To the north-east of this region lies the Chinese border; further to its north is Kazakhstan and to the north-west is Afghanistan. The famous Karakoram highway runs through this region. And the Siachen glacier commands a strategic position. How come India did not press its claim over this area? We are today paying heavily for our wrong policies and strategies. Out of the total area of the present-day Jammu and Kashmir (2.22 lakh sq km), about 35 per cent (78,000 sq km) is under the illegal occupation of Pakistan; about 2 per cent (5,000 sq km) has been handed over by it to China, which is already in illegal occupation of an additional area of about 17 per cent (35,000 sq km). This means the area under the effective control of the state is only about 46 per cent (1.01 lakh sq km). Out of this, about 26 per cent forms part of the Jammu division, 16 per cent the Kashmir division and the remaining 58 per cent the Ladakh division. The proportional distribution of population in these divisions is about 45 per cent, 53 per cent and 2 per cent respectively. These data have been very well brought out by the late Dr Y. P. Chathley in his book, “Education, Population and Development: A Regional Perspective of North-West India”, brought out in 1995. It is sad but true that Pakistan’s strategists, as is evident, had more foresight than those of India. The Pakistanis were clear about their goals and priorities and left no stone unturned to achieve them. In contrast to this aggressive approach, we neglected the Ladakh division of the state which is the focal point of today’s confrontation between the two countries. In fact, Pakistan has been interfering in the Kargil sector right from the early nineties with a view to cutting off the Srinagar-Leh road at strategic points. It is worth remembering that the population of Kargil is composed of Shias who favour Jammu and Kashmir being part of India. Yet this region was neglected and resources were constantly diverted to the valley. The mountainous terrain of Kargil has, therefore, remained unpopulated. It looks as if there was no border policy for the entire Ladakh region which also explains how the Chinese were able to construct a road to Tibet without Indians being aware of it. So this neglect on the part of India is an old malady and it has continued till this day. There is only one national highway linking the Ladakh region with Srinagar. It comes so perilously close to the LoC that some places are only three to four km away from it. No wonder, the Pakistan Army post dominates a portion of this highway. This dominating post has made the Indian positions vulnerable. Looking at the extreme importance of the terrain, India did nothing to push back the Pakistani Army position. Interestingly, India built a thick wall against the Pakistani shelling but it was found to be useless. Of course, a diversion road is being built. This should have been thought of much earlier. If Ladakh is cut off, one of the biggest beneficiaries will be China. Ladakh is the gateway to Tibet. If that gateway is snatched by the Pakistanis, even the Chinese are bound to feel more comfortable. I am highlighting these facts to make our readers appreciate the importance of the region and the hard battle that the Indian Air Force and the Army are waging for the integrity and sovereignty of our country. We are paying a heavy price for the failures of our leadership. Past blunders are manifold. What is tragic is that we go on adding to the blunders by repeating them periodically. As for the present Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, the less said, the better. He has only added confusion to the grim scenario. Even his latest statement on providing a “safe passage” to the intruders is indiscreet. The tragedy of this country is that some of its leaders talk without fully grasping historical facts and ground realities. They formulate ideas and air them publicly without understanding their implications. It is, of course, never too late to learn. But the George Fernandeses in our system will be a liability for a complex polity like ours in any situation. What is disturbing is that the person of the stature of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee could never discipline some of his wayward Cabinet colleagues. It is for the Prime Minister to view things in a larger frame and apply the necessary correctives and salvage the situation. He is on test of history. The Ladakh division calls for special attention. If he acts firmly and decisively and puts the country on the right track, his name will be written in golden letters. But if he allows vote bank politics and petty calculations to come in the way of his rational thinking, he will have a lot to answer to the countrymen. The choice is grim. For,
time does not solve problems. Political will can. Mr
Vajpayee has to act now. Tomorrow has to be shaped by
today’s bold and visionary steps. |
Punjab, Haryana as economic
engine VERY few people realise that the Punjab and Haryana region has truly been the economic engine of India, starting with the Green Revolution. The power of the engine does not end there. It has a great future for the coming several decades. Chandigarh, which is the core of the region, plays a crucial role as an economic, social, cultural and security node for the resurgent India of the new millennium. This is so despite the great gravitational pull of Delhi. In terms of a few social and economic indicators, the per capita consumption of electricity in Punjab is the maximum among the Indian states (690 kilowatt per hour). Haryana is third (443KW) on the list. In the net sown area Punjab accounts for (83.7 per cent and Haryana 80.3 per cent as in net irrigated area. They are top one and two. So is the situation in the yield of foodgrains: Punjab (3680 kg/hectare) and Haryana (2730 kg/hr). But the situation is not so in value addition in manufacturing. Punjab is tenth and Haryana twelfth. Investments are low. Punjab is second on the infant mortality index and Haryana lower in the line. The literacy rate is also not so good. So what is the future of the region? Is it going to saturate on the agricultural yield and wealth front? Is the region going to be bogged down by the problems of environmental concerns for sustainable agriculture? A careful study of the emerging social and economic opportunities and technological possibilities provides an optimistic picture. The peaceful conditions which have returned during the past several years further enhance the case for such an optimism. Let us look at the strengths of the region: excellent road infrastructure; fairly good electric power system; extensive telecom network; agricultural wealth; entrepreneurial people; many areas in and around the region can become major destinations for attracting domestic and foreign tourism. The region also has got a fairly good network of academic institutions and scientific and technological organisations. Another not so well-noticed socio-economic indicator is that Punjab and Haryana have the lowest of the urban-rural divide in the country. The ratio of urban-rural per capita consumption expenditure 1.1 for both states, the highest in India being 1.8. This is, in fact, a good starting point for all-round growth for deriving maximum benefits from the modern wealth generating information technology (IT) and allied services. What IT requires is large moderate investment, high quality minds and an entrepreneurial spirit. In addition to tapping the human resources of the region, it is also possible to tap the investments and knowledge base of the Indian diaspora, which have gone abroad from this region. They can also provide a number of contacts for the lucrative markets abroad for IT and IT-enabled services. The major initiative taken by the Prime Minister in freeing the IT and software industry in the country from the shackles which prevented its speedier growth earlier is an opportunity which Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh should capitalise upon. The rich culture and great civilisational stories of this region, spanning many centuries, form a rich mosaic which can be captured through multimedia, CD-ROM and the Internet. Activities around such projects by themselves can generate wealth and employment opportunities, and help India to usher in an IT super power. These IT marvels can also bring in much tourist traffic to the region, increasing wealth generation from the services sector. Another area worth exploring is to build upon the strength of the medical services available at and around the prestigious PGI of Chandigarh. Excellent road and other facilities can enable the setting up of several private and joint sector hospitals. It is also possible to attract several software companies and investment in clean and high technology industries. Let us not forget that Chandigarh had attracted the Semiconductor Complex and the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation of the ICSR. One of the major reasons to attract these IT companies is to give to new lease of life to several small-scale industries in many towns in this region, which were once vibrant and known for items such as agricultural implements, bicycles and optical instruments. But these industries require major technological upgradation and orientation to face the new challenges of global competition which will increase with the introduction of regimes of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). They need new product design, new ancillaries and new methods of trade, which would soon be dominated by E-commerce. Hence, as a spin off from the IT industry, upgradation and restructing of the small-scale sector can result. Then value addition will go up from the present low levels mentioned earlier. Lastly, the IT industry is also vital for managing the new ecologically sustainable challenges of agriculture with global environmental standards. The new agriculture demands system management. Modern sensors and IT make it possible to modernise agriculture as Israel has shown the world. This region can give leadership to the rest of India. There are several such possibilities as need to be promoted by an enlightened leadership from the political system, business community, intellectuals, professionals and the public. The region, which gave food security in the sixties, can serve as the engine for economic and social security. (Professor
Sondhi is a distinguished scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi, and Mr Rajan is Senior Adviser
(Technology), Confederation of Indian Industry, New
Delhi.) |
The
house atop the lonely hill I DECIDED to live in Munnar. Old memories dragged me here where a bittersweet past haunted me. I wanted a house located exactly opposite the one where I had set up my first and only home several years ago. As soon as I saw it I knew that this was exactly what I wanted. Colonial vintage. Red tiled roof. The front verandah mesh painted green, as were the doors and windows. The lawn had grown into a jungle. Atop the lonely hill it exuded a melancholy dignity. It certainly had seen better days. The tea estate’s sahibs must have had innumerable tea parties on its lawns. Fun and frolic is its past, a sad solitude its present. It somehow reminded me of the Mysore Infantry Lines quarters at Bangalore where I had lived when Dad was posted there. Only this one was a much larger version. Like Munnar, Bangalore too was special. I had my first heartbreak there. But that was calf love. This one was a serious relationship. I looked across at my former home atop another hill. The terraced tea garden to its left, the stream flowing right in front and clouds floating by the door. She was spellbound when she had first set her eyes on such natural splendour. The sunrise fascinated her no end. “Oh, this is heavenly, I never thought I would have paradise for my home!” she exclaimed in wonder. After a few days her opinion was more down to earth. Some friends and we went for a picnic. The scenery, the mists and the people were as enchanting as ever... Then the leeches got to her feet. She gave out a series of shrieks as the bloodsuckers bloated. I quickly poured salt on them. With morbid fascination she watched them plop like bursting balloons. Oozing blood. Just when I thought she would swoon she gave out a loud laugh. The laughter of relief, mocking at her own timidity, and happy with the world. The echoes of her joyous wonder and uninhibited chortle still echoed in the valley. In the 1980s I had spent two years in Munnar. Marriage was only two months away when the head office transferred me here from Bombay. “Lucky, you are going on an all expenses paid two-year honeymoon! It is a paradise on earth, better than Kashmir and no militancy!” The colleagues’ remarks were both congratulatory and well wishing. The first few months after marriage were blissful. Things were going well at work and the home was an Eden. It was wonderful while it lasted. “You like the house sir?” Chellappan, the estate agent, brought me back to the present. “Uh-huh. It seems ok, but for some minor repairs and the paint...” “Mr Augustine has promised to get them done.” “Tell me, why Mr Augustine is selling this house?” Chellappan hesitated. On
my prodding he uttered one word, “Heartbreak.”
I did not ask any further. But it was strange that I was
buying this house precisely for the reason Augustine was
selling it. |
Time to decolonise
information IF a new world order is to be created (It is being talked about by even President Clinton) it must begin with the decolonisation of information, for we must found the new order on facts, and not on fiction. Eighty years ago, Sir Roderick Jones, Chief of Reuters, said of this British news agency that no other factor had played such a decisive role for the advancement of British influence in the world. John Foster Dulles, the US Secretary of State and arch-imperialist, knew this. That is why he said: “If I were to be granted one point in foreign policy and no other, I would make it the free flow of information.” History has a strange way of repeating itself. Eighty years ago, America’s AP was trying to go global. But the giants Reuter, Havas and Wolff, wanted to block it and contain it within America. Kent Cooper, AP’s General Manager, carried on a crusade against the giants for 30 long years. He said of them: “They told the world about the (Red) Indians on war path in the west, lynchings in the south and bizarre crimes in the north” or race riots, tornadoes, floods and other disasters. He complained that the news agencies never portrayed the great spirit of the American nation. This is the charge of more than half the world today against AP and Reuter — that they never report with understanding and sympathy the news of the developing countries, that they distort facts and are superficial, supercilious and sensational. Reuter admitted the charge of Cooper. If AP is honest, it must also admit the charge against it. Today, the world, at least a large part of it, continues to see itself in the mirrors of the USA, Britan and France. AP, Reuter and AFP still sit astride the world and control the traffic of news. They determine what news should flow into a country, and what news should flow out of it. This they call “free flow of information”! The fact was: as the international status of the USA grew, it wanted to present its image through its own news agency, and thus influence world public opinion. The aspirations of American pioneers to raise America to a global power fused with the practical interests of AP become a global news agency. The media has always served as a vital instrument in promoting a country’s foreign policy, whether in war or peace, and as an invaluable handmaid of diplomacy. It still does. Of course, times have changed. The electronic media has come to dominate information. But it is more committed to entertainment and profit. And satellite transmission has made global boundaries irrelevant. But the change is more in methods than in intent. The intention remains the same — to dominate the intellectual life. There is talk of objectivity. But there is none. News may be free, but the choice of news is not neutral. Here the interest of the home country is supreme. Or the interests of the multinationals. What of the independence of the agencies? How can the AFP, which is highly subsidised by the French government, follow a line contrary to French policy? Or, for that matter, how can the AP and Reuter, even though not subsidised (that is what they say) take a line prejudicial to American or British interests? The point is: “free flow of information” is a myth and news agencies are not independent.” We hear of an “information explosion”. Much of it is of the Western world. The international wire carries a hundred times more news about the Western world compared to what it carries on the developing countries. They present images and life styles that are not in keeping with the social necessities of the poorer countries. American TV programmes are the biggest image builders today and they are doing what Hollywood did from the thirties. They inform, they entertain, they divert, they damn. They take your minds off from things that matter to men. This suits some rulers of the developing countries, too. In the West, the communicator is supposed to be a “value-neutral professional”, who relies entirely on technical and presentation skills. The mediamen in the poorer countries, too, have become insensitive to the needs of their own people. AP and Reuter correspondents are notorious for their bias. “I told you so”, is very much part of their personae for they come with their prejudices and pre-conceptions and only find pleasure in reporting doom. So they report of ineptitude, immaturity and incompetence of the natives, of coups, corruption and convulsions. All these may be partly true. But are not these to be found in the USA and Britain? The animus of the Western media against India, particularly AP and Reuter, is all too well known. They have their reason. Did not India lead the decolonisation process? Did it not discourage the newly free from alignment with the West? And did not a Krishna Menon tell them on their face what scum of the earth they were? India stands tall before the world in spite of everything. Hence the animus. If ever India was presented in a better image, it was by the Western academic community. Never by the Western media. That is why we should reject this claim for “free flow of information”. That is why we should reject globalisation of media. The Western media can never be fair to India. Take the present conflict between India and Pakistan. It is clear to the world that Pakistan has violated the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Pak soldiers and mercenaries have entered deep into Indian territory. They are trying to cut off the only means of communication between the valley and Leh. And yet the Western media has been concentrating its attention on India’s use of air power, as if India is doing something wrong. Whenever the BBC takes a “serious look” at India, it sees no future for it. It sees the country crumbling under the weight of corruption and decadence. This has not changed in the last half a century! In the 19th century and for most of this century, the slogan was “free trade”. The idea was to break open the closed markets. Today the slogan is “free flow of information”. The idea is to open up the media of much of the world to the “information explosion”. It has already created an insidious cultural and economic neocolonialism on a vast area of the world. The Western media is able to deal directly with the peoples of the world “to influence their attitudes and, at times, perhaps, even to motivate them to a particular course of action”, as a US Congress committee observed. For how long are these mystifying concepts like “free trade”, “free market”, “free enterprise” and “free flow of information” going to delude the world, particularly the developing world which has been the worst victim of these spells? Freedom for whom? Rapid expansion of communication technology in the West has increased the danger represented by the powerful, sometimes anonymous, media. A communication system which is the product of profit motive and private ownership cannot be a watchdog of society. It is bound to resist any change that threatens its economic interests, even though it may be in the general good of society. We have reason to say we have seen it all in a century. “Free flow of information”, like “free market” can benefit only a few. What then is the
solution? Do not allow globalisation of news and media.
And encourage new forms of media ownership at home. |
Akali leaders’ trial LAHORE: At the Akali leaders’ case today before Mr P.J. Anderson, Special Magistrate in the Lahore Fort, Sardar Jaswant Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, further examined and produced one draft of the telegram from the SGPC, Amritsar, to the Secretary, District Akali Jatha, Raewind, regarding the despatch of 500 Akalis to Lahore and his examination was finished with regard to the documents of the 4th box. On the 31 January, 1924, witness opened the fifth box and found the seals in the same condition and got the keys from Sardar Partap Singh, representative of the SGPC. He prepared two lists of the documents. And on page 3, there was reference about the proceedings of the working committee meeting. A resolution was passed giving three annas to Akalis per day. On page 29, there was one chit from Sahib Singh, Assistant Secretary of the SGPC, to Bhai Gurbaksh Singh, about Bhai Jagat Singh who was requested to proceed to Calcutta. On pages 51 to 54, there
were the rules and regulations of the District Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar. |
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