Dec 2012 - RH

Founder Editor: M. N. Roy

513

THE RADICAL HUMANISTDECEMBER 2012 Rs. 20/monthVol. 76 No 9

(Since April 1949)

Formerly : Independent India (April 1937- March 1949)

Radical Humanist Prithvis Chakravarti is no more

(1919 -2012)

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THE RADICAL HUMANIST DECEMBER 2012

The Radical Humanist

Monthly journal of the

Indian Renaissance Institute

Devoted to the development of the Renaissance

Movement; and for promotion of human rights,

scientific-temper, rational thinking and a humanist

view of life.

Founder Editor:

M.N. Roy

Editor:

Dr. Rekha Saraswat

Contributory Editors:

Prof. A.F. Salahuddin Ahmed, Dr. R.M. Pal, Professor

Rama Kundu

Publisher:

Mr. N.D. Pancholi

Printer:

Mr. N.D. Pancholi

Send articles to: Dr. Rekha Saraswat, C-8, Defence

Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P., India, Ph.

91-121-2620690, 09719333011,

E-mail articles at: [email protected]

Send Subscription / Donation Cheques in favour of

The Radical Humanist to:

Mr. Narottam Vyas (Advocate), Chamber Number

111 (Near Post Office), Supreme Court of India, New

Delhi, 110001, India [email protected]

Ph. 91-11-22712434, 91-11-23782836, 09811944600

Please Note: Authors will bear sole

accountability for corroborating the facts that

they give in their write-ups. Neither IRI / the

Publisher nor the Editor of this journal will be

responsible for testing the validity and

authenticity of statements & information cited by

the authors. Also, sometimes some articles

published in this journal may carry opinions not

similar to the Radical Humanist philosophy; but

they would be entertained here if the need is felt to

debate and discuss upon them.

www.theradicalhumanist.com

1. From the Editor’s Desk:

India is a Society of Monologues

—Rekha Saraswat 1

2. Prithvis Chakravarti: Obituaries 2

The End of an Era in Journalism

— Hiranmay Karlekar

3. Guests’ Section:

Inclusion And Access – Can Technology Help?

—Nandan Nilekani 7

Menace of Corruption in India – The Way Out

—Rajindar Sachar 12

Harmful Chemicals in Eatables will Effect Human

Health

—J. Sharath Chandra Rao 14

4. Current Affairs’ Section:

Public Property for Private Use;

Indigenous Knowledge as People’s Technology;

Gujarat: Whose state is it anyway?

—K.S. Chalam 16

Re-election of Barack Obama;

2G Spectrum; Surajkund Conclave;

Bihar’s claim for Separate Status;

Reply to Editors Questions on FDI

—N.K. Acharya 22

5. IRI / IRHA Members’ Section:

Will Obama Act?

—Jawaharlal Jasthi 25

6. Book Review Section:

The Devil’s Finest Trick: The Human Mind’s Worst

—Frank Miele 28

Acknowledging the Genie

—Dipavali Sen 30

Sri Aurobindo: A contemporary Reader

—R.M. Pal 32

7. Humanist News Section: 36

Vol. 76 Number 9 December 2012 Contents

From the Editor’s Desk:

India is a society of loud monologues:

True dialogues do not take place in ourcountry even in our Parliament. Therefore,democracy seems to be a hopelessendeavor here.

Recently, in a U.G.C. sponsored nationalseminar on ‘State Politics in India’ one ofour guest speakers, a sitting Member ofParliament from Meerut corroborated mystatement when he bemoaned that there is anatmosphere of complete samvaadheenta

(dialogue-less-ness) in the Parliament. He left therest for us to imagine and contemplate upon.

If the apex centre of discourse is left either toindifference or impatience on both sides ofpeople’s representation and the only recourse left iseither a no-confidence motion or a walk-out thennaturally the common man (aam aadmi) is left withonly the title of ‘mango-man’ while in real life,‘mangoes’ remain delicacies for those who hadvouched to speak for him.

There is another side of the story too. There is ahuge amount of anger and resentment for thisapathy among those sympathizers of this ‘commonman’ who either prefer or are forced to remainoutside the forts of our Legislatures. They do notleave any opportunity to give vent to theirfrustration with the system.

But, surprisingly, they too are equally happy innoisy soliloquizing. They have an intense desire tosimply make their presence felt through theirvociferousness, even if it comes at the cost of thecause they are trying to represent.

Only a few days ago, I came to know about someself-appointed (of course, not elected by him)ambassadors of this suffering aam aadmi vowingfor his human rights, his democratic freedom andhis civil liberties, who considered it below theirdignity to listen to an opinion diverse to theirschool of thought; so much so, that they decided to(of course, silently) interrupt, disturb and interfere

instead of waiting patiently to have a dialogue withthe invited speaker in the meeting.

Many, among the same people appeal to thegovernments to be humane when it comesto punishing and executing hard-corecriminals and terrorists and to listen totheir side of the stories too with thepurpose of reforming them instead ofexecuting them. Agreed! It is a just cause!

But was the speaker a worse case than theone just sent to the gallows and his points of viewwould have spread such malice and venom in theaudience that our society would have later sufferedan irreparable loss? Or were they simply troubledand apprehensive of entering into a logical war ofwords with him?

Or is it one more testimony of my claim in thiseditorial that we refuse to listen; that we have nopatience to converse; that we know it all; that weare smug in our beliefs; that we are bornfilibusterers?

The Roman statesman, orator and writer MarcusTullius Cicero was beheaded during the firstcentury BC for his continuous opposition tomilitary dictatorship as against a republic; hishands were also chopped off on Antony’s ordersbecause he had written the Philippics againstAntony. These hands and Cicero’s head were thennailed on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum. Itdidn’t stop there. Antony’s wife Fulvia did notspare Cicero's tongue. As per Cassius Dio, shepulled it out from his head and poked itcontinuously in her revenge against his powerfuloratory against her husband. However heinousthese words may appear here as text but theydefinitely remind us and warn us that intolerancetowards any difference of opinion always breedscontempt and tyranny.

Don’t forget the caution in Khalil Gibran’s wordsthat ‘Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when itbecomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh andtoo selfish to seek other than itself’.

Could I make my point clear here?

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Prithvis Chakravarti

(1919-2012)

Condolence Messages:

Dear Mr. Prithvis Chakravarti had beenknown to me since March, 1977 when

fresh Lok Sabha elections were to be held. We usedto meet at the monthly meetings at ComradeTarkunde’s residence. I was always impressed bythe suggestions given by Mr. Chakravarti. Iremember how he kept himself abreast with latestpolitical developments. However for the last aboutfive years, we were not fortunate enough to see andhave him in meetings or lectures arranged by us.Only two years ago, when his wife died, I and Mr.N.D. Pancholi went to meet him at his ChitranjanPark residence and I felt that he had taken theunfortunate event of the death of his wife to heartand looked very much gloomy and depressed. It isan irony that on 31.10.2012 when I was thinking ofmeeting him, I came to know in the afternoon thathe had breathed his last and thus the fond dream ofmeeting him could not be realized. In Mr.Chakravarti we have lost an old dedicated RadicalHumanist.

— Badridas Sharma

President, Indian Renaissance Institute

IRI and the IRHA are deeply grieved overthe sad demise of Shri Prithvis Chakravarti

who breathed his last on 31st October, 2012morning at the age of 95. Born in 1919 in Ranchi inJharkhand (formerly Bihar), got his schooleducation in Mymensing district of East Bengaland did his graduation and post graduation courses

from Calcutta University during 1939-1941.

In his earlier days he was influenced by the ideas ofM.N. Roy and had joined the Radical DemocraticParty founded by Roy in early forties. He started

his journalistic career as sub-editor-cum-reporter inthe Independent India English weekly of whichM.N. Roy was the Founder-Editor and worked forit during 1943-1946. He also worked for The

People an English Weekly founded by Lala LajpatRai and The Statesman for some time. However heworked in various capacities in the Hindustan

Times from 1949 to 1980 where he retired as NewsBureau Chief. Thereafter he worked as New DelhiNews Bureau Chief-cum-Deputy Editor of Aajkal,Bengali daily published from Calcutta.

He travelled widely in various parts of the worldduring his journalistic career and covered events offar reaching importance. He was a regularcontributor to The Radical Humanist, the Englishmonthly (formerly Independent India), besidesfrequently writing for various other magazines andnewspapers. He was life member of the IRHA andthe IR.

Shri Chakravarti was very much concerned aboutthe rights of the working journalists and wasfounder member of the National Union ofJournalists (NUJ) in 1972. He worked with skilland dedication as its Secretary General, VicePresident and President respectively duringformative years of the NUJ and made strenuousefforts to secure fair wages and better workingconditions for journalists from the various WageBoards.

Indian Renaissance Institute and the Indian RadicalHumanist Association pay their respectful homageto the memory of Shri Prithvis Chakravarti andextend their heartfelt condolence to his bereavedfamily.

— N.D. Pancholi, N.Vyas, on behalf of IRI

— Vinod Jain, Bhaskar Sur & IRHA

Professor Paul Kutz has been a leadingcrusader for humanist and ethical ideals

all along his life time. As a thinker and an activisthis contribution to the philosophy of humanismwill be remembered by posterity throughout the

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world.

Prithvis Chakravarty has also been a devotedrationalist and radical humanist in theory andpractice. I happened to meet him for the first timewhen I was a post graduate student at SambalpurUniversity in 1975 when he came to address theOdisha unit of National Union of Journalists (OUJ)at Sambalpur. Thereafter, whenI attended the National Biennial Convention of theRadical Humanist Association as a young studentat New Delhi in 1978 at Gandhi Peace Foundation,he had proposed my name to the national executiveof the RHA. What I want to say here is that hewanted to associate and encourage young personslike me at that time to the RH movement. As ajournalist also, his contribution as a founder of NUJis commendable. He is a role model for journalists.He had courage, dedication and flair for reportingand writing which he exemplified in his long careerin English and Bengali journalism.

I deeply condole the passing away of both theseveterans of the humanist movement.

Bhabani Dikshit

Managing Editor, World Focus

I read about the sad demise of Sri PrithvisChakravarty in The Hindu also. It is indeed

sad news. I remember having met him at the GPF.He was a nice person. My condolences to his familymembers and all the radical humanist friends.

Mahi Pal Singh

Secretary PUCL

We lost another associate, Prithvis, and it is sad.Please convey my condolences to his family.

Innaiah Narisetti

New York, U.S.A.

Condolence Meeting at GandhiPeace Foundation, New Delhi

Indian Renaissance Institute and IndianRadical Humanist Association held a

meeting at Gandhi Peace Foundation in New Delhion 12th November 2012 to condole the sad demiseof Prof. Paul Kurtz, Shri Prithvis Chakravarti andShri Manubhai Bhailal Bhai Shah.

Mr. Paul Kurtz breathed his last on 20th October2012 at his home in Amherst, New York, USA atthe age of 86; Shri Manubhai Bhailal Bhai Shah on21st October 2012 at Ahmadabad at the age of 78years and Shri Prithvis Chakravarti on 31st October2012 in New Delhi at the age of 95 years.

At the start of the meeting a two minutes’ silencewas observed as a mark of respect to the deceased.

Dr. Jugal Kishore, convener of the Centre ForEnquiry, Delhi spoke about Prof. Paul Kurtz. Hesaid that Shri Paul Kurtz was a renownedphilosopher, prolific author, publisher and founderof several humanist institutions. Prof. Kurtz waswidely known as “father of secular humanism” andmost important secular voice of the second part ofthe 20th century. He was a critic ofsuper-naturalism and paranormal. He was verymuch concerned about the rampant growth ofunscientific attitudes among the public at large andwas against popular beliefs in astrology, faithhealing etc. He emphasized on reason and rationalthinking. Dr. Jugal Kishore elaborated upon thevarious aspects of the life and writings of Prof. PaulKurtz.

Shri Vinod Jain, President of Indian RadicalHumanist Association, spoke about Shri PrithvisChakravarti and paid his tributes. He said that ShriPrithvis Chakravarti was a life member of theIndian Renaissance Institute and the Indian RadicalHumanist Association. Born at Ranchi, presently inthe Jharkhand state, on 1st August 1919, he hadcome under the influence of the writings of M.N.Roy in his young age during the forties and had

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associated with the Roy group. He started his

journalistic career under the guidance of M.N. Roy and

worked in his weekly paper Independent India forquite some time. Later on he joined The People, anEnglish weekly from Delhi, then Statesmen andfrom 1949 to 1980 he worked in the Hindustan

Times, New Delhi and retired as its Bureau Chief.He then worked in Aajkaal, a Bengali dailypublished from Kolkata as its BureauChief-cum-Deputy Editor at Delhi from 1981 to1994. He was founder member of National Unionof Journalists and worked for getting better wagesand better service conditions for them.

Shri B.D. Sharma and Shri N.D. Pancholi alsospoke about Shri Prithvis Chakaravarti, ShriManubhai B. Shah and Prof. Paul Kurtz. It wasstated that Shri Manubhai B. Shah was a veteranRadical Humanist and was very active in the TradeUnion Movement at Ahmadabad. He was a closeassociate of Late Shri C.T. Daru who was an ardentRadical Humanist, trade unionist and eminentadvocate of Gujarat High Court. His late brotherMr. Haribhai Shah was also a Radical Humanist. Inhis personal life he was always ready to help theneedy and lived the life of a true humanist.

Ms. Raka Chakravarti, daughter of Shri PrithvisChakravarti, was also present in the meeting. Shenarrated a few significant aspects of memories ofShri Prithvis Chakravarti. She said that her fatherwas against superstitions and blind faiththroughout his life. He always made efforts topromote scientific thinking in the family andoutside. She told that as per his ‘Will’ his eyeswere donated to AIIMS immediately after hisdemise.

Later on, a lively discussion followed on secularhumanism.

Shri B.D. Sharma, President of Indian RenaissanceInstitute, presided over the meeting.

Condolence Meeting atChittaranjan Park, New Delhi

A condolence meeting in memory of ShriPrithvis Chakravarti was also organized

on 16th November 2012 at Purbosree MahilaSamity Hall, Chittaranjan Park, New Delhi by hisfamily. Large number of local residents, friendsand relatives gathered to pay tributes to ShriPrithvis Chakravarti.

The meeting started by singing of Brahmo Sangeetby renowned singer Shri Sudhir Chandra who hadgraduated from Shanti Niketan and has beenteaching Rabindra Sangeet at Delhi for the lastseveral years.

Many eminent journalists including Sameer Pal,Sumit Chakravarti, Brij Bhardwaj and ChandPrakash shared their memories of Prithvis Da. ShriVinod Jain and Shri N.D. Pancholi were present inthe meeting on behalf of the Indian RadicalHumanist Association and the Indian RenaissanceInstitute. Shri Pancholi, while paying tributes onbehalf of both the organizations, informed thegathering as to how Prithvis Da had joined M.N.Roy during World War II and had participated inthe movement to support war efforts of AlliedPowers against Fascist forces led by Hitler and thisaction was not favoured by the Indian NationalCongress. This showed the courage of convictionof Prithvis Da for swimming against the currents.He continued to write for Independent India whichlater on was renamed as The Radical Humanist.

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The one last conversation I remember vividly that I shared with Mr. Prithvis Chakravarti was when hecame to attend one of our meetings in Gandhi Peace Foundation with his attractive wife who had suchbeautiful eyes. He suggested to me to hold some future meetings at his residence also. His wife quietlykept smiling. And later we came to know that she was no more and that he was devastated without her.Now that he too has gone, I wonder how much it would have helped him emotionally had we held ameeting once at his place too!! The remorse is always more when the loss is irreparable..............

The End of an Era in Journalism— Hiranmay Karlekar

[Hiranmay Karlekar, a columnist in The

Pioneer, is an editor, journalist and novelist

since the last 41 years. He is a member of the

Editors Guild of India. The following write up

written by Karlekar was first published in The

Pioneer on 8th November 2012.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item

/52792-the-end-of-an-era-in-journalism.html]

From World War II to Partition to

Emergency, right up to the emergence

of coalition Governments in India, Prithvis

Chakravarti had been there and seen it all.

With the recent passing of Prithvis Chakravarti –Prithvisda to this writer and Prithvis or Chakravartito his friends and colleagues – the country has lostone of the last tall eminences of the great decades ofprint journalism. A fine newsman with a keen nosefor things that mattered, he was also anuncompromising crusader for journalistic ethics. Astrong champion of the principle that a campaignfor greater professionalism among scribes shouldaccompany the fight for their rights, he saw to itthat the National Union of Journalists, of which hewas a founder, also organised workshops andtraining sessions for its members.

His crusading spirit clearly stemmed from his earlylife as a political activist which, as in the case ofmany of his contemporaries and seniors, took himto journalism. Thus, he started his journalisticcareer in Independent India, the English-languagedaily which was the mouthpiece of the legendaryrevolutionary M.N. Roy’s Radical DemocraticParty. That was in 1943, when World War II wasraging in its full fury. The next stop was The

People, founded by Lala Lajpat Rai, where he wasan assistant editor in 1947. He joined The

Statesman in the following year and Hindustan

Times in 1949 where his last assignment was as

Chief of its Delhi Bureau and where he worked for31 years — his longest stint with any publication —until 1980. Prithvisda’s second-longest inningswas with the Bengali daily, Aajkaal, which hejoined as Deputy Editor and Chief of Bureau andwhere he continued until 1994.

A drab, chronological recounting of the positionshe held and his stints in these, however, does littlejustice to his role in Indian journalism as a guideand mentor to his younger colleagues. A hardtaskmaster, he had no time for sloppy stories basedon hearsay. An utterly fearless professional, he wasprepared to take on anybody, any time. Yet, he wasnever rash nor did he ever tilt at windmills.

This writer was editor of Hindustan Times duringthe Emergency when he was also closely associatedwith a section of the underground resistance. Hewould have been in serious trouble had he beenfound out. Here Prithvisda was a great help. ARadical Humanist and a great believer in humanfreedom, he was a fierce opponent of theEmergency. He had, as secretary-general of theNUJI, led a delegation to Prime Minister IndiraGandhi, protesting against Press censorship. Yet,he shared this writer’s view that fighting modernstate machinery was not an easy thing. One had towait until discontent boiled over and a massiveupsurge was waiting to happen and sweep away theincumbent authoritarian regime. Meanwhile, onehad to preserve one’s strength and quietly build upa strong underground network and propagandamachinery which could mobilise and strike whenthe hour came.

On many days we sat till late in the evening afterwork was over, exchanging notes on the day’sevents and discussing what could be done. Finally,the hour came with the announcement thatparliamentary elections would be held in thecountry from March 16 to 20, 1977. The outcomewas a rout for the Congress, which proveddecisively that the people of India had no use forauthoritarian governance.

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During the Emergency and even afterwards,Prithvisda was always a source of calm and wisecounsel. He had been a witness to a tumultuousperiod beginning with World War II andcontinuing through the horrors of the Partition, thejoy of Independence and the decades thereafterwhich saw India traverse the difficult path ofcombining development and democracy,successfully negotiating the transition from the eraof one-party domination to that of coalition rule,from planned development to a liberalisedeconomy, fighting wars to ward off aggressions,

coping with subversion and sustained terrorattacks, not yet entirely over the hills but close tobeing so.

Prithvisda had been there and seen it all. The yearshad given him wisdom and a calm optimismtempered by a mild cynicism and a certaindetachment. These had made him keenly aware ofthe importance of ethics in personal andprofessional life and of setting an example by hisown conduct. His passing creates a void that will bevery difficult to fill.

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Do come forward to become a part of theEncyclopedia of Radical Humanists

To be loaded on the RH Website

(http://www.theradicalhumanist.com)

Dear Friends,

This is to request you to send in your personal details, contact numbers etc.(along with your passport size photographs) as well as brief accounts of how yougot associated with M.N. Roy / Radical Democratic Party / Radical HumanistMovement directly or indirectly through the philosophy of New Humanism.

This is also a request to all those friends, whose deceased parent/parents wereinvolved in or were sympathetic with Radical Humanism and its Movement, tosend in accounts of their parent’s / parents’ association (as much as they canrecollect and recount).

This will be a loving and emotional tribute to their memories from your side.

All this effort is being made to form an encyclopedia of the Radical Humanistsright from the days of the beginning of M.N. Roy’s social and political activitiesin India and abroad.

All this information will be uploaded and permanently stored on the RH Websitein the Profile section for everyone to read and come in contact with one another.

This will be a historical check-list to connect with all the crusaders who workedor are still working for the human cause on the humanist lines.

—Rekha S.

Guests' Section:

[The Sixth V. M. Tarkunde Memorial Lecture,

organised by the Tarkunde Memorial

Foundation was delivered by Mr. Nandan

Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification

Authority of India, on 23rd. November 2012 at

India International Centre, New Delhi. The topic

of the lecture was ‘Inclusion and Access: Can

Technology Help?’ Mr. Soli J. Sorabjee, former

Attorney General of India presided over the

programme. Mr. Kuldeep Nayar, renowned

journalist, delivered the Welcome Speech.

Nandan Nilekani, was the co-founders of Infosys

Technologies Ltd along with Narayan Murthy

and five others in 1981. He was its Chief

Executive Officer from March 2002 till April

2007. He left Infosys on 9 July 2009 to serve as

the Chairperson of the Unique Identification

Authority of India (UIDAI), in the rank of a

Cabinet Minister under invitation from the Prime

Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh. The

UIDAI is part of the Planning Commission of

India and is an agency of the Government of India

responsible for implementing the envisioned

Multipurpose National Identity Card or Unique

Identification card (UID Card) project in India.

He also co-founded India’s National Association

of Software and Service Co. He is the recipient of

several honors and awards. In January 2006, he

became one of the youngest entrepreneurs to join

20 global leaders on the prestigious World

Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board. He

figures among one of the 100 most influential

people in the world by Time Magazine, 2006. In

2005 he was awarded the prestigious Joseph

Schumpeter prize for innovative services in field

of economy, economic sciences and politics. He

was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2006.]

Inclusion And Access – CanTechnology Help?

I am extremely honoured and privileged tobe present before you to deliver the Sixth

V.M. Tarkunde Memorial Lecture before thisaugust gathering. Justice Tarkunde epitomized thevirtues of being a great humanist and hisphilosophy will continue to inspire generations.My uncle, Shri Madhukar R. Nilekani was anardent follower of the Radical Humanist movementand I was exposed to the intellectual discourse ofthe movement at an early age. Though I did nothave the good fortune of interacting personallywith Justice Tarkunde, I have always beenimpressed with his life journey dedicated tohumanism, inclusiveness and protection of civilliberties. It is in the fitness of his work that I coveran area close to his heart – that of inclusion andaccess. Today, I would like to explore with you therole technology can play in bringing about a moreinclusive and accessible society to enhance choicesand opportunities people have. Let me begin with acaveat – I am not suggesting that technology is apanacea for all ills in our society. It is not a magicwand. To expect or propagate that would be naïveand depict a complete lack of understanding of thesocio-economic and political realities of a complexnation. However, one must not underestimate thepower and opportunities technology offers toaddress issues concerning us, in making our livesbetter, accessible and more inclusive.

While the extent of the impact of technology onimproving lives can be debated endlessly, thepower of technology to make lives better is, in myopinion, a fair assumption to make. The use oftechnology in governance can have far reaching

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Nandan Nilekani

implications for a more equitable and inclusivesociety.

Governments are involved in implementation of alarge number of social welfare schemes which havemany beneficiaries. One does not often realize thataccess to many of these programs is based on theability to prove one’s identity vis-à-vis the state.Though there are other factors determining accessto these programs, the ability to prove one’sidentity is at the core of it. The importance ofproving one’s identity should not beunderestimated. Birth certificates would providethe ideal proof of identity in many cases. However,it is a fact that though birth registration ismandatory, the coverage of birth certificates in thecountry is not universal. Reports indicate that birthregistration in India is as low as 55% in severalparts of the country, with a lot of regionalvariations. The lack of an identity proof is a burdenthat continues as a major disadvantage throughoutthe life of a resident who seeks access to services.The inability to prove one’s formal identity is agreat barrier to inclusion and better services. Whilethey may have multiple social and culturalidentities, they lack a formal proof of identityvis-à-vis their interactions with the State. Thus,they are, in a sense, “identity-less” in the formalgovernance structures. This is a majordisadvantage since a lack of a formal proof ofidentity deprives them of their rights vis-à-vis theState. Further, they are also deprived of the benefitsthat an association with the State offers them interms of various social welfare schemes andprogrammes. This disadvantage is underestimatedat times. It is the constant endeavor of governmentto improve access of residents to these schemes.Access to these schemes depends to a large, thoughnot only, extent on an ability to prove one’s identityvis-à-vis the State. Therefore, making sure thatevery resident in the country has this basic right toan identity vis-à-vis the state which makes her orhim entitled to access various services,conveniences and benefits becomes critical in thegrowth of the nation. The right not to be “excluded”

due to a lack of formal recognition assumes apivotal role in the developmental discourse. Forpeople like us in this room we may not face thisdisadvantage and may not recognize theseriousness of the lack of this proof of identity. Wehave multiple proofs of identity from a passport,PAN card, driving license to a voter ID card. Wehave no problem in “proving our identity”. Thesame is not the case for millions of residents inIndia. The lack of proof of identity is one of themajor causes for exclusion and non-accessibility.Many people ask me the question – “Of what use isthe Aadhaar number to us? We already havemultiple identity cards.” However, this is not thereality for a vast majority of our population who arequeuing up to get a number. They see it as anopportunity, as a benefit and as a door that can openother doors of access. The role of Aadhaar and theright to an identity becomes crucial in this contextof inclusion and access.

I would like to contextualize the Aadhaar projectand the role of technology in the context of a rightto an identity vis-à-vis the State. Today, the issue ofthe inclusion of a large segment of our populationin the development process is a critical questionbefore policy thinkers of this country. How do wemake growth sustainable and inclusive? How dowe ensure that the fruits of growth reach the vastmajority of people hitherto excluded from thebenefits of growth and development? While theIndian middle class has grown and participated inthe growth story in the last decade, vast sections arestill outside the framework of access toopportunities and growth.

Aadhaar (a 12 digit unique identification numberwhich is unique to the individual based on her or hisbiometrics) seeks to address the problem ofexclusion and access by using the latesttechnology. Aadhaar is also called “Aam Aadmi ka

Adhikar”. In other words, the Aadhaar number canbe viewed as a right of a resident of this country.The right to be recognized by the State is one of thebasic rights in a democratic society that believes ininclusive growth. With the Aadhaar number, the

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resident can establish his or her identity and accessservices more easily. Let me re-assert that Aadhaarare not the panacea for all ills. However, it is thefoundation for better services. For a large section ofIndia’s population the inability to prove theiridentity is a reality which often leads to theirmarginalization. The Aadhaar project addressesthis simple, yet fundamental issue by providing auniversal, nationally portable identity to millions ofresidents who hitherto had no access to a proof ofidentity or to services based on such proof. TheAadhaar project has broad implications for India’sdevelopmental agenda. Inclusive growth requiresthe participation of a large segment of thepopulation in the development process. Aadhaarenables this. Through Aadhaar, access to serviceswill improve. This is already beginning to showresults in many parts of the country. Aadhaar issufficient proof for opening a bank account, gettinga mobile connection as well as many other servicesgiven by the State. This is truly empowering to theresident. Thus, from being a mere proof of identity,the number has empowered people to access certainservices more easily than before.

Providing access to financial services remains a toppriority for the government. The Aadhaar projectfacilitates this by enabling opening of bankaccounts as well as by providing an infrastructurefor payments and remittances across this vastcountry. Having an account linked to one’sAadhaar number enables the transfer of money inan electronic, auditable and convenient way. Withthe population in India being increasingly migrantin nature, this payment infrastructure will enable alarge populace to participate in the financial sector,opening new opportunities for growth.

Technology can be deployed to empower peopleand enrich their lives. The case of mobile telephonyin India is a great example. A technology that was apreserve of the rich has now become available tothe masses. The reach and price of mobiletelephony in India is unmatched anywhere elseworld-wide. It has brought the power ofcommunication to every person in any part of India

– leading to better opportunities for jobs, betteraccess to markets, and better access to informationand entertainment.

The same is beginning to happen with bankaccounts today. Technology has made it possible tomake banks branch-less. The cost of transactionsconducted at branches through a teller is Rs. 50 onaverage. The same transactions cost Rs. 10 onaverage at an ATM, and less than one rupee overthe internet or mobile. The opportunity cost of thetime saved through branch-less transaction issignificantly higher. Access to banking andpayments is a first step on the ladder of financialinclusion, paving the way for access to otherfinancial products such as credit, life and healthinsurance, old-age pensions, and mutual funds.

The mobile industry has also innovated with thesachet model. Today, customers can purchasetalk-time in a denomination as low as Rs. 5. Banksare trying to achieve the same reach with theBusiness Correspondent model. The Governmentis also planning to use the Business Correspondentchannel for the disbursement of Governmentbenefits and subsidies, which will help kick startthe Business Correspondent ecosystem. TheReport of the Task Force on Aadhaar-enabledpayments envisions a million BusinessCorrespondent agents equipped with micro ATMsthat provide basic banking services as ubiquitouslyas a mobile top-ups today. The use of technologythus enables an agent-assisted service at a pricepoint that is lower than that of traditional ATMtransactions.

KYC continues to remain a challenge for access toa number of services ranging from mobileconnections to bank accounts to LPG connections.Aadhaar not only provides an identity document,but its processes have been engineered to makeAadhaar KYC compliant. The Rules of thePrevention of Money Laundering Act have beenmodified to include Aadhaar as an officially validdocument for the financial industry, and the samehas been notified by the sector regulators (RBI,

9


SEBI, and IRDA). Various other Ministries such asTelecom, Petroleum and Natural Gas, and theRailways, in addition to various State Governmentshave notified Aadhaar as a valid KYC documentfor Government services.

Taking one step further, the UIDAI is nowlaunching the e-KYC service, through which aperson can complete their KYC electronically –without the need for photocopies, photographs,signatures, etc. The Aadhaar e-KYC service hasbeen designed to be fully compliant with theInformation Technology Act, and can be used as adrop-in replacement for all paper based processes.Since it is electronic and directly supplied by theGovernment, there is no risk of forgery and the costwill be a fraction of today’s KYC costs. Theseproperties make it possible to conduct e-KYC in atrusted and non-repudiable way anywhere.Suddenly, services that had to be offered in trustedenvironments such as a bank branch or aGovernment owned outlet can now be offeredthrough a kirana shop, or over the internet ormobile. Making service delivery electronic is notonly convenient, but it is also inclusive, pro-poor,and secure at the same time.

Technology based service delivery brings twoother benefits – choice for the customer, andtransparency in Government’s operations. Today,one can do a mobile top-up at any location in thecountry. With Aadhaar-enabled micro ATMs, onemillion banking outlets will be added to the set of100,000 bank branches and 100,000 ATMs, inaddition to self-service through the internet andmobile. Today, a person can go and transactbusiness through any Post Office, or any CitizenService Centre. There is little corruption and theft,when consumers have choice.

At the same time, one can only go to a designatedration shop to buy food, or only purchase LPG froma designated LPG dealer. Through the use oftechnology, modern supply chain management,and electronic payments, even food and LPG canbe offered through any registered dealer, rather

than only one designated dealer. The move towardsdirect transfer of subsidy will enable exactly this –bring the powers of the market in a controlled wayin the process of service delivery by Government.Eventually, one may be able to buy food and fuelfrom any merchant or kirana shop in the country,use Aadhaar authentication services, and getsubsidy reimbursed. These ideas can begeneralized further to even difficult sectors such ashealth and education. Once student histories andpatient’s medical records are in the cloud, they canavail of service through any Government runschool or hospital, and even access servicesthrough private providers of their choice and get adirect transfer of subsidy. The provision of choicewill go a long way towards elimination of pettycorruption. The Electronic Service Delivery Billaims to encapsulate some of these principles toimprove service delivery for the masses.

The other by-product of technology istransparency. Once every transaction is recorded, itcan be made available over the internet (aftersuitable anonymization of the data). The launch ofthe LPG transparency portals paved the way forreform in the direct transfer of LPG subsidy, andhas made the Government accountable in the wayLPG is supplied. The portals note the total amountof subsidy given to every LPG subscriber in thecountry. Proactive disclosure and digitization willhelp solidify the foundations and achieve the goalsof the Right to Information Act.

With the move towards direct transfer of benefitsand subsidies, the incentives also have to besuitably realigned. The Report of the Task Force onAadhaar-enabled payments has suggested that theGovernment pay a commission to banks forpayments that are administered through theBusiness Correspondent channel. Much of thiscommission is required to support the agentproviding the service at the last mile. In the case ofLPG and fertilizers, dealer commissions are beingreworked. A higher market price of goods, andtransfer of subsidy directly to the customer,requires more working capital. In order to

10


transition to the new system smoothly, allstakeholders in the ecosystem must participate andbenefit from the change. The deployment oftechnology driven transformation, combined withthe right alignment of incentives has the potentialof transforming the way Government benefits andsubsidies are delivered – with minimal leakage, andhigh service levels.

Today, the middle class and better off sections havechoice and conveniences. Markets give them theability to exercise this choice and not beconstrained by a lack of choice. Technology hasbeen a big contributor to this choice. Mobiletechnology has revolutionized the way one accessservices as well as does business. Multiplicity ofATMs is another example of choice that theresident can exercise. This transfers the balance ofpower from the service provider to the consumer.Why can’t we think of the same degree of choiceand convenience for a large segment of themarginalized population so that they can accessservices easier as well as participate in the growthprocess? Access to services leads to inclusion andprovides a foundation to reach greater heights. Thechoice and convenience that an average middleclass Indian gets should not be denied to a poormigrant from a village to a city. Why should thequality of service be less efficient or convenient forthe marginalized? Can we use technology toprovide this choice and convenience? Cantechnology be the leveler?

To sum up, the legal framework provided withinthe Information Technology Act, the Right toInformation Act, the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act, the upcoming Electronic Service

Delivery Act will go a long way in makingGovernment services electronic, portable, and easyto access. Choice, transparency, and alignment ofincentives are powerful tools to address theproblem of corruption in a bottom-up manner, in asystemic way, rather than resorting to ad hocmeasures.

The use of technology and re-engineeringprocesses provide the platform to make governancemore efficient as well as transparent. Governmentsworld over are using technology to offer better,more transparent and responsive services. Needlessto say, active political support and civil societyengagement is a sine qua non for this to happen.Active citizen engagement is complimentary to theuse of technology for enhancing transparency.Creating systems and use of technology isdefinitely not the only way do so. However it cansupplement other efforts in this multiprongeddiscourse. It is time that serious thought is given tofinding innovative solutions by harnessing ourstrengths to tackle complex problems. Providing aphilosophical wish list of achieving inclusionwithout an “on the ground” action plan would be afutile exercise. This lecture seeks to offer somethoughts of approaching the complex problem ofachieving inclusion and providing access with theinnovative use of technology and processes.

11


Dear Friends,

Please email your articles at [email protected]

Send them by post (if you are not able to email them) at:

C-8 Defence Colony, Meerut, 250001, U.P., India.

Please try to keep them within the limit of 1500-2000 words.

You should also inform me whether they have been published elsewhere. Do email or post yourpassport size photographs as separate attachments (in JPG format) along with your brief introductions,

if you are contributing in the RH for the first time. Please feel free to contact me at 91-9719333011 for

any other querry. —Rekha S.

[Justice Rajindar Sachar is Retd. Chief Justice of

High Court of Delhi, New Delhi. He is UN

Special Rapportuer on Housing, Ex. Member,

U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of

Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and

Ex-President, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties

(PUCL) India]

Menace of Corruption in India:The Way Out

CAG Vinod Rai’s pained expression onthe Brazenness of government decision

obviously referred to the way decisions have beentaken resulting in corrupt deals in the matter ofTelecom, coal allocations, miscues of allotments ofland on political grounds, has understandablytouched the raw nerve amongst the politicians,though it has been welcomed by an average person.

Corruption is not merely a moral question. It eatsinto the vitals of the economy and leads to the lossof faith in the principles of equality and honestadministration.

In its 2008 study, Transparency Internationalreports about 40% of Indians had first-handexperience of paying bribes or using a contact toget a job done in public office.

In 2011 India was ranked 95th out of 178 countriesin Transparency International’s CorruptionPerceptions Index. The World Bank, aid programsin India are beset by corruption, bad administrationand under-payments. As an example, the report

cites that only 40% of grain handed out for the poorreaches its intended target.

Despite its best intentions, MGNREGA is besetwith controversy about corrupt officials pocketingmoney on behalf of fake rural employees.

A November 2010 report from the Washingtonbased Global Financial Integrity estimates that overa 60 year period, India lost US$213 billion in illicitfinancial flows beginning in 1948; adjusted forinflation, this is estimated to be 462 billion in 2010dollars, or about $8 billion per year The report alsoestimated the size of India’s underground economyat approximately US$640 billion at the end of 2008or roughly 50% of the nation’s GDP.

If corruption levels in India were reduced to levelsin the developed economies such as the UnitedStates, India’s GDP growth rate could increase byan additional 4 to 5 percent, to 12 to 13 per centeach year.

C.K. Prahalad the Management Guru estimates thelost opportunity cost caused by Corruption, interms of Investment, Growth and Jobs for India isover US$ 50 billion a year.

Though loud proclamations are made by CentralGovernment to fight the menace of Corruption, infact the disease has increased and corruption indexhas reached the summit with the involvement ofpoliticians and high government officials – this wasto be expected when the Central Governmentsun-embarrassingly adopted globalization as thefirst Mantra from the Prime Minister downwards,and equating the prosperity of the country bytaking pride in pointing out that Indian Billionaireswere included in the Forbes Fortune, whileshamefully omitting to mention that even in Delhi,which is supposed to have the highest per capitaincome in the country, 70% of its population areable to spend only Rs. 50 per day, which is nowaccepted as the poverty level, by the governmentitself. That is the ugly reality. Such horribleinequality in the country is only possible by the illgotten wealth, made possible by corrupt polices bythe political parties in power.

12


Rajindar Sachar

Thus we have the corruption scandals of India CoalMining to the extent of Rs. 186,000 crore, Rs.176,000 crore of 2G spectrum scam. Not to be leftout the other major party has scam of Rs. 200,000crore, from Karnataka illegal mining scams.

It is a truism that maximum corruption is done byclose friends and relatives like son, son-in-law, ofpoliticians because of their closeness to the powersthat be. But then instead of finding honest answers,the Congress leader Digvijaya Singh hasunabashedly propounded self serving formula –namely that political parties should not even referto the acts of corruption purportedly done byrelations of opposite political leaders much less totheir own on the patently fallacious plea thatparents or parents in law can not be heldresponsible for the corruption done by theirrelations. How very convenient for politicalparties. But this unashamed, unacceptable plea bypoliticians was rejected as far back as 1964 by S.R.Das (Chief Justice of India) Enquire Commissionwhich held against the conduct of S. Pratap SinghKairon, the then Chief Minister of Punjab. Iappeared as a lawyer for the memorialists beforethe Commission. The Commission in its reporttrashed Kairon defense and observed; “The mainCharges related to the sons of Kairon in enrichingthemselves by misusing the State Machinery – thecomplicity of Kairon being established by hisremaining silent and not taking any steps to preventit”. (On Mr. Digvijaya Singh philosophy Kaironwould have been blameless).

But Commission exploded this self serving excuseput forth by Kairon that it would be unfair andunjust not to permit a person to do business simplybecause he happens to be son or son-in-law of a

person in authority; To this Das Commissioncaustically ruled thus, “Kairon’s case was that thealleged misconduct and misdeeds of his sons hadnot been brought to his notice, else he would havewarned them.

This was a patent absurdity. The Commission isfree to concede that a father can not legally ormorally prevent his sons from carrying on business,but the exploitation of the influence of the fatherwho happens to be the Chief Minister of the Statecannot be permitted to be made a business of. Suchexploitation cannot possibly be a legitimatebusiness and the father’s influence and powerscannot be permitted to be traded in. Even assuminghe personally had not lent a helping hand in relationto them, the least he could do was to give a sternwarning, in private and if necessary publicly, to hissons, relatives, colleagues and subordinate officersagainst their alleged conduct even if such conducthad not been proved to be true. But, as his ownaffidavit shows, he made no inquiry, gave nowarning to anybody and took no step whatever toprevent its recurrence but let things drift in the waythey had been going, assuming he had no hand in it.The allegations stared him in the face; he paid noheed to them. He cannot now plead ignorance offacts. In view of his inaction in the fact of thecircumstances hereinbefore alluded to, he mustbe held to have connived at the doings of his sonsand relatives, his colleagues and the Governmentofficers”. In face of this finding Kairon had toresign.

Do political parties need any other precedent foraction if they are genuine in eradicating corruptionfrom public life?

13


Letter To The Editor

Dear Rékhâ,

Very dexterous introduction to Paul Kurtz.

Thanks a lot.

Prithwindra-dâ

[email protected]

[J. Sharath Chandra Rao has been contributing

articles to Newspaper like ‘Vaartha’ and ‘Andhra

Jyothi’ and other periodicals on environment,

economics and other social issues. He may be

contacted at 1-2-593/40, Gagan Mahal Colony,

Hyderabad, Phone: 27638039]

Harmful Chemicals in Eatables

will Effect Human Health

The use of harmful chemicals in eatables isleading to the deterioration of people’s

health with Governments not having any controlover our Food Production methods. By periodicalapplication of pesticides to control pests, naturalenemies of the pests are unwittingly beingdestroyed in the process causing pesticidal residueproblems in the food we all eat. Our productionmethods have been producing less nutritious andunhealthy food that is often contaminated withchemical residues. The banning of “Endosulphin”by the Supreme Court is a welcome step and shouldbe followed by many such steps by theGovernments. There is every need to ban manyharmful toxic chemicals which are being sprayed inour various food crops which include grains,cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruits all causingserious health problems like Heart, Cancer,Respiratory disorders, Genetic changes,Reproductive disorders, Diabetes etc. Theseharmful residues can also cause allergies, hormonalimbalance and nervous disorders due to toxicitybeing registered in our bodies. Certain hard facts

like Calcium Carbide being used to artificiallyripen premature fruits, pesticidal residues in grains,sprays and dyes being used in making our grainslooking fresh in our super market shelves can alsoaffect our health. Faking freshness should not beallowed to be loaded with chemicals. Further, theexistence of 1, 00,000 widely used industrialchemicals being there in the environment with newchemicals being added every year, has also led toan increase in various diseases. Vast number ofpollutants with “oestrogen” like properties existingin the environment has led to a loss of sperm countin men in the industrial nations posing fertilityproblems.

Huge production of wheat and rice being producedby using heavy doses of chemicals and pesticides inour modern agricultural practices apart fromharming human health have also harmed severalliving species of birds, animals and friendly insectseffecting the environment in the process causingenormous damage to our economy and humanlivelihood. Several birds due to consumption ofpesticidal poison often get their testes and ovariesdamaged resulting in either the birds not layingeggs or others laying eggs and incubating them butnot hatching them, both revealing abnormalitiesdue to the disturbance in their natural cycle. Thishas led to not having enough birds to keep in checkthe resurgence of insect population which oftendamages our crops in the present day chemicallydriven world. The absence of house sparrows, thenear disappearance of vultures to clear many deadcreatures and the reduction in the population ofhouse crows and Baya birds are all due to theresidual aspect of pesticides. “Cheron”, “Sarus” inRajasthan and in Gujarat Peafowl, Turtle doves,Egrets, have all died due to the ill-effects ofpesticides; all of them have contributed a lot inmaintaining a fine balance in life. It is unfortunatethat the impact of chemically produced food hasnever been questioned and rectified. E.F.Schumacher rightly expressed that any scientificand technological solutions which poison theenvironment and in the process degrading the

14


J. S.C. Rao

fertility of the soil structure is of no benefit since itdrastically effects human welfare.

In the name of free enterprises corporate abuses ofmore than a lakh tons of absolute pesticides havebeen shifted from industrial countries to theunder-developed countries drastically effectingpeople’s health. Further, a number of corporateshave been discharging their industrial wastechemicals and Municipal wastes of plastics andother metals all harmful into our rivers, seas andoceans, all of which enter and accumulate into thesystem of aquatic creatures living in seas, riversand oceans such as fish, prawns, which ultimatelyeffect human health when they eat these. It isnecessary for meat eating consumers to know thatthe health of the aquatic creatures, birds andanimals that are being consumed with many ladenwith antibiotics will ultimately affect human beingswhen they eat such meat be it chicken or any othermeat of animals and birds. Often antibioticresistance content is being passed on to theconsumers when they consume such meat. Thequestionable practice to boost production of meat,eggs, dairy products, fruits and vegetablessacrificing their efficacy due to greed of gettingbetter returns with hundreds of pesticidal residueshave all contributed to our disease load. Further,feed lots being given to the animals and birds andthe antibiotic drugs being given to them need athorough review and debate. Abundant feeds,therapeutic antibiotics to diseases today accountingto half of worldwide antibiotic usage has producednew strains of bacteria that are immune to the entireclass of antibiotic forcing the pharma companies toupgrade to different and more powerful antibioticswhich in turn may no longer be possible to treathumans infected by these resistant forms. This hasmade medical practitioners harder to treat humandiseases. The modern production of all forms ofmeat from the farm yard of yester years to thepresent indoor feeding facilities of not allowingthem to have any free movements or exercise toincrease weight for commercial purposes has led to

excess fatty meat production leading to severaldiseases causing lakhs of premature deaths, themedical costs often being very high running tomillions of rupees.

Most often it has caused an unbearable andunaffordable burden on the common people.

In contrast the traditional meat because of freemovements and exercise had less fat and moreproteins and lived a longer healthier life than themodern ones. Also the quality of buffaloes andcow’s milk then was more nutritious and the cattlewere less prone to diseases unlike the modernones. Also it is necessary to mention that severalstudies reveal that “Pasture” grazing substantiallychanges the nutritional profile of all types of meat,milk and eggs. Also faster growth of fat increase inbirds and animals actually benefit the bigagri-business corporates rather than the farmproducers. Further encouraging consumption offood promoted by food companies to increase theirown profits and with the general decline in thephysical activities, people are often becomingvictims of untimely deaths. Neither the farmer northe consumer is happy with hundreds of additivessuch as preservatives, colours and the pesticidalresidues of the food which he is consuming. Alsotampering, initiating several manipulative stepsand practices to boost production of meat, eggs,dairy products, fruits and vegetables all havingmore fat content and being less in protein thanbefore being contaminated have led to severalailments, the treatment costs being too high for thecommon man. The only alternative for a betterhealth is the increasing awareness and recognitionfor indigenous organic farming system based onanimal manures, bio-fertilisers, mixed cropping,water conservation and biological pestmanagement methods which will lead to producingmore nutritional, tasty and healthy output in a widerange of harvested products without any pesticidalapplication. Neem derivatives, plant basedfertilizers, crop residues all enhance productivity ofcrops and also human health.

15


Current Affairs’ Section:

[Prof K.S.Chalam is a former Member, Union

Public Service Commission, New Delhi. He was

Vice-Chancellor, Dravidian University, Kuppam,

A.P. and earlier Prof of Economics at Andhra

University. He was the first Director of Swamy

Ramanand Tirtha Rural Institute, Bhoodan

Pochampally during 1997-98. He is known as the

pioneer of the Academic Staff College Scheme in

the country as the scheme was strengthened by

UGC on the basis of his experiments in 1985. He

became the first founder director of the Academic

Staff College at Andhra University in 1987. He

was actively involved in the teachers’ movement,

secular and rationalist activities and served as

the National Secretary, Amnesty International

during [email protected]]

I

Public Property

for Private Use

The difference between public propertyand private property is that, the former

offers benefits to the society as a whole while thelatter profits the individual. Common propertiesthat are generally referred as public property inpopular jargon is different, as it is only a localresource like grass, woods, weeds, fish, etc that arebeing controlled and utilized by smallcommunities, in our country by traditional castes.Common property resources are depletedthroughout the world with the advent of colonialsystem of terms of trade based on market and are

being studied by scholars of environment toprovide sustainability not only to the resources butalso to the communities that depend upon them. Itis a different issue and we are concerned here withpublic property that is non-excludable andnon-rivalry in character.

Public property is defined by the Prevention ofDamage to Public Property Act 1984 in India. It issaid that,” public property means any propertyeither immovable or movable (includingmachinery) which is owned by or in the possessionof or under the control of Central government, anystate government or any local authority or anycorporation, or public company, or any institutionundertaken by central government and declared sothrough a Gazette notification. Though it is a legaldefinition, it conveys the meaning of publicproperty as one that belongs to the people of thecountry and the beneficiaries or the inheritors arethe public and not private individuals. It is said thatthe colonial system has changed the characters ofmost of our public resources after the introductionof their methods of exploitation. Scholars likeMadhav Gadgil and others have recorded how thecommon property resources in regions like theWest coast (Uttara kannada) have undergoneradical transformation, might as per some, give us aclue as to how the public properties have moved into the hands of individuals. However, theanthropological approach to study commonproperty would have certain limitations tounderstand the complexity of the transfer of publicproperties as private possessions. The analysis ofthe reassignment or alienation of land and otherresources like Mines, state owned machinery etccould be better understood through an approachcalled class analysis. One can either use a Marxianor a non-Marxian or Weberian class to understandthe dynamics of how properties in countries likeIndia change hands. Class in the Indian contextboth as an economic and social category, can be auseful tool to scrutinize the process oftransformation (as of now) of flaccid resourcesunder the control of the state becoming vibrant

16


K.S. Chalam

wealth creators in the hands of select fewindividuals. It does explain how the ruling classesuse their political power in the democratic drama ofdecision making of getting public resources eitherfor themselves or for their cronies. It is neither anew phenomenon nor limited to Andhra Pradesh. Ithas been a long drawn process ever present in ourhistory, once confined to a few, now being spreadto many groups after liberalization.

There are several connected issues in thetransformation of public property as privateproperty within the legal structures of the country.It appears that people have misunderstood JairamRamesh when he raised the issue of public toiletsrather in a discrete language. In this context, we canfind that our Constitution has given scope forcertain freedoms to establish institutions and ownproperties and are exempt from paying taxes underArticle 27. Let us not question the efficacy of thisArticle and envision the expansive rationale of it.The constitution makers might have thought, giventhe plurality of the country that each group wouldwork for the welfare of the larger interests of thepublic given this freedom. It was assumed perhaps,not to allow individuals or a cluster of them to forminterest groups to amass properties mostly from thepublic and convert them as fiefdoms to benefit afew individuals or their companions. The litigantsand legal luminaries might say something on this,but the crux of the problem is that huge publicproperties and wealth are accumulated in the handsof few individuals without much use for the groupsfor which they are intended or to the people of thecountry in general. We have come to know (mediareports) that the controversial Swamy Nityanandahas bribed another swamy to acquire Rs 1500crores worth of property. People talk of suchincidents if they are known public figures, but thereare millions of such cases (all denominations) thatelude public realm. We have in the country millionsof registered public trusts or organizations not onlyto avoid taxes but even to conceal their ill-gottenmoney. People who talk of corruption do not touch

this issue as some of them come under this categoryand most of their frauds do ultimately turn up here.

It is in this perspective, the data furnished by thecensus 2011 on the places of worship, schools,toilets etc are really revealing. It is reported that thenumber of places of worship of all the religionswere 2398650 in 2001 and are now bloated to3013140 in 2011. The number is directlyproportional to the increase in GDP. The moreinteresting aspect of it is that there are more placesof worship in West Bengal than any other stateexcept the (huge) Uttara Pradesh (see NilotpalBasu, the Hans India). Andhra comes at sixth place(fifth in population size). Along with the places ofworship, the number of schools, colleges andhospitals are also given in the same census table. Itis reported that the number of schools, colleges andhospitals put together stand at 2789732 ie, about 3lakhs less than the number of places of worship.Most of the public institutions including schools,hospitals, places of worship etc are generally builtwith public resources. The net worth might beequivalent to the sum of GDP. Strangely, once theybecome institutionalized, the property thusobtained becomes the personal privilege of the few.There are cases where the priests are underpaid,discriminated, starved and humiliated in placeswhere there is no public glare, while the richestablishments enjoy the luxuries of life.Unfortunately, because of our increasingintolerance about the issues of faith, the realpredicaments of control, regulation, and order andabove all the public cause is never surfaced in thepublic discourse. Is it not helpful for the publicinstitutions that control trillions of rupees worth ofpublic property to develop a code of ethics tocontain fraud and prevent becoming a privateasset?

II

Indigenous Knowledge asPeople’s Technology

The recent international conference onBio-diversity under the aegis of CoP in

17


Hyderabad seems to have discussed several issuesrelating to environmental degradation andindigenous resources etc. Scientists andenvironmental activists including the formervice-President of USA Al Gore have adequatelypopularized that there is bio-diversity only in thesouthern hemisphere of the globe. As we all knowthat the Northern hemispheres where all theadvanced countries are situated do not have thekind of resources that we in the third worldcountries of the South have. Yet, all the Northerncountries have achieved a great deal ofdevelopment in just two hundred years is a mysterythat the economists might one day expose it. One ofthe important assets of the third world is theunexplored and hidden data in the traditions of theindigenous knowledge systems. We can draw fromit as we progress on the road to self sustaineddevelopment. Some of the tricks that the advancedcountries have been trying to play on us are throughthe route of GATS that protects intellectualproperty. They wanted to have patents on all ourtraditional knowledge and knowledge products likeAyurveda, Siddha etc with the connivance of someprejudiced individuals. But, they seem to have notsucceeded as India has been heroically fightingagainst this conspiracy at the international forumswith the support of documentation. Sometimesgovernment agencies do also good things, as seenin terms of the documentation of our indigenousknowledge systems project (DST). Though theefforts are limited to the mainstream and Sanskritbased knowledge as of now, it is hoped that itwould be extended to the real and historicallysustained systems of the adivasis and otherindigenous populations of the country in future.Now everyone looks at our indigenous andtraditionally practiced unwritten structures ofknowledge for insights so that it can becommoditized and marketed for an economicreturn.

It is said that animals are genetically endowed touse their limbs as tools while human beingsdevelop tools with their limbs and thinking skills.

It is the accumulation of experiences of humanbeings as thinking animals that helped the mankindto develop civilizations and transformed them atdifferent points of time. It was Gordon Childe whosaid that, ‘the simplest tool made out of a brokenbough or a chipped stone is the fruit of longexperience of trials and errors, impressions noticed,remembered and compared. The skill to make it hasbeen acquired by observation, by recollection andby experiment. It may seem an exaggeration, but itis yet true to say that any tool is an embodiment ofScience. For it is a practical application ofremembered, compared and collected experiencesof the same kind as are systematized andsummarized in scientific formulae, descriptionsand prescriptions’. It is the application of some ofthe scientific principles to solve practical humanproblems that lead to the development oftechnology. Thus science and technology havenever remained constant. As society progressedfrom one stage to another, science and technologyhave also undergone change. However, scienceand technology became dominant players in humancivilization after the renaissance movement inEurope that lead to concretization of science.Therefore Betrand Russel has mentioned thatscience has two functions, to enable us to knowthings and, to enable us to do things. The Greekswere interested in the former and the Arabs, Indiansand Chinese in the latter. But science was givenprominence when the measurement of variousphysical phenomena became easy. At one time,measurement itself became science. It has itsadvantages and shortcomings when it turns out tobe demotic.

Though man has been making and using tools fromPaleolithic age, the principles lying behind suchtools became known only after man has developedthe cognitive abilities and started recording them.Therefore, we will find in all human civilizationspeople accumulating wealth of knowledge aboutthe physical world. In majority of the cases, somegroups survived with that little knowledge even inmodern times. It was the European who wanted to

18


translate this knowledge into his own method andfound that some of the knowledge and experiencesof the people he conquered did not fit into hisintellectual tradition. He called those societies astribal and primitive. This is not true as historicalrecords and experience is gone contrary to theirformulations. The so called indigenous people ofthe world including India have shown to the worldhow the remnants of their material culture involvedscience and technology. Some of it may haveremained at the stage of proto-science due to thefact that they are denied or did not have theopportunity to develop or translate theirexperiences into modern concepts of science.

That does not mean they do not have any traditionof science and technology. In fact, it is provedbeyond doubt that those people who constantlyinteract with nature and in that process use theirphysical labour to make a comfortable living, aloneare capable of developing technology. In thiscontext, we can find in our society several groupsof people who have remained adivasis, artisans,service castes, etc, but , have abundant fund ofknowledge that can be codified, evaluated,systematized and finally provided the status ofmodern science and technology. In fact, the NativeIndian philosophical school, Sankhya has full ofsuch concepts.

It is recognized today that the contribution ofindigenous people to the world of medicineincluding Ayurveda even in the 21st centuryamount to billions of dollars worth of wealth. Thetechnology used by the indigenous people is simpleand relevant to the social conditions andcircumstances in which they live. Thus, thistechnology is people oriented as against thegigantic and sophisticated technology that isgenerally addressed to the market. Unfortunatelynothing survives that does not address the markettoday. Therefore, is it not necessary to examine theindigenous technology not only to bring itssignificant contributions for the survival of man,but also to address the present market for itssustenance?

It is found that common people are resorting totraditional methods of therapeutics when thecorporate hospitals make their lives a liability onceadmitted for treatment. It is noted that the familiesthat are above poverty line became poor aftergetting admitted either in a private or publichospital for serious ailments. It is time to act andprovide legitimacy to the indigenous knowledgesystems with necessary scientific safeguards so thatthey may bail out the poor.

III

Gujarat: Whose state is itanyway?

The state of Gujarat is going to pollsduring the second week of December

2012. Everyone is curious to know about the statebeyond Narendra Modi. Formerly, parts of the statewere constituents of Bombay presidency till 1960,the year in which Gujarat was formed. It had anincredible history as part of ancient Indus valleycivilization. It is said that the state is named afterthe so called clan of Gujjars (Huns). The Somnathtemple, the spirit of vibrant Hinduism wasdemolished six times and rebuilt again six timesunlike in other places of worship, is located in thisstate. Nonetheless, the state has large presence ofMinorities, Adivasis, Dalits and also the dominantindustrial houses of the country. Gujarat is knownfor its out word looking trade and built the firstdry-dock in human history at Lothal indicating itslong experience with trade and business. It isrecorded by scholars that the business caravans ofGujarat have entered important trade routes ofAfrica even during the mediaeval period. TheGujarati business men including the Muslimtraders are spread in different parts of NorthAmerica, Africa and other countries. It is a knownfact that Gujaratis do carry their traditional identityand practices wherever they are and would like tovisit their ancestral homeland at least once. Thus,the rich culture and customs of Gujaratis aredistinctly different from other regions of thecountry.

19


Gujarat came in to prominence when the two‘nations’ in the subcontinent, India and Pakistangot their father figures in Mahatma Gandhi andQuaid-I Azad Mohammed Ali Jinnah from thisstate. We all know how L.K Advani was humbledin expressing his admiration for his compatriotfrom Gujarat his visit to the tomb of Jinnah inPakistan. Though Gujarat gave to the nationGandhiji, Sardar Patel, Morarji Desai and fewothers, the state is known for its acumen inbusiness. It is reported that the top business housessuch as Ambanis, Tatas, Kotak Mahindra, DilipSighania, Azim Premji, Tulasi Tanti, Godrej, NessWadia and several billionaires hail from Gujarat.Gujarat is not only known for its businesscommunity throughout the world, but is recognizedin modern history for the benevolent and reformoriented king Sayoji Maharaj of Baroda (Vadodra).Baroda as an independent princely state during theBritish rule was responsible for a reform agendaand employed our C.R. Reddy as Principal ofBaroda College, sponsored B.R Ambedkar to studyabroad and so on. The traditions of liberaldemocracy, secularism and all modern trends of acivilized society were inherited by the people ofGujarat when Baroda became a part of the state.

Narendra Modi came to lime light for a dubiousreason and would have remained only as a greatorganizer of business and economic activities in thestate had he not sported his ambition for a nationalleadership. The Gujarat economy had been underthe growth trajectory ever since liberalization wasintroduced in India. In fact, an expert whileworking with an institute in Delhi has produced astudy eulogizing Modi government sometime agowas strained to leave, to popularize the corporateagenda now. The huge expansion that has takenplace in Gujarat is due to the liberalization agendaof P.V. Narasimha Rao and ManMohan Singh.Though Modi has coined the “Gujarat Khamir”(resilience) to create a brand image for the state, thedevelopment was not entirely due to his or thesuccessive governments of the state. There is noevidence to show that the state has introduced

innovative programmes of its own except the onesgiven by the centre. There is no doubt that Modi hassincerely implemented schemes like SEZs in 60areas and seems to have introduced only a schemeknown as Special Investment Regions (SIRs). It isan extension of the concept of SEZ with hugeenclosures covering 100 KMs radius in 13 placesgiven to each Industrial Zamindar. The state isblessed with the largest coast of 1600 kms witharound 35 river systems to provide sufficient waterand has abundant soda ash, bauxite, lignite andother minerals. It is a low density state with 234persons per sq km compared to 325 all India (2001)and a large number of NRIs are ever willing toinvest in the state.

The tale of development of Gujarat has beenwritten by several scholars and found that thehighest rate was observed during the tenure ofMadhav Singh Solanki and it was around 25.32 percent in 1981-82, 12.6 in 190-91 and is around 9-10percent during Modi. Thus, the rapid growth inGujarat as noted by some scholars is not due to anysingle politician but, is due to the favorableeconomic conditions prevailed here. Nevertheless,there are states like Tamil Nadu, Haryana, andKerala whose development is considered to bemuch faster and inclusive than Gujarat (PlanningCommission). An important fact of social structureof Gujarat is not publicly discussed. It is the onlystate in the fifth schedule where the largest per centof Adivasis inhabit in three fourth of the districts.There are 7 districts where the Adivasi populationis more than 30 percent and in the district of Dangs,the population is 93.76 percent. The grave issue isthat in districts like Baruch, Valsad, Dahej whereSEZs and SIRS are located are in adivasi areaswithout much protection to the locals. Though, theModi government claims that they have devotedaround 4000crores for tribal sub-plan during thecurrent year, it is not reflected in the fall of povertylevels or atrocities on adivasis. On the contrary,NGOs claim that 96 percent of the accused in thecases are acquitted. Further, the irrigation waterthrough mega projects like Sardar Sarovar seems to

20


have not been used for agriculture in terms of itscontribution to SDP being only 10 percent. Thehuge investments in infrastructure like roads,subsidized water, and power (one of the surplusstates) are only benefitting the industrial houses asanticipated by scholars long ago.

The impact of the rapid growth in sectors likepetrochemicals (26.26%), pharmaceuticals andchemicals (21.33), ship breaking are contributingmore than half of the income has resulted in theincreasing incidence of Silicosis, respiratory

diseases etc in the state. It is reported by Hiraway(Ahmadabad) that the share of wages as percent ofnet value added declined by 3.5 percent per yearfrom 11.8 in 1998-2000 to 8.5 percent in 2008.“Another important development under the reformin Gujarat has been the increase in rising ofsubsidies, incentives and favors to the corporatesector, with the result that not much revenue is leftto redistribute for the purpose of including theexcluded”. Is it not clear now whose Gujarat ispitched for elections next month?

21


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had edited the ‘Indian Rationalist’, then published

from Hyderabad on behalf of the Association

prior to its transfer to Madras.]

I

Re-election of Barack Obama

Re-election of Barrack Obama as USPresident is decisive. He belongs to the

Democratic party. There are only two majorpolitical parties at national level i.e. Republicansand Democrats. Republicans are considered olderthan the Democrats; however the differencesbetween two parties are very thin. They tend tofollow the policies of each other. Obama did thesame; he supported European Union against GreatBritain. He carried forward the Republican claim ofUS supremacy in world politics. Obama followedthe policy of Republicans to favor interference inthe Islamic dictatorships in the Middle East. Hesupported Israel against Palestine. In Far East,Obama remained neutral with Chinesedevelopments which according to democrats aresteadily drifting to free enterprise.

Obama is of African origin. His father professesIslam as his religion. His mother an AmericanChristian, had him baptized in church. Thus he isnow considered as a Christian. He married aChristian lady, thus Obama represents universalityof US, a country where exists a world miniature to

which persons from various countries flocktogether.

Obama carried the true American traditions ineconomic management. During the bank crisis heoffered huge funds to banks to make them survive,when their customers failed to pay their debts.Obama carried the US economy on the shoulders ofmulti nationals. He supported disarmament andneutrality in atomic weapons. He supported India’sattempts to use atomic power for peacefulpurposes, even though India is not a member ofNPT (Non Proliferation Treaty).

He supported Pakistan in its efforts to fight againstterrorism. Bin laden, the leader of Islamic terrorfinally was assassinated in Pakistan by commandossent by Obama.

II

2G Spectrum

2G spectrum actually auctioned inNovember proved the story of CAG

wrong. The very concept of imaginary profits isbound to be untenable. It further proved thatAuditor General has trespassed into the field ofExecutive decision making.

The constitutional position of CAG is merely thatof an auditor to go through the correctness of theaccounts maintained and whether everyexpenditure is duly supported by legislativeauthority. It is not his field to comment upon thepolicies of the several projects the executive maydecide upon. He has no information or opportunityto study the projects. Just like the judiciary, heshould confine himself to the field of activityreserved for him. Judiciary is not entitled to decideupon the wisdom of the executive. It shall restrictitself to the question whether the orders issued bythe executive are valid as per law and constitution.So is the role of the Auditor General: to confinehimself to the correctness of the accounts.

22


N.K. Acharya

III

Surajkund Conclave

The congress party under the leadership ofMrs. Sonia Gandhi held the pre election

conclave at Surajkund to review its policies. Theconclave recalled its flagship programs namely,Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Right toInformation Act. References were made to severalother programs which involved liberalization ofeconomy and also to production of electricitythrough atomic energy. The conclave reiterated itsfaith centralization of intelligence to co-ordinateactivities to counter terrorism. The conclaverecommended the proposed Lokpal and LokAyukta Bill, The Land Acquisition Rehabilitationand Resettlement Bill, The Company Law, directTaxes Code, The sale of Goods and Services Billwhich replaces the Central sales tax. Finally, afterits conclusion appointed a committee to prepare theparty to participate in the general elections due inearly 2014.

The Congress while Constituting the saidcommittee appointed Mr. Rahul Gandhi as its chief,indicating that he may be set up to succeed ShriMan Mohan Singh as Prime Minister, even thoughsuch step is indicated by elevating PranabMukerjee as the President of India. It is now madeclear that the Congress in all probability willproject Mr. Rahul Gandhi as the next Priministerialcandidate.

IV

Bihar’s claim for SeparateStatus

The constitution makers created a specialchapter for Jammu & Kashmir in view of

the terms of agreement entered into betweenGovernment of India and the maharaja. The termsof that agreement have been worked out and thestate has not only been declared as part of India butit has also a special constitution of its own. Later onseveral sections were added by which some specialstatus has been conferred on some states or regionswithin the state. Such special provisions mostlyrelate to backward areas particularly tribal areas.Such provisions relating to special rights arecreated in tribal areas where certain districts weredeclared and were given certain autonomous rightsto administer themselves. In those areas, thelaws/enactments made by the centre are applicableto those areas subject to their adoption by the tribalcouncils. Those areas were also represented by aminister who has a direct contact with theGovernor.

Another way of protecting the interests of the statesis by declaring the projects set up in those states asnational projects for which the centre substantiallycontributes. The third method of protectinginterests of any backward areas of the state/statesthemselves is by offering them certain grants ofspecial nature out of the consolidated fund of India.

The present claim of Bihar’s Chief Minister isconfined to his request for special grants only,therefore it has nothing to do with any regionalfeeling or with any discrimination and henceBihar’s claim for additional grants can be met.

V

Reply to Editors Questions onFDI

This is with reference to my note on FDI inRetail industry appearing in the issue of

Radical Humanist November issue of 2012. I amasked to answer two questions namely:

Why FDI is necessary to eliminate middlemen intrade?

23


Whether the existing legal machinery isinsufficient to control the middle men?

Permitting FDI wholesale market is intended toeliminate middlemen in trade. If foreign investmentis permitted it may bring expertise to spread theconcept of wholesale market expand itself to retailtrade. Play of several independents in the market isthe long established tradition in India. The whole ofthe market is dominated by the middlemen only. Itis they who purchase produce from the agriculturistand transport the same to the market wherewholesalers and their agents distribute the stocks tothe retailers for sale to consumers. Similarly,manufacturers appoint distributors for theirproduction who in their turn appoint regionaldistributors who supply the goods to the retailersfor sale to consumers. This chain is in built in theIndian market. In other words, the Indian market is

called “Dalwai System”( Agency). Thus most ofthe traders are mere agents of whether producers ormanufacturers, therefore a total elimination ofsystem long established is not possible unless FDIin wholesale brings also the expertise to distributethe goods in retail.

As per the legal machinery is concerned the presentsystem of registering wholesalers and retailers andtheir status defined for the purpose of taxation isnot compatible with eliminating them from thescene all together. The Essential Commodities Actand all the systems of taxation and levy of fees areintended to protect the middlemen in trade as aprofession. The Constitution of India alsorecognizes the Right to Profession as a fundamentalright. In this context, it may be stated that thecurrent legal machinery will not permit eliminationof middlemen.

24


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IRI / IRHA Members’ Section:

[Mr. Jawahar Lal Jasthi has been associated

with the Radical Humanist and the Rationalist

Movement since his college days through his

uncle, late Mr. Jagannatham and his

father-in-law, late Mr. K. Radhakrishnamurty

(who had contested the first General Elections

under the Radical Democratic Party banner). Mr

Jasthi has contributed articles in Telugu and

English. His one unpublished book Oh My God is

based on the futile search for God in the annals of

science.]

(I received the following letter from Mr. Jasthi

along with his article on 23rd October 2012. I

wanted to publish both in the November 2012

issue of RH itself but due to the sudden demise of

Prof. Paul Kurtz this was delayed. Now that

Obama has actually won let us see what the

readers have to say about this article of Mr.

Jasthi —Rekha S.)

23 Oct 2012

Madam,

I am sending the article on US elections taking it forgranted that Obama will get reelected. It will beknown by 7th November.

But by that time you may have to send the materialto press. If the election result is not as expected, itwill be scandalous to include this article, if at all itis acceptable. But if he is elected, this will be themost appropriate poser. I leave it to you to decide. Iam now a citizen of US legally.

Jawaharlal,

Will Obama Act?

The second term to Obama as President ofthe United States of America is an

opportunity for him to prove himself. His first termcould not serve the purpose just because it was thefirst term. Every President keeps an eye on thesecond term immediately after getting elected. Hetries to please everybody. One way of it is to avoidhard and controversial decisions. But after gettingelected for the second time they can feel free to dowhatever they want to do as they cannot expect athird term.

Obama’s election for the first time is a land mark inthe history of America in the sense that a cloudedperson (not necessarily black) was able to enter theWhite House. Whatever might be the factors thathelped him, it confirms the democratic credentialsof the system. It gave hope and confidence to thepeople who were treated as less than citizens for along time in the history of the country. But he couldnot do much for two reasons.

One is that he inherited a severely damagedeconomy – damaged due to wanton disregard offinancial discipline on the part of the earlieradministration. The pity with Democrats inAmerica is that they manage economy to a surplusand then get defeated in elections. The benefit ofsound economy is exploited by the successiveRepublican governments who bring again thedeficit and upload the burden to the next Democratgovernment. They have to loose time in repairingthe damage without any credit for it as repair takestime and the consequences of bad economy are feltduring that period. The damage to the economyduring recession in 2008 was so severe that thegovernment had to discard its capitalist garb and goto the rescue of the private banks that are directlyresponsible for the damage, as they areacknowledged to be “too big to fail”. It is obviousthat the economy came to that stage during theRepublican regime. But now, the Republicancandidate contesting for Presidency blames the

25


Jawaharlal Jasthi

incumbent President for enlarging the government and

spending heavily as if it is a crime by itself. That is how

contestants behave at the time of elections. Whatever the

successive government does is inadequate to bring the

economy to its feet. But still it bears the blame for it.

The other reason for Obama’s inability to beeffective in his first term is that it is the first term.He naturally takes care not to hurt any part of theelectorate and avoids hard decisions. Some hecould not avoid. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistanare inherited and had to be dealt with cautiously. Ifhe closes the war abruptly, he will be blamed astimid and as letting America down. In spite ofhimself, he could not escape from the wars.

Immediately after he took charge as President in2009, the Nobel Committee conferred the PeacePrize on him for the year. It was a surprise to all,perhaps even to himself. It was not stated for whatachievement he was awarded the Prize. There weresuggestions that he should decline the prize. But heretained it which was not his fault. The usualcondition for Nobel Prizes is that there shall be anachievement and it must have been proved. That iswhy scientists get their Nobel Prizes a long timeafter their discoveries are announced. In the case ofObama the prize was conferred perhaps expectinghim to do something substantial by occupying themost powerful position as President of the UnitedStates. Or it may be to encourage him to dosomething significant in that direction. In spite ofall expectations, he could not avoid continuing thewar in Afghanistan nor could he close the prisons atGuantanamo Bay.

Apart from all these military actions, there is oneline of action that he indicated he wanted to pursue.That is solving of the Palestine problem. In the firstyear of his presidency he told Israel to stopconstruction of settlements in the West Bank. It isjust to stop further constructions, not to vacate theoccupations. Even that was not to the liking ofIsrael. There was a violent reaction and forcefulresistance. Obama was forced to eat the pie andretract from it. He did not raise the issue againduring his term. During elections in 2008 Israeli

lobby asked him specifically to spell out his policytowards Israel. He declared unequivocally thatAmerica is always in support of Israel as a credibleally. It would have been disastrous, or even foolish,for him to say at that time that he wants Israel tostop construction of settlements. It only indicatesthat his motives were suspicious for Israel. It doesnot mean the problem is not there. It is still thereburning and staring in the face of US.

Since Truman offered recognition, against theadvice of his Secretary of State, to Israelimmediately after its formation was announced byBen-Gourion, there was no President that couldraise his little finger on the vagaries of Israel. Theyfelt it their duty to protect Israel from internationalcensure and exercised their power to render eventhe Security Council ineffective. To escape blameAmerica says that it is their policy to stand by theirallies. It is a noble stand as far as the allies behaveresponsibly. One ally does not mean you shouldearn many more enemies and lose credibility.Allies should not be allowed to dictate policy. EvenAnwar Sadat, after getting frustrated with hisefforts to get an understanding with Israel, declaredthat the cards for peace in the Middle East are in thehands of the US.

Every President knows the injustice done by Israelto Palestinians, but never dared to call the spade aspade. Even the Republican Presidents, both seniorand junior Bush, tried to bring pressure on Israel tobehave. But the pressure from Israel lobby was soheavy that they had to retract and sidetrack theissue. In 1956, when Nasser declarednationalisation of Suez Canal, Israel instigatedBritain and France to invade Egypt and take controlof the canal. They knew that they cannot succeedunless US supports the effort. But the President atthat time, Eisenhower, refused to be drawn into thewar as he was facing election for his second term.He knew that Israel was behind the effort. Hedeclared that Egypt had a right to nationalize thecanal. He stood his ground and won the electionimpressively. It shows that it is not difficult to winelections even after displeasing Israel. The

26


incumbent must have the courage of conviction totake a stand. Unfortunately none of the Presidentstill now could show it.

The position of the President of the United States ofAmerica is the most powerful compared to the chiefexecutives of other countries, dictators included.Being elected directly by the people, being notresponsible to the elected representative in theCongress, he is in an enviable position. He has the

right and opportunity to act on his own, accordingto his wisdom and conscience, without fear orfavor. In spite of it, the incumbent fails to act on hisown, it reflects on his character. If Obama, in hissecond term dares to act, he proves his credentialsto the Nobel Peace Prize, which he has already got.If he fails still he does not lose the prize. Thecuriosity begins from now itself.

27


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Book Review Section:

The Devil’s Finest Trick:

The Human Mind’s Worst– By Frank Miele

“La plus belle des ruses du diable est devous persuader qu’il n’existe pas.”

—Charles Pierre Baudelier, Le Joueur Généreux.[The Generous Gambler] (1869). Translation: “Thefinest trick of the devil is to persuade you that hedoes not exist.”

Charles Baudelaire was a major innovator inFrench literature (among those he influenced,fellow poets Mallarmé, Verlaine, Rimbaud,composer Claude Debussy)—and the higherartistic regard given to the works of Edgar AllanPoe in his country than in Poe’s may in large part bedue to Baudelaire’s translations. (As may also betrue for those of K.D. Balmont and V. Bryusov inTsarist Russia). A contemporary, colloquialtranslation of his above bòn mót was used mostmemorably in the cult classic neo-noire film, TheUsual Suspects.

Baudelaire and Keyser Söze (ranked #48 on theAmerican Film Industries list of all-time movievillains) notwithstanding, the devil’s greatest trickmay be to convince us that he does exist. Because ifhe does, he certainly can’t be us or what we believein! Therefore he must be some other person, group,nation, or belief. And since it’s the devil we’reafter, no ways or means can be spared in routinghim out and keeping him caged until theapocalyptic “final showdown” when UltimateGood gives Ultimate Evil its final Smack Down.

The point to be made is that without some form ofexistential (d) evil, existential fear of an apocalypseis at a minimum diminished and at maximumrendered meaningless. But if accepted,apocalypticism can be downright dangerous. Andthat’s the take home lesson and significantcontribution of The Last Myth. Authors Gross andGiles entertainingly and informatively, if at timesbreezily, explain why what they term “apocalyptic

thinking,” which they define as “a pattern ofthought that assumes that end of our way of life (ifnot physically the end of the world itself) isimminent” (pp. 11–12) has undermined “our abilityto gauge the magnitude of the global challengesrushing towards us” (p. 28). In supporting theirthesis, they document that “apocalypticism” isneither “built into the human brain,” nor has it beenpresent always and everywhere, and that evenwhere well rooted (notably the United States fromthe outset) it has waxed and waned depending onother factors.

In making their case, the authors compare andcontrast the optimistic decade of the 1990s, kickedoff and epitomized by Francis Fukuyama’s 1989article, “The End of History,” which argued thatwith the fall of Soviet communism all politicalquestions had been solved and so liberaldemocracy would reign peacefully throughout theworld, with what they term, “The ApocalypticDecade” which exploded from lower Manhattan toworldwide cable TV news on September 11, 2001and, in the minds of many, will end in a worldwidecatastrophe at the end of the Mayan long cycle onDecember 21, 2012 or thereabouts. (They reviewthe evidence, also covered in Skeptic magazine15.2, that this is a misinterpretation of the Mayan“long cycle”; my own favourite hypothesis is thatMeso-Americans simply ran out of stone.) Amongthe most interesting items covered in The LastMyth is Todd Strandberg’s Rapture Index. An AirForce retiree and born-again Christian, Strandbergdeveloped the Index in the 1980s, not to specifywhen the Rapture is coming, since “no man knowsthe day or the hour” (Matthew 24:36) and anendless string of pseudo-exegetes have turned outto be super-stupid trying, but what is the trajectoryof events portending the Tribulation (“thetumultuous days prophesied in the Bible that wouldprecede the return of Christ”). Is it accelerating,decelerating, or remaining the same?

And what really are the signs of the end times?Among those considered for the Rapture Index aresuch obvious markers straight out of the Book of

28


Revelation: False Christs, the Occult, Satanism,Apostasy, False Prophets, Gog (read Russia),Persia (read Iran), the Kings of the East, the Markof the Beast, Beast Government, and, of course,The Antichrist, as well as Anti-Semitism and Israel(though these had somewhat different valence andinterpretation among Bible Belters not that longago); but also some more often associated with theWall Street Journal such as Unemployment,Inflation, Interest Rates, and Oil Price; or theWeather Channel such as: Volcanoes, Earthquakes,“Wild Weather,” Famine, Drought, Climate, andFloods.

Giles and Gross note that Strandberg becamefrustrated because the various apocalyptictimekeepers gave “wild and wildly varyinginterpretations…to the daily news” and couldn’teven agree whether “earthquakes were increasingor decreasing in frequency.” They note hisconsternation upon realizing that, “If people can’teven count something as simple as tectonicmovements of the earth, what yardstick would theypossibly use to measure something like apostasy?”(pp. 29, 217, n. 14).

For all its virtues, the authors of The Last Myth fallvictim to the very sort of thinking they warnagainst, perhaps understandably so given that, likeall authors, they want to sell their book. They tooeasily divide time periods (decades, evencenturies), authors, and worldviews into neat, littlepigeonholes of Apocalypticism versusPragmatism. In discussing Francis Fukuyama andhis landmark article, ‘the End of History’ theywrite, “it’s important to remember the earnestnessof the delusion that we had escaped history—adelusion that spread from Washington to theNASDAQ to the Top 40 charts—for it representsthe starting point in our bipolar shift inconsciousness toward apocalyptic despair. Ourexuberant optimism would soon boomerang backat us. From the highest hopes come the deepestdisappointments” (p.23). Then they go on that,“Indeed, Y2K established the tone for the decade tofollow” (p. 28).

No. Widespread apocalypticism did not underminethe greater society’s ability to gauge the magnitudeof that “oncoming challenge.” It’s true that mediaevangelists did churn out booklets with titles likeY2K = 666? (note the escape hatch question mark)which implied that a worldwide crash ofcommunications and computer systems could bethe start of the end, and they made real moneyselling them to their believers. But at the same timereal businesses, from Fortune 500 corporationsdown, with real interests made the necessarychanges to software and documentation thatprevented even the slightest glitch—and many ofus in IT made real money implementing them.

Further, in the interests of being even-handed,Gross and Gilles stretch their hands a bit too far.They criticize not only the Doomsday Sayers of theReligious Right, but also Nobel Laureate andformer Vice President Al Gore and Jared Diamondfor their works on climate change and ecology. Noris sufficient attention given to the demographics ofApocalypticism. What are the age, race, religious,educational, sexual, political, and maritalcharacteristics of those who believe versus thosethat do not.

With those reservations, however, The Last Mythis still worth reading, especially for those wantingto begin taking a skeptical look at a subject thatfully deserves one. [In the weekly eSkeptic, FrankMiele reviews by Mathew Barrett Gross and MelGiles (Prometheus Books, 2012, ISBN978-1616145736)

Senior Editor Frank Miele brings his diverse talentsas a researcher, technical writer, teacher, stand-upcomic, and musician to Skeptic magazine andSkeptics Society events. He has interviewed manyof the major figures in debates over IQ,evolutionary psychology, overpopulation, globalwarming, and the environment, and other hot topicsthat may be found on the websites for and others.]

Book Review URL:

http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/12-09-26/#feat

ure

29


[Ms. Dipavali Sen has been a student of Delhi

School of Economics and Gokhale Institute of

Politics and Economics (Pune). She has taught at

Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, and

various colleges of Delhi University. She is, at

present, teaching at Sri Guru Gobind Singh

College of Commerce, Delhi University. She is a

prolific writer and has written creative pieces and

articles for children as well as adults, both in

English and Bengali. [email protected]]

Book Review

[BOOK: Sivadasa Five-and-Twenty Tales of

the Genie (Vetalapancavimsati), 1995, PenguinClassics, paperback, pp 254, price Rs 299]

Acknowledging the Genie

Good governance has recently become alively issue, nationally and

inter-nationally. This makes this book relevanttoday, although it was originally composed aroundthe eleventh century.

Chandra Rajan, its translator, is a noted scholar inboth English and Sanskrit.

She studied Sanskrit from the age of nine, with apandit in Madras and also trained in Carnaticmusic. She later studied and taught at Delhi, NewYork, London and Canada.

The book begins with a Key to the Pronunciation ofSanskrit Words and a brief Foreword.

The long and learned Introduction now discussesthe date and authorship of the Five-and-TwentyTales, the structure or composition of the narrative,its links with the Mahabharata and other ancienttexts, and also the purport of the stories themselves.

Then comes a short discussion on what exactly isthe Vetala. The word may not be of Sanskrit origin,Even the conception of a story-telling genie mayowe something to the Arabian Nights. The coverillustration is from a Basholi painting (circa1730-40) and conjures up the murky background inwhich the tale is set.

The translated text is on the lines of Sivadasa, theancient narrator who set the Vetala stories down.This forms the main body of the book. Apart fromSivadasa, one named Jambhaladatta too is creditedwith a recounting of the stories. This forms theAppendix of the book. At the end there are theNotes, full and meticulous.

The Vetala stories are set within the framework of atale around King Vikramaditya, the half-mythicalhalf-historical ruler supposed to have the valour(vikrama) of the sun (aditya).Each story has aquestion-answer format, almost a riddle, at its end.The king is faced with it and his life depends onanswering it the way it pleases the Vetala or geniewho puts it to him.

The times are feudal and the stories are about kingsand queens, princes and princesses, their ministers,their officials, as well as tradesmen, servants andmost of all mendicants and hermits. But several ofthe issues are relevant even today.

Faced with a choice between honour and life,which should a good ruler choose? The usualanswer is: honour. But Vikramaditya was not justgood. He was the best. He answered so cleverly thathe saved both his life and his honour. The evilmendicant Ksantasheela’s plot to kill him wasfoiled and he was prevented from achieving hiseight superhuman skills, one of which was “to havelordship of the world” (p 16).

Instead, Vikramaditya achieved it, and governedthe earth like the sun that figured in his title.

30


Dipavali Sen

Feudal rulers and capitalist tycoons, this desire tolord over the world is common to both. Even text,so ably translated and introduced, suggests that itwill be the calm, clearheaded administrator whocan deal with all sorts of situations with a judiciousmixture of rectitude and intelligence. True valour(vikrama) is largely discretion. It is not enough forthe less developed countries to put up a spiritedstance internationally, like the WTO. They have tochoose their strategies cleverly so as to resolvetheir dilemmas. Their future survival hangs upon

these dealings, just as Vikramaditya’s had, uponhis dealings with the Vetala.

Penguin is doing the world a service by gettingancient Indian texts translated in readable yetauthentic English translations. This book is aninstance.

Chandra Rajan has dedicated the book to “the threegreatest storytellers of all times Vyasa, Valmiki,and Visnu Sarma.” Poor Vetala could have had anacknowledgement, I feel, if not Sivadasa orJambhaladatta. They are his stories, after all.

31


[Prof. R.M. Pal is the Editor of PUCL Bulletin

and former President of Delhi State PUCL. He

was formerly the editor of The Radical Humanist.

He has co-edited Human Rights of Dalits with

Mr. G.S. Bhargava. He has also co-edited Power

to the People: The Political Thought of Gandhi,

M.N. Roy and Jaiprakash Narayan with Mrs.

Meera Verma, published by Gyan Books, New

Delhi in two volumes.]

[BOOK: Sri Aurobindo, A contemporary

Reader, edited by Prof. Sachindananda Mohanty,published by Routhledge (Taylor & FrasistGroup), First published in 2008 & reprinted in2009, pages 236. Price Rs. 325/-]

Sri Aurobindo:

A contemporary Reader

A book backed by massive research and massive

scholarship.

This is a book for Sri Aurobindo admirers,specially for those who have no time to read or donot have access to the complete works of SriAurobindo. My late friend Shri Girilal Jain, theillustrious editor of The Times of India, was a greatadmirer of two great Bengali revolutionaries,Aurobindo Ghosh and M.N. Roy. I once asked himwhat was there in Aurobindo who was at one timedismissed by Gandhi for giving his opinion on theCripps plan for India’s Independence.

I have learn a lot, Girilal said, from Aurovindo’s

foundations about Indian culture, a free and unitedIndia, India’s mission and destiny, Indiannationalism.

All important Indians like Bipinchandra Pal,Subhash Chandra Bose & Rabindranath Tagoresaluted Aurobindo. Only Gandhi refused torecognize in him the great revolutionary and thegreat intellectual.

It is in this background that I wanted to read thewritings of Sri Aurobindo, who was at one time ourhero.

Apart from the general introduction by Prof.Mohanty, which is scholarly, I quote below theeditorial note (editor’s prologue from the chapter‘Foundation of Indian Culture’) whichcontextualizes Sri Aurobindo’s thoughtsconcerning Indian culture. (143)

If there was one concept that was central to SriAurobindo, it would, undoubtedly, be ‘India’. Asan image, location, imagination, philosophy andway of life, India pursues Sri Aurobindorelentlessly throughout his eventful life and career.

Even as Sri Aurobindo evolves in his thinking andconsciousness and envisions internationalism andthe future world-order for the entire mankind, henever quite gives up his deep engagement withIndia. Thus, while he speaks of the rise of Asia asone of his famous ‘dreams’ spelt out in hisIndependence Day message of 1947, India remainsa crucial element in his plan for evolutionary

unfolding.

While Sri Aurobindo speaks for the entir humanity,he also stands between the two. His scheme ofthings are given in his Foundations of IndianCulture (FIC), which we must read just as we mustread Nehru’s Discovery of India or Gandhi’s TheStory of My experiments with Truth.

Sri Aurobindo makes it clear in FIC that he is notinterested in the rise of India so that she could playpower-politics or a hegemonic role in theinternational arena. He was not interested inprojecting India on the world map, as it is beingcurrently done by the strategic community, as a

32


R.M. Pal

rising economic and military power rivaling theAtlantic block and China. That was not the reasonwhy India must rise. She must rise in order to be aworld-leader so far as pursuit of progressive andfuturistic ideals is concerned. Spirituality for SriAurobindo meant precisely that. Sri Aurobindodoes not glorify the past of India in a revivalistmould. It is not to the dawns of the past, he oncesaid memorably, but to the high noon’s of thefuture we belong. He did not champion culturalnationalism in an exclusive or insular manner.

There is no support to any bigotry orself-righteousness by him. Instead, his attempt is tosynthesise and integrate. There is no place forintolerance and fanaticism of any kind in hisconstruction of the Indian nation; no attempt totreat any group as the ‘other’. In fact, there is a clearrejection of chauvinism and glorification of thenation-state.

But there is a characteristic firmness in the way hespeaks of the importance of India, and opposesforces that, for reasons of selfishness andopportunism, weaken her. He is not bothered bycritics and admirers. He speaks like the rishis ofIndia’s ancient past from greater heights. WhetherIndians are moved by higher ideals or aremotivated by pettiness and expediency is up tothem. There is no doubt a price to pay for thedecisions we make. As a sage and seer, he can onlycaution us and hope that good sense would prevail.

In the earlier period, especially, during the partitionof Bengal movement, as well as in FIC, he speaksof India and Europe in polemical terms. Butcultural criticism may not appreciate his notion ofthe truth of ‘group nationalism rooted toauthoritarian/fascistic ideologies.’

This is important to bear in mind. These caveats arenecessary, for a failure to do so may give rise tomisconceptions.

In certain quarters, Sri Aurobindo’s views have, infact, been taken out of context and misconstrued.One simply has to go through his critique of theIndian tradition to see that he is unsparing of many

practices and evils of the Indian society such as

caste-stratification, treatment of women and the

depressed castes/classes.

I now give below Sri Aurobindo’s views on WordWar II:

Sri Aurobindo contributed to British Governmentwar fund, he writes prologue (I quote below) (182)

Note about the War Fund Contributions

As to your suggestion about a note on the subject ofthe contribution to the war fund Sri Aurobindo doesnot feel very much inclined to enter into any publicexplanation of his action or any controversy on thesubject. In this letter he made it very clear that itwas on the War issue that he gave his full supportand he indicated the reason for it. Hitler andNazism and its push towards world domination arein his view an assault by a formidable reactionaryforce, a purely Asuric force, on the highest valuesof civilization and their success would mean thedestruction of individual liberty, national freedom,liberty of thought, liberty of life, religious andspiritual freedom in at least three continents. (183)

Sri Aurobidno’s decision to give his moral supportto the struggle against Hitler, which was made atthe very beginning of the war, was based like all hisactions on his inner view of things and onintimations from within. It was founded on hsconsciousness of the forces at work, of theirsignificance in the Divine’s leading of the world, ofthe necessary outer conditions for the spiritualdevelopment in which he sees the real hope ofhumanity. It would not serve any purpose to speakhere of this view of things; but some outerconsiderations of a most material kind easilyunderstandable by everyone can be put forwardwhich might help to explain his action to thegeneral mind, although they do not give the wholemeaning of it; it is only these that are developedhere.

The struggle that is going on is not fundamentally aconflict between two imperialisms – German andEnglish, -- one attacking, and the other defendingitself. That is only an outward aspect, and not the

33


whole even of the outward aspect. For the Germansand Italians believe that they are establishing a newcivilization and a new world-order. The Englishbelieve that they are defending not only theirempire but their very existence as a free nation andthe freedom also of other nations conquered byGermany of threatened by the push to peace that thenations conquered shall be liberated and the othersguaranteed against farther aggression. Theybelieve also that they are standing up for theprinciples of civilization which a Nazi victorywould destroy. These beliefs have to be taken intoconsideration in assessing the significance of thestruggle.

As is known MN Roy recommended that theCripps plan be accepted by the Congress. SriAurobindo too recommended that the Crippsmission be accepted. (181)

Contributions to Allied War Funds

We are placing herewith at the disposal of H. E. theGovernor of Madras a sum of Rs. 500 as our jointcontribution of previous sums given by us for thecause of the Allies (10,000 Francs to the FrenchCaisse De Defense National before the unhappycollapse of France and Rs. 1000 to the Victory’sWar Fund immediately after the Armistice) is sentas an expression of our entire support for the Britishpeople and the Empire in their struggle against theaggressions of the Nazi Reich and our completesympathy with the cause for which they arefighting.

We feel that not only this is a battle waged in justself-defense and in defense of the nationsthreatened with the world-domination of Germanyand the Nazi system of life, but that it is a defense ofcivilization and its highest attained social, culturaland spiritual values and of the whole future ofhumanity. To this cause our support and sympathywill be unswerving whatever may happen; we lookforward to the victory of Britain and, as theeventual result, an era of peace and union amongthe nations and a better and more secureworld-order.

At the height of the Quit India Movement.

Sri Amrendranath Chatterjee of Uttarpara, Calcuttawas a very active member of the RadicalDemocratic Party which supported war efforts ofthe British. In 1942 when Japanese Army afterconquering a number of countries in South EastRussia threatened India the Radical DemocraticParty made plans to defend India against Japaneseaggression.

Sri Chatterjee was a great admirer of Sri Aurobindoalso. Sri Aurobindo wrote to him on 9th April1942:

Unable to leave Pondicherry; awaiting Congressdecision on necessary action. Have appealedprivately to Congress leaders for understandingwith Britain and fight for defense of India.

In a second telegram to Sri Chatterjee on 9th April1942 Sri Aurobindo wrote:

My blessings on your efforts to serve & defendmotherland now in danger.

In the context of Sri Aurobindo’s support to Britishwar efforts it is necessary to quote what he wrote toSir Staford Cripps. (190)

Administrative Interventions on the Cripps’

Proposal, Sir Stafford Cripps, New Delhi

I have heard your broadcast. As one who has been anationalist leader and worker for India’sindependence though now my activity is no longerin the political but in the spiritual field, I wish toexpress my appreciation of all you have done tobring about this offer. I welcome it as anopportunity given to India to determine for herselfand organize in all liberty of choice her freedomand unity and take an effective place among theworld’s free nations. I hope that it will be acceptedand the right use made of it putting aside alldiscords and divisions. I hope too that a friendlyrelation between Britain and India replacing paststruggles will be a step towards a greater worldunion in which as a free nation her spiritual forcewill contribute to build for mankind a better andhappier life. In this light I offer my public adhesionin case it can be of any help in your work.

34


(31st March 1942)

In view of the urgency of the situation I am sendingMr. Duraiswami Iyer to convey my views on thepresent negotiations and my reasons for pressingon Indian leaders the need of a settlement. He isaccredited to speak for me.

—Sri Aurobindo. (1st April 1942)

As I have mentioned above Sri Aurobindo’s appealto Congress leaders to support British war efforts inthat connection he sent a special messengerAdvocate Duraiswamy of Madras to Gandhi tospeak on behalf of Sri Aurobindo to support Britishwas efforts in order to defeat the enemy of humanculture & human civilization Hitler & the AxisPowers.

Gandhi summarily dismissed Aurobindo’s plea,"Who is Aurobindo? He has left politics."

It is most regrettable that Gandhi did not know eventhough Sri Aurobindo was not an activerevolutionary now & chose to lead a spiritual life hedid not cease to take interest in India’s affairs. Thebook under review refers to a number of instanceswhen Sri Aurobindo gave his opinion on affairsrelating to India.

Note:

At the Outbreak of the World War II in 1939. Roytook a strong stand in favour of full Indian supportto British War effort. He based his position on twoarguments, one, that Fascism was the greater eviland all forces should be rallied against it and two,that the British would emerge so exhausted afterthe War that it would have to grant independence toIndia. Roy was convinced that the end of the warwould be quickly followed by Independence for

India. Shri Arbindo also had more or less the sameview with regards to Fascism.

Fascist forces are asuras and also Sri Arbindo andRoy both supported the Cripps offer and yet what issurprising is that Sri Arbindo and Roy did not knowone another’s view.

Sri Aurobindo was known to early Roy (NarendraBhattacharyaji) of the revolutionary days inBengal. There was at least one revolutionary,Amarenranath Chattopadhyay, who was a devoteeof both Roy and Sri Aurobindo.

We know from Prof. Mohanty’s book that SriAurobindo congratulated Amarendra on his workon the anti-fascist front. Amarendra was an activemember of the RDP and naturally RDP in 1942 wasengaged in anti-fascist activity as per RDPresolution.

If M N Roy knew that Sri Aurobindo was noneother than Aurobindo Ghosh, who had sent aspecial emissary Mr. Durai Swamy to Gandhirecommending acceptance of Cripps offer andGandhi's summary dismissal of emissary sayingthat Aurobindo is no more in politics; why shouldhe take interest in political affairs, Roy would havedefinitely informed leaders of the Congress likeNehru, Patel and others that Aurobindo’s opinionshould not be dismissed.

So many things might have been different in 1942.One hopes Prof. Mohanty will one day do someresearch on this aspect also to find out why thesetwo leaders did not know one another’s’ views onthe question of support to British war efforts andtheir almost identical views on the dangers posedby fascism.

35


Dear Friends,

Our plan for organising an International Conference in Delhi in February / March 2013 to

commemorate the 125th Birth Year of M.N. Roy is still being worked upon. A detailed programmewill follow in the next issue of RH and will be declared on the RH Web portal as soon as it is finalised.

Please begin making your plans to attend it from where ever you are.

Looking forward to your suggestions also regarding the same.

— Rekha S.

Humanist News Section:

I

Carl Sagan Day celebrated on 9thNovember 2012

Carl Sagan was the David DuncanProfessor of Astronomy and Space

Sciences and Director of the Laboratory forPlanetary Studies at Cornell University. He was aconsultant and adviser to NASA since the 1950’s,briefed the Apollo astronauts before their flights tothe Moon, and was an experimenter on the Mariner,Viking, Voyager, and Galileo expeditions to theplanets.

In addition to many other awards, Dr. Sagan was arecipient of the Public Welfare Medal, the highestaward of the National Academy of Sciences, for“distinguished contributions in the application ofscience to the public welfare…Carl Sagan has beenenormously successful in communicating thewonder and importance of science. His ability tocapture the imagination of millions and to explaindifficult concepts in understandable terms is amagnificent achievement.”

A Pulitzer Prize winner for the book The Dragonsof Eden: Speculations of the Evolution of HumanIntelligence, Dr. Sagan was the author of manybestsellers, including Demon-Haunted World andCosmos, which became the bestselling sciencebook ever published in English. He receivedtwenty-two honorary degrees from Americancolleges and universities for his contributions toscience, literature, education, and the preservationof the environment, and many awards for his workon the long-term consequences of nuclear war andreversing the nuclear arms race.

In their posthumous award to Dr. Sagan of theirhighest honor, the National Science Foundationdeclared that his “research transformed planetaryscience… his gifts to mankind were infinite.”

—News sent by Center for Inquiry

Http://www.centerforinquiry.net/carlsaganday

II

Election - 2012

Free Gujarat from ‘Modi’sm:

Gujarat Civil Society

Time table for Legislative Assemblyelections for Gujarat has already been

declared. In order to chalk out a programme so as toensure that Gujarat makes rapid progress and at thesame time, spirit of social justice is preserved, ameeting of activists, thinkers and intellectuals ofthe Voluntary Organizations and NGOs togetherwith all concerned citizens, was held on Mondaythe 22nd October at Ahmedabad. More than 50representatives from all over Gujarat had attendedthis meeting. During past ten years the State Govt.has put on a coat of ‘Development’. The personprojected as the real hero of the State has not beenacting up to the expectations for last ten years. We,the people, have to throw open just and fair field foralternative politics in order to secure the ground fora just and thriving democracy. Let us make ourVoting truly result oriented. It is a moot questionwhether Congress will be able to provide all roundsound and stable rule. They have to find solutionsto a series of difficult questions. But this time, if weskip the choice, then due to our ignorance of therealistic position, resulting into division of votes,only the BJP will become strong or powerful. It isquite certain that in order to keep democracy alivewe need to provide true direction and guidance tothe public by remaining constantly and consistentlyconscious. Obviously, we have sympathy towardsthe groups struggling for water, lands and forests. Itis quite certain that if we wish to make Gujarat freefree from communalism, free from politics ofhatred and enmity then it is essential to have a closeco-ordination among all the remaining parties so asto defeat and dislodge such forces.

1) Elusive Propaganda of ‘Development’: Thisgovernment's tall talks on ‘development’ deservescrutiny. The ruling party is burdening the StateExchequer with liability of crores of rupees every

36


day. Even through the R.T.I. route, it is difficult toarrive at the total of wasteful expenditure. TheState’s debt as on 31st August 2011 was Rs. 1, 13,939 crores (Rupees One Lac Thirteen Thousandand Nine Hundred Ninety Nine Crores). As per theReport of the Directorate of Economics andStatistics for the year 2011, per capita income ofGujarat is Rs. 63, 961, which ranks at No. 9 amongthe 32 States of the country. As per the newspublished in the Times of India, there is not muchdifference as far as the rate of poverty alleviation isconcerned. The average poverty alleviation rate forthe country as a whole is 1.5 % per year where as itis 1.7 % in case of Gujarat. The percentage of poorpeople in the State is 23 which, speaks volumesabout Gujarat Development model.

Let us take a hurried look at some snap-shots of‘Gujarat Development’.

- Only 43 % of households get water at their doorsteps in rural areas.

- 16.7 % villagers get clean water. Remaining 83percent are left out.

- 20 % of the population have to walk longdistances to fetch water.

- In the villages, 67 % families do not have toiletfacilities.

- In 44 % of the villages, there is increasedincidence of jaundice disease.

- 30 % of villagers are faced with malarial fever inepidemic proportion.

- 25% villages are affected by kidney stones.

- 44.6% of the children below the age of 5 years aresuffering from anaemia.

- Gujarat ranks at No. 14 as regards infant mortalityrate is concerned and ranks at No. 13 as far aschildren up to the age of 5 years are concerned.

In short after tall talks of ‘development’, Gujarathas been able to achieve 48 % target as far asHuman Development Indices are concerned. Manyother States are far ahead of Gujarat in HDImeasures.

2) CAG Report on Gujarat for the year 2011: Inthis report, there are many startling details aboutcorruption, mal-administration, clumsy and faultyadministration, improper and imprudent misuse ofGovernment funds etc. This report was tabled in theAssembly only at the last moment and that too afterintervention of H.E. the Governor. No scope wasleft at all for debating the report in the Stateassembly. However this report of the CAG givestrue and factual position: - Funds allocated foreducation could not be utilized. - Funds earmarkedfor education of the Dalits were not fully spentcontinuously for over three years. - Governmentpurchased gas at higher prices and then sold toAdani and Essar at cheaper prices - Gujarat StatePetroleum Company Ltd. (GSPCL) incollaboration with Canada’s Global ResourcesCompany ventured into business of drillingpetroleum from Krishna - Godavari basin. In thispartnership, Canadian Company had no share in thelosses of GSPCL. Drilling in K-G Basin was afailure. Yet, the C.M. created a Media hype byriding a helicopter to the drilling rig. Though theentire effort incurred huge loss, the CanadianCompany was given a ‘share in profit’, which neverexisted. Thus, poor tax-payer of the State waslooted and a foreign company was handed over ahuge bounty. It is believed that in this entireprocess, scam of over Rs. 5,000 crore had takenplace. - The Government, which boasts of beingNo. 1, has shown total lack of finance management.It has invested its own resources which fetch only0.25 per cent interest per annum while it borrows atan annual rate of 7.69 per cent. - As reported by theC.A.G. irregularities of Rs. 1100 crores arebelieved to have taken place in Sujalam Sufalamschemes. - State’s revenue loss during the year2008-09 was of Rs. 66 crores but the sameincreased to Rs. 6,966 crores during the year2009-10. State’s revenue deficit in the year2008-09 was Rs. 10,438 crores which rose to Rs.15,074 crores in the year 2010-11. Do not theseincreases in losses point to incompetence on thepart of the administration which boasts of being

37


No. 1 in governance? - In the State’s public sector,loss of Rs. 4,216.53 crores was suffered and futileinvestment of Rs. 300.98 crores was made. - In theCAG’s internal report, 25 pages have been devotedtowards pollution in the State. Disastrous picture ofpollution has been depicted making use of colorslides and graphs. As many as 13 EffluentTreatment Plants (Central Effluent TreatmentPlants) are not functioning as per the norms of thePollution Control Board because of which naturalsources of water have become polluted orcontaminated. (The study reveals that this situationis prevailing for the last 10 years.) By the end of theyear 2000, there were 3,000 large scale industrialunits. At the end of the year 2010, the number hasincreased to 9,000. Substantial amounts of theGovt. money is spent for setting up the CETP andin spite of not getting desired outcome, no care orcaution is exercised in adding new and moreindustries. This type of industrialization will causehuge damage to the environment about which theGovernment turns a Nelson’s eye. The CAG reportcan bring out many skeletons from the cupboard.These can unveil the truth. In order to turn publicscrutiny away from mismanagement andundesirable investment practices home theGovernment tries to attack the CentralGovernment.

3) Narmada Project: This Government is squarelyand fully responsible for severing or splitting up therelationship of irrigation from this project. For thisGovernment, the Narmada Dam is a tourist spot. Byallowing the lands to remain barren before thefarmer is able to irrigate by laying the canal andmake himself economically sound, thisGovernment has dealt a death blow to the farmer. Inthe end, out of frustration and desperation, farmersare left to the mercy of the industrialists bydisposing off their lands to the industrialists.Presently, large quantity of water is supplied to theindustries. Drinking water is being suppliedirregularly and in inadequate quantity and withdeficiency or drawback in its quality or purity. It isindeed difficult to predict, as to when the network

of canal and branch canal in the State will finally beoperational.

4) Tendency of dismantling democratic

structure in the State:: The Government carestwo hoots for democracy. This can be easilyinferred from the following: State Assembly isconvened for the minimum required number ofdays only. Ruling party MLAs are made to praisethe C.M. Opposition is reportedly thrown out of theAssembly even on small pretext. Sincere IPS andother bureaucrats are harassed. Federal structure ofthe constitution is continuously eroded by variousacts and speeches.

5) Centre-State relationship - matter of grave

concern: There should be cordial and harmoniousrelationship between the Centre and the State. TheGujarat Govt. is constantly disparaging the Centremerely to gain political mileage. It is not at allproper to raise hue and cry that the entire Gujarathas been insulted. Such an act is reportedlychallenged or countered. But the damage is done.This is a danger signal for future of India.Relationship between the Centre and the Stateholds a key for the unity and integrity of the nation.

6) Our Duty: It is necessary to convince andpersuade the people about the true and factualinformation especially regarding the impact orwrong impression created by the elusive andmisleading propaganda in the State. Issues, such as“what development”, “whose development” and“development at whose cost” etc., need to beelucidated, explained and elaborated. The declineof Human Development Index in the midst of dinand clamour of “No. 1 and First Ranker or Topper”bespeaks volumes for itself. In the face of issuessuch as water, lands and forests, incidents offarmers’ suicides, desperate conditions offishermen, problems due to lack of cultivable landsto be made available to Adivasis for farming towhich they are entitled, atrocities on Dalits, pitiablecondition of salt workers, vulnerable condition ofminorities, health and education related problemsfacing the women and the children, deteriorating

38


condition of education, violation of Human Rightsprevailing in Gujarat, we should voice dissent andalso oppose anti-people policies and tendencies.Care and caution will have to be exercised so as toavoid wrong and needless division of votes by theopposition parties and the various institutions in theforthcoming elections, even by making efforts inpersuading and counselling the parties and thecandidates if felt so necessary. We will have to dothe task of dispelling certain kind of indifferenceand apathy, which has been gripping / prevailingamong people due to ill-conceived and elusivepropaganda tactics. Adequate efforts shall be madeto shake off feelings of indifference and distressamong the public to see to it that pro-peopleGovernment is formed. Lives of the peoplesurviving on water, lands and forests are becomingdifficult. Whether they be the farmer subsisting onagriculture, shepherds subsisting on Gauchar,landless animal keepers, coastal area’s fishermensurviving on fishery and Adivasis subsisting onforest produce, they are all reduced to poverty withopen robbery of their sources of income andlivelihood. Government aims at annihilating themall by pushing them into margin.

It is our humble request to every common man ofthe State that they can blow the winds of changeand can make future of the State bright. You shouldall demonstrably show the strength of yoursolidarity. Given this situation, Governmentformed out of any of the party will listen to yourwoes of the State’s working and toilingcommunity, people of different religions anddifferent castes / classes may stay together in peaceand harmony, all may become happier andprosperous with reciprocal exchange of eachother’s culture and civilization.

Please beware and let us work together in unison tocreate or carve out afree Gujarat, enmity and hatredfree Gujarat. In nutshell this will be a publicmovement for embellishing the fundamental valuesof peace, harmony and justice in Gandhi’s Gujarat,

which, necessarily has to be communalism freeGujarat.—

Signatories:

Chunibhai Vaidya (Gujarat Lok Samiti),Indukumar Jani (Editor, Naya Marg), J.S.Bandukwala (PUCL), Girish Patel (SeniorAdvocate), Shabnam Hasmi (Anhad), Prakash N.Shah (Editor, Nirikshak), Gautam Thaker (PUCL),Rohit Shukla (Save Education), Rajani Dave(Editor, Bhoomiputra), Ila Pathak (GujaratWomen’s Federation), Prof. Kishor Desai (I.A.C.),Dr. Maherunissa Desai (Amawa), Prof. BabubhaiDesai (Satya Shodhak Sabha), Manishi Jani(Gujarati Authors’ Orgn.), Uttam Parmar (M.S.D.),Father Cadrik Prakash (Prashant), Dhaval Mehta(Guj. Mumbai Rationalist Asso.), Mahesh Pandya(Paryavaran Mitra), Manan Trivedi (Anhad),Prasad Chako (B.S.C.), Jimmy Dabhi (B.S.C.),Harinesh Pandya (Janpath), Natubhai Shah (VanSandesh), Harshad Desai (Janpath), Jayesh Patel(Student Leader), Dilip Chandulal (Lok Andolan),Ikram Baig Mirza (Jamate Islami Hind), VipulPandya (Construction Labour Union), Pankti Jog(RTI, Gujarat Initiative), Kanti Tamaliya (KhetVikas Parishad), Mahendra Jethamalani (Pathey),Mahadev Vidrohi (Abhikram), Sagar Rabari(Gujarat Lok Samiti), Meenakshi Joshi (Women’sCultural Orgn.), Bhavik Raja (Student Leader),Manda Patel (Gandhi Peace Foundation), RutvikMakwana, Father William, Himmat Shah, NikhilSheth, Bhagvanbhai Hirabhai, Ratilal Jadav.

—News sent by Gautam Thaker, GeneralSecretary, PUCL & IRHA (Gujarat)

Contact Address: Gujarat Lok Samiti C/O Janpath,Jivrajpark Char Rasta, Ahmedabad, 380051

Harinesh Pandya Mob: 09824048842

Gautam Thaker Mob: 09825382556

Uttam Parmar Mob: 09925959014

Mahesh Pandya Mob: 079-26851321

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