Judicious recommendations
THE recommendations of the first National Judicial Pay Commission make eminent sense and should go a long way in addressing the prevalent dissatisfaction over poor monetary compensation and inadequate working conditions that have been the bane of the judicial services in recent years.

Bribe, Minister and jail
RECEIVED wisdom has it that Ministers, even former ones, do not go to jail for demanding and accepting bribe. A special court in Kerala begs to differ and has slapped a stiff jail sentence on a powerful former Minister.

Suing the “seed-makers”
IF some top law firms in the USA and Britain get their act together, those who had literally sowed the wind across the globe may be made to reap the whirlwind.

FIXED-TERM LEGISLATURES
It’s citizens who need security
by Subhash C. Kashyap
THE Agenda for Governance issued by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as part of its manifesto for the 1999 general election to the Lok Sabha had, inter alia, spoken of its resolve to appoint a commission to review the Constitution. In the same breath it spoke of “measures for ensuring a fixed term (five years) for all elected bodies, including legislatures”.

Medical cover for ex-servicemen
by N.B. Grant
STRANGE as it may seem, the ex-servicemen in India are not entitled to medical cover, even in military hospitals, as a right, but only as an obligation and favour, and that too provided there is spare capacity available in the authorised hospital establishments for serving men.

Giving a professional touch to I&B Ministry
by Tavleen Singh
IT WAS not to ask about Prasar Bharati or DTH that I went to see Arun Jaitley. He had already given many interviews on the subject and I had an altogether different reason for wanting to meet him.

Showcase of international fundamentalism
By Gordon Urquhart
THERE was a time when a dialogue between religions had a goal of international peace and understanding. In the past decade, however, a new and potentially dangerous form of interfaith collaboration has emerged.

Crossing the line with Nehru
by Trilochan Singh Trewn
THOSE were the days of Panchsheel and President Sukarno of Indonesia was then an emerging leader of the third world. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was to proceed to Indonesia to meet President Sukarno as a gesture of kinship and goodwill as the two leaders were considered to be symbols of resurgent Asia and primarily instrumental in winning Independence for their countries from foreign yokes.

75 Years Ago

Nov 13, 1924
The Mahatma and the Viceroy
WHILE there is nothing in the correspondence which has passed between the Viceroy and Mahatma Gandhi regarding the latter’s intended visit to Kohat to make it necessary for us to modify our remarks on the official decision, as conveyed in an earlier telegram, it is only fair to add that His Excellency took particular care to sugar his bitter pill.

Judicious recommendations

THE recommendations of the first National Judicial Pay Commission make eminent sense and should go a long way in addressing the prevalent dissatisfaction over poor monetary compensation and inadequate working conditions that have been the bane of the judicial services in recent years. The working of this branch is not discussed much in public but it is a fact that there is a feeling in the subordinate judiciary that it is receiving step-motherly treatment. The higher pay-scales and perks and other steps that the NJPC has recommended can remedy the situation to a great extent. This should result in better administration of justice. One added advantage will be that even more brilliant people will be attracted to the service. The attempt to refurbish the service begins with its rechristening. It has been recommended that the judicial officers in every State and Union Territory should be called the State Judicial Service and not the subordinate judicial service as now. The multiple cadres are sought to be merged into three uniform cadres. The pay-scales for them will be higher. These are to be independent of the scales of the corresponding executives of the state governments. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrates have been equated to the District Judges and the Chief Judicial Magistrates in the districts have been equated to the Civil Judges (Senior). Since the pay-scales of District Judges (selection grade) and District Judges (super time scale) have been linked with those of High Court judges, the resentment in the subordinate judiciary will be done away with if the recommendations are accepted. There is no reason why these should not be implemented, because these will entail an expenditure of only Rs 95.71 crore.

The three-volume report of the three-member commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice K. Jagannatha Shettty is not confined to giving higher remuneration to the judicial officers. It has also recommended that the working hours in all courts should be enhanced and should be a minimum of 36 hours per week. Similarly, long vacations in courts, which were resented by most litigants, are sought to be cut down by 15 days a year. This may help in reducing the long pendency of cases. The proposal to have a double shift has been rejected since it might have been resented by lawyers. In a far-reaching recommendation, the Commission has said that the concept of campus recruitment should be dispensed with and the entry age to the judiciary should be between 35 and 45 years. This may bring more mature and experienced minds to the service. The proposals for having judicial academies in every state for training purposes and the creation of an all-India judicial service require more debate.

Bribe, Minister and jail

RECEIVED wisdom has it that Ministers, even former ones, do not go to jail for demanding and accepting bribe. A special court in Kerala begs to differ and has slapped a stiff jail sentence on a powerful former Minister. He may not enter the prison if the High Court, which has stayed the order, accepts his appeal or the legal process, which will certainly include a revision petition before the Supreme Court, takes too long to catch up with him in this life. Legal history is littered with instances of how the painfully slow progress of criminal cases has helped accused escape jail term when death mercifully intervenes. If not, they can always invoke the Antulay principle which states that forcing an accused to wage a long court battle is punishment enough and the criminal charge can take a backseat. What all this means is that it is both premature and over-optimistic to gloat over the conviction. But celebration is in order as the court order breaks a jinx of ministerial corruption cases ending up in the dustbin. Mr R. Balakrishna Pillai, the convicted Minister, has made history by being the first political power-wielder to face the full force of mainly anti-corruption law. This sitting MLA is a top leader of the Kerala Congress, a constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front.

A glance at the turtuous path the case has taken shows why politicians feel that they are above law. It started with the Kerala State Electricity Board awarding a big contract to the highest bidder! Mr Pillai was then the Electricity Minister and contemptuously dismissed all charges of corruption. But the first sign of trouble came a few years later when the civil construction work developed serious cracks and the government had to order a judicial enquiry. In the course of determining the technical cause of the cracks, the commission went into the undue financial favour shown to the contractor and recommended action. A court case became unstoppable when the Kerala High Court heard a private petition and ordered prosecution by a special court.

That was in 1995 when the Minister had to resign from the A.K.Antony government. First the unusual start because a technical mishap is taken more seriously than financial skullduggery. After that the combination of the healthy rivalry between the two entrenched fronts, dogged pursuit of the corruption allegation by a few public-spirited men and finally a powerful prod from the judiciary brought about the present jail sentence. This sequence is unlikely to unfold in other states, and even in Kerala at other times.

Political corruption in tandem with administrative ill-doing is much more menacing than a few venal men enriching themselves at the cost of the people. It distorts policies, perpetuates government by stealth, alienates the common man and damages public morality, or whatever remains of it. It is like a bad apple in a box, the rot spreads quickly and the upright loses out in both career advancement and economic security. Rule of law is the biggest victim of political corruption. Until now all talk of transparency and promise of clean government have turned out to be so much hot air. The Kerala special court verdict inspires hope that the Pillais of all hues are vulnerable and a few stout-hearted men, like those who took up the environment issue in the Supreme Court, can combat the social cancer with a degree of success. Corruption is too lethal a disease to be tackled by the judiciary alone. Liberal public opinion should join the battle.

Suing the “seed-makers”

IF some top law firms in the USA and Britain get their act together, those who had literally sowed the wind across the globe may be made to reap the whirlwind. According to a report from London leading law firms in the two countries are planning to initiate a series of class actions against major seed producers and make them pay "hundreds of millions of dollars" to those who suffered the consequences of using genetically modified seeds supplied by the producers. Having scented victory in the anti-trust suit against the information technology giant Microsoft, international law firms believe a similar verdict can be secured against the multinational seed producers. In fact, a little bit of additional work may help them slap the additional charge of "crimes against humanity" against firms like Monsanto, DuPont, AstraZeneca Novartis and AgrEve. There is clinching evidence of the users having been deliberately misled by the "seed giants" into using genetically modified products with the sole objective of optimising profits. The producers were aware of the likely negative impact of the genetically tinkered seeds on agricultural land and consequently on human health. The law firms propose to initiate legal action against the rogue seed producers on behalf of farmers in India, the USA, European Union and Central America. Among the charges to be slapped against growers of genetically modified seeds the law firms would highlight their "anti-competitive behaviour" as also "anti-corporate behaviour".

That the lawyers mean business in promising class action on several counts against the multinational seed giants is evident from the unreserved support they have reportedly received from environmentalist and green organisations including Soil Association, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Christian Aid, the Confederation of European Small farmers plus small farmers and farmers' organisations in India, Panama and the USA. The first such case may be launched as early as next week in a US court. There is no doubt that the companies against whom action is proposed to be taken not only violated the anti-trust and monopoly laws but also went ahead with their plan for the introduction of the genetically modified seeds or food products without clear data on their safety. A key issue which would establish the culpability or otherwise of the companies in marketing substances dangerous to human health would be the interpretation of the US Administration of the safety of genetically modified foods and seeds. As of today, the official position is that genetically modified foods are "substantially equivalent" to non-genetically modified foods and, therefore, their safety need not be tested. However, lawyers should have no problem in punching holes in the official interpretation on the basis of the latest scientific evidence of the long-term and short-term negative consequences of using genetically modified seeds and foods on the soil as also human health. In fact, there is a strong global lobby which questions the ethics of changing the basic character of natural products through genetic tinkering. It has yet to receive a satisfactory reply to the question from the promoters of what in certain quarters is known as the "Devil's science".

FIXED-TERM LEGISLATURES
It’s citizens who need security
by Subhash C. Kashyap

THE Agenda for Governance issued by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as part of its manifesto for the 1999 general election to the Lok Sabha had, inter alia, spoken of its resolve to appoint a commission to review the Constitution. In the same breath it spoke of “measures for ensuring a fixed term (five years) for all elected bodies, including legislatures”.

The Law Commission in its comprehensive report on the “Reform of the Electoral Laws” in the words of its Chairman, Justice Jeevan Reddy “stressed the necessity of having one election once in five years for Lok Sabha as well as State Assemblies”. This was widely interpreted by the media to mean advocacy of a fixed five-year term for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The Chairman has since been at pains to emphasise that the Commission made no such recommendation. Simultaneous election both for the Lok Sabha and all the State Assemblies only once in five years was a goal suggested for gradual achievement over the years. The Commission had said, “May be, a constitutional amendment can solve the problem”. While it was unfortunate that the Law Commission thought it fit to release its report during the process of elections, it must be said in fairness to the Commission that it had also categorically stated that the question of assuring “a fixed unalterable term to the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies” was a major issue” which could be “considered if and when a review of the Constitution” was undertaken.

However, in his opening Address to the two Houses of Parliament on October 25, 1999, the President reiterated the intentions of the Vajpayee Government to bring forward necessary measures for providing a fixed five-year term for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The matter is too serious and has several constitutional and systemic ramifications to be decided in a casual manner and in isolation with other allied issues. Perhaps, the purpose could have been achieved easily without raising any controversy on this issue.

Some members of the Constituent Assembly had expressed fears that the Constitution that they had framed might give rise to a new class of professional politicians which could be its undoing inasmuch as these people tend to become parasites on society and begin to live on their ministerships, membership of legislatures etc with nothing else to fall back upon. Quite naturally in the context of several successive “hung” legislatures and frequent elections, members irrespective of party affiliations were unanimous in demanding for themselves a fixed five-year term. Whatever happens to the nation, governments may come and go but members must be assured full security of a five-year term. Once the fear of dissolution of the House is removed, their bargaining power and potential to topple governments would improve and they could demand their pound of flesh with impunity. Once again, some unscrupulous small parties may get into the business of playing their games of brinkmanship, bluff and blackmail.

While the nation can hardly afford too frequent general elections and nobody really wants them as annual features that they had tended to become, the problem must be looked at from the citizens’ perspective and not as one of providing a safe haven and a guaranteed five-year security to every Lok Sabha member, MLA and so on.

As at present, unless sooner dissolved, the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies under article 83 (2) and 172 (1) already have a fixed five-year term. Under the existing scheme of things, the power of the House to pass a vote of no confidence in the Council of Ministers is counter-balanced by the power of the Government to seek dissolution of the House. What is, therefore proposed to be taken away is provision of possible earlier dissolution.

A member is elected as a representative of the people. He must represent their aspirations all the time and must remain continuously responsive, responsible and accountable to them. Also, in the scheme of our polity, the cardinal function of elected members of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies is to provide a responsible government. If a House fails to do so, it loses all legitimacy and relevance.

In some countries, members must regularly report to the electorate about their personal performance and the work of the elected body of which they are members. Some constitutions or representation laws provide procedures under which a member may be recalled by his electors if he betrays their trust and loses their respect. Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan had strongly pleaded for a similar provision of recall for our legislators.

Ancient Indian polity (e.g. see Mahabharata, Anushashan Parva and the Manusmriti) recognised the concept of sovereignty in perpetuity vesting in the people. If the ruler indulged in injustice, lied, made false promises or otherwise defaulted in the discharge of his duties, he could be removed by the people. In certain cases, it was considered a right and a duty of the people to kill such a person “as a mad dog”.

Most unfortunately, in recent years, there has been a tremendous erosion in people’s esteem and respect for their “representatives”. With majority of them being elected by minority of votes and with more votes cast against them than for them, even their representative credentials under the present system have come to be of doubtful validity. In this climate, to come up with proposals to provide them secured tenures irrespective of the conduct they indulge in and of what they do or do not hardly speaks of much political wisdom. It is not even in the interests of the MPs and MLAs whom it may have been intended to placate.

Practically no educational, public service or character qualifications are prescribed for contesting elections. A fixed five-year term for members would not only provide guaranteed security and stability with all the benefits for five years but also assure a pension and certain perks like free railway pass for life. Could any one devise a more alluring bait, a greater security bonanza and a better insurance policy.

The prime need and a matter of highest priority for the Vajpayee Government today should be to provide a feeling of security to every ordinary citizen, some reasonable stability to society and the system and some assurance of good governance and a quality of life to average man and woman. To do this, we need a holistic review of the Constitution, the party system, the electoral process, the judicial system and the public administration. Also, the provision of a fixed term for legislators would necessarily require a major constitutional amendment and it would have to be examined whether it would not militate against democratic principles and basic features of the Constitution or structure of our polity.

Perhaps, it would still be most advisable to leave all these matters — including the question of fixed term for legislators and constructive vote of no confidence — to be considered by the proposed Constitution Review Commission with an open mind along with all the other suggestions and options inter alia for ensuring greater political stability without sacrificing the higher democratic value of accountability.

Medical cover for ex-servicemen
by N.B. Grant

STRANGE as it may seem, the ex-servicemen in India are not entitled to medical cover, even in military hospitals, as a right, but only as an obligation and favour, and that too provided there is spare capacity available in the authorised hospital establishments for serving men. This is unlike the system existing in other countries, including Pakistan. After Independence, when some such facilities were extended to the retired personnel from the existing resources, no separate long-term planning or budgeting appears to have been done, but it was assumed that as all military hospitals, even in peace time would remain on War Establishment, there would be sufficient spare capacity to cater to ex-servicemen. This is so unlike the system in other countries like the USA and the UK, where separate veteran hospitals have been instituted, which are staffed and equipped as good as any regular military hospital. In India, as the medical facilities to retired personnel are still rendered as a favour on an ad hoc basis, it can be withdrawn at any time during operations or in an emergency, as was done in MH, Pune, for the Op Pawan casualties from Sri Lanka.

What, however, is worse still is that, the ex-serviceman is not entitled to medical treatment in military hospitals for diseases like cancer, heart, pulmonary tuberculosis, kidney replacement, and hip joint replacement, even if such facilities and spare capacity do exist. It is not appreciated that all such ailments occur mostly in old age after retirement. The modern treatment for these diseases is so very expensive that it is next to impossible for any ex-serviceman to avail of them in civil hospitals from his meagre pension. To alleviate this to some extent, the Army Group Insurance Fund (AGIF) has introduced a contributory self financing scheme by which ex-servicemen, who retire with service pension, may get financial assistance for such high-cost surgery for a fixed amount in recognised civil hospitals. However, any expenditure over and above the laid down limit will have to be met by the ex-serviceman himself. It has been noticed that in more than 75 per cent cases, this amount is invariably exceeded, and more so when complications arise after the surgery, warranting more medical treatment and longer stay in hospital.

The irony is that whereas all civilian retired government employees and their families, including their dependent parents, are entitled to completely free medical treatment for life in any recognised civil hospital under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), for all diseases, including heart, cancer, renal etc, this today is denied to ex-servicemen in their own military hospitals.

It is not for a moment being advocated that these facilities should not be given to retired civilian employees — far from it. However, to deny the same to ex-servicemen is a tragic reflection on the nation’s tribute to the soldier. How our Service Chiefs have accepted this for so long is yet another question. In any other country, the veteran is always given a special status, and his privileges and benefits far exceed those of his retired civilian counterpart. India must be the only country where it is the reverse.

The commitment that ex-servicemen will be treated in military hospitals was accepted by the government a few decades ago with the “utopian proviso” that no extra staff of equipment will be authorised to military hospitals for this purpose. With about 80,000 soldiers retiring every year and the age expectancy having gone up, the number of ex-servicemen has grown manifold over the years. This has created an imbalance in the working of military hospitals for the number of serving soldiers that they have been designed to cater to.

If the government feels that it has not got the necessary resources to give medical facilities to the ex-servicemen from within the present defence estimate, we may think of building up a special fund for this purpose, on the same lines as the Army Group Insurance Scheme, while a man is still in service. In the interim period, however, some way must be found for existing ex-servicemen to be treated through a special budget to be provided for this purpose. It is a pitiable state when what happened only five years ago, that, an ex-Army Commander and an ex-COAS had to go to a civil hospital in Bombay at their own cost for an operation of the anerism of the aorta. The fact that both of them were located in Pune, the station having the maximum of military medical facilities in the country, does not speak well for itself. These officers could afford it; but what would have been the fate of a jawan, or for that matter, even a Major suffering from that ailment?

Among the various factors determining “morale”, military history shows that no single factor has dominated it than the soldier’s faith that, when sick or wounded, he and his family would receive the best of medical treatment, and that the same would continue even when he retires. All other factors like pay, promotion, status etc: have in the long run, taken a lower priority than this signal morale winning factor of medical care. Unfortunately, our government, and even our Service Chiefs, have not appreciated this and have not given the medical services the priority it deserves.

The adage goes that “old soldiers never die, they just fade away”, changes in India to, “Old soldiers don’t just fade away; they die of medical neglect”.

Crossing the line with Nehru
by Trilochan Singh Trewn

THOSE were the days of Panchsheel and President Sukarno of Indonesia was then an emerging leader of the third world.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was to proceed to Indonesia to meet President Sukarno as a gesture of kinship and goodwill as the two leaders were considered to be symbols of resurgent Asia and primarily instrumental in winning Independence for their countries from foreign yokes. It was scheduled that Pandit Nehru, accompanied with Indira Gandhi, Rajiv and Sanjay, would embark on the Cruiser INS Delhi, the flagship of Indian Navy. The three destroyers, INS Rajput, INS Ranjit and INS Rana, were to escort the flagship during this historic voyage. The ships had to proceed at maximum available speed from Cochin to Jakarta. I was then serving as a Junior Engineer in these ships and was elated at this exciting official visit to Indonesia.

When the ships entered the Indian Ocean off the Ceylonese coast young Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi could be seen roaming about on the flagship quarter deck curiously in seaman’s white dress and round seaman caps. The sea was relatively calm but the speed of advance made the ships pitch slightly making those who were sailing for the first time, uneasy. However Panditji was upright and was seen engaged in lively conversation with the flag officer commanding and others.

The flotilla had to cross the equator close to 90 degrees east longitude and preparations were made for “crossing the line ceremony” and hold the court of Lord Varuna to initiate all those who were entering his domain for the first time and award them certificates of protection. Needless to mention that Panditji was crossing the equator line for the first time and was well briefed about the impending ritual in advance.

At a specified time in the forenoon the herald appeared from the ships’ bows near forecastle deck and ordered the captain to stop his ship by sound of a bugle to enable Lord Varuna to initiate the new entrants in his domain. Panditji got the cerermonial colour smearing and a dip in the large canvas water tank especially rigged for this purpose. On completion of the ritual Panditji was awarded a certificate by Lord Varuna as per the following text:

Certificate

Whereas by our royal condescension we decree that our trusted well behaved Jawaharlal Nehru has this day entered our domain and has been rightly and duly initiated with all form and ceremony as our subject on board the Indian Navalship Delhi.

We do hereby charge all sharks, whales, eels dolphins, gollywogs, pollywogs etc to abstain from eating, playing with or otherwise maltreating his person. And we further direct all sailors, mariners, soldiers, globe trotters and landlubbers who have not crossed the equator of our royal domain to treat him with the respect due to one of our loyal subjects.

Given at our court on the equator on this day the.........

Longitude 90 degrees East.

Seal and signature of the
Samudradhipati Lord Varuna

The present Vice-President of Indonesia, Madam Meghawati Sukarno Putri, was just a six year old kid in the presidential household during those days. She looked bold and strikingly outspoken when she appeared with others with a tiny Indonesian National Flag waving in her hands and shouting “Merdeka” meaning Independence. After his high level talks with President Sukarno, Panditji returned to New Delhi directly while the ships continued their cruise to Singapore etc.

Giving a professional touch to I&B Ministry

by Tavleen Singh

IT WAS not to ask about Prasar Bharati or DTH that I went to see Arun Jaitley. He had already given many interviews on the subject and I had an altogether different reason for wanting to meet him. Every time a new government comes to power in Delhi I go out in search of a new kind of politician. I set myself this task because of my fundamental belief that unless we start finding a whole lot of modern politicians, we are in for even worse times. The times, in my view, are changing much faster than we are fully aware of and one of the reasons why India continues to lag behind is that most of our political leaders belong to another era. Naturally, though, I did not tell Arun my real purpose in wanting to meet him now that he was a minister and no longer the lawyer-friend I had known him as.

He seemed busy in his new job and asked me to come on a Sunday morning which, he said, was one of his less busy days. Instead of some ministerial address he asked me to come to his home in South Delhi, a large mansion in whose basement he has a sprawling office filled with legal tomes bound in leather. He was not in but one of his assistants informed me that he would be back in 10 minutes and would I like some tea or coffee till he came. The minister came before the tea did and I was relieved to see that although he wore kurta-pyjama it was delicately embroidered muslin rather than the regulation, crumpled khadi. When I set out on my search for the new Indian politician I give my first black mark to those who have switched suddenly to khadi. Ironic, isn’t it, that Gandhiji’s favourite fabric had become a symbol of power rather than simplicity!

Arun Jaitley is an easy man to interview because he likes taking charge of the conversation and virtually guiding the interviewer through the range of subjects he is prepared to discuss. So, although Prasar Bharati was not my purpose for being here, I discovered from the new Information & Broadcasting Minister that he was not entirely happy with the way it had been functioning.

He had clear reasons. In his view the ministry needed to become more professional. This involved not just setting up a board to oversee the content of programmes but also departments that could deal with marketing and advertising. Like the BBC? Yes, he said, an autonomous body along those lines.

As someone who believes that Prasar Bharati, as it currently exists, is an unmitigated disaster I was surprised at how quickly he had worked out what the fundamental problem was. Jaipal Reddy, when he was Information Minister, was very much the old kind of politician, so he had launched Prasar Bharati with much fanfare and little thought. He seemed not to have noticed that the world of television had changed dramatically from the days when an autonomous corporation to run Doordarshan and All India Radio was first conceived in the seventies. What had been a revolutionary idea then was almost useless by the time Prasar Bharati came into being during the Inder Gujral regime.

All that it has achieved so far it that instead of a bunch of bureaucrats deciding who gets which programme we have a group of intellectuals of largely Leftist bent. The result was that for Doordarshan’s election results programme the Prasar Bharati board objected to even respected journalists like Swapan Dasgupta appearing on the programme on the grounds that they were pro-BJP. This may have been acceptable if they had not added their own list of favoured journalists, nearly all of whom were either Marxist or semi-Marxist in their political views.

What makes the Prasar Bharati board’s performance even less acceptable is the fact that the government continues to pour more than Rs 1000 crore a year into Doordarshan to keep it afloat. Prasar Bharati has been a commercial disaster and has not managed to control the corruption that has plagued Doordarshan for years. The bureaucrat who was caught last year with crores of rupees worth of unexplained assets and cash is proof of this state.

On the morning that I met Jaitley one of the Prasar Bharati’s board members, Rajendra Yadav, had written a long, whingeing article in The Hindustan Times complaining about how Prasar Bharati had not been allowed to succeed. Arun said he would rather not comment on the article but in circumspect tones admitted that changes were needed. On DTH he was even more circumspect but since I had not come here to talk only about broadcasting policy it gave me a chance to direct the conversation towards more general things.

As a modern man, I asked, did he not think that the whole idea of having an Information Ministry was a relic from our love affair with the Soviet Union? “Well, one we have dealt with the Rs 1500 crores that goes towards Doordarshan and AIR, the ministry is left with a budget of a mere Rs 200 crore so you could say that I am working myself out of job”.

Conversation then turned towards the tussle between his ministerial duties and his career as one of the country’s best known lawyers and he said that he would not be doing any legal work at all while he was a minister. This in the tone of someone who was quite proud that he would be able to work as a minister. There was none of the usual rubbish about ‘serving the country’s so much as excitement over his new job, excitement so strong that it crept into his voice as he talked of his plans and of how he saw the Information Ministry evolving eventually into a Ministry for Information Technology.

Did he plan to continue living in his own house, I asked, because this is another measure I use to gauge whether I am dealing with an old or new kind of politician. I have not yet met a minister who has not immediately started fighting for his rights to move into a ministerial bungalow and have often been disappointed by younger friends, with their own houses in Delhi, who have happily allowed taxpayers to pay for their accommodation.

Jaitley said he did plan to continue living in his own home but had accepted his ministerial bungalow because it would provide accommodation for a few BJP old-timers who had nowhere else to go. Would he have liked to refuse government accommodation if he could? Yes.

So, what is my verdict? Is Jaitely the one man in the new Cabinet who gives us some hope of a new kind of politician? Well, these are early days yet. He might become more obsessed with what he can get from government that what he can contribute but, tentatively, it is possible to say that it’s a good thing that the Prime Minister found one man like Jaitley to join his Council of Ministers.

Showcase of international fundamentalism
By Gordon Urquhart

THERE was a time when a dialogue between religions had a goal of international peace and understanding. In the past decade, however, a new and potentially dangerous form of interfaith collaboration has emerged. On Sunday, religious leaders from different traditions will gather in Geneva for the World Congress of Families II. The aim of the event is to affirm that “the natural family is the fundamental social unit, inscribed in human nature and centred around the voluntary union of a man and a woman in a lifelong covenant of marriage.

Its purpose is to discuss ways to counter 85 anti-family initiatives advanced at the UN and other world bodies”, including “the myth of overpopulation”, preserving traditional roles for men and women, the rights of the traditional family, the struggle against legalised abortion — all served up with a generous helping of anti-gay propaganda.

Costing $ 1.5m and expected to attract 2,000 delegates, the Congress is the most important manifestation to date of this new form of interdoctrinal collaboration based on the deeply conservative values which unite the most reactionary believers of different faiths — in particular fundamentalist Christians and Muslims. According to Allan Carson of the Howard Center, a conservative American think-tank, one of the two sponsoring bodies of WCFII, “the contemporary coming together ... occurs only among the most orthodox of each group, people that are least likely to compromise”.

They are united not only by moral principles but also by the fundamentalist rejection of separation between the church and the state; they are therefore committed to imposing their views by political means.

It comes as no surprise to find that Christian traditions represented at the Congress include evangelical Protestants and Mormons; the Mormon NGO Family Voice is the second major sponsor (entertainment for the event is provided by Ma and Pa Osmond). It is disturbing, however, at this showcase of international fundamentalism, to find that the Catholic church is strongly represented — and at the highest level: the opening speaker is Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, the president of the Vatican’s Council for the Family and one of Pope John Paul II’s right-hand men.

Although the Holy See now prefers to appear as a simple participant in this new form of interfaith collaboration, in fact it was the Vatican, under the instigation of the Pope, which first enlisted the support of fundamentalist Muslim nations for its conservative policies in the run-up to the Cairo UN conference on Population and Development in 1994. Determined to oppose women’s rights, reproductive rights, sex education, contraception and gay and lesbian rights in the conference document, Rome was desperately short of allies among western nations. With fundamentalist Muslims, however, they saw eye to eye on all these issues.

Following Cairo, the Vatican launched a vast programme of contacts with fundamentalist Muslim countries, based on commonly held moral values. The alliance was further strengthened at the Beijing Women’s Conference of 1995 when personalities from the US Christian right, such as Allan Carlson and James Dobson of the powerful Focus On the Family organisation, added their enthusiastic support. Two years later, the first World Congress of Families was held in Prague with a host of Vatican dignitaries. Conservative groups from all over the world sent delegates. Among participants from the UK were Valerie Riches, spokesperson for Family and Youth Concern, much-quoted by the Daily Mail on moral questions, and Dr Majid Katme, the Muslim coordinator for the pro-life organisation, SPUC.

Katme has played a key role in lobbying Muslim nations on behalf of the Vatican at UN conferences and is therefore an authoritative spokesperson for the new multi-faith coalition. Responsible for “all these destructive, disease-ridden, immoral, anti-God, and anti-family values” in UN documents were “a gang of extremist feminists who are sick and twisted in their minds, perhaps having had very bad life experiences”. Katme advocated the need for “A Battle Plan [emphasis in original] ... in order to oppose and expose this filth”.

Vatican officials cannot be unaware of the potential dangers of the explosive cultural brew they have concocted. In this country we recently witnessed the direction the new interfaith cooperation could take when British Islamic leaders declared a fatwa against the American writer Terrence McNally for depicting a homosexual Christ-figure in his play Corpus Christi. Anti-abortion killings in America which have been linked to the teachings of Catholic pro-life groups are another troubling precedent. The official church has washed its hands of this kind of violence in the past. Currently, however, the protagonists of the congress are loudly proclaiming their unanimity. Having fanned the flames of intolerance, it will be difficult for Rome to disclaim responsibility for an eventual conflagration. The Vatican’s behaviour appears at the best opportunist and at the worst dangerously irresponsible. — Guardian News Service

75 YEARS AGO

Nov 13, 1924
The Mahatma and the Viceroy

WHILE there is nothing in the correspondence which has passed between the Viceroy and Mahatma Gandhi regarding the latter’s intended visit to Kohat to make it necessary for us to modify our remarks on the official decision, as conveyed in an earlier telegram, it is only fair to add that His Excellency took particular care to sugar his bitter pill.

There is not a word in any of the several telegrams from the Private Secretary which is offensive to the Mahatma, whether personally or otherwise, while more than one passage in them show that the Government appreciate the laudableness of his intentions.

Not only so. For once there is a distinct departure from the attitude of stiffness which has latterly marked official statements in such matters.

All this, however, leaves the substance of the position unaffected. We entirely differ from the Private Secretary’s statement that “it is almost inevitable that excitement may be aroused by your visit which may cause a setback to the resumption of former neighbourly relations between the communities which the Government has been trying to facilitate”.

We are not aware that the efforts of the Government have so far met with any marked success, but whether they have or have not, it seems to us to be extremely improbable that the Mahatma’s visit would have retarded the process, even if it would not have made a distinct improvement.