Better ties with China
THIS time last year China looked — as seen through the glasses of Mr George Fernandes — a monster and a powerful security threat to India.

Clinton’s plain-speaking
WHILE dealing with Pakistan down the years, the USA has used kid gloves of such exceptional softness that even a minor rap on the knuckles is bound to cause surprise.

Poll as scheduled
WEST Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu's suggestion that the Lok Sabha elections be preponed was as preposterous as Mr Kushabhau Thakre's hint that they can even be postponed, depending on the developments in Kargil.

GLOBALISATION & INDIA
by Sucha Singh Gill
GLOBALISATION is a catchword and a source of an on-going controversy. It has achieved a major breakthrough in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a unipolar world.

Declining standard of higher education
by Arvind Bhandari
THE stampede for admission to colleges has begun. Within two days, June 9 and 10, Delhi University sold 6.5 lakh centralised admission forms.

Police training gets humane touch
by Reeta Sharma
WE often compare our Indian police with that of the British and regret the brutal and desensitised face that our force has acquired as against that of Scotland Yard’s uncorrupt, judicious, sensitive and protective. Both are British legacies and the contrasting paradox was deliberately designed to suit the interests of the colonial rulers. Indians in the police during the British rule were purposely desensitised with a vicious and calculated motive of using them against their own people. But the most disappointing fact is that in the 50 years of our own democratic rule we have failed to reverse the pattern. Successive governments have enjoyed using Indian police a “la British” style without any trace of guilt.

75 Years Ago

Pandit Din Dayal in Karachi
KARACHI: The well-known Sanatanist leader and one of the pioneers of the Hindu Sangathan Movement, Shree Pandit Din Dayalji, Vyakhyan Vachaspati, accompanied by his two sons, Pandit Harihar Swaroopa Sharma, B.A., Secretary Hindu Mahasabha, and Pandit Mauli Chandra Shatri, M.A., LL.B., reached Karachi this morning.

Better ties with China

THIS time last year China looked — as seen through the glasses of Mr George Fernandes — a monster and a powerful security threat to India. Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh’s visit this week has corrected that image: China is after all a neighbour like any other, a little listless, a little ambitious and sometimes mischievous but a neighbour all the same. It is a country which India finds both compelling and useful to do business with. The past year has been rather dramatic in bilateral relations. Mr Fernandes’ single-minded admonition of China had plunged the ties into an irretrievable depth and now the carefully cultivated diplomatic etiquette of Mr Jaswant Singh has restored the old unstable equation. The Fernandes effect has been finally undone. This is a negative way of assessing the impact of the two-day visit of the Foreign Minister, but then that is an achievement. China does not normally forget an insult or a nasty insinuation and not so quickly. And these days India’s relations with Pakistan are under extra strain and Pakistan is China’s enduring friend.

The reasons shaping the northern neighbour’s new attitude are easy to explain. It wants to make a loud policy statement, rather repeat an old statement. It poses no security threat to this country, and although it is angry with the Defence Minister (and also the Prime Minister for referring to it in his letter to President Clinton as a reason for going nuclear), it wants normal relations with this country. There are several other factors conditioning its present policy. As it demonstrated during the visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz, it wants to follow a neutral line on the Kargil issue. For one thing, it is, on principle, opposed to outside intervention in any bilateral or internal dispute. Two, it has its own quota of “freedom fighters” propped up by outside powers, the Uighurs of Xinjiang province in the west and the Tibetans in the south. Friendship with Pakistan does not add up to much in terms of even regional power structure but that with India makes a substantial difference. It does not think of strategic axis with Russia and India, but wants tension-free relations with neighbours so that it can stand up to what it regularly condemns as global hegemony which it wants to replace with a multi-polar arrangement. No, China does not intend to rig up an anti-US front but wants to guard its turf. The Indian Foreign Minister’s visit served all these purposes admirably. The effusiveness looks genuine publicly, and it will need much homework to build on it. We shall have to be watchful and closely monitor Beijing's policies and postures vis-a-vis India and Pakistan.

Clinton’s plain-speaking

WHILE dealing with Pakistan down the years, the USA has used kid gloves of such exceptional softness that even a minor rap on the knuckles is bound to cause surprise. That is what President Clinton delivered during his 20-minute telephonic conversation with Mr Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday. It is reported that he not only urged the Pakistani Prime Minister to withdraw his forces from Kargil but also warned him that the deployment would block any effort to ease the escalating crisis with India. This is no doubt an unusual display of plain-speaking on the part of the US President but given the naked aggression of Islamabad and the savagery displayed by its forces in torturing the arrested Indian soldiers, the USA was expected to be far more critical. That is why any sort of euphoria over the admonition to Mr Sharif would be misplaced. At best, President Clinton's candidness is indicative of his exasperation over the indefensible aggression by the Pakistani forces in Kargil. The real healthy sign is that while talking earlier to Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, he made the point that this was an issue that ultimately had to be resolved bilaterally. That is how it should be. But there are reasons to apprehend that even this line of thinking may get blurred if the skirmish continues much longer. (That is what the game plan of Pakistan all along has been.) There is no need to see any change in the US stance because there is none. In fact, the old mindset continues with all its skewed rationale: that Kashmir is the most volatile nuclear flashpoint in the world at the moment. President Clinton has already been patting himself over the success of his Kosovo campaign. There is a distinct possibility that the interventionist tendencies may raise their heads again if the Kargil situation does not improve dramatically soon enough.

That poses a dilemma for the Army. It can hasten the process only to a certain extent, considering that the intruding forces of Pakistan occupy vantage positions. These have to be neutralised slowly, that too at a considerable cost in terms of life and limb. Any further hastening can make matters worse. Pakistan on its part can be depended on to not only prolong the matter but also to somehow drag it to the United Nations Security Council. While it has become isolated to a great extent because of its misadventure, it has succeeded in bringing the Kashmir issue to the front burner. One early indication of which way the wind is blowing will become available soon enough because the issue may come up for informal discussion during the Summit of the Group of Eight industrialised nations in Cologne (Germany). The agenda is not fixed in advance but the Kargil issue may figure informally during Friday dinner. Last year, the focus of the discussion was the nuclear tests. The actual American line will become clear after this year's summit. With former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto advocating a Camp David type summit and Mr Clinton himself trying to bring his term to a close amid a glare of "diplomatic victories", bilateralism may not be advocated by the US planners for much longer. Early realisation of this reality can avoid any last-minute heartache.

Poll as scheduled

WEST Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu's suggestion that the Lok Sabha elections be preponed was as preposterous as Mr Kushabhau Thakre's hint that they can even be postponed, depending on the developments in Kargil. Mr Basu is not a political novice. Immediately after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha he was among those opposed to early elections evidently to deny the Bharatiya Janata Party the advantage of what was seen as a sympathy wave in favour of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. The reason for the political role reversal on the timing of the Lok Sabha elections is not far to seek. The Opposition parties, particularly the Marxists, appear to be in indecent haste to reap the political fallout of what they perceive to the be ruling coalition’s major blunder. BJP President Thakre took the stand he did during his visit to Chennai for much the same reason. But he made a glaring error while responding to the reporter's question during his South India election tour. In theory advancing the date of holding elections is possible. However,the tentative time-frame suggested by the Election Commission cannot be pushed beyond September-October for meeting the constitutional requirement of holding the first session of the new Lok Sabha latest by October 21. Mr Thakre went to the extent of seeking the concurrence of all the political parties in favour of postponing the elections in the national interest if necessary! Of course, the BJP has since taken the stand that Mr Thakre was quoted out of context.

It is a pity that most political parties on either side have emphasised the need to not politicise the Kargil conflict in the larger national interest while doing the exact opposite. It is just as well that the balloon for testing public and political reaction to the postponement of the Lok Sabha elections has been pricked before it could take off. As of today, there is no question of pushing the election date beyond the one suggested by the Election Commission.Those in the ruling party who may secretly continue to nurse the idea of "continuing in office" without being answerable to the Lok Sabha beyond the constitutional limit of six months need to be firmly told to shut up. Yes, the war-like situation created by the action in Kargil is a source of worry for every patriotic and peace-loving Indian. However,the reason why the Election Commission decided on September-October for holding the elections is the reason why army top brass on either side of the Indo-Pak border would want to avoid a full-scale war, if the situation gets out of control. They would not like to commit their troops to what can easily turn into a suicidal mission during the tricky monsoon season. It is unlikely that political will would be allowed to prevail over the professional advice of the top brass. In 1971 when Indira Gandhi showed her impatience over the delay in ordering Army action in what was then East Pakistan. Field Marshal Manekshaw firmly told her that if she insisted on the operation being launched during the rainy season "I guarantee you 100 per cent defeat".The operation was started in December,1971,when all the factors helped India achieve the objective of liberating what came to be called Bangladesh.Simply put, the likes of Mr Thakre should banish the thought of postponement of elections because their worse fears cannot come true militarily before October, by which time the new Lok Sabha should be in place to decide the future course of action.

GLOBALISATION & INDIA
Risks and opportunities
by Sucha Singh Gill

GLOBALISATION is a catchword and a source of an on-going controversy. It has achieved a major breakthrough in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a unipolar world. It is being pushed as a strategy of economic development where borders of the countries do not matter as such, both in terms of movement of commodities, capital, finance, technology ideas, information, etc, and the mode of organisation of socio-economic life. It is being pursued by forces of global capital to bulldoze national borders. The security environment is deeply affected by the current phase of globalisation. And once economic security and stability of a country are undermined, nothing can save its unity and integrity.

Globalisation has different implications for different countries. Basing on the World Development Report-1996 of the World Bank, the different countries are classified into four categories in terms of their per capita income. The countries with a per capita income of $725 or less are included in the category of low income economies. The lower middle income economies are those which have a per capita income between $726 and $2,894 while the upper middle economies have a per capita income between $2895 and $8955. High income economies have a per capita income of $8956 and above.

The low income and middle income countries constitute 85 per cent of the world population and account for 21 per cent of the world GDP. These belong to Asia, Africa and Latin America, also known as the Third World and had been subjected to long colonial domination and exploitation. Among them the low income countries account for 57 per cent of the world population and only for 4.8 per cent of world GDP.

The high income countries house 15 per cent of the world’s population and their share of the global GDP is 79 per cent. The core of the high income countries is made up of the G-7 economies consisting of the USA, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Canada.

Among the low and middle income countries as well as those in the high income bracket there is considerable differentiation. The per capita income of Mozambique and Ethiopia was, respectively, $90 and $100 whereas that of South Korea is $8260 and Argentina $8110 (in 1994) among the lower middle income countries. This indicates that compared to Mozambique both South Korea and Argentina have a per capita income which is 90 times greater than theirs. On the other end, Switzerland had a per capita income of $37,930 and Japan’s $34,630 in 1994. In both cases their income is more than 385 times higher than that of Mozambique. Though differences are there among the high income countries, they are not as large as among the low and middle income countries. The USA remains as the single largest economy in the world, accounting for 26.4 per cent of the world GDP (with 4.66 per cent of the global population) followed by Japan with 18.2 per cent of the world GDP (having 2.23 per cent of the world population) and Germany with 8.1 per cent of the world GDP (showing 1.64 per cent of the population). These differences are being further accentuated by negative growth rates of Sub-Saharan Africa (1.2 per cent) and Latin America and Caribbean countries (0.4 per cent) during 1980-89 compared to the 2.3 per cent positive growth rate of industrialised countries.

India belongs to the low income countries with a per capita income of $320 (accounts for 16.32 per cent of the world’s population and 1.63 per cent of the global GDP). India’s GDP in 1993 was less than the combined annual sale of General Motors and Ford Motors, the two giant US MNCs. In terms of the size of the economy and its stage of development, India cannot be a global player. Therefore, India did not push forward the process of globalisation. It has only been made to participate in the process. The main push to the policy of globalisation has come from the G-7 countries and the MNCs based there. The frontal role has been played by the IMF and the World Bank.

The countries which faced a balance of payment crisis when they approached the IMF, they were given loans under the structural adjustment programme (SAP) with the conditionality of restructuring their economies. The World Bank also provided the necessary support and ideas for this kind of policy shift. The Latin American countries were the first to accept the SAP of the Fund-Bank duo in the 1970s when they could not absorb the shock of the oil price hike. They were followed by Asian and African countries in the 1980s and early 1990s, and the East European and Central Asian republics of the erstwhile Soviet Union in the 1990s. The full-blown process of globalisation became fully operative with the implementation of the GATT treaty of 1994 with the establishment of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.

Globalisation as “a process of increasing economic integration and growing economic interdependence between countries of the world” involves two distinct processes. One, it has set in motion a process of dismantling of barriers in the movement of commodities (both goods and services), information and capital across the countries. But it has retained barriers, rather made more strict, for the movement of people, particularly from the developing/Third World to the advanced countries. A company, generally MNC, making investment abroad can deploy its manpower in the host country (in the developing world) without facing any discrimination vis-a-vis the local population (GATT agreements, 1994). But the migration of population unrelated to the international movement of capital would continue to be regulated by the emigration laws of the nations (advanced) concerned. This has been left to individual countries, and the Western nations faced with growing domestic unemployment have made the migration from the developing countries quite tight and difficult.

On the contrary, the non-tariff barriers on commodities are to be completely phased out while the tariff barriers have been sizeably reduced and made uniform. Services like shipping, insurance, banking and communication, earlier non-tradeable, have been converted into tradeable “commodities”. Agriculture has also been brought into the framework of the world trading system, earlier a purely internal concern of the countries. All commodities which were earlier not regulated by world trading rules are now governed by WTO rules with dismantled/reduced trade barriers.

Like the migration of labour from developing countries, the flow of technology to them has also been made tighter. With the recently agreed trade-related intellectual property rights TRIPS under the WTO, uniform global patent laws are coming into force. The patents have been extended to new plant varieties also. The use of new (patented) technology by non-inventors necessitates the payment of royalty to the patent holders. This has allowed monopolisation of the use of new technology largely to MNCs in advanced countries, and restricted its flow largely to developing countries and to the non-inventors (largely non-MNC users). Thus globalisation in the present phase is largely for unrestricted operations of MNCs, with uncontrolled international capital movement commodity flows, financial movement, globalised communication for the unrestricted propagation of Western culture and ideas. This phase of globalisation is not for the global movement of labour and free flow of knowledge and technology across the countries. The present phase, therefore, can be characterised as victorious for capital at the global level.

The second feature of the present phase of globalisation relates to the universal propagation and the enforcement of a model of development across the countries. The Western pattern of development in its present form based on the capitalist mode of organisation is acknowledged as the model of development to be followed by the developing/Third World countries. This involves an unrestricted role of MNCs the world over, based on free competition, dismantling of government control and regulations within the countries along with the privatisation of the public sector and public utilities. The role of market forces is considered superior to planning. There is global pressure for fiscal discipline and a reduction in subsidies for production, protection and expansion in the production base. Even in agriculture, the scope of subsidies described as the Aggregate Measure of Support (AMS) is limited to 10 per cent of the value of the produce in developing countries and 5 per cent in the case of advanced nations. Global market and international competition are expected to promote efficiency in production by weeding out the inefficient. The international competition and the inflow of new technology are considered engines of economic growth, modernisation and global integration. The policies of the governments are being restructured to ensure free competition, an unrestricted flow of commodities and international capital movements both in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) and portfolio financial investment for short and long periods. This model is being projected in the face of the fact that MNCs represent monopoly capital and structurally would not allow percolation of the gains of productivity rise for the host countries and their poor people. These corporations use more controls over their production, technologies and location of operations through their networks than the centrally planned economies.

Globalisation increases interdependence and economic integration among various countries through the enlarged flow of commodities, capital, finance and information across the globe. It removes various hurdles and barriers (including the insulators and shockers of the economy) in the way of greater interdependence and global economic integration. One of the consequences of this process is a greater threat to the economic stability of different countries. This is borne out by the experience of different countries which have opted for greater economic interdependence and enhanced integration with the global economy. Latin American countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico were the first to accept the SAP of the IMF and borrowed petro-dollars from US commercial banks at commercial rates in the decade of the 1970s. They opened up and gave export orientation to their economies and were involved in a debt trap in the 1980s. More than 50 per cent of their exports were made for payment on account of external debt services. As their capacity to pay declined, the availability of external debt went down. This was coupled with the capital flight from these countries. This resulted in the devaluation of their currencies, a high rate of inflation and a decline in growth rates in the 1980s. Mexico suffered a second round of crisis in 1995. In the 1990s, East Asian countries suffered a major blow of destabilisation after they opted for opening up and greater integration with the global economy.

India at present has not yet faced any crisis from the globalisation process on the scale others have suffered. But such signs are appearing on the scene. This is evident from the current phase of recession and the falling exchange rate of the rupee (18 per cent in a year). India’s saving grace has been that the country has not yet opened up its financial sector to international players on the lines suggested by the IMF and the World Bank. At the same time the country’s reluctance to introduce capital account convertibility did not provide an opportunity to international speculators and manipulators to destabilise it through capital flights and currency manipulations.

Globalisation in its present phase is neither employment-friendly nor does it care much for the poor. Employment generation and poverty removal remain primarily the domestic concerns of the countries. The main agents of globalisation (MNCs, multilateral financial institutions and G-7) operate from the perspective of capital and rich countries, and are interested in reaping the benefits of this process. They would thrust the liabilities of it on the countries which fall in the way. Economic destabilisation, stagnation in the rate of growth, mounting unemployment and poverty, etc, fall in the share of the victim countries. An added factor in India’s case has been the sanctions imposed by the USA and its allies in the wake of the Pokhran nuclear explosions. It is pertinent on the part of the governments of the developing countries like India to be vigilant and careful while making decisions on the direction and dose of globalisation to be administered.

Issues like economic stability, growth, employment generation, poverty removal and food security cannot be left to the market forces and global economy. This can be done at the country’s peril. Of course, globalisation has brought opportunities but with several risks and various kinds of insecurity for the economy. The opportunities have to be utilised, and the risks and insecurity to be avoided through appropriate policy measures.

(The writer is Professor, Department of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala.)

Declining standard of higher education
by Arvind Bhandari

THE stampede for admission to colleges has begun. Within two days, June 9 and 10, Delhi University sold 6.5 lakh centralised admission forms. About 75,000 students have cleared the class XII examination in Delhi alone. In addition, Delhi University attracts students from other states. With only about 38,000 seats in regular courses, it is estimated that the university will eventually admit around 94,000 students in formal and non-formal streams, including correspondence courses.

The situation in Delhi University is symptomatic of that in the other major universities. For example, the number of students at Allahabad University has increased from 6195 in 1953 to over a lakh now.

The burgeoning of number has resulted in an all-round deterioration in the standard of higher education in the country. Indian universities have become large-scale factories churning out half-baked graduates and postgraduates. The only way to arrest the decline in standards and make the universities temples of genuine learning is to curb the mad rush for college education and reserve the portals of the centres of higher learning for the deserving few.

This can be achieved by delinking jobs from graduate degrees. Class XII should be considered a sufficient educational qualification for ordinary jobs in the government departments as well as private and public sectors. The mechanical nature of work in most jobs does not require a graduate degree, leave alone a postgraduate qualification. Only those students who have secured marks in class XII above a cut-off percentage — say 80 per cent — should be admitted to colleges for a conventional degree and professional courses like engineering and medicine.

In fact, the introduction of the 10 plus 2 system few years ago was based on similar thinking. It was stipulated that at the plus 2 stage there would be two streams, an academic stream and a vocational stream . Those whose academic performance at the matriculation stage was good would go into the academic stream, and the rest into the vocational stream. After plus 2 the academic stream students would go into colleges to pursue conventional degree courses. The vocational stream students would go into technical training institutes.

Unfortunately, the objective of the 10 plus 2 system has been lost. The attempt to divide students into those academically fit and unfit to pursue higher studies has foundered on the rock of social attitudes. For example, a rich man would not countenance the idea of his academically poor son becoming a lathe worker. The vocational stream has been a non-starter, and every student clearing the plus 2 stage automatically seeks admission to a graduate course.

Needless to say, the idea of delinking jobs from degrees cannot be implemented without the cooperation of employers. They should agree to lower the educational qualification for recruitment to ordinary jobs from graduation to the plus 2 level. At present the situation is just the reverse. The fashion in vogue is to insist not only on graduation but also on an MBA degree. This has become such a countrywide racket that there is a scramble for the MBA degree, resulting in the mushrooming of indifferent MBA institutes. It is a moot point whether those equipped with the label of an MBA degree actually become masters of business administration.

A few examples should suffice to epitomise the situation in our universities. Delhi University has been constrained to introduce a system to weed out criminals. The centralised admission form specifically asks students whether they have a criminal record.

The Delhi University Principals’ Association has charged the Delhi Education Minister with trying to secure the election of his favourites to the governing bodies of colleges. Academic work at Aligarh Muslim University has been repeatedly disrupted because of dharnas by teachers. Kashmir University has lost its credibility because of mass copying. A few weeks ago the police has to be stationed at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus because of clashes among students.

A multi-crore racket has been unearthed involving the disbursement of fake B.Ed degrees from non-existent teachers’ training minority institutions in Bihar. The state Vigilance Department has lodged an FIR against 25 persons, including senior officials of the National Council of Teachers Education and the suspended Vice-Chancellor of Mithila University. The B.N. Mandal University, Madhe-pura, was found selling postgraduate degrees in science for Rs 50,000. The College of Art and Craft of Patna University does not have a single teacher. An academic mafia in Chaudhary Charan Singh University has been allegedly using the office of the U.P. Governor to manipulate election of government clerks and non-academics to the executive council.

Interestingly, the Central government has set up a national accreditation council to oversee the quality of higher education!

Police training gets humane touch
by Reeta Sharma

WE often compare our Indian police with that of the British and regret the brutal and desensitised face that our force has acquired as against that of Scotland Yard’s uncorrupt, judicious, sensitive and protective. Both are British legacies and the contrasting paradox was deliberately designed to suit the interests of the colonial rulers. Indians in the police during the British rule were purposely desensitised with a vicious and calculated motive of using them against their own people. But the most disappointing fact is that in the 50 years of our own democratic rule we have failed to reverse the pattern. Successive governments have enjoyed using Indian police a “la British” style without any trace of guilt.

In this backdrop one of our major police training centres established by the British in 1891, September 9, at Phillaur, has continued to carry forward the training on almost the same principles and methodology even after 1947. Certain changes that were introduced from time-to-time have proved to be negligible as the flavour of Indian police has not changed. So much so that even today a scroll board, carrying names of British officers and principals, still decorates the wall of the Director’s office. Certainly, there is nothing honourable about the kind of training those British principals imparted to the Indians during their time. However, certain radical changes introduced only recently will go a long way in training future police personnel of India as more recognisable as Indians than British. This follow-up is about this very police training centre which nowadays is known as, “Punjab Police Academy”.

This premier institution is housed in a fort named after Maharaja Ranjit Singh at Phillaur. When the Sikhs rose to power, Phillaur was seized by one Sudh Singh Kaharah. In 1807 Maharaja Ranjit Singh took possession of Phillaur town and the fort.

During the period of Maharaja’s Governor Mohkam Chand (1809-1812) faussebrage ditch and bastions were added as a counter measure to the British occupation of the Ludhiana fort. As per historical records when the Sikh garrison under Ranjodh Singh Majithia was withdrawn after the battle of Aliwal on January 28, 1846, Chaudhari Kutb-ud-Din of Phillaur secured the keys of the fort. It remained under his custody until the British trooSps entered the Doab and Brigadier Wheeler and Col Macheson took over the fort.

Finally, in 1891, the fort was handed over to the then police department. In the same year, Mr J.M. Bishop, IP, the then assistant district superintendent of police became the first principal of the Police Training School, Phillaur Fort.

Even after India won its freedom in 1947, the training methodology of our police continued, what the British had designed. However, its only in the past decade that certain thinking police officers have taken steps to gradually modernise the PAP, Phillaur, besides introducing a humane angle to the training.

The present Director, Mr A.A. Siddiqui, Additional Director-General of Police, is the thinktank behind the revolutionary changes introduced in the past two years. The most radical change is to reduce the ratio of physical and academic training. So far, major stress was on the physical aspect (60 per cent). However, today it stands reduced to 40 per cent. “I personally felt that in order to give a civilised face to our police, the academic input had to be increased. Hence we took some definite steps in this direction by introducing trainees to aspects like human rights, laws related to women and children, holding workshops, interaction with personalities from other fields, besides bringing in infrastructural changes. We need service-oriented police and not a “danda-wielding” police”.

Quite like the training methodology, the inside of the fort too was never improvised or changed till 1992, when the then Director of the Academy, Mr G.S. Aujla, got a modern auditorium constructed with a seating capacity of 1,400. It also goes to his credit that two well-equipped conference halls were added during his tenure. These halls are now used for organising seminars, workshops and specialised training programmes.

In the early eighties residential accommodation for trainees and staff was added at PAP, in place of outdated barracks. In 1987, Mr G.S. Bhullar, with his initiative developed a nine-hole golf course. Similarly, in 1995-96, PAP introduced the firearms training system. This is the latest electronic weapon training simulator (imported from the USA) where trainees learn to shoot with the display of laser disc, depicting various types of situations.

However, major changes have been brought-in during Mr Siddiqui’s tenure. In 1997, the PAP acquired its own mechanically operated long and short ranges equipped with modern shooting infrastructure. Besides a new learning technique, known as ‘facilitative learning technique’, has also been introduced, wherein training is imparted with the help of audio-visual equipment. A gymnasium for physical fitness of trainees was also constructed in 1997.

Three national-level seminars have been held at PAP in the past one year under the leadership of Mr Siddiqui in collaboration with the Punjab Human Rights Commission and the British Council. The seminar on “Victomology” brought-in sitting judges, experts from India and abroad to sensitise the trainees as to how they ought to be protective towards the victims. The seminar on “Human Rights” opened chapters mostly alien to our police personnel. However, it was the seminar on “Suffiism” which stole the show.

It may be mentioned here that the fort houses a “Pir’s Mazar” inside it. Every Thursday thousands of people throng the mazar from Phillaur and adjoining villages, irrespective of their religion or caste. The mazar has certainly been playing an unseen spiritual influence on trainees for years now. So the seminar on “Suffiism” was not only an imaginative idea but also an effort to revive the dying heritage of Punjab — ‘Suffiism’. Sufi singers like Hans Raj Hans and Waddali brothers were invited to sing at the ‘Mazar’.

Mr Siddiqui’s efforts to give a civilised face to our police bore fruit when he succeeded in opening a ‘Police Public School’ in March, 1998. Children of police personnel, irrespective of their rank, have been enrolled at the school with 50 per cent fee discount to be taught by distinguished teachers chosen from all over the country.

In the last two years the PAP has been host to many a foreign police official to train them into the technology of “finger prints”. During the British rule the PAP catered to entire India. Today it trains police personnel from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, J and K, Manipur, Sikkim, Tripura, Pondicherry, Goa etc.

As Mr Siddiqui puts it: “My effort is to make our police more academically inclined. We have begun publishing our own magazine, where police people have contributed poems too besides other stuff. We have started M.A. and M.Phil courses as well for our force. Results? Well, the first convocation has already been held in 1998”.

75 YEARS AGO

Pandit Din Dayal in Karachi
From Our Correspondent

KARACHI: The well-known Sanatanist leader and one of the pioneers of the Hindu Sangathan Movement, Shree Pandit Din Dayalji, Vyakhyan Vachaspati, accompanied by his two sons, Pandit Harihar Swaroopa Sharma, B.A., Secretary Hindu Mahasabha, and Pandit Mauli Chandra Shatri, M.A., LL.B., reached Karachi this morning.

He was received at the station by the leading Hindu citizens of the town and presidents and secretaries of the Sanatan Dharma Sabha and the Hindu Sabha respectively.

A large number of volunteers and masses applauded him with “jais” and popular cries in accompaniment with the sacred sounds of conchshells and bells. He was driven in a motor car through the principal streets of the town and was lodged in the Sarva Hitaishi Aushadhalaya near Boulton Market.

He stays here for about a fortnight and will take part in the Sanatan Dharma anniversary to be held next week. He intends to work for the organisation of the Sangathan Movement in Sind.