Equations change in Haryana
THE BJP in Haryana has at long last decided to withdraw its support to the Haryana Vikas Party government headed by Mr Bansi Lal.

Endless wait
THE saying that "justice delayed is justice denied" does not evoke too much of response in our judicial system. There may be a hundred and one reasons for this inordinate delay but the fact remains that the dispensation of justice in India happens to be among the slowest in the world.

Commercialising Kargil
IN the Indian tradition "gupt daan" (secret donation) was considered the highest form of charity. Commerce and charity have, of course, seldom gone together because one is the daughter of Laxmi (goddess of wealth) while the other is the soul of Saraswati (goddess of knowledge).

OF KARGIL & CRICKET
by Inder Malhotra
ON Sunday night it could have been truly said that Pakistan had courted disaster — as much in cricket as over Kargil. The humiliating defeat at Lords, at the hands of Australia in brilliant form, has punctured the bloated balloon of the Pakistani team’s arrogance, shared by the general populace.

Activating air reconnaissance
by N. K. Pant
THE gruesomely disfigured bodies of Lt Saurabh Kalia and six brave soldiers handed over by Pakistan rightly stirred the nation’s conscience lending credence to barbaric torture before being shot at point blank range.

Time stands frozen for Uphaar tragedy victims
NEW DELHI: The sight of a school bus in the morning, the return of children from school in the neighbourhood in the afternoon, the noise of children playing in the grounds opposite their homes in the evening. Everything that they see and hear depresses them and shatters their will to live. For the unfortunate parents whose children were snatched away by the cruel hands of death in the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy on June 13, 1997, life has had no meaning for the past two years.

The so-called tender gender
by Shriniwas Joshi
MR Pandral Moon was appointed the Deputy Chief Commissioner when Himachal Pradesh was formed as a centrally administered territory on April 15 1948. An old file disclosed that once he sent a development related proposal to the Finance Department (F.D) for its approval and sanction.

75 Years Ago

Fasting in Vykom
WE are ourselves opposed to the observance of prolonged fasting as a part of a movement of passive resistance. But it does appear to us that if prolonged fasting has any place in such a movement at all, then Swami Shraddhananda’s criticism of Mahatma Gandhi’s recent declaration against fasting by the Vykom Satyagrahis has much to be said for it.

Equations change in Haryana

THE BJP in Haryana has at long last decided to withdraw its support to the Haryana Vikas Party government headed by Mr Bansi Lal. This has turned everything topsy-turvy in a state where politics is pursued not for upholding principles but for seeking power and favours. The latest development will, therefore, radically change the present power equations. Who will go with whom will be a matter of intense bargaining. Confusion will follow, especially in view of Mr Bansi Lal's move to seek a new ally in the Congress. This, in turn, will create certain complications for Mrs Sonia Gandhi's Congress, going by the signals from some senior leaders like Mr Bhajan Lal.

Relations between the BJP and the HVP have been far from cordial for quite some time. There have been under-currents of tension between the Chief Minister and the BJP leaders, mainly because of what they call the "autocratic style" of functioning of Haryana's strongman. In fact, there have of late been a number of attempts by different political groups in the state to topple the Bansi Lal government. But like the cat's proverbial nine lives, the Chief Minister managed to survive. It must be said that Mr Bansi Lal was on the alert and was well informed about the toppling exercise and, therefore, could pre-empt such moves. He even rewarded some MLAs and punished some ministers to convey the message that he was in command. Such survival games, however, could not have been foolproof.

The BJP has fired the final shots on certain calculations keeping in view the mid-term election. True, Mr Bansi Lal in his new avatar is not the same Bansi Lal who once shaped the destiny of Haryana and put the state on a fast track of development. He is no longer the dynamic former self. Some of his old habits and suspicious nature have virtually isolated him not only from his political friends but also from the bureaucracy. In fact, more than anything else his autocratic and self-centred style of functioning has brought him to the present sorry state of affairs. No wonder, the BJP had begun to see him more as a liability than an asset in terms of electoral politics in Haryana.

How far the BJP will be able to take advantage of the situation is difficult to say at this juncture. The overall scene is not all that rosy. The Congress is a house divided and confused following the split triggered by Mr Sharad Pawar, Mr P.A. Sangma and Mr Tariq Anwar. Moreover, Mr Bhajan Lal, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Rao Birendra Singh and a host of other small-time Congress leaders are pulling in different directions. Mr Om Prakash Chautala has his own gameplan. A crafty politician that he is, he hopes to gain depending on how alliances get firmed up in the state and beyond. It is a pity that Haryana today is suffering because of the lack of a dynamic leadership. There is a political vacuum as far as the second generation of leadership is concerned. It is an open battle now and whosoever plays his cards well, should gain from the discomfiture of Mr Bansi Lal. In the months to come, Haryana will, indeed, be a testing ground for some major political forces operating in the state.

Endless wait

THE saying that "justice delayed is justice denied" does not evoke too much of response in our judicial system. There may be a hundred and one reasons for this inordinate delay but the fact remains that the dispensation of justice in India happens to be among the slowest in the world. Even a decade is not long enough to ensure suitable redressal. There are lakhs of cases pending in various courts and if they continue to be disposed of at the current pace, some of them may not even be settled quarter of a century hence. In this dismal scenario, among the worst sufferers are the senior citizens. On one hand, they are physically challenged and on the other, the endless wait drains them emotionally. The Chief Justice of India, Dr Adarsh Sein Anand, has done a great service to them by focussing on their plight and asking all courts to evolve a system which may ensure timely disposal of their matters pending in the courts. If anyone needs priority, it is the senior citizens. The Chief Justice of India had already declared 1999 as the "year of action" for the disposal of old cases. Showing special respect towards the old people is in the fitness of things during this International Year of Older Persons. Those above 65 years comprise full 7 per cent of our population and a large number of them are engaged in litigation when they should be having to bear less of responsibilities. While some of them may be involved in criminal cases, the rest are caught up mostly in property disputes, inheritance and service matters. There are many who have left this world waiting for a judgement. We owe it to those who are still with us that their wait is minimised.

One of the main reasons for the tremendous burden on the courts is that the traditional systems of dispensation of justice have become discredited. Panchayats in villages do not intervene fully in even those matters that come within their domain. In other cases, the biggest litigant is the government itself. Since no official has any personal stake in a particular case, it continues to go from one court to another from year to year and decade to decade. Nor does the government display the necessary urgency in appointing an adequate number of Judges. The system is also choked by trivial matters. At least the petty cases need to be disposed in a summary manner. The unfortunate thing is that the legal community discourages all such attempts. Take consumer courts for example. These were supposed to dispense justice in a quick and inexpensive manner. But these too have acquired most of the negative characteristics of regular courts. The Chief Justice of India will earn eternal gratitude of the sufferers if he puts in place a system which can clear the frightening backlog a little faster. Besides the old people, the poor and the infirm and the widows are also waiting outside the courts.

Commercialising Kargil

IN the Indian tradition "gupt daan" (secret donation) was considered the highest form of charity. Commerce and charity have, of course, seldom gone together because one is the daughter of Laxmi (goddess of wealth) while the other is the soul of Saraswati (goddess of knowledge). Crass commercialism is also the exact opposite of the elements associated with finer human values. But the current corporate philosophy seems to be to turn even a tragedy into an opportunity and an opportunity into cash. The corporate giants, and even the pygmies who try to imitate them, have yet to count the cash they collected while promoting the cricket World Cup. Yet they have mistaken the knock of death and devastation at the door as a surprise visit by opportunity for putting more cash in their over-flowing coffers. They have now cast their greedy eyes on Kargil for increasing their profits in the garb of raising funds for the soldiers and their families. They are using the names of Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid,Saurav Ganguly, Ajay Jadeja, Javagal Srinath and Robin Singh for promoting the sale of their range of products.

The methods being used by some of the respected names in the industry for boosting the sale of their products in the not unsubtle garb of " doing our duty" to the nation is revolting and repulsive. Mercifully, the sickness of selling patriotism is, as of today, confined to the commercial capital of India, but if the nation does not lend its voice to the objections of the people of Mumbai against such sales promotion, the disease may spread to other parts of India. The unique selling point (USP) of one company is the promise to "humbly contribute Rs 100, on every....hi-fi music system and colour TV sold, to the families of our fallen patriots." (Once they are through raising money for the "fallen patriots", they may launch an equally attractive scheme for "fallen women"!) A group of concerned citizens,including journalists,have done the right thing by petitioning Maharashtra Governor P. C. Alexander to stop the companies from using the gallantry of our soldiers for promoting the sale of their products. If the companies really feel for the soldiers who are fighting a difficult war in Kargil, they should contribute to the designated funds from their own pocket rather than through selling dubious schemes to "patriotic customers". The people of India do not need to take lessons in patriotism from the corporate sector. In moments of national crisis, even the poorest among the poor are known to have skipped a meal for raising a few rupees for the welfare of the jawans and their families. They do not have to buy a fancy gadget or an expensive shirt or stretch the use of mobile phones to show their patriotism.

OF KARGIL & CRICKET
Pakistan’s double disaster
by Inder Malhotra

ON Sunday night it could have been truly said that Pakistan had courted disaster — as much in cricket as over Kargil. The humiliating defeat at Lords, at the hands of Australia in brilliant form, has punctured the bloated balloon of the Pakistani team’s arrogance, shared by the general populace. As for Kargil, the G-8 statement on the imperative need to respect the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir is an even bigger blow to Islamabad which had earlier hoped that it could get away with its brazen violation of this line in a sector of greatest strategic importance.

Spin doctors in the Pakistani capital, which seethes with them even more than does New Delhi, are bound to draw as much comfort as they can from the fact that in the statement issued by the G-8 summit at Cologne in Germany Pakistan has not been mentioned by name. They will also try to put their own interpretation on the expression “re-establishment” of the LoC. But this will get them nowhere.

For the message of the eight most powerful and wealthiest nations of the world is loud and clear. The LoC, drawn and fully delineated under the Shimla Agreement that binds both countries to honour it and not to use force to alter it, has been breached from the Pakistani side and this outrage has to be ended. Hence the Prime Minister’s statement in Dhaka — where he had gone to welcome a bus service of a different kind — that the invasion and occupation of Indian territory will be terminated “one way or another”.

In Mr Nawaz Sharif’s letter to Mr Bill Clinton, as in the Pakistan propaganda offensive in the G-8 capitals, it was repeatedly argued that Islamabad had no control on the “Kashmiri freedom-fighters” entrenched on the bleak heights of Dras, Kargil and Batalik. No one has been taken in by this nonsense. Sources close to the Clinton administration in Washington have said and written that however cautiously worded the public statements of America, in private the Clinton administration has left the Pakistani government in no doubt about what all it knows about the Pakistani outrage in Kargil.

Leave alone the evidence of regular Pakistani troops being present at the occupied heights that the Indian armed forces have found — and displayed on TV even though belatedly — anyone would know that “Jehadists” of Afghan war vintage are in no position to scale the scary heights without direction, supplies, sophisticated equipment and communications facilities of the Pakistani army. No wonder then that US sources have dropped hints that should Islamabad persist in its denial of the obvious, Washington would have “more to say about the evidence” of the Pakistani mischief it possesses.

Equally absurd is the Pakistani claim — voiced by the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Mr Sartaj Aziz, and others — that the LoC is not clearly demarcated or delineated. Mr Aziz was, in fact, rather confused about these two expressions which are clear to any rookie cartographer. The reality is that every inch of the LoC has been properly delineated on the map, with accompanying texts that describe each salient point along the line in great detail.

In all, there are 19 such maps relating to all sectors of the LoC from Thakuchuak to Point NJ 9842. Each has been signed by the then Army Chiefs of the two countries, Field Marshal Manekshaw and Gen Tikka Khan. For reasons best known to it, the government in New Delhi was reluctant to make these maps public. On Saturday, however, it gave up its intransigence, and displayed at the daily briefing by the Army and the Foreign Office the map of the relocant Dras-Batalik sector. This clearly is not enough. The entire map of the LoC must be published immediately and disseminated within the county and in the outside world without any further delay.

The key question now is: What next? In one respect the answer has been given by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and reiterated by his Principal Secretary and National Security Adviser, Mr Brajesh Mishra. The invaders and occupiers of Indian territory must either be withdrawn or they will be done to death. The gallant Indian forces have already shown how valiantly they fight in defence of the country’s freedom, security and territorial integrity despite the heaviest of odds. The total elimination of the marauding Pakistani troops and Afghani mercenaries from the vital Tololing range speaks for itself. And this is bound to be the pattern elsewhere on the heights seized by the aggressors.

However, the cost of the operations in terms of valuable lives lost, equipment and ammunition used up and, above all, time is heavy. It could paradoxically become heavier as the armed forces achieve greater success. This is so because as the ground troops climb higher to get the mountain tops vacated, their vulnerability to the enemy fire will correspondingly increase. At the same time, it will become more difficult for the Air Force to give them support or pound the bunkers and other hideouts of the invaders.

It is in this context that the question of crossing or not crossing the LoC in order to strike at the supply lines of the Pakistanis ensconced in their bunkers at great heights is raised. For the present, as Mr Mishra said on TV, instructions to the defence services are not to cross the LoC. Though this does impede military operations, it earns international goodwill. An integral part of the G-8 statements, which this country has welcomed, is that both sides should exercise restraint and refrain from escalating the situation. And yet Mr Mishra has added that the edict about not crossing the LoC “could change”.

This is a discreet repetition in public of the message Mr Mishra was asked to deliver to his American counterpart, Mr Sandy Berger. If Pakistan cannot be persuaded to end its outrageous aggression quickly enough, how long can the USA and the international community expect India to observe the kind of restraint no other country would have accepted in similar circumstances?

Mr Nawaz Sharif’s statement that without an immediate solution of the Kashmir problem, “many more Kargil-like situations will crop up”, made a day before the G-8’s Cologne statement, is no great help. But behind this public bombast, there is a great deal of private whining.

Through diverse sources, Pakistani, Indian and foreign, the Indian government is being beseeched, on behalf of the Pakistani Prime Minister, that he needs “help”. The argument is that Mr Sharif is not in a position to rein in the army, that further military pressure from India, leading to Pakistani humiliation, could end up in the Prime Minister’s overthrow, a military coup and even disintegration of Pakistan which would not be good for anyone. On top of it, there is widespread talk in Pakistan that Mr Sharif should be tried, a la Benazir Bhutto, for the “egregious corruption of his family”.

However, is the Indian Army to defend this country or save the Pakistani Prime Minister from his own armed forces, especially from a handpicked army chief? When Mr Sharif, often described as the most powerful Prime Minister of Pakistan ever, had sacked the fine and upright Army Chief, Gen Jahangir Karamat, it was said that the army, too, had come under his control. That apparently is not so. In other words, the Talibanisation of Pakistan and its army has already gone too far.

Under such circumstances, India cannot save Mr Sharif even if it wants to. He has to save himself, with the help of sane elements in the Pakistani society and system. This he can do by cutting Pakistan’s losses and ending the Kargil misadventure. Then the process of composite and comprehensive dialogue can be resumed. But not until then.

Activating air reconnaissance
by N. K. Pant

THE gruesomely disfigured bodies of Lt Saurabh Kalia and six brave soldiers handed over by Pakistan rightly stirred the nation’s conscience lending credence to barbaric torture before being shot at point blank range. The infantrymen who had lost their bearing while on a routine reconnaissance mission had been caught by the Pakistani army in the first half of May. Had the inescapable air reconnoitring of the Kargil sector been effectively carried out during the preceding winters and the vital inputs obtained therefrom timely acted upon, the subsequent need for ringing alarm bells for military crisis management virtually on war-footing to evict heavily armed Pakistani intruders from our territory could have been avoided.

During the fighting, air reconnaissance plays a prime role in the progress of battle where the fast changing “bomb line” dividing the opposing armies on the ground determines aircraft and artillery pounding of the hostile forces. But its peacetime importance cannot in anyway be undermined as the photographic evidence gathered through it helps the military planners to take the necessary defensive or offensive measures. The modern-day air reconnaissance is obtained through satellites, aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Indian Army fortunately had access to all these means in addition to several ground-based listening posts for intercepting numerous messages among the various enemy formations actively involved in the armed intrusion. The judicious utilisation of these available means would have certainly forewarned the military top brass of the trap the Pakistan army was preparing for us.

In fact, subsequent release of a satellite imagery to the Indian newspapers showing enemy camps on our side of the LoC indicated that a number of Indian remote sensing (IRS) satellites orbiting the earth had ample military applications. That the IRS series satellites are rated among the best in the world is proved by the fact that even the Americans, pioneers in space technology are buying satellite imagery from the Indian Space Research Organisation. Starting with a resolution of one kilometre two decades ago, Indian satellites are today capable of 5.8 metre resolution. The recently launched IRS-P4 called Oceansat has carried several sensors designed to study marine environment besides the land applications. One wonders why this technological prowess available indigenously was not put to use by our forces in monitoring Pakistani troop movements in the Kargil-Dras-Batalik area prior to commencing long-drawn bloody flushing out operations.

Moreover, the IAF has been operating the reconnaissance version of Canberra aircraft since mid-1950s. Hats off to the Air Force that it is still using Canberras in photo recce role after nearly half a century of its induction. In fact, one of the Canberras was reportedly hit by enemy fire while on an aerial survey over the area of intrusion proves the point that the recce aircraft was pressed into service after the Pakistani intransigence came to notice. Similarly, the IAF started using MiG-25R high performance reconnaissance planes for studying the area terrain of hostile concentrations after the enemy had surreptitiously moved in lock, stock and barrel. MiG-25R, capable of flying at an incredible height of 80,000 feet, is believed to be equipped with five camera windows, a Doppler navigation system and a side-looking airborne radar.

If these aircraft can take aerial photographs of militants’ training camps in PoK run by the infamous ISI to prove Pakistan’s duplicity in creating and maintaining insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, these could have been certainly used in ascertaining the presence of enemy camps on our side of the LoC in the Kargil sector. Subsequently, however, the photographic inputs provided by MiG-25R aircraft have been used to locate geographical faults which can be blasted to engineer landslides and avalanches through well-directed projectiles for the purpose of blocking enemy supply routes. Similarly, the other versatile aircraft, the multi-role Mirage-2000, has also been pressed into photo recce missions besides the usual electronic jamming and bombing roles.

Another valuable asset with the armed forces for carrying out reconnaissance role from the skies happens to be UAV. During the recent years UAVs have assumed an important role in intelligence gathering. In fact, Gen V P Malik after assuming the office of Chief of Army Staff had paid a visit to Israel which has incidentally been on the forefront in the military usage of remotely-piloted air vehicles. General Malik had evinced keen interest in the Searcher-2 UAV system developed by the Jewish state for acquisition by the Indian Army. An indigenous version of UAV christened “Nishant” has also been developed by the DRDO which will be produced by the HAL, Bangalore.

In the aftermath of large-scale well-planned Pakistani armed intrusions in the Kargil and Dras sectors, the Indian Army is reportedly toying with the idea of installing unattended ground sensors, short-range battlefield surveillance radars and hand-held thermal imagers along the LoC. There is no doubt that these sophisticated systems would give the Army units deployed on the inhospitable stretches in the mountainous region capability to get advance warning of infiltration and hence must be acquired at the earliest without fail.

The so-called tender gender
by Shriniwas Joshi

MR Pandral Moon was appointed the Deputy Chief Commissioner when Himachal Pradesh was formed as a centrally administered territory on April 15 1948. An old file disclosed that once he sent a development related proposal to the Finance Department (F.D) for its approval and sanction. The all powerful F.D found reasons to reject it. When the file was put up to him with F.D’s advice of rejection on it, Mr Moon made this observation on the noting: “F.D. is like a woman who on first approach says ‘no’ but on subsequent persuasion(s) not only agrees but surrenders completely. Please send the file to the F.D. again.” The next advice of the F.D. was, “F.D, not only concurs with the proposal of the Administrative Department but also agrees with its observation.” The F.D. willingly accepted that it had the characteristics of Bollywood masala film heroine i.e., “nan nan karte pyar ho gaya” type. Sir Winston Churchill, however, had slightly different opinion about the tender gender and felt that an agreeing woman always kept up the facade of disagreement. Distinguishing between a statesman and a woman he had said, “When a Statesman says ‘Yes’ he means ‘May be’, when he says ‘May be’ he means ‘No’, if he says ‘No’, he is no Statesman. On the other hand a woman’s ‘No’ means ‘May be’ and her ‘May be’ means ‘Yes’, if she says ‘Yes’, she is no woman.”

Such is the attraction of woman or (Is it the Man’s world?) that she is seen in many physical objects as Mr Moon had perceived her in F.D. An advertisement on the TV shows a young man visualising a tantalizing girl in place of a bicycle and falls for it. Helen Rowland saw her in a peg and said, “Woman is the peg on which the wit hangs his jest, the preacher his text, the cynic his grouch, and the sinner his justification.”

A ship is also referred to as a “she”. Why? Because the naval boys are always around her, she needs a lot of paint to present her best face, she is all decked out and she shows her topsides and hides her bottom. Also because it not the initial expense that breaks a man, it is her upkeep, and that she needs an adroit man to steer her right.

Shakespeare had said “comparisons are odorous”. John Donne did not see any aroma in comparisons and called them odious. Nevertheless comparisons, fragrant or foul, are frequently made. Even newspapers have been likened to women: “they all have forms, they always have the last word, back numbers are not in demand, you can’t believe everything they say, and everyman should have his own and not try to borrow his neighbour’s.”

I know that women’s libbers will not spare me for comparing the “God created” with the inanimates but the quill drivers from whose repertoire I have liberally borrowed for the piece will come to my rescue. As the last word, I quote Kipling who did not see the like of a woman in any other manifestation, “And a woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a Smoke.” Are you sure that cigar is a smoke, Rudyard? Let us ask that “Bill’s Woman.”

Awaiting Judgement

Time stands frozen for Uphaar
tragedy victims

Facts at a glance

* The Uphaar fire tragedy occurred on June 13, 1997, taking 59 lives

* The Delhi Administration ordered a magisterial enquiry. The report is gathering dust

* Tragedy victims formed an association to fight for justice

* The association preferred a petition in the Delhi High Court for punitive damages

* This petition is fixed for July 13

* In the criminal case, the CBI filed challan against 16 accused persons on November 15, 1997

* With charges yet to be framed, the case is fixed for July 5

NEW DELHI: The sight of a school bus in the morning, the return of children from school in the neighbourhood in the afternoon, the noise of children playing in the grounds opposite their homes in the evening. Everything that they see and hear depresses them and shatters their will to live. For the unfortunate parents whose children were snatched away by the cruel hands of death in the Uphaar cinema fire tragedy on June 13, 1997, life has had no meaning for the past two years.

Sitting in their second floor flat in Mangla Apartments, a part of Kalkaji, visibly crestfallen Shekhar Krishnamurthy and his wife Neelam remember their two children — Unnati, a 17-year old daughter, and Ujjwal, a 13-year old son.

Both of them were brilliant in studies. While Unnati had passed her matriculation with more than 80 per cent marks and was planning to seek admission to the B.Com course, Ujjwal was a student of the 9th class at the prestigious Delhi Public School. He was a “scholar batch holder” and “male lead singer” of his school.

“My daughter was very fond of seeing movies, the first show of every film if possible,” recalls Neelam.

On June 13, 1997, she bought two tickets for Unnati and Ujjwal of the ‘Border’ film’s matinee show at Uphaar theatre. “I dropped them there at 3 p.m., little knowing that after two hours I would be called to collect their bodies — the fire engulfed the Uphaar building at 5.11 p.m.”

The couple has been living a schizophrenic existence since then — fighting a battle for justice by day and crumbling into pieces every night. Looking blank, Shekhar and Neelam say that they have not cooked food in their house since the death of their children. Sometimes they make do with sandwiches, while at others they buy some rice from a nearby shop.

Every time Neelam goes to sleep — which is not often even with three to four pills a night — she makes a wish: that she does not wake up to see this cruel world again. Often at the dead of night she leaves her room to go into the children’s room which is intact with their books, soft toys, cricket sets, clothes and a cap of which Ujjwal was very fond.

He had left it on the pillow of his bed without knowing that he would never wear it again. A dog keeps vigil outside the room and does not let anyone in, except the parents. Neelam switches on the room’s air conditioner every night as the children used to do. When the entire world sleeps, she communicates with the photographs of Unnati and Ujjwal to console herself.

Shekhar and Neelam had come up in life through hard work. They had a roaring business of readymade garments. With their savings they had purchased the flat in which they live and invested in FDRs for the security of their children.

“What will we do with the money that we saved after working 18 hours a day?” they ask, tears rolling down their cheeks. Now they rarely go to their place of work.

The tragedy is still deeper for Satya Pal Sudan and his wife, Sunita, who live in their ancestral Mehrauli house. They have lost seven members of their family —- only son Aman, daughter-in-law Monika, five-week old grand-daughter Chaitna, daughter Vipin, son-in-law Madan, and their two children Yami and Parul.

The 60-year-old Sudan broke down when he recalled the incident. He said his son-in-law had come from Meerut to Delhi on June 12 — a day before the tragedy —- and had planned to go back the next day. But, alas, it was not to be.

He stayed back for the day and went to see ‘Border’ with other members of the family. A friend telephoned him around 10 p.m. to inform that all his family members had perished in the fire. Their bodies were lying in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

“I did not have enough money even to perform the last rites of my dear ones. Money was arranged through friends and relatives. The bodies were taken straight from the AIMS to the Mehrauli cremation ground. The images of my children still figure before my eyes, as fresh as they were on the day I had lit their pyres one after the other,” he bemoaned.

The tragedy was no less poignant for Jagdeep Mann, who lived in New Friends Colony. He lost his wife and all three children. Life appears to have frozen for him since June 13, 1997. He has left the city. He comes here on the 13th of every month, if possible, to remember his dear ones along with the families of other victims.

Happiness and sorrow came hand-in-hand for S.C.Jain, who has his plastic business in Greater Kailash. On the morning of June 13 his 21-year old son, Himanshu, received a letter from the USA saying that he had qualified the competitive examination for admission to the MBA course in that country. His happiness knew no bounds and he decided to celebrate by seeing the ‘Border’ movie.

In the evening Himanshu died due to inhaling of noxious fumes caused by the blaze in the Uphaar building.

Says Jain: “Himanshu’s B.Com result was declared a few days after his death. He passed the examination with 64 per cent marks. The Principal of his college has sent me several messages for collecting his degree. I do not have the heart to go to his college. What will I do with the degree when my Himanshu is no more with me?” he asks.

So also for Naveen Sahni, a resident of Anand Niketan near Moti Bagh. His only daughter Trika had appeared in the B.A. final examination and also became a victim of the tragedy. Her result, too, was declared after her death. She passed the examination with 70 per cent marks.

Naveen, too, did not have the courage to collect his daughter’s degree.

Their common grief and suffering have brought these, and many other, families together. They frequent each others’ houses in an effort to console themselves. Although they have come to believe that the tragedy was pre-ordained they have decided to fight for justice.

With this aim they have formed an association known as the “Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy” (AVUT). What they regret is the callous attitude of politicians in power.

They reveal that they repeatedly urged the then Prime Minister, Mr I.K.Gujral, to grant them a 15-minute audience to apprise him of the flaws in the fire system of the Uphaar theatre, and other cinema houses in the capital. Their request was not granted.

Mr Inderjit Gupta, the then Home Minister, was also simply dismissive and did not show the courtesy of meeting them.

The AVUT says that the Delhi Administration had ordered a fact-finding enquiry into the episode to bring the guilty to book. The enquiry was conducted by Mr Naresh Kumar, the then Deputy Commissioner of South Delhi. Mr Kumar completed the enquiry within 15 days and submitted his 86-page report to the government.

In his findings he held that the Delhi Vidyut Board, the licensee of Uphaar Cinema, the Licensing Branch of the Delhi Police, the Delhi Fire Service and the Delhi Municipal Corporation were all guilty of “acts of omission and commission.” They “cannot escape the responsibility of having contributed to the disaster,” he held.

The licensee of Uphaar Cinema was guilty (according to the report) of having lost precious time before informing the Delhi Fire Service of the fire, overcrowding the car parking area, keeping no safety distance between the transformer room and the parking lot, and flouting the building byelaws and the Delhi Fire Prevention and Fire Safety Act.

The Delhi Vidyut Board was guilty of violating the provisions of the Indian Electricity Rules, 1956, regarding installation, maintenance and protection of the transformer and poor workmanship by the sub-station maintenance staff.

The Licensing Authority was guilty of failure to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Cinematography Act with regard to sitting arrangement and fire safety measures, apart from irregularities in the issuance of temporary permits to the Uphaar management.

The Delhi Fire Service was guilty of having issued the NOC for the renewal of Uphaar Theatre’s licence, without taking cognizance of the non-functional public address system and without ensuring an alternate source of power for exit and emergency lights.

And finally, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was guilty (according to the report) of failing to ensure adherence to the local building byelaws even after inspecting the building.

What has the Delhi Administration done during the past two years to take action on the Naresh Kumar enquiry report? The report has been gathering dust in the Secretariat, like so many other enquiry reports submitted in previous years.

Members of the AVUT are also unhappy over the tardy progress of the criminal trial. They point out that there has been delay at every stage.

The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police, which had initially investigated the case, had done a wonderful job. It had arrested almost all the accused persons, except Gopal Ansal, one of the Directors of the Uphaar theatre and A.K.Gera, an employee of the Delhi Vidyut Board.

A group of NGOs then sprang up, God knows from where, and held a demonstration demanding transfer of the case to the CBI. None of the members of the victims’ families had raised this issue. And the government accepted the demand of the demonstrators without batting an eyelid.

“We have nothing against the CBI,” say the members of the association. “But it had to start the entire process afresh. And that consumed a lot of time,” they add.

After completing the investigation the CBI filed the charge-sheet on November 15, 1997, against 16 persons including the multi-millionaire Directors of the theatre, Gopal Ansal and Sushil Ansal. They were booked for offences under Sections 304, 337, 338, IPC, read with Section 36, IPC and under Section 14 of the Cinematography Act.

It however took more than a year — one year, one month and 18 days to be precise —for the case to be committed to the Sessions Court. It was only on January 4, 1999, that the Sessions Judge, Mrs Sharda Aggarwal, sent the case to Mr S.C.Mittal, Additional Sessions Judge, for trial. Mr Mittal, however, returned the case on the ground that he was familiar with some of the accused.

The case was then sent to Mr M.A.Khan, Sessions Judge of Tis Hazari, who committed for trial it to Mr L.D.Malik, Additional Sessions Judge, on February 12. Mr Malik fixed the case for the first hearing on April 16 for hearing arguments on framing of charges.

While the prosecution concluded its arguments before the court closed for summer vacation, the defence will resume arguments on July 5 on its reopening. The trial has thus yet to take off.

The AVUT had also filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court in 1997 seeking “punitive damages” to the tune of Rs 100 crore. The apex court asked the association to prefer its petition before the Delhi High Court because the defendants are State government officials. The case is now fixed for July 13 before Mr Justice Devender Gupta of the High Court.

If the High Court grants its prayer, the association plans to set up a centralised accident and trauma services centre on the AIIMS premises.

“We have seen our children suffering and dying before our eyes for want of timely and adequate medical care. We do not wish that to be repeated in the case of any other parent,” says the association.

When, if at all, the proposed centre will be set up, only time will tell, But, thanks to the AVUT, a park has already come up just opposite the Uphaar theatre. It has been developed by the association after acquiring an 80’x80’ patch of open space from the Delhi Administration.

The AVUT has raised a beautiful memorial in this park.

The name and date of birth of each victim is engraved on the memorial. On the 13th of every month, members of the association assemble there, hold prayer meetings, perform havan, pay floral tributes and renew their pledge to fight for justice.

The Uphaar theatre has been sealed by the CBI. A constable of the Delhi police stands guard at its gate. The gaudy, larger-than-life banner of `Border’ stands frozen in time. With its smashed doors, windows and the rubble lying intact, the theatre continues to remind every passerby of the gruesome fire tragedy that took 59 precious lives two years ago.

The management of the Uphaar cinema recently filed an application before the trial court, praying for permission to renovate and run the cinema. The application will come up for consideration after the vacation. But the AVUT is determined not to allow the management to run the theatre again.

“We shall not permit the management to commission the theatre even if it costs us our life,” say some visibly agitated members of the association.

Repeated attempts to seek the version of Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal failed. On dialling their telephones ( No. 379339 and 6498388 ) The Tribune was told that they were out of India. On being asked when they would return, “we do not know,” was the answer from the other end.

75 YEARS AGO

Fasting in Vykom

WE are ourselves opposed to the observance of prolonged fasting as a part of a movement of passive resistance. But it does appear to us that if prolonged fasting has any place in such a movement at all, then Swami Shraddhananda’s criticism of Mahatma Gandhi’s recent declaration against fasting by the Vykom Satyagrahis has much to be said for it.

“How the attitude of the officials arresting the Satyagrahis,” he said, “could be compared with that of General Dyer and how in the same breath the people would be advised to wait in deputation on the Durbar and the officials, was bewildering.”

“The Maharaja and the Diwan being the supporters and lovers of the unapproachables,” he added, “fasting appeared to be a most appropriate form of Satyagraha at Vykom.” We can think of no cogent answer to this argument.