P A G E
Saturday, May 8, 1999
today's calendar
|
E D I T O R I A L P A G E |
Saturday, May 8, 1999 |
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
||
|
Contours
of coming battle
ACCOUNTABILITY
CASE Schools
or killing fields? |
 |
Jessica
murder: another view
Children’s
programmes in sorry state
Star-struck
Akali Leaders’ Trial |
||||||||
 |
|
Contours of coming battle BROAD policy planks of the two main contenders for power are slowly but surely emerging. The Congress has decided at its Thursday meeting that it will seek a mandate for a one-party rule to rid the country of unstable coalition arrangements. It feels that this prospect will enthuse the electorate which has felt harassed by three different governments in three years. What is more, stable rule by the most experienced political party may be the war cry of the Congress like “garibi hatao” was in 1971. One obvious appeal of this slogan is its inherent all-inclusiveness. This theme can be invoked to criticise or clarify economic issues, political trends, social changes and even defence and foreign affairs. Indira Gandhi not only projected her populist platform through “garibi hatao” but also attacked what she called the anti-people policies of the opposition. Thus this seemingly one-point manifesto can throw up a variety of themes, even while touching a latent sympathetic chord of the voter. If the BJP and its allies succeed in turning the heat on the Congress for plunging the country into yet another round of midterm poll and thus defeating last mandate, the Congress can turn the table on the opposition by appealing for a permanent solution by giving it a decisive mandate. For an interested voter, the coming electoral battle promises to throw up some issues, not fully focused or developed but issues all the same. This is an improvement on the past when non-issues dominated and often determined the poll outcome. The BJP, on the other
hand, is all set to exploit the sympathy factor stemming
from its abrupt ejection from power. It is not sure if
this will remain valid until September-October when the
voting takes place; that explains its hectic but abortive
efforts to have the elections in June itself. The other
important issue is the rude interference in the running
of the mandate by the Congress and a few other parties.
This is an emotional theme and needs to be played with
some finesse. As Pramod Mahajan told a Sunday newspaper,
the BJP and its pre-poll allies had 254 MPs on the day
the House was constituted. And he said it was a great
success to have taken this number to 279 on the day the
House voted on the resolution to approve President’s
rule in Bihar. He was emphasising how support to the
Vajpayee-led government was steadily increasing. But his
statement also underlines the fact that the alliance did
not have a mandate of its own as it was also a victim of
the fractured political system. Ms Sonia
Gandhi-as-a-foreigner theme song is a double-edged
weapon. It may raise the hackles of a section of the
people but it will keep the spotlight always on her. If
the initial reaction dissipates, she would have got a
nationwide projection with BJP money and energy. This is
not a false scare; another Mrs Gandhi hugely benefited
from this kind of high decibel personal assault in 1971.
Themes are no substitute for theatres of operation. The
Congress has to start from the scratch in UP and nearly
from the scratch (now five seats) in Bihar. It hopes for
a dramatic revival of fortunes in one and a generous seat
adjustment with Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav in the other. The
BJP is in a happier position in these two states,
although wracked by internal quarrel in one and a
marginal loss of support in the Jharkhand area in the
other. All this makes for a political punter’s
nightmare. And the voter may find his interest in the
next government returning. |
Mandela's welcome stand EIGHT months ago, Mr Nelson Mandela's remarks on Kashmir at the NAM summit in Durban had caused a furore in India. These were quickly denied but there were some policy planners who continued to have some misgivings about South Africa's "intentions" in this bilateral matter. These apprehensions have now been formally and firmly buried by Mr Mandela himself during his visit to Pakistan earlier this week when he specifically rejected Pakistan's plea to mediate on the vexed issue. Speaking like a true elder statesman who is revered virtually in the whole of the world, he used extremely polite language to say that he had complete confidence in the leadership of India and Pakistan to resolve the problems themselves. That he should choose Pakistan to make this clarification magnifies its significance manifold. The goading by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was strong and persistent. Speaking at "A Tribute to Mandela" function at the convention centre in Islamabad, Mr Nawaz Sharif said to the visiting President: "…Every freedom loving person is a champion of their (Kashmiri) cause. But none so illustrious as you… You had the courage of conviction to stand up before the leaders of 123 countries of the world (at the Durban summit). We are convinced that the just cause of the Kashmiris will continue to receive your valuable support". But what Mr Mandela said in reply was exactly the opposite of what Mr Nawaz Sharif would have wanted him to say. He departed from the text of the prepared speech to assert: "Our stand has always been consistent. We have said on countless occasions that we have complete confidence in the leadership of Pakistan and India to resolve the problem themselves and we continue to hold it". India could not have wanted a more categorical statement. In international
diplomacy every single word said or left unsaid counts.
In the light of what Mr Mandela has said now and what he
said on September 2, 1998, at Durban, one cannot help
concluding that his earlier remark was blown out of all
proportions. His exact words were: "All of us remain
concerned that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir should be
solved through peaceful negotiations and should be
willing to lend all the strength we have to the
resolution of this matter". It is the phrase
"willing to lend all the strength we have"
which made some Indian foreign policy-planners press the
panic button. Now that the dust has finally settled, it
is to be hoped that the two great countries will be able
to revive their old ties. One opportunity comes next
month when South Africa goes in for the second-ever
multiracial election. How the people of Indian origin
settled in South Africa vote on June 2 will be viewed
with interest. It is unfortunate that at the moment many
members of the 1.2 million strong community are inclined
to keep away from the poll. That will be an unwise step
because it may isolate them from the majority community.
Now that they have become part of the national tapestry
of that country, they must be actively involved and stand
up and be counted. After all, they have to live down the
stigma of the 1994 elections when as many as 60 per cent
voted for the former apartheid National Party. Needless
to say that their role in the forthcoming election will
have a lot of bearing on the relationship between India
and South Africa. |
Miandad’s lost hurrah THE Oxford dictionary describes “bring a storm about one’s ears” as saying or doing something which rouses strong opposition or indignation. A revised thesaurus may list “Javed Miandad” as an acceptable substitute for the original phrase. Controversy is the second name of this temperamental former Pakistani cricketer. It may not be wrong to say that he was born for trouble and vice versa. Captains and team members suffered him when he was at his peak because of his boundless talent. The moment he was asked to lead, the team simply disintegrated. It was, therefore, surprising that in the pre-World Cup tournaments he as coach along with skipper Wasim Akram was able to transform a demoralised team into a serious contender for cricket’s version of the holy grail. But the bubble had to burst. It is unfortunate that it had to burst on the eve of the World Cup. Wasim Akram may put up a brave face and claim that Miandad’s absence is not going to make any difference to the morale of the players. But even his sworn enemies — and he has many among the cricketing fraternity — would admit that Javed Miandad is a great motivator. There are two stories about the reason for his resignation as playing coach of Pakistan’s World Cup squad days before the big event gets going in England this month. One story confirms
Rashid Latiff’s charge that the Pakistanis
deliberately threw away the league matches against India
and England in the Sharjah tournament. Miandad is
reported to have exploded in the dressing room uttering
words to the effect that “you people will never
change.” He is among those who have testified
against current players before the judicial enquiry into
match-fixing. The second story concerns his burning
desire to play in the World Cup. It resulted in an ugly
spat with Wasim Akram. Miandad is reported to have
pointed out that he was appointed as “playing
coach” of the squad and that at 44 he was still much
fitter than some of the younger players. Had the team not
closed ranks against Miandad, he would have set a unique
record of playing in all the seven World Cups since its
inception in 1975. The last one-day international in
which he had played for Pakistan was the ’96 World
Cup quarter-final in which India for a change beat the
daylights out of their arch rivals. It was not exactly
the last hurrah Miandad had planned for himself before
retiring from international cricket. A more understanding
captain may have allowed him to play in a game against
lowly rated Scotland so that in the event of Pakistan
fulfilling the pre-tournament assessment of the team most
likely to win the title Miandad would have had a better
story to tell to his grandchildren than the Bangalore
fiasco. |
ACCOUNTABILITY CASE UNLESS the Pakistan Supreme Court allows the appeal of Benazir Bhutto in what is called the accountability case, the former Pakistan Prime Minister and her husband, Mr Asif Ali Zardari, will go to jail on grave charges of corruption. That will be the first time, in that case, of a senior politician and her equally powerful spouse being prosecuted for corruption in South Asia. Otherwise, the practice has been, in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, for political leaders getting away with the most heinous crimes. In Pakistan, what is called the Accountability Ordinance, 1996, was promulgated in November that year by the then President, Mr Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari, who dismissed the Bhutto government. The then caretaker Prime Minister, Mr Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, advised President Leghari to refer the cases against the Bhuttos to special courts established under the accountability law. Corrupt practices and misconduct of elected representatives, who are the custodians of public trust and are vested with responsibility of making laws, are tried in the special courts under special laws and at forums other than those meant for citizens in general. Leghari and Benazir were long-time allies and political friends. Leghari also owed his presidentship to Benzir’s act of political favouritism but the two had fallen out within two years. Leghari claimed that gargantuan corruption in the Bhutto administration and her continued disregard of his advice had forced him to sack her. The former Prime Minister, on the other hand, charged the President with ingratitude and collusion with her political enemies, including the present Prime Minister, Mian Nawaz Sharif. The Accountability Ordinance provided for the establishment of an Ehtesab Commission under a serving or retired judge of the Supreme Court to investigate corruption cases referred to it by the government, or a private person or suo motu (on its own motion.) After investigation by the commission, the cases will be tried by a High Court Bench of three judges. There are time limits for investigation by the commission — 30 days — and the trial by the High Court Bench: 60 days. There is provision for appeal to the Supreme Court. The penalties, recently imposed on Benazir and her husband, of seven years in prison and disqualification from public service for five years, are as prescribed in the ordinance. However, invoking the provisions of the Accountability Ordinance is one thing but having corruption cases investigated diligently is another. The Nawaz Sharif Government which inherited the cases against the Bhuttos was, interestingly, not keen initially to pursue them and bring to book the former Prime Minister and its bete noir. According to Roedad Khan, a civil servant and author of Pakistan — A Dream Gone Sour (Oxford University Press, 1998), Nawaz Sharif first seemed to be inclined to seek the support of Benazir’s Pakistan People’s Party for a two-thirds majority in Parliament to amend the Constitution and end the overriding powers of the President. Even after cutting the President to size and later having a person of his choice in the high office, Mr Nawaz Sharif did not show much alacrity in the matter. Either he thought corruption charges could be a double-edged weapon, considering his own vulnerability. Or he had not then realised the potential of the ordinance virtually to eliminate the Pakistan People’s Party as a thorn in his flesh. Lately, he has got over these infirmities and the Bhuttos are facing the music. Roedad Khan, a Pathan, was minister holding accountability portfolio in the caretaker government headed by Mr Leghari in August, 1990. He recalls that none of the six references against Ms Benazir Bhutto could be disposed of for more than two years. Adjournments were frequently asked for and freely given. No opportunity was missed to delay the proceedings. On one pretext or another Ms Bhutto successfully evaded submitting her reply to the prosecution case. Some witnesses were cross-examined for months. No wonder some of them became nervous wrecks. Once Ms Bhutto came back to power all references were decided in her favour with lightning speed. In retrospect, President Leghari’s reference to corruption charges against the Bhuttos in the course of his broadcast announcing the dismissal of the Benazir Government ( Aug 6,1990) is worth recalling in part: “In the face of such a blitz of corruption charges, it was incumbent upon a responsible government to order investigation, instead of dismissing them as conspiracies to malign the government, political propaganda or mudslinging. It is possible that the allegations would have been proved wrong. But the chances of their being correct could also not be ruled out. The basic point is that they should have been investigated by an impartial and independent agency so that the facts could be put before the people, whose trust in the elected representatives could have been res-tored...Those who complained of corruption were repeatedly advised to go to court. Apart from the fact that in a democracy it is the people and not the courts who are approached to vindicate one’s position, the advice was not wrong in principle. However, in a court case, it is necessary to investigate the charges, which is not possible without the cooperation of official agencies. Relevant documents are in official custody and no outsider can have access to them without the permission of the government. That being the case, the suggestion of going to court would have proved futile. In this context, among
the black marks of the Vajpayee Government was the
interference by its former Law Minister with the due
process in respect of corruption cases against the AIADMK
leader, Ms J. Jayalalitha. Officials investigating the
cases were shifted, the Tamil Nadu Government’s
allocation of the cases to the special courts was
scrapped and even judges were either transferred or in
one case sent packing on the ground that there was a
controversy about his date of birth. Many of these acts
might have been the doing of the then Law Minister, an
acolyte of the AIADMK boss but the Prime Minister and the
Cabinet cannot evade constructive responsibility for what
the lawyers say are acts of commission and omission. |
Schools or killing fields? DURING my visits to the USA, I had found the majority of Americans blissfully ignorant of what was happening in the rest of the world. India ranked low in their priorities and the Americans I talked to did not know about the Emergency in India or the subsequent developments. They had vaguely heard of Gandhiji, but were not impressed with his theory of nonviolence. Turning the other cheek did not come naturally to the average American. I found this ignorance among the American students too. They had no idea about the ideological conflicts in West Asia and were prepared to swallow anything dished out by the media or the government. Watching on television their country bombing Iraq or Yugoslavia sent thrills among them. The message was clear, the Meek did not inherit the Earth. Gun and bombs win the battle. This could be one of the motives behind the April 20 massacre of 13 children at the Columbine High School in Littleton, Denever, Colorado. The killers were from the school itself, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Members of the local gang, the Trenchcoat Mafia, the duo giggled as they systematically shot down their fellow students, concentrating on blacks, Hispanics and athletes before shooting themselves dead. Despite the average American students’ skimpy knowledge of world history, Harris and Klebold, had planned their killing on the 110th birth anniversary of Adolf Hitler. It was clear where their sympathies lay! In the great American democracy, Hitler had more influence on the younger generation than their own heroes like Lincoln, Jefferson, Dr Martin Luther King or world figures like Gandhi. The killings was not a crime of passion. Harris and Klebold, it appeared, were not popular in the school and had decided to take revenge on the fellow students. Evidence unearthed suggested that the killings were meticulously planned. The exact time of the killings, the weapons to be used, and the targets were clearly marked in a diary kept by one of the killers. It was clear that Harris and Klebold had been planning the killings for more than a year. The notings indicated that the boys had been making bombs and were also targeting other schools. The school cafeteria at lunch time was marked as the place for the massacre. Two teenagers planning such a horrendous crime for over an year. Evidence of bomb making discovered in their rooms. How come the parents of the boys did not suspect anything? Weren’t they aware of the hatred churning in the hearts of their own sons? Didn’t they know their sons were not popular in the school and were shunned by other boys? After the massacre the Klebold family issued an apology to those who were affected by the crime, losing their loved ones in the massacre. But was this apology enough? Colorado Governor Bill Owens hinted at the possibility of taking criminal action against the parents. Youngsters who committed such crimes normally came from broken homes and desired to take revenge on society. They could not adjust themselves in the world around them and normally took to drugs, guns and bravado. The desire was to go down with all ‘guns blazing’ so that the society which had despised them, would finally take note of them. Unfortunately, the family ties in the US appear to be weakening and parents do not seem to have either proper understanding or control over their children. It is ridiculous to prosecute parents for their childrens’ crimes, but something needed to be done to cleanup the environment which encouraged violence. Violence, unfortunately, has a major role in the American society. It admired the “macho” image. For decades, youngsters were brought up on the Wild West culture where the brave white man did heroic deeds and butchered the evil Red Indians to establish the “new America”. This culture consisted of thousands of novels where the guntoting cowboys took on the Red Indians and grand western movies, where lantern-jawed Marshals and Sheriffs used their guns to maintain law and order and eliminated the vermin which included bandits, cattle rustlers and of course Red Indians. No famous Hollywood hero considered his career complete without doing a couple of Westerns. Even Marlon Brando, an emotional and thinking actor, was obsessed with this kind of movies. America is often
regarded as a vibrant democracy which had been a pioneer
in press freedom, science and technology and championing
individual liberty. The rest of the democratic world look
upon the US as their natural leader. But events like the
Colorado shooting clearly indicated there was something
sick within the American society. Tolerance level was
running low, the minorities were still victims of such
attacks and the virtue of violence was preached from
several platforms. Even when families lived together,
there was a widening gap between parents and children.
Americans should now look more inwards and try to find
out solutions to treat the cancer afflicting their
society. |
Star-struck I HAVE never believed in the hocus pocus that goes by the name of astrology. The idea of stars and planets influencing our life has always seemed absurd to me. But the idea is deeply rooted in our psyche. “Jyotish” has been and is a venerable profession in all parts of our country. Even Shakespeare is full of it, and there are celebrated practitioners of this “art and science” in the West. I gaze at the stars in supreme wonderment. I am drawn to them. They look so close on a clear, dark night, and yet they are light-years away from us. Even the concept of a light-year is mind-boggling. My mind seems to explode when I contemplate that there are as many galaxies in the universe as there are stars in our galaxy. And look at our galaxy! One bend of its spiral spreads like a luminous celestial river across the firmament. Our sages aptly called it “Akash Ganga”. But I have always been revolted by the idea of a “janam-patri”, which records the position of the sun, the moon, the planets and some stars at the time of one’s birth and proceeds to make fateful deductions or provides a basis for them. It presumes too much. An individual is a mere speck on earth like a droplet in the mighty Ganga. Our earth itself is a speck in our galaxy, which in its turn is a speck in the infinity of the universe. To be determining the course of life of an individual speck (as distinct from numerous other individuals) according to the position and aspect of some planets and stars is fanciful in the extreme. The stars do seem to be saying something special to each one of us. Do listen, by all means. Hear their song. It would be most rewarding. But to imagine them saying whether you will be cured of pneumonia or conceive a male child is like deciphering the twittering of the birds or decoding a rippling stream. That’s plain silly, if you ask me. I have no patience with fellows predicting the future of an individual or a political party or the country on the basis of the relative positions of some heavenly bodies. Stop it, for heaven’s sake, I cry out in disgust. Don’t you remember The illustrated Weekly carrying predictions of the top astrologers of the country, most prophesying Rajiv Gandhi’s ascent as Prime Minister. His blasted body lay splattered at Sriperumbudur the day the Weekly hit the stands. Most of these latter-day oracles of Delphi are clever cookies who clearly see through their game, but knowing the needs and weaknesses of their victims, they deal in double-speak like the witches in Macbeth and go on thriving, unrepentant and unpunished. There are some of course whose minds remain clouded due to hereditary brain-washing like the urchins accosting you on Saturdays invoking Shani with their lotas full of mustard oil, whom my wife pampers no end. But my mind wandered after witnessing the cataclysmic events of last month. The turning of the megastar from Chennai changed the fate-line of not only the dramatis personae in Parliament but indeed of many people who may not be even remotely connected with politics. It affected the stock market, it affected international relations, it affected all of us, more or less. Millions of us who are government servants would now be thrown in the hurly-burly of elections, leaving everything else. In the company of a colleague I was watching the whole drama on TV when the Speaker announced the defeat of the Vajpayee government by one vote. My colleague’s instant reaction was: “Oh God, they may change to 58 now.” He presumed that the Congress party would now form a government and it would roll back the retirement age of government servants to 58. If that had happened I would have become a whole-time middle-writer by now. As it turned out, the
turning of the megastar did not affect me that radically,
but it certainly did in many different ways. And in a
flash I suddenly divined why human mind invented
astrology. If the tantrums of one remote individual and
her malefic aspect could change the course of life of so
many people, why can’t the revolutions of the
Saturn, Mercury or Jupiter change the fate-line of lowly
earthlings? |
Jessica murder: another view
EVERY journalist has a moment in his or her career when being a journalist becomes a matter of shame. For me it has come as I have watched, with increasing disgust and horror, the disgraceful way in which the national press has covered the murder of Jessica Lal. Pick up almost any newspaper of the past week, read almost any story, and you would end up concluding that being a socialite and breaking our outdated and utterly counter-productive liquor laws is worse than murder. To me this is outrageous and shameful. What is even more sickening is the fact that it is some of our most respectable newspapers which have chosen to publish utterly irrelevant stories with headlines like “When socialite evenings turn into nightmares,” instead of investigating why the police allowed the killer to escape when he returned to the scene of the crime and drove off in his car. Instead of telling us why the police took so long, after the complaint was filed, to arrive at the Tamarind Court restaurant what we have heard about is Bina Ramani’s “socialite” activities. And, even the gossipy, salacious stories we have been inundated with are ill-informed and mostly inaccurate. So, what we have seen is yellow journalism at its yellowest. Why has this happened? Perhaps, because most newspapers chose to put their society and gossip columnists on the job. Perhaps, because crime reporters (who tend to be fairly junior in newspaper hierarchies) are usually susceptible to being fed stories by the police. Whatever be the reason, the end result is that the police has succeeded in creating a smokescreen that almost totally hides its mistakes. Mistake No. one was that the police took their own time to arrive at the Tamarind Court restaurant. My investigations reveal that it took them 45 minutes to get there. The police claim that they were there in seven minutes but if this were true then they should have been there before Jessica Lal was taken to hospital. And, they would have been there to ensure that the killer did not return and drive off in the car which even the police admit was his getaway vehicle. So, clearly there is a discrepancy in what people who were at the restaurant say and the police version of events. After shooting Jessica in the head, the killer walked through the restaurant and when he was stopped by Bina Ramani denied doing anything. Once outside the restaurant he ran towards Mehrauli village, followed by Bina’s husband, Georges Mailhot. After losing him Mr Mailhot went straight to the police station to report the murder. Meanwhile, Bina took Jessica to hospital without any help from the police. During the course of all this, someone noticed a Tata Safari parked outside the restaurant and took down the licence-plate number. The police were given all this information when they arrived but treated the matter so casually that only two unarmed home guards were left to protect the vehicle. So, it was the easiest thing in the world for the killer, or one of his accomplices, to return and drive off in his car. And, what is the police worried about? Charging Bina Ramani, if they can, with destruction of evidence on the grounds that Jessica’s blood was cleaned up from the spot where she fell. It was cleaned up but this probably happened in the course of the restaurant’s normal, cleaning routine. Surely, this cannot be anywhere near as important as the fact that the killer got away from under their very nose? For want of other clues, the police then proceeded to interrogate Bina, her husband and daughter as if they were somehow concealing the killer’s identity. Any reporter who had bothered to do even the minimum investigation could have easily discovered from people at the party that nobody knew Manu Sharma or his Sikh friend. He is not, for the record, a well-known Delhi “socialite”. The only people who know anything at all about him are those in their twenties who remember hearing that he was involved in another shooting incident at the Fireball Discotheque, last year, when he or his security guards pulled out their guns without any known provocation. The police complained of lack of cooperation from Bina’s family and others present in the restaurant but if this is true then it is mainly because of the methods the police has been using to extract information. In one incident policemen burst into the home of someone who was not even at the party, beat up the servant, and tried to force their way inside on the grounds that they were searching for Bina and her daughter. If this kind of police work is not guaranteed to scare away witnesses it is hard to think what is. What is more important is that the police would not have been able to get away with its mistakes if it had not had the fullest cooperation of the press. Most reporters have been too busy exulting over broken excise laws and “socialite evenings” to pay any attention to anything more serious like the fact that the killer and his pals were allowed to escape. There are only 77 restaurants in the whole of Delhi that have liquor licences. This is a clear indication that there must be something seriously wrong with the procedures involved in obtaining these licences. Surely, that should be an issue in itself instead of whether Bina Ramani is a “party girl” or not? There are other serious issues that need discussion. The killer apparently got his pistol because his father, as an important politician, was able to buy it from the Customs. Why should politicians be allowed to buy these weapons which become available to the Customs only because they are considered contraband items? Is there one law for politicians and another for ordinary citizens? But, as I said at the
beginning of this piece, the most sickening aspect of the
whole, tragic episode is that the murder of a beautiful,
innocent, young woman has taken second place to the
search for salacious details of “socialite
evenings”. Is it not a moment for the press to do
some introspection? |
Children’s programmes in sorry state
IN the early years of the radio, one of the highlights of the children’s programmes from AIR Delhi was when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru came to the studios to chat with children and they even put questions to him which he cheerfully answered. I have no idea, since I have not caught up with the children’s programmes on radio in recent times to find out whether Prime Ministers are still willing to take time off to chat with children. I think Mr Vajpayee would make quite a good job of it and who knows, write a poem for children. Nehru certainly enjoyed himself. On TV, I have watched “Shaktiman” which I consider derivative in many ways without feeling too excited. In fact, the only programme I enjoy, and this time by children, is the Quiz Contest on Zee TV conducted by Derek O ‘Brien. Here potential masterminds slug it out with great bravura and one is, at times, astounded at their general knowledge. To add to the interest, famous personalities are brought in to say a few words, ask a few questions and everyone lives happily ever after. This programme has been going on for years, but by its very nature manages to survive because the contestants change and everyone gets a chance. The confrontation between parents and children, the old generation gap also is being flogged to death at times. Shukla Das’s “Magic Box”, modelled closely on the famous American programme “Sesame Street”, is now a distant memory. One wonders if Star Plus could not ask her to organise some decent children’s programmes with local contexts, instead of carrying the usual serials from foreign sources. In all this, what one really misses is genuine creativity. In my wanderings round the country, I sometimes stumble across something interesting for children. And this is mostly in the regions, where the reach of the Great Moghuls of Delhi gets a little diluted and producers can try out different ideas. Some time ago I came across a delightful programme with puppets on Hyderabad Doordarshan. Andhra has a wonderful tradition in puppetry and the children were responding to something with which they were familiar as far as communication goes. But it was the ideas which the producer conveyed which made the programmes relevant. I also came across an imaginative programme for children on Guwahati Doordarshan some time ago. And could not help feeling that the atmosphere in the Capital is simply not conducive to creativity which is why Bombay rules the roost as far as programmes on the independent channels are concerned. One wonders if there are ever all-India conferences where producers of children’s programmes from different regions can exchange ideas I have not personally known of them. Which is probably why, by and large, children’s programmes in India are in as sorry a state as children’s films. Women’s programmes also seem stuck in a groove. I find the arch manner of the young women, who present these programmes as off-putting as the self-righteous “didis” and “bahenjis” of old. Only they dress peculiarly jump about like kangaroos and all use a brand of Hinglish, spoken without any regard for enunciation, which sounds bizarre at times. I wonder who evolved this style of presentation — certainly someone in Bombay considering most of these programmes are produced there. The filmi overtones which dog these programmes make them worse. For the rest, we have personality programmes with the same society or professional women, such as Kiran Bedi, and are repeated so often that they have become a bore. Also suspect are the programmes on beauty care. They are obvious plugs for certain beauticians or their products, sometimes both and cease to impress. Mostly PR exercises and not out of any genuine concern for the ordinary viewer. The succession of
programmes on all channels on exotic dishes is enough to
give one indigestion. Are there no new ideas? Even cooks
seem monotonous, being mostly connected with five-star
hotels and manufacturers of kitchenware which get a plug.
In other words, women and children last |
Akali Leaders’ Trial AT the Akali Leaders’ Conspiracy Case today before Mr P.J. Anderson, Special Magistrate, Sardar Jaswant Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, produced a file regarding the proceedings of the meeting of the Executive Committee of the SGPC where the following resolutions were passed: (1) That a Missionary College should be opened at Amritsar and a Memorial Hall should be erected in Nankana Sahib; Sardars Bhagat Jaswant Singh and Tara Singh Master should be made responsible for the execution of the work. (2) That a scheme for the Missionary Society should be prepared and put before the Executive Committee. Proceeding, the witness pointed to further proceedings of two diwans on pages 132 and 136 of the file and in para 24 about the boycott of the visit of the Prince of Wales. Witness also produced the proceedings of the meeting of the Executive Committee held at Kamalia on the 18th March, 1922, and read the resolutions that were passed at Anandpur on the 14th March to the effect that 50 Sewadars should be appointed for Anandpur and one Inspector should be engaged to look into the management of all District Gurdwaras. Continuing, the witness
stated that on the 14th April a meeting was held at the
SGPC office at Amritsar. |
 |
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu & Kashmir | | Chandigarh | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
