The Canadian PM may want to pander to his Sikh constituency but is that worth risking diplomatic ties with India?
It looks like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is yet to understand that his blanket support to settler Sikhs, even the extremist kind, who form his constituency and gift him a verdict, can ultimately cost him bilateral ties with India. His advocacy of the rights of protesting farmers to be heard by the Government on new agricultural laws does not just amount to interference in the internal affairs of India, it is also testimony to his political immaturity and lack of understanding on what is a complex and layered issue. For it affects the farming community as a whole and not just Punjabi farmers, who form a bulk of the migrants to Canada. And using the sacred occasion of Gurpurab to politicise an issue, which he has taken up merely to pander to his domestic concerns, is simply inappropriate. Besides, given his known sympathies for Khalistanis, his activism of Punjab farmers and their plight would be read by many quarters as linking it to and endorsing the cause of separatism. Trudeau has forgotten that Punjabis in India do not think like the Punjabis in Canada. That Khalistan has no resonance among Sikhs here, least of all farmers. Besides, as an advocate of free market, Canada has always spoken against our food subsidies at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), questioning our Minimum Support Price for staples till as late as last year. Is he then justifying this protectionism selectively because it is convenient to him? As a world leader, Trudeau is expected to calibrate each of his responses according to diplomatic nicety and not be brash or impulsive. Besides, India has been careful about not embarrassing him on his domestic issues and would expect a reciprocal courtesy. The MEA has rightly hit back, describing Trudeau’s remarks as “ill informed.”
It is clear that Trudeau has not learnt any lessons from his last visit to India when he was given the cold shoulder for including pro-Khalistan leaders in his delegation. Instead of thawing the chill on this issue, he has only been playing this up for his political survival. Some of the most extremist of Khalistani activists, who have been keeping the movement alive and are looking at the slightest opportunity to revive it in India, invested heavily in his campaign and ensured his victory in 2015. Ever since, Trudeau has been sympathetic to their concerns, participating in Khalsa Day parades with floats iconising militant leaders like Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Amreek Singh and Shahbeg Singh, much to India’s discomfort. In a gross oversight of diplomacy, he was even seen with many radical groups that accuse India of “genocide” during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. And this has continued despite India’s protests. None of Trudeau’s predecessors have been as vociferous and public about their association with pro-Khalistan leaders, clearly careful about not upsetting India. And despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself mentioning the concern such impropriety caused, groups clamouring for a “referendum 2020”, where the Sikh diaspora can vote for an “independent Khalistan”, have only gained traction though the Canadian Government has officially opposed it. Trudeau did nothing when 16 Canadian gurdwaras banned the entry of consular officials, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Shiv Sena members. And considering that he would not run short of protocol advisories, Trudeau has rarely given into counsel. Of course, the Sikhs have used the Canadian electoral funding system to emerge as a disproportionate influencer in the Government. Consider this, Sikhs in Canada are only 1.4 per cent of the total population of 37.5 million but they are five per cent of the Parliament and eight per cent of Trudeau’s Cabinet. The Canadian Prime Minister is also compromised by his reduced lead during his second term in office, with 157 seats in the House of Commons after the 2019 polls. In a subdued role of leading a minority Government, he has not been able to ignore the heft of the New Democratic Party (NDP) whose leader Jagmeet Singh has emerged as a powerful Sikh voice in Canada, bagging 24 crucial seats. It’s not a secret that Sikh legislators hold the balance of power for Trudeau as his outgoing Cabinet had four of them — Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger. Now, with Trudeau having to tread a thin line going forward, the Sikh influence will be deeply entrenched as Jagmeet, who has a vast following and was himself a prime ministerial contender, is ambitious. Both New Delhi and NRIs in Canada are wary at the thought of having Jagmeet as the future PM because of his alleged “pro-Khalistani” leanings. Besides, he has been a vocal critic of the Modi Government and the current situation in Kashmir, making him a pariah for India. Trudeau’s reliance on the NDP’s support could mean that he has to do a tougher tightrope walk with India. So far he seems to have slipped once too often. Already many members of his Liberal Party have been embarrassed by the outrageous posturing of Khalistani hawks. Now India, too, has stepped up its diplomatic offensive by linking Pakistan’s endorsement of Khalistan as part of its subversive endorsement of and exporting terrorism in the neighbourhood. With the world taking a stand against Pakistan on terror, Trudeau seems hemmed in. Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria is, in fact, arguing that the perils of the association could ultimately impact economic relations as Canada, like many other nations in the West, is keen about moving businesses to India from China after the pandemic. Yes, self-preservation comes naturally to him but is it worth alienating world opinion? Can he justify agenda-driven campaigns as “freedom of expression?” Yet from the looks of it, Trudeau has to deal with a problem of his own making.
The farmers’ agitation requires sympathetic handling even if the Govt has facts on its side. A cavalier attitude is fraught with great political and security risk
It brought no fresh honour upon the Union Government that agitating farmers from Punjab were left to shiver on the streets of Delhi the night gurudwaras had been illuminated for Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti. Even as the farmers’ agitation had been raging in Punjab since September, the Government had been complacent about it till they knocked the doors of Delhi. At that time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not blinked twice before accepting the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur from the Cabinet. Her party, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), one of the oldest constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), quit the ruling coalition a week later.
Whatever the parting of ways might mean for the SAD, it could have serious consequences for peace in the frontier State. The BJP’s diminished clout in Punjab contrasts with its firm grip at the Centre. Also, expanding footprints across India might actually drive the Sikh-majority state into an isolationist mindset. The BJP-SAD partnership, according to the late Arun Jaitley, was as much a social alliance as it was political. Their coming together in the mid-1990s was an apt postscript to the end of the insurgency in Punjab. Moreover, the SAD’s support base was among rural Jat Sikh agriculturists while the urban Hindu middle-class made up the BJP’s constituency. So the breakup might trigger polarisation, with nefarious elements waiting in the wings to revive militancy in the state. This will be the last thing the BJP wants in a State where Hindus are in a minority.
The Modi Government has no Sikh face, barring Hardeep Singh Puri, who is a diplomat, rather than a politician by grooming, and he lost the Amritsar seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The council of ministers is lacking even the ornamental presence of S.S. Ahluwalia, BJP MP from West Bengal, though he never represented Sikh votes. The saffron party had earlier lost Navjyot Singh Sidhu to the Congress.
The Government might have the best interest of farmers in its heart while enacting the new agricultural laws but reforms in the agricultural marketing sector were long overdue to make farming remunerative. While there was no bar on selling agriculture produce in the open market, outside the MSP regime, or on items not procured by the Government, even before the new laws were enacted, there was no commercial and legal architecture for it. Sadly, the Government felt that consensus-building was redundant. The laws, enacted during the Monsoon Session, had originally been rushed through the Ordinance route on June 5. It is unclear whether there were even minimal consultations with the State Governments (agriculture being a State subject under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution), farmers’ associations and other stakeholders. Even the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), a front organisation of the RSS, is unhappy with the way the Government dealt with the issue. Mohini Mohan Mishra, the BKS All India Secretary, recently stated that nearly 25,000 farmers had sent a proposal to the Prime Minister.
There’s no doubt that the laws have been made for the traders and would eventually benefit them. This is akin to what Rabindranath Tagore, speaking of the British rule wedded to the idea of progress, observed: “They are not unwilling to do a favour but don’t wish to come close. They would rather feel relieved if they can hastily beat retreat after doing the favour…they don’t do mercy, they do a favour, they do not love but protect; do not respect but try to act fairly; they do not irrigate the land, though never ungenerous in sowing abundant quantity of seeds” (Raja-Praja, P.4-5). His remarks appear telling today. The Government’s cavalier attitude that “we know what’s good for you” vis-à-vis the farmers has clearly run into problems. Even if the Vigyan Bhawan talks break the ice, the Government would have finally realised that to act in haste and repent in leisure is not a good policy.
The critics of the farmers’ agitation, active on social media, have been quick to dub the farmers as supporters of Khalistan. Fake photos were also circulated on the digital space. The question is what do they propose to do even if they are Khalistan sympathisers? Would they like to send the Army to quell them? Can the BJP Government afford to burn its bridges in Punjab? Do they have a strong constituency of their own or friends to rely upon if the agrarian crisis, god forbid, deepens into a social crisis?
The unsympathetic attitude of slandering democratic governments of the past for farmers’ woes must stop. When a Government tries to de-legitimise the Opposition or vice versa, forces inimical to democracy and peace (like the Khalistanis, for instance) take over. Punjab has profited from the dam-building policies by Jawaharlal Nehru, Food Corporation of India (FCI) procurement by Lal Bahadur Shastri and the Green Revolution by Indira Gandhi. The right way the Modi Government can package its agriculture policy is by saying that it wants to take the story forward through measures long overdue.
Fortunately, the BJP did not have to fight the Khalistani insurgency in the State in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was fought mostly by the Congress Government, even though it was partly responsible for its rise and momentum. In the 1980s, Khalistanis gained by projecting the post-Green Revolution agrarian problems in Punjab along communal lines. At that time, the Congress, which was in as strong a position across India as the BJP is today, was projected as a Hindu fascist party. The Hindus of Punjab became the first targets of Khalistani violence. This is something that all parties, including the BJP, have avoided recalling in public for fear of opening old wounds. Traces of Khalistani elements, there is no gainsaying, are still active in Punjab. They are likely to exploit for their evil agenda any unsympathetic attitude of the Government towards the farmers, the bulk of whom are Sikhs. The farmers of Punjab have so far rightly avoided communalising the current issue unlike they did so in the 80s. In fact, when their agitation took off in mid-September, it was both against the Centre as well as the State, where the Congress is currently in power. Apart from rolling back the farm bills, they also wanted loan waiver from the State Government. However, in the last two months, the Congress has been able to garner the farmers’ sympathies.
In politics, sentiments matter as much as policy. Way back in March, 1783, a Sikh force led by Baba Baghel Singh and Jassa Singh Alhuwalia had attacked Mughal Delhi to hoist the triangular saffron flag at Red Fort. A troop of 30,000 Nihang Sikhs encamped at a place nearby, which later came to be known as Tis Hazari. The farmers of Punjab have beaten their swords in ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks. Nothing must be done to wake up the sleeping demons of the 1780s or the 1980s.
(The writer is an author and independent researcher based in New Delhi. Views are personal.)
They need to develop agility, resilience and flexibility to cater to diverse educational needs of the student community and other stakeholders and to remain frontrunners in quality education
In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant lockdowns, the entire education sector collapsed across the globe. The future was uncertain for all, particularly for Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), as there was lack of preparedness among educators, students, academic administrators and policy makers alike. Are the students going to lose a year was the question bothering most educationists, parents and the scholars themselves. To respond to the unprecedented situation, the entire sector needed to unlearn and relearn its pedagogy. Hence, the HEIs were forced to explore new teaching methodologies, including remote and online education.
This was a major challenge given the fact that the Indian higher education sector engages approximately 14.16 lakh teachers in 51,649 institutions, both public and private, and caters to almost 3.74 crore students. Each year, about 91 lakh students pass out from colleges and universities across the country. Therefore, the lockdown posed a tremendous challenge for the HEIs as they had to deal with students’ emotional, physical and financial difficulties on one side and grapple with decreasing enrolment numbers, funding problems and the training of faculties to cope with the new online teaching methods and so on, on the other side.
Given the socio-economic challenges thrown up by the pandemic, if this uncertainty continues for one more quarter, it will result in short and long-term consequences for the entire education sector. HEIs with strong brand values, a good academic leadership and governance, better stakeholder engagement and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure did well during these tough times as they could overcome the challenges posed by the lockdown by shifting to remote teaching-learning. By using online platforms and ICT technologies, they ensured that there was no academic loss to students.
Many private institutions and universities are looking forward to an enriched intellectual opportunity from this crisis and are prepared to address any adversity. However, at the same time there are some State-funded HEIs and a few private participants who are still facing difficulties in ensuring delivery and learning outcomes for their students.
Academicians and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) students are worried about missing out practical and critical problem-solving skills. Even though instructors are being trained by most HEIs to develop high-tech ways of simulating field and laboratory experiences, for many institutions, it is not possible to do so due to geographical disadvantages and financial barriers.
Though Government educational portals are providing support and universities are coming up with models to address such issues, the digital divide, economic inequality, inclusiveness and non-affordability are some issues that need to be addressed on a war footing.
Another major challenge that all HEIs faced was to assess the mental health of final year students who graduated in this academic year. They were not sure whether they would get suitable job offers commensurate with their qualifications. This problem is compounded by the fact that most of the companies have withdrawn placement offers due to the struggling economy.
Plus, another trend impacting HEIs is the preference of students to attend institutions, colleges and universities on the criteria of location. They are not going by the repute of HEIs and are more keen to avoid Covid-19 hotspots. Plus, because of the job losses and salary cuts faced by their families, students are opting for HEIs that don’t charge too much fee. This decentralisation of HEIs and preference for local institutions will increase in future as parents will prefer to settle for lesser-known local institutions with the hope that they would switch over to another better-known/branded institution for award of degree under the Academic Credit Bank and Credit Transfer Provision of the National Education Policy 2020.
The enrolment depression has also increased due to remote learning as many students changed their minds and decided to defer their higher education plans for this academic year. The most common reasons include doubts about the quality of remote teaching, lack of rich on-campus experience and the costs, which are being perceived as too high for an online experience.
Due to the economic difficulties faced by their parents, a vast majority of students expected tuition fee discounts, but as that did not materialise, it ultimately led to lower enrolments in the current academic session in many of the HEIs. The enrolment has also been affected due to shifting of academic calendars of institutions, which is providing less time to first-time students of higher education for understanding academic philosophy, culture, systems and processes, resulting in loss of learning opportunities.
During the pandemic, the HEIs faced many challenges of student support remotely. They struggled to fulfill the educational requirement of students through effective and remote teaching-learning and assessment practices; improve teaching practices at the university level in the context of the development and integration of digital technologies; nurture and enable the development of learners as active and responsible citizens, critical thinkers, problem solvers, equipped for life-long learning.
They also faced challenges of enabling online internships, project works and placements; encouraging and promoting scholarly activities of students and faculty members; effective engagement of students, faculty and staff members.
Internationalisation of studies was another problem as worldwide travel was closed due to the pandemic. Generating revenues/funds, maintaining cash flows for sustainable development and meeting the regular expenditure was another area of concern. The degree of impact of the challenges naturally varied for public-funded HEIs and private-funded ones.
Due to the severe downturn, the Government announced several stimulus packages to boost the economy. Though the Government is making every effort to provide all necessary assistance, it needs to work quickly for the holistic development of education to create a resurgent India. It is imperative that the Government brings out a comprehensive National Education Policy 2020 on a blended mode of education. The sooner its implementation happens, the better for all the stakeholders of higher education.
In times of crisis, apart from the initiatives of the Government, steps should be taken at the institutional level as well. Institutions are required to provide emotional and health support to their stakeholders so that they do not face any depression or distress. The stakeholders in turn should guide students and boost their morale. Stakeholders should keep in constant touch with their students and motivate them to opt for self-employment, provide information about various start-up schemes implemented by State Governments and the Centre.
The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has undertaken a great initiative to produce a “COVID-19 Response Tool Kit” for Indian HEIs, which has been developed to help build institutional resilience for academic planning and continuity. This can be used as a reference document and checklist by education institutions to enable a more effective and planned reopening and to ensure that critical institutional aspects are addressed and necessary measures are considered to maintain academic continuity.
Every challenge throws up a new opportunity. Higher education has many possibilities and challenges, too, during this COVID era. While each level of education faces its unique challenges, it is the higher education segment that may end up, by necessity, triggering a learning revolution. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the education system forever. It has set a “new normal.”
The HEIs and their faculty need to think differently and embrace ICT for all operations starting from admissions, teaching-learning, assessment, curriculum and E-content, E-resources (virtual labs and learning resources), industry interaction, internationalisation, student interaction and support, student progression and support, alumni engagement, communication and governance.
Therefore, HEIs need to develop agility, resilience and flexibility to cater to diverse educational needs of the student community and other stakeholders and to remain frontrunners in quality higher education.
(The writer is Vice-Chancellor Professor, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and IT, Amity University)
With a huge unregulated livestock sector, India’s antibiotic use in animals is estimated to increase by 82 per cent by 2030
In his 1945 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Alexander Fleming, the developer of Penicillin, had warned, “The time may come when Penicillin (would) be bought by anyone in the shops. There is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug, make them resistant.”
Before we started using antibiotics in the 1940s, a lot of things had the possibility of turning fatal: Right from giving birth, to getting a small scratch, from undergoing a surgery to sexually transmitted infections. Antibiotics helped us stop infections caused by bacteria. But in less than eight decades, humanity is faced with what Fleming described as antibiotic or antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity and “the biggest threat to modern medicine.” By 2050, AMR will take more than 10 million lives and the cumulative cost to the global economy will be $100 trillion, says a study titled ‘Antimicrobial resistance in the environment: The Indian scenario’ published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research in 2019.
Antimicrobials (including antibiotics and antivirals) are medicines used for treatment and prevention of infections in humans and animals. AMR occurs when the bacteria and viruses mutate over time and no longer respond to the medicines, thus, making them ineffective in treatment of the disease. This kills more people than cancer and road accidents combined. The big question is, what is contributing to such a high rate of antibiotic resistance deaths? We may find answers in a sector that uses more antibiotics than any other industry, and that is animal farming.
Animal Farming and AMR: India is the fourth-largest consumer of antibiotics in animal farming, according to a report by the Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy. With a huge unregulated livestock sector, India’s antibiotic use in animals is estimated to increase by 82 per cent by 2030. With a rapid growth and demand for dairy, meat and poultry, the Indian livestock industry continues to turn towards antimicrobial agents for increased production. Studies published in the Veterinary World have found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in cow and buffalo milk samples taken from across India. Additionally, shrimp exports from India (which is the second-largest fish producing country globally) are banned in four countries, and the European Union continues to hold its concern over the use of antibiotics in Indian shrimps.
Animals farmed for consumption are raised in cramped and unhygienic conditions, needing excessive antibiotics to prevent and/or treat infections arising out of their living conditions. As antibiotics are regularly used to prevent infections, the bacteria infecting these animals develop a resistance to the drug and are capable of reproduction. Antibiotics are also routinely administered to “fatten up” the animals before slaughter.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that by 2030 the amount of antimicrobials used in farmed animals will be 1,05,596 tonnes or 9,57,95,079 kg. According to ‘Global Trends in Antimicrobial Use in Food Animals’, published in PNAS, one kg of beef uses 45 mg of antimicrobials and one kg of chicken uses 148 mg of antimicrobials.
Researchers from ETH Zurich, Free University of Brussels, and the Princeton Environmental Institute suggest that countries like India should restrict the use of antibiotics in farm animals.
Another source of AMR could be linked to livestock discard. A study from Netherlands says that more than one-third of the samples collected from pig and cattle faeces contained more than one antibiotic or its residue. Given improper disposal of animal waste and overcrowded shelters, one can speculate that the situation in India would be worse. In other words, animal farming is making us sick.
Battling AMR by going plant-based: The most effective way to counter antibiotic resistance through farmed animals is to go plant-based. People can include more vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes in their diet.
For those who find it challenging to give up meat, there are several plant-based meat substitutes available in the market that have great taste and texture like tofu, tempeh, seitan and texturised vegetable protein, mushrooms, jackfruit, eggplant, beets, and cauliflower.
By going plant-based, people are also sparing an animal’s life and the cruelty they undergo at the slaughter house. Moreover, shifting to a plant-based diet helps reduce the risk of developing any chronic or degenerative disease that can put people at an additional risk during the current or future pandemic.
(The writer is the Executive Director of the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations)
The farmers have managed to keep politicians at bay from their movement, fought on their own and forced an agenda on the Govt
The farmers have made their point about their anxieties over the new farm laws enacted by the Modi Government and forced the latter into negotiations. And they want a result and no further confabulations with committees that may just dilute their cause. To that extent they have been successful but shouldn’t let the situation drift endlessly and egoistically. Hopefully, the Government will at least spell out the details of the new laws, which are broadly in the domain of interpretation at the moment, where the devil is in the detail and which are largely gestational. We must give it to the farmers that they have forced the need for clarity and a point by point analysis of consequences though their dramatic agitprops may not have been endorsed by all. Yet without them, they wouldn’t have got the high table. It is also an opportunity for the Government to justify its farm liberalisation agenda, its long-term, reformist impact and rid itself of the charges of selling out to corporations. Politically, the ruling BJP had not expected to be cornered like this by a movement spearheaded by a majority of farmers’ organisations, which kept their agitation largely apolitical. In fact, this is probably the first of its kind dissent movement that has shunned politicians, though the latter have tried to latch on to it, considering the agricultural community forms 60 per cent of the voting population. Activists, sportspersons and celebrities from across the spectrum, too, have thrown their weight behind it but the momentum of the past few months, the strategy to waylay the Government with civil disruptions and refusal to budge from core issues without reassurance have been the result of farmers’ unions bandying together. The Government may claim that the new farm laws will help farmers with open markets, pick-ups from farm gate, better prices and partnerships with food majors, particularly elevating the lot of smaller cultivators. But the farmers fear free market forces will deprive them of guaranteed minimum prices for their produce and reduce the level-playing field of Government mandis. Besides, smaller farmers that the laws intend to rescue could be exploited and browbeaten by large corporations. And while the Prime Minister may assure that both the old and new models could work together, farmers are not entirely wrong in anticipating that the swamp of corporatisation could decimate the parallel, protected market. The examples of contract farming failing in the sugarcane sector, with farmers still chasing their dues, and PepsiCo suing farmers in Gujarat are difficult to ignore. Considering the food bowl in North India is mostly affected by the MSP issue, given its reliance on cash crops of wheat and paddy, the Government has realised that it cannot get away by passing the blame of the agitation on the Opposition or the Left liberals.
Particularly, when its own allies are attacking it over the new laws and its key partner in Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), has already walked out. The BJP may not need its allies anymore, given its own numerical strength in Parliament, but with more of them threatening to leave the fold, it runs the risk of being labelled an absolutist that shuns the morality of a coalition dharma or refuses to answer tough questions. The farmers’ issue has undoubtedly also given a reason for the BJP’s allies to make themselves heard and not be taken for granted. The latest to insist upon a clarity on MSP is Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), which is partnering the Manohar Lal Khattar Government in Haryana and whose leader Dushyant Chautala is the Deputy Chief Minister. His father and senior leader Ajay Chautala said the BJP should be accommodative of farmers’ interests than running roughshod over them. At the same time, an independent MLA, Somvir Sangwan, pulled out of the State’s ruling coalition. And in Rajasthan, Nagaur MP and leader of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), Hanuman Beniwal, said he would reconsider his party’s support to the Centre if the new laws are not withdrawn. Parties like the JJP are caught between a rock and a hard place. Dushyant Chautala, particularly, draws his strength from the youth and farmers and knows that he can deliver by being part of governance. It is for this reason that he cannot walk out of the coalition. Yet the new laws hurt his constituency the most. Should the JJP withdraw on moral grounds, the BJP can run the Haryana Government with Independents and even attempt to break the JJP. Anyway Dushyant’s post-poll alliance with the BJP, despite campaigning against it during the polls, was an unhappy deal intended purely to have a say in Government. The Haryana elections are still some four years away but the party is using the farmers’ agitation to step up its rhetoric and test popular response. If the controversy over the farm laws is resolved, it can always claim it forced the issue on its alliance partner. If not, it can always claim that it had taken a high moral ground by joining issue with the farmers. Perhaps that’s the reason why Ajay Chautala, and not Dushyant, is taking an activist position. Unlike the SAD, which cannot appear anti-farmer with the Punjab Assembly elections in 2022, the JJP has time to weigh the pros and cons. At the moment, its core base of Jats and farmers are angry. But should the laws yield rich dividends eventually, JJP would be strengthened. The BJP could turn this around to its advantage by at least assuring the farmers of some protection against price fluctuations, if not yield on the MSP, considering that runs counter to the privatisation implicit in the new laws. It can also put out its own narrative of how liberalisation would hurt incomes of richer, well-connected farmers as well as affect State Government revenues, which is why politicians in Punjab are protesting so loudly compared to marginal farmers in other States. But in the end, it has to do this through a consultative, not a confrontationist, approach. It doesn’t harm to give a listen. It doesn’t weaken authority either.
Modi has been tricked by the Chinese and misled by his civilian advisors into letting the guard down and creating a deficit of capability
The 870-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) in East Ladakh is now in a state of stalemate after China gobbled up Indian territory. The prospects of any disengagement by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are receding even as Beijing has reportedly created a model village intruding into Bhutanese territory near the disputed Doklam plateau. Last week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was the Government’s senior-most Minister at the prestigious Hindustan Times Leadership Summit that was held virtually this year. What a disappointment he was! During the Q&A, he kept dodging the questions with vague answers on the state of play along the LAC that was tantamount to suppressing information on the Chinese aggression. To his credit though, he did pledge that the Modi Government will not allow an inch of land to be grabbed or let the ground situation change unilaterally when both have become fait accompli.
On whether Rafale was a game changer, he skipped the question, saying that he would let experts answer it, though he did travel to France to do a “shastra puja” while inducting it into the IAF. In sharp contrast, while dealing with Pakistan, he was a tiger. That, in brief, is India’s tragic two-front predicament – fragile and unsustainable, given the absence of a strategic vision that has been compounded by the economic downturn.
In mid-October, the Chinese had made a conditional proposal for a limited disengagement from north and south banks of Pangong Lake, asking India to vacate Chushul heights on Kailash range first in exchange of their withdrawal from the Fingers area. Apparently, India either rejected it or sought clarification, considering the strategic utility attached to the Kailash range. During the ninth round of integrated civil military dialogue, there was no word from China as India is keen that PLA returns to its original pre-May positions. That clearly is not happening. China watchers have reported that PLA commanders have had a rethink on the Pangong Lake – a specific disengagement proposal, which reflects a perceived PLA weakness, following the Special Frontier Force’s occupation of commanding heights overlooking PLA assets. Further, PLA border guards and military, who are not properly acclimatised and accustomed to occupying posts on the LAC and on heights opposite the Kailash range, are likely to confront severe “winterisation woes.” The strategic advantage gained by India through the pre-emptive commando action in August is well established. The Chinese feel that they can live with it as they know India will not exploit the military advantage. Still, the Indian Army’s vast experience in Siachen, Kargil and other high altitude posts gives it an advantage over the PLA. Both sides are substantially deployed on the LAC for the first time and will face extreme weather problems.
According to high-resolution satellite maps from MAXAR Technologies, hardened ammunition bunkers have been constructed 2 km from Sinche-la Pass on the Bhutan-China border, which are connected to an all-weather-road that stretches 5 km across the Doklam plateau. A village named Pangdon has come up 2 km inside Bhutan, which is connected to a 9 km track adjacent to Doklam on territory that Bhutan claims. A September 2020 study by STRATFOR, the world’s leading intelligence and geo-political platform, says that after the Doklam crisis in 2017, when China was forced by Indian troops to stop constructing a road on the disputed land, it was compelled to double its military infrastructure, including helipads and air bases. After the Doklam standoff was defused, the Chinese merely suspended road construction for a few months and later resumed building the road towards Jampheri Ridge in Bhutan but not on the disputed India-China-Bhutan trijunction that India had blocked. The study says that the PLA military activity is camouflaged by creating civilian projects near LAC, which can double up for military use and these areas are off limits for the local population. This latest intrusion is near Torsa river on Doklam plateau, which is an Indian red line.
The Bhutanese Ambassador to India, Vetsop Namgyel, said: “There is no Chinese village inside Bhutan. Satellite images show some settlement near the standoff point, Doklam. The village is not on the Bhutanese side.” A Government source said that we would come in only when the PLA intrudes and leaves Bhutan to handle civilian intrusions. The Chinese Government television network producer Shen Shiwei was the first to show the village but later removed it. The Chinese have mastered the art of keeping military intrusions disguised as civil settlements and have done it in Nepal as well. The Indian Army’s gateway Doklam post must keep an eagle eye as it will be the first responder if the PLA crosses the red line again.
Clearly, the Chinese are creating new pressure points on the LAC as India starts demonstrating its options in hand, which it can enlarge and militarise as part of the progress in Indo-Pacific strategy, especially in the Indian Ocean Region. As India is seriously outmatched along its northern borders and the LAC, it is working on enhancing its maritime deterrence focussed on China’s Malacca dilemma. Every day, six to seven giant Chinese tankers sail through the Indian Ocean carrying 10 million barrels of oil. The challenge for India is in making the Chinese feel the heat of their Malacca dilemma through a countervailing strategy, through which escalation can be managed.
Despite the Government’s whitewash of PLA intrusions, some lessons, not new, are evident: Bolstering early warning and surveillance of PLA activities with real time intelligence from US, now that the four foundational agreements have been signed. This will stop our forces from “being surprised.” We must monitor Chinese behaviour as distinct from their military activities and occupy commanding heights pre-emptively. Galwan was not held and had it been occupied, it would have provided an additional bargaining chip. Counter intrusions should be swiftly executed as was done in 2013 at Chumar to offset the Depsang encroachment. The Chinese are firmly ensconced at Depsang again and are refusing to budge.
Last month, President Xi Jinping asked the PLA to be battle-ready. This month, he urged the PLA to transition from battle readiness to winning the war. India’s self-inflicted LAC injuries are being camouflaged by a Government blessed with an overwhelming political mandate but it still won’t allow the LAC issue to be discussed in Parliament freely. Nehru, the former Prime Minister that this Government trashes, led a flourishing debate in Parliament on the Aksai Chin hara-kiri. Modi is one of the most charismatic and performance-proof Prime Ministers India has had. He too has been tricked by the Chinese and misled by his civilian advisors into letting the guard down and creating capability deficit by painting a no-war setting.
(The author is a former Major-General of the Indian Army and commentator and a columnist on defence and security issues)
By rejecting the RCEP membership, we have given China a free hand to integrate its economy with Asian nations. Maybe India should look West now
The “Act East” policy, with a focus on an extended neighbourhood in the Asia-Pacific Region, has been the cornerstone of India’s diplomacy in the current decade. While it was originally conceived as an economic initiative, in recent years, it has gained political, strategic and cultural dimensions, including the establishment of institutional mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation. India has upgraded its relations to a strategic partnership with Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Singapore and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and has, thus, forged close ties with all countries in the Asia-Pacific. Further, apart from the ASEAN, the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), it has been actively engaged in regional fora, such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) and the Indian-Ocean Rim Association (IORA). The “Act East” policy has laid emphasis on India-ASEAN cooperation for our domestic agenda on infrastructure, manufacturing, trade, skills, urban renewal, smart cities, Make in India and other initiatives. The objective is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationships with countries in the Asia-Pacific through continuous engagement at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels.
As a follow-up, India has entered into Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and comprehensive economic engagements with many Asian countries. Notable among them are RTAs with the ASEAN, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, APTA (Bangladesh, China, Korea, Laos and Sri Lanka) and South Korea.
However, India decided against joining the mega trade bloc or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). It is a free trade agreement (FTA) between the Asia-Pacific nations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. These 15 countries account for about 30 per cent of the world’s population (2.2 billion people) and 30 per cent of the global GDP ($26.2 trillion) as of this year, making it the biggest trade bloc in history.
The fear is that India’s agricultural and manufactured goods will not be in a position to stand up to competition from cheaper imports from abroad. Of course, lobbying by multiple associations protecting the interests of processed agricultural product and manufactured goods makers plays a significant role in the policymakers’ decision. In contrast, India’s service sector, which no doubt would have benefitted by gaining access to the large market, could not play its cards well. In the end, the belief that India’s merchandise trade deficit (already negative with ASEAN and other Asian countries due to the existing RTAs) will further worsen, tilted the balance in deciding that the country’s interests would be best served by not joining the RCEP.
In the long run, this decision will hurt India in a big way. Let me flag up the issues on this count. First, when you have RTAs with some members of the RCEP, it will be a Herculean task to stop merchandise from third countries being routed through these nations with whom we have an existing pact. For instance, imports from China may be routed though ASEAN members like Vietnam and Malaysia with whom we have RTAs. Of course, one can argue that the “rules of origin” clause will stem this flow. However in reality, the “rules of origin” clause is not effective enough to curtain third country imports.
Second, India is missing the golden opportunity to be a part of the global value chain. If multinational corporations (MNCs) are thinking of shifting their value chains from China to other countries, they would go for any member of the RCEP like Vietnam and so on. This will be a win-win situation as they will have access to a large market and also benefit from the economies of scale of production.The same holds true for new investment from the European Union or US firms. The usual argument that India has a demographic dividend and MNCs will come here to make a production base falls flat. Given the income inequality, a significant part of the population does not have jobs and thereby income to purchase consumer goods. Gains from the demographic dividend are realised only when people are employed or else it becomes a burden on society.
Third, the service sector, where India has a comparative advantage, would be at a disadvantage because of this decision. Fourth, this decision should have been made based on long-term gain and not based on a higher trade deficit in the short run. By joining the group, Indian industries may suffer in the short-run. But in the end, they will be more competitive, which will open up opportunities in the world markets. It will be a win-win situation for the consumers, too, as they will have access to a variety of goods at a cheaper price. Alas, there is no one to lobby for the consumers’ interests.
Fifth, is it realistically possible to “Act East” without entering the mega trading bloc of the East? By rejecting the RCEP membership, India has given China a free hand to integrate its economy with Asian countries. Maybe India henceforth should look West.
(The writer is Professor, NCAER. The views expressed are personal)
As Uddhav Thackeray completes a year in office, the reluctant politician seems to have mastered some rules of the game
Nobody had any expectations of Uddhav Thackeray. Not even as a descendant of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, who always had a wish of one of his own becoming the Chief Minister. But Balasaheb had probably not bargained for the circumstances under which Uddhav became one. Or imagined him to stand out with quietude and resolve in a hostile environment of competitive politics. For years after tamely acquiescing to its bigger partner, the BJP, the Shiv Sena stood up to it following its improved performance in the Assembly elections last November and demanded chief ministership on that basis. The BJP, the single largest party, thought it could rustle up the numbers to form its own Government and was surprised when Uddhav snapped ties with it, engineered a coalition with the opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-Congress combine and negotiated the chief ministership. A manoeuvre that was so not expected from a man who was hardly thought capable of the aggression of Thackeray senior. But one year down the line, he is on a steady course, walking with ideologically divergent partners, not overstepping the ego of the Maratha strongman and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who is believed to have been the architect of the alliance based on a shared pursuit of power. Apart from a few creases here and there, Uddhav hasn’t been an embarrassment for the Congress despite his avowed commitment to Hindutva causes and that party’s to its minority plank. The BJP, not quite accustomed to the Sena’s revolt yet, has expectedly been placing hurdles along the way of the coalition government, be it through gubernatorial interference, by thrusting Central probes or generally shaming Uddhav’s lack of administrative experience. As for the last, Uddhav had no time to settle in as the State recorded its first Covid-19 case on March 9, posing a severe challenge to the healthcare system. And before he could get a grip on it, Maharashtra became the State with the highest number of cases across India. Then the exodus of migrant labourers caught him by surprise, a fact played up by the BJP as an example of his ineptitude and lack of foresight. Still, Uddhav did not lose his cool and went in for aggressive containment measures, testing and medical protocols as Asia’s biggest slum, Dharavi, put him on trial. Today, Mumbai is doing better than Delhi in handling the pandemic despite infrastructural weaknesses. Its caseload is going down, it is going for a graded reopening of sectors — unlike other States giving in to populist and commercial pressure — and is the first State in the country to have introduced international-style travel protocols to control the spiral of imported infection. The management of the Dharavi outbreak is a model example of how effective community engagement, awareness and deployment can tame the virus in resource-scarce and congested clusters. As the worst-hit State with a spiralling death count, Maharashtra seems to be finally getting there. And Uddhav, who may be borrowing lessons from the governance heft of the NCP-Congress, must be credited with having the will to deliver without drawing attention to himself. In fact, given his administrative inexperience, he has empowered efficient bureaucrats and shunted out the slackers, clearly emphasising that performance would be the only qualifier of assessment. The best part is he hasn’t failed to call a spade a spade. He publicly admonished the police for indiscriminate use of force during the lockdown and in matters religious has taken an apolitical stand despite his Hindutva moorings. So when Maharashtra Governor B G Koshyari prodded him on opening temples, wondering if he was delaying because of his “secular” partners, Uddhav shot back, asking if Hindutva meant simply opening religious places and as someone who had sworn on the Constitution, was he denying the secularism enshrined in it? Besides, he managed the festival season with reason. By confining the Ganesh Mahotsav to a largely indoor celebration, he avoided a super spreader event. In an editorial in Saamna, he even questioned the utility of all shrines in a pandemic. At the same time, he calibrated his response to Muslims, considering the Sena’s stand on the Babri masjid and the Ram temple. He used the Congress to urge the community not to congregate in mosques and stayed away from fanning the fire on the Tablighi Jamaat. In fact, Uddhav, in his own way is trying to posit his Hindutva as nationalism rather than the BJP kind of communalism so that he can justify his togetherness with the NCP-Congress. And given the Sena’s history of rowdyism, he is trying to split his politics from bogeyism.
Uddhav’s assets so far have been his straightforwardness and realism, which have held him in good stead. His respect for Pawar in keeping the coalition largely frictionless is the other reason for his stability. But he has to watch out against ambitious leaders who have already accused him of setting up a coterie to enable a smooth transition to his son Aaditya. And a jilted BJP with the means won’t give up trying to break him and picking up dissenters. It almost had him on the lynching of sadhus in Palghar, who were mistaken by villagers for thieves and child lifters. Luckily for Uddhav, who was slow on the investigation, some BJP office-bearers were found to be among the lynch mob and spared him the criticism of running over another Hindu cause. Of course, the BJP baited him on the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, though the CBI ultimately ruled out a conspiracy. But going by the State Government’s demolition drive at an actress’ office or a journalist’s arrest, Uddhav must stop falling prey to the BJP’s design of reactive politics. He certainly could have handled these cases better despite the provocation. If he is to last a full term, he needs equanimity. He doesn’t need to flex muscles.
Any change in the US policy towards India is unlikely, save some prodding on the Western understanding of human rights issues in the region, something which New Delhi should be prepared to deal with. It’s in the US national interest to have good relations with India. It’s time India takes its rightful position in the world it deserves, and as Huntington puts it: the US well knows when to concede to maintain ‘good relations’ with friendly countries
What does the Joe Biden Administration’s occupation of the Oval Office mean for India? This is pertinent especially after Trump’s tight embrace of India. Though Trump-Modi friendship might not have translated into a trade pact — in all areas, particularly on the foreign policy and geo-strategic fronts in dealing with China or Pakistan, it supported India in becoming the alternative supply chain supplanting China, strengthening military relations, while refraining to interfere in India’s internal matters.
Any change in the US policy towards India is unlikely, save some prodding on the Western understanding of human rights issues in the region, something which New Delhi should be prepared to deal with.
A little uncertainty exists on Biden’s approach towards Pakistan, while he is strong on anti-terrorism front, the need of Islamabad for peace negotiations with Taliban will bring in a working relationship between the two nations, though a re-appearance of bonhomie is unlikely.
On the trade front, Arun K Singh, former Indian Ambassador to the US, has summed up the position, “era of post 1990s globalisation effectively ended with Trump’s election in 2016”. On climate change, New Delhi will be asked to do more from the Biden Administration, an approach he has indicated towards other nations.
Besides, there is strong probability of Republicans holding the Senate should also not be lost on us.
India’s significance for the US
It is insignificant to think if the Democrats or the Republicans will be more supportive to the Indian cause. It’s the US national interest which made Presidents from Clinton to Trump to deepen ties with India. With 17.7 per cent of the world’s population, fifth largest economy, India is important for the US economy.
As the world’s largest liberal democracy — among the few in the non-Western world even rare so in Asia — a responsible player in global politics, largest troop contributor to the UN peacekeeping missions, a nation which is looked at with trust and respect in comity of nations, all the more so by the developing world, India today stands at a formidable position with which every global player wishes to partner.
So, in the Asian century when the focus of the world has shifted to the Indo-Pacific economically, politically as well as on the geo-strategic front, while the US power wanes and is increasingly challenged by the rising China in all possible domains: trade and economy, technology, intelligence, military modernisation and in international institutions, who does the US look to?
If a decade or two back India could not be ignored, today, the US can simply not do without India; and Washington DC is well aware of that. Nobody knows this better than the 46th President of the US, a seasoned diplomat. In 2006, he argued India-US relationship is the single most important relationship that the US has to get right for its own safety’s sake, declaring his dream of having India and the US as two closest nations in the world in 2020.
In 2008, he led the charge in the US Congress on approval of India-US Nuclear Agreement. As the Vice President in the Obama Administration, he further deepened ties with India.
In a policy paper during campaigning, Biden called India and the US as natural partners, while declaring the strengthening of India-US relationship as high priority for his administration; mentioning that no common global challenge can be resolved without India and the US.
It pledged support to India in fight against terrorism, cross-border or otherwise, confronting “new threats” India faces in its own region and along its own borders, not allowing China to threaten India with impunity, while supporting a larger role for India in international institutions, including pushing India to become a permanent member of the UNSC.
Chinese threat to the US
In the 2020 US report on China’s military, which outlines the fast-paced military modernisation and capacity enhancement of PLA as it moves towards its goal to become a “world class military” by 2049 — understood to mean equal or superior to the US military — it’s pointed out that the PLA is not intended to be “merely a showpiece of China’s modernity. The report pointed out that China is not only going to keep the PLA focused solely on regional threats” but to have “an active role in advancing” China’s foreign policy, particularly with respect to its “increasingly global interests and its aims to revise aspects of the international order”.
In the World Economic Output report 2020, the IMF declared China has overtaken the US to become the world’s largest economy in PPP terms. In China’s recently concluded fifth plenary session, it seemed assured about reaching
“high income level” in the next five years and doubling economic output by 2035, which is also the deadline for China to emerge as a global leader in innovation, becoming technological independent of the West by mobilising all of the nation’s resources to make breakthrough in key technologies from AI to quantum computing and semiconductor manufacturing.
To contain China is the top-most priority for the US, and the Biden Administration is going to achieve this by making a multilateral coalition of its allies and partners in Europe and Asia. And of them India is the most important peg in it. Indeed, the US ought to be thankful for the present situation brewing at the Indian border with the dragon, because a scenario where Indian interests with China converge can still be imagined, the same for the US is now impossible.
India might be China’s immediate irritant, its real adversary is the US. So, to worry about the US support on China is in vain.
Human rights, Kashmir and CAA
In his campaign, Biden had mentioned his disappointment with the Assam’s NRC, CAA and need for full liberties to be returned in Kashmir. The progressive faction has been all the more critical on the front,
Vice President Kamala Harris herself being vocal, so, questions will be raised.
In 1993, US political scientist late Samuel Huntington wrote that there is a widespread anti-western sentiment rising all over the world because of West’s universal enforcement of its values.
The East Asian nations had created a united front against this, with the Japanese Prime Minister of the time Hosokawa saying western human rights concepts can’t be “blindly applied to Asia”.
The West’s hypocrisy on the human rights front has also been time and again raised by the developing world. Why the US is not questioned over arrests of Muslims without charge after 9/11, Guantanamo Bay prisoners that are still rotting in prisons of the US allies in West Asia, most horrible abuses of human rights in Abu Ghraib prison, Iraq, or over the police brutalities on the blacks, or how the UK suppressed the Irish and Scottish national movements?
While India embraced the Western liberal democracy and human right regime, it continues to suffer the destabilising and violent after-effects and grave unresolved issues of the externally created borders and gory partition, unlike the peaceful territories of the West.
It is difficult, therefore, to enforce the same level of liberties to the region bearing the scourge of externally funded and supported terrorism for decades, which threatens the security of the whole nation, with even the temple of Indian democracy not been spared. A discouragement towards democratic process is still being made in
Kashmir by terrorists targeting political members. Similarly, a resolution of the post-partition refugee situation had to be undertaken.
India is a free and fair democracy with an independent judiciary, and it must confidently, firmly and calmly draw its red lines over non-interference in internal matters, something that rest of the Asia has been doing for long.
Our External Affairs Minister demonstrated it by not meeting a panel, including Congresswomen Pramila Jayapal. Were it done by even a middle level power, nobody would bat an eyelash. It’s time India takes its rightful position in the world, with respect, it deserves, and as Huntington puts it: the US well knows when to concede to maintain “good relations” with friendly countries.
(The author is a public policy analyst and lawyer)
India must understand the need for data anonymisation and also build the idea of consent when dealing with facial identification technology
The pandemic pushed many enterprises into survival mode. They started exploring new technologies like computer vision to help them work efficiently and safely. Computer vision uses live feed from CCTV networks to generate actionable insights in real time. Many offices have started contactless attendance wherein a camera identifies a person even with a mask, using facial recognition technology. There is also an increase in the use of facial recognition for contact tracing to stop the spread of Coronavirus from an infected person. However, the spread of this technology globally also brought to light its misuse, such as racial discrimination. After several cases of bias against people of colour, the US Democratic lawmakers introduced a Bill that would ban the use of facial recognition technology by federal law enforcement agencies.
India hasn’t implemented a countrywide facial recognition programme yet. We are in the perfect stage wherein we can learn from the mistakes of others when it comes to creating laws that will monitor this powerful technology so as to protect our citizens’ right to liberty and privacy. Like any emerging technology, there are multiple applications of facial recognition that appear completely harmless. For instance, Facebook tags users in pictures and Google Photos organises them according to faces. Interpol has been using the technology to make the immigration process safer, easier and faster. It uses information from 160 countries to prepare a criminal database. Over 650 missing people or “persons of interest” were reportedly recognised using this technology in 2016. Today, it is being used across multiple sectors. Privacy and surveillance concerns arise due to multiple cases of racial discrimination and illegal use of information. An innocent man in Michigan was forced to spend one whole day in police custody after a facial recognition system mistakenly identified him as a shoplifter. There have been numerous instances of facial recognition systems wrongly identifying people of colour. Various algorithms provide incorrect matches for darker skinned individuals.
So what does the US Bill say? In the light of several protests and the Black Lives Matter movement, the Bill prohibits the use of facial recognition technology and its federal funding. It will be illegal for any federal agency to use or have access to surveillance technology within the geographical boundary of the US. Furthermore, the information obtained in any form, resulting in the violation of this Bill, cannot be used for judicial proceedings. It clearly states that this technology cannot be used without a federal law and relevant provisions to ensure maximum security. Incidents of racial discrimination have always been a major concern in the US and the killing of George Floyd in May put the spotlight on errors in facial recognition technology, too. Various studies have shown that it does not have the same level of accuracy for people of different skin colours and gender. It works best when identifying white men but falters the maximum when faced with images of dark-skinned women. Wrong identification by algorithms has led to increased cases of police brutality and racism.
Does India need a counterpart? There are people of varying skin tones in our country but in the sphere of criminal justice, the discrimination is not based on their colour. We discriminate on the basis of caste, tribe, economic status and religion. Hence, in India, the facial recognition software is not a threat in the same way it is in the US. However, fears over privacy that arise out of the misuse of this technology are valid for us because as of now, there is no law protecting the privacy of people. On a trial basis, the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Indian Railways became two institutions to successfully use facial recognition on a large scale. The railway station at Bengaluru, too, is set to get an AI-powered CCTV system that uses facial recognition technology to aid in creating and maintaining a database of criminals. The problem with such a powerful technology is that it needs supervision at every stage. People in India have not put much thought into what facial recognition could do for us or the threats it could give rise to. Some believe it is the future and some are aware of data protection and misuse of information.
The way forward: Though the advantages of technological advancement are undeniable, it is vital to take into account situations of unprecedented social insecurity that this brings. We need to address the concerns about data privacy, protection and ethics in order to create a strong legal framework to guide the workings and usage of biometric and facial recognition software. As a first step, the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 needs to be reviewed and made into an Act. A facial recognition algorithm picks up the biases of the data fed by people into it. People working with facial recognition algorithms should be careful when feeding data and also when deriving insights out of it. We must understand the need for data anonymisation and also build the idea of consent when dealing with facial identification technology. Constant improvement should ensure zero scope of error eventually. With the right policies and laws in place, facial recognition will ensure our kanoon (law) is not andha (blind) anymore as enforcement agencies will be able to see 24 frames per second through the millions of CCTVs across the country. Hopefully for our security.
(The writer is Co-Founder and CEO of Integration Wizards Solutions)
While they are essential for survival, textiles can also be an important artistic medium of expression, especially for those who have suffered violence, repression and discrimination
When the two daughters of Debra Munda, a resident of Sundergarh district, Odisha, died after a prolonged illness, he was convinced that black magic was at work there. He suspected that his neighbour’s wife was practising witchcraft and had cast an evil spell on his children. A couple of days later, he forced his way into the neighbour’s house after he had left for work and attacked the woman. After killing her and her four children with a crowbar, Munda and his accomplices threw their bodies into a nearby well.
This was not the first time that a woman was killed on the suspicion of indulging in witchcraft in Odisha. In fact, the steady rise in such attacks against women prompted the State to promulgate the Odisha Prevention of Witch-hunting Act in 2013. However, this does not appear to have struck fear in the hearts of perpetrators of such crimes. In 2019, at least four women were killed every month over suspicions of practising witchcraft, between January and August, according to official statistics. Not surprisingly, Odisha holds the dubious distinction of being the second-worst State in the country where suspicion of witchcraft is a prime reason for the high number of killings.
It was stories of such horrific violence that led to a churn within Pankaja Sethi. The Odisha-based textile designer and social anthropologist began exploring how she could project the vulnerability of women. Sethi decided to use her art to channelise her rage against injustice by raising awareness on the issue. So, when she was invited to reflect upon women’s rights, gender equity, fertility, contraception and violence against women through her work at the “Fabric of Being” textile exhibition, Sethi knew just what to create. The exhibition, that was held at the 2019 Nairobi Summit, commemorating 25 years of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), became the ideal platform for her to showcase her campaign for gender justice by putting women and girls at the centre of development.
Sethi wanted her artwork to provoke conversations as to why women in India were oppressed and devalued in a society that worshiped goddesses as symbols of power and benefaction. She wanted to question why society religiously revered women as creators of life and power and yet had no qualms in snuffing out their lives. She wanted to raise consciousness about the fact that many women were killed not just on suspicions of being a witch but for numerous reasons. Millions of girls were killed in the womb because their families preferred a male child. Even if some girls were lucky to survive foeticide, they were at a risk of experiencing emotional, mental and sexual violence, which is perpetrated to control them by a deeply-entrenched patriarchy.
Sethi, therefore, chose to depict the uterus and womb as sources of power, representing women negotiating for space against forces that wanted to curb their freedom and make them invisible and voiceless. Aptly titled, The Flaming Womb, her textile artwork used the popular Odisha ikat technique to weave three panels in red threads to represent the burning anger within women and their resistance against the diktats of a patriarchal society. Art should make a noise, says Sethi. This is why she is using an artistic medium of expression to tell stories of women and push for greater focus on creating an enabling environment for gender equality, sexual autonomy and freedom of choice. However, Sethi is not the only one to use textiles to tell stories of injustices committed against women. “I Never Ask For It,” a campaign by Blank Noise, a Bengaluru-based volunteer-led project, too, aims to generate awareness on gender-based violence and end victim shaming/blaming by building testimonies of clothing.
This is because textiles are inextricably linked to the lives of people, particularly women. While they are essential for survival, textiles can also be an important artistic medium of expression, especially for those who have suffered violence, repression and discrimination.
Hence, Blank Noise’s testimonies are built by inviting women, girls and others to share the garment they wore when they experienced sexual violence. This is because most people across the world can recall the clothes they wore when they experienced any form of sexual violence, says Jasmeen Patheja, founder, Blank Noise. The garment bears the memory of it and is a witness to that experience.
The organisation, which has been working to tackle street harassment and change public attitudes towards sexual violence through creative initiatives since 2003, wants this campaign to be a process of healing; where survivors of violence feel heard and believed.
This is vitally important as claims by survivors of sexual violence are often dismissed or not taken seriously enough. As a recent study by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and the Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI) reveals, rape survivors in Uttar Pradesh (UP) had to run from pillar to post to file First Information Reports (FIRs) because the police did not believe them. Titled Barriers in Accessing Justice, the report reveals how the UP police humiliate, discourage and harass women and girls protesting against sexual violence when they try to get a FIR registered.
The first step towards healing is to believe survivors instead of blaming them. Once the blaming stops, the process of collective responsibility can become possible. The Blank Noise team is hoping to achieve both these goals. It envisions that by 2023, there will be 10,000 garment testimonials exhibited at the India Gate complex in the national Capital, each one narrating its own powerful story.
Exhibitions on gender, sexuality, and women’s rights expressed through the medium of textile art are creative and powerful ways to send social messages. Pieces of cloth or yarn hanging from the ceiling or draped in an aesthetic manner can have the impact that the spoken word may not have, especially on issues considered prickly or stigmatic. Sethi’s work at the “Fabric of Being” exhibition certainly had the intended effect of drawing attention to the pressing need for sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.
Art is the key to social transformation, says Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of United Nations Population Fund and the brain behind the exhibition. This is why they chose 15 artists from Asia and Africa to present artworks featuring different kinds of textiles, including used clothes, to tell the story of women. Narrated from their culturally-diverse perspectives, these stories were expressed in different kinds of fabric and colours. Yet, they all shared a common thread in the way women, whether in Asia or Africa, negotiated for space and rights.
This was the first time that such an exhibition was an integral part of a global conference on reproductive rights, reveals Rosalia Sciortino Sumaryono, head of Southeast Asia Junction, a creative hub in Bangkok. Sumaryono, who helped to conceptualise and organise the exhibition, contends that it is not always necessary to use words to bring about transformation. Art could give voice to the unspoken and unheard without using words just as it had done at the “Fabric of Being” exhibition.
Besides using her art to tell stories, Sethi has used her skill to build an agency of women and girls. When the Coronavirus pandemic hit marginalised crafts people, especially in villages in Odisha and unemployment led to hunger and poverty, Sethi provided livelihood opportunities to women and girls in weaver households by training them to stitch masks. Since then, these women have lifted their families out of poverty by stitching and supplying ikat masks to different parts of the State. History has shown that women hold societies together particularly at a time of crisis. They weave the tapestry of life to ensure the health, well-being and prosperity of their families, often at the cost of their own health and safety. Then, why must they die to give birth when most maternal deaths are preventable? Why must they be branded as witches, sexually abused and killed when they have an equal right to live a life without violence? Why must they bear the burden of family planning or be denied access to safe abortion services when reproductive rights of women are not up for negotiations? Most importantly, why must they be denied their right to be born merely because of their gender?
(The writer is a senior journalist)
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