The Congress party suffered a rout in the Lok Sabha 2019 elections and the big gloom over the party is more humiliating than the 2014 results with the biggest jolt in the hotly-contested Amethi seat in uttar Pradesh. Firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi at his home turf, the traditional Gandhi pocket borough thereby taking the wind out of the sails of the Congress.
The impact of Rahul’s shocking defeat, where huge victory margins have added the halo of invincibility to Gandhi family members will be felt outside the geographical boundaries of Amethi. The spectacular show by the ModiShah duo has put a question mark on Rahul’s leadership. unlike 2014, this election was Rahul’s first as party president and workers were looking up to the Gandhi scion to lead the way. Rahul miserably failed to rise to the challenge and stuck to Modi bashing that was amplified by the ‘chowkidaar chor hai’ jibe. Many in party’s own circle believed that the tagline breached the boundary of political decency stereotyped the Congress of weaving a negative campaign with nothing to add of its own.
Oblivious to the ground realities or how the slogan was being received by voters, Rahul went on an overdrive even landing himself into trouble with the Supreme Court that further dented the Congress confidence. Rahul seems to have offered his resignation to uPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi but his party leaders suggested that the matter should be left to be discussed at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting. As a matter of procedure, a CWC would be called within weeks of the results for a postmortem. The CWC is likely to constitute a committee to delve into the reasons on the lines of the Antony Committee Report in 2014 that blamed uPA-2’s antimajority perception for its defeat.
But the Congress’ course corrections have often been mere tokenism and less about transparency in order to insulate the top leadership. With PM Modi’s unrelenting attack on dynastic politics the party will be under tremendous pressure to act and show that it is actually serious about remaining in business. one of the most telling reactions came from veteran leader and former organisational general secretary of the party Janardan Dwivedi. When asked about the verdict he replied: “I am not surprised….” he said, not willing to add more.
Another old-hatter Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh known for being critical of Rahul’s ways earlier, hit out at Navjot Singh Sidhu. Amarinder fired the salvo: “Navjot Singh Sidhu wants to become CM… His going to Pakistan and hugging Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa cost the Congress dearly… the party should have taken disciplinary action against him…” he said.
Trouble for Rahul doesn’t end here. Clouds of uncertainty are gathering over Karnataka where Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy seems to be edgy and has been calling up Congress leaders to discuss the situation. Madhya Pradesh government could also be a cause for Rahul to worry. More than demanding respect a leader needs to command it, and with his own image severely dented it is not going to be easy. Then the comparisons with the BJP’s stalwarts is only going to get more sharper and unsparing that will make the unease and discontentment within the party only grow louder.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s age — he will be 49 next month— and his party’s Lok Sabha tally for 2019 at 52, seem to have moved up in a synchronised manner. Five years ago, in May 2014, Rahul, a highly empowered vicepresident at the time, was on the threshold of turning 44, exactly the number of seats Congress had won in the sixteenth Lok Sabha. While this is just a coincidence, this unintended tango can be symbolic of the existential crisis that faces both Gandhi and his party. The Congress is staring at a credibility crisis following its poor show in the Lok Sabha elections, particularly when it comes to taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
The results are a poor reflection on party president Rahul Gandhi’s leadership capabilities, besides the Congress’ election strategy to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The gravity of the loss can be understood from Gandhi’s loss to union minister Smriti Irani in Amethi, uttar Pradesh, which was represented by the Gandhi family for over three decades.
India’s oldest political party was limited to just 51 seats, marginally improving from its worst ever tally of 44 seats in 2014 with a 19.3% vote share. To make matters worse, for the second time in a row, the party will not be able to claim the position of the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, falling short of the minimum requirement of winning onetenth of total seats, or 54 seats, in the Lower House. Addressing a press conference on Thursday evening, Rahul Gandhi said that the “public has given its mandate”. When asked if he would resign from the post of party president, Gandhi said “We will have a meeting of the working committee and then it would be decided there…That you can leave between me and the working committee.”
While Congress performed poorly across all key states in North India, it faced an electoral bloodbath in a direct contest with the BJP. out of this, the biggest disappointment was in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where it had defeated the BJP in state elections just six months ago. out of the 65 parliamentary seats three states represent, the Congress managed to retain just three, virtually giving a walkover to the BJP.
Even in Gujarat, where it had remarkably improved its performance in the assembly polls, the Congress did not win any seats this time. The same story played out in direct contest states such as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and uttarakhand, where it failed to open its account. The shrinking of electoral footprint in the North-East continued, with the Congress conceding half of its 2014 seats largely to a resurgent BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). “We have suffered huge losses in the Hindi heartland. All our gains are only from the South. The BJP ran an aggressive campaign; we could not take on their nationalism narrative and people voted for Modi. Top leaders will sit and introspect on what went wrong where,” a senior party leader from uttar Pradesh said, requesting anonymity.
The leader added that the party should have tried more to stitch up alliances like the one in uttar Pradesh, where the opposition vote was split between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) combine. “As a political party, we need to decide whether our main aim is to take on the BJP or grow as a party. Both can happen simultaneously, but if at all we have to chose one, there should be a uniform approach. Even in states where we did have an alliance, there was hardly a common narrative,” a senior party leader from Bihar said, requesting anonymity. In all, the party drew a blank in over a dozen states. Its only bright spot came from Kerala and Punjab, which together accounted for 23 out of the 50 seats it won. Congress gained maximum seats from the south, including Tamil Nadu.
Party leaders said that despite their push for a ‘constructive campaign’ around a nationwide farm loan waiver and minimum income guarantee scheme, or NyAy, its campaign did not find resonance with the people and only those candidates who were strong locally, ended up winning. “Unexplainable,” said a senior party functionary from Madhya Pradesh, expressing his disappointment on the outcome. “How do you make sense of this result? How do you explain that after winning Chhattisgarh six months ago with two-thirds mandate, we are back to 2014 tally?” he added, also requesting anonymity.
This is the first general election, which was being overseen by Rahul Gandhi as the national president, since he took charge in 2017. Following the historic drubbing in 2014, former party president Sonia Gandhi withdrew herself from active political engagements, while Rahul Gandhi was given the charge to lead from the front. With the exception of Punjab in 2017, Congress did not win any state poll on its own until last year. A ray of hope for the party came last December, when it won the three state elections. But according to political analysts, Thursday’s results puts the focus back on the leadership crisis in the party. “After 2014, everyone kept talking about how Congress is facing a leadership challenge. People and particularly party workers hoped that they will do much better this time. But that did not happen. Post this result, the questions on Rahul Gandhi will grow. From a leadership challenge in 2014, this has become a leadership crisis in 2019,” said Sanjay Kumar, director at the New Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.
Party leaders, however, said that it will be a while before voices of dissent come to the fore from within the party to question the leadership. “People will either desert the party or not question the leadership. If not the Gandhis, then who?” a senior party functionary said, requesting anonymity. Senior party leaders were also wary of the fact that many Congress top guns lost from their seats, and this would have an impact on the party’s state units. While sitting Lok Sabha members Mallikarjun Kharge, Sushmita Dev, Ranjeet Ranjan and Jyotiraditya Scindia have lost the elections, former chief ministers Digvijaya Singh and Sheila Dikshit, too, had to concede defeat.
After the results Congress’ challenge will not be limited to putting its house in order, but to stand up to a stronger and resurgent BJP in key assembly polls. Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Delhi and Bihar will go to polls over the next one year. Besides, considering that it will have a minor presence in the Lok Sabha for the second time in a row—it may not stake claim for the post of the leader of opposition—the party will have to build greater consensus among all opposition parties to make any strong pitch in the Lok Sabha.
According to analysts, the larger challenge, or ‘crisis’ as they put it, will be to accept that the party needs to reinvent itself to adapt to the new political realities. “Frankly, Congress has multiple challenges and that is not restricted to this election alone. Everyone can predict what happens next from here. Almost like a clockwork, Congress will form a committee with its old war horses, who will prepare a report on what went wrong, but those issues will never get discussed. People will offer to resign taking responsibility, but almost everyone will continue to be on board,” said Ashutosh Kumar, professor of political science at Panjab university.
“Congress is like an old elephant, which has an idea attached to it, but that too is fading gradually. The challenge for the party is to either arrest that decline or allow it to happen rapidly,” he added.
By Rajiv Agnihotri Bureau Head- Africa is based in Mauritius.
The nation hopes that with this resounding majority and consequent political stability, the Prime Minister will succeed in actualising his own vision and India’s unbound aspirations
The BJP was well on its way to emerging as India’s ‘natural party of Government’ under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee when its hope was rudely dashed in 2004 after the “India Shining” campaign slogan backfired and the party lost decisively. Few expected the UPA 2 Government to return to power under the low-profile leadership of Manmohan Singh in the 2009 polls. But the unexpected happened and the BJP’s exile from power got extended by another five years. However, under the muscular charge of Narendra Modi, the BJP bounced back with a stunning majority in 2014, pushing the Congress’ tally to a paltry 44 seats in the Lok Sabha. The 2019 poll results demonstrate that apart from setting new benchmarks in India’s parliamentary history, the BJP has successfully crafted a new record of continuity of personality and policy. Arguably not every section of the electorate is delighted by the BJP’s overwhelming triumph, but all have accepted that its footprint across the entire country is unmissable now.
Once derided as a Brahmin-Bania party whose influence was confined to the Hindi-speaking States of North India, the BJP has broken through political and cultural barriers in the South, East and North-East of India this time. This is a humongous achievement for which the party’s charismatic leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi and tireless strategist Amit Shah can justifiably claim full credit. Commentators have attributed its spectacular victory to a combination of robust nationalism of the Balakot kind, a series of populist doles such as LPG gas cylinders to placate the underprivileged and a powerful dose of Hindutva. Many of these schemes and ideological predilections are not original. Some were directly borrowed from the predecessor UPA while the ideological positioning clearly bears the newly emboldened RSS’s imprint. For its policies to outlast a five-year term and become ingredients of the BJP’s ambition that it should become part of the “natural party of governance,” there has to be a degree of balance and conciliation which has not been evident in the ruling party’s style so far. Narendra Modi’s combative approach may have endeared him to the national electorate but this may not always work in a complex society which requires consensus and conciliation rather than confrontation. The Time magazine’s recent cover story describing the Prime Minister as India’s divider-in-chief was certainly not a complimentary epithet. Although palpably exaggerated and symptomatic of typical Western media bias, Modi would do well to go in for an image makeover to emerge as an unifying rather than a divisive force. It is apparent that most of the minorities, particularly India’s 185 million Muslims, have a deep distrust of the Prime Minister. This may not be justified as the NDA Government’s policies evidently do not target Muslims adversely, but perceptions matter a great deal in shaping attitudes. Therefore, NDA 3 will need to work consciously to dispel the impression that India might get transformed into a Hindu-majority Pakistan. The political rise of rabble rousers like Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur up the BJP’s ranks is certainly not reassuring in this context.
Apart from the social anxieties, the country’s economic health report during Modi’s first tenure has hardly been inspiring. Although, Modi managed to dust economic issues under the carpet through a skillful mixture of demagoguery and populist policies, the fact is that the fundamentals of the economy are shakier than during the UPA era. The truly worrying part is the stagnation of industry, credit squeeze and sharp drop in consumption. It was assumed in 2008 that the Government would come up with an incentivisation package and then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee did just that in the aftermath of the 2008 global slowdown. It is not too late even now to revive such a plan as tighter controls on tax collections have led to robust revenue growth. Modi may have successfully prevented jobs and distressed farmers’ issues from dominating the election agenda. But merely ignoring them will not make the issues disappear. While doles such as the PM-Kisan Yojana may be temporary palliatives, in the long run, they cause irretrievable damage to the economy.
The new Government also needs to work hard to formulate a clear foreign policy, especially with an eye on the neighbourhood. A mischievous western neighbour is perennially backed by an expansionist northern neighbour, and together they keep tensions alive in the region. Terrorists sponsored from across the border force India to be permanently on tenterhooks; by fomenting unrest in Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan keeps provoking us routinely. New Delhi needs to have a clear Zero Tolerance Policy, necessitating physical demonstration of its exasperation. Modi has built a reputation as a no-nonsense leader, ready to hit back through surgical strikes across the border and other measures, including economic blockages. The Prime Minister must remember that he is expected by his myriad supporters not only to act but must also be seen to act. India has made invaluable diplomatic strides in Modi’s first term. Undoubtedly, our relations with the US, China, Japan, European Union and other powerful nations and blocks have shown marked improvement. This policy needs successful upgrading to position us as a superpower in the making. Similarly, India’s space programme is among the world’s most coveted. During Modi’s second term, the country’s first manned mission to space, Gaganyaan and spacecraft to the Mars, Mangalyan, will get launched putting India in an altogether different league.
As the saying goes, there is so much to be done but so little time to do this. But the Prime Minister himself coined the slogan “Modi hai toh mumkin hai. (Everything is possible with Modi at the helm).” The nation hopes that with this resounding majority and consequent political stability, the Prime Minister will succeed in actualising his own vision and India’s unbound aspirations. The Prime Minister recently spent two days meditating at the holy Kedarnath cave. Lord Shiva would have blessed him then to fulfill our collective dreams.
Writer: Chandan Mitra
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Civil services, all across the globe, is usually the target of criticism among people for adopting their stagnant approach towards thwarting attempts and emerging challenges at reform to enhance efficiency.
The Government’s invitation of applications for 10 joint secretaries posts for domain experts in different fields, to be recruited from market outside the traditional bastion of civil services, raised a hornet’s nest among the status quoists and crème de la crème of the Indian bureaucracy. More than 6,000 applicants applied for just 10 posts. One retired Secretary to the Government of India even approached the Supreme Court against this decision. Many, outside the Government, however, welcomed the move as an attempt to enthuse fresh air into India’s bureaucratic monolith.
This writer, being a part of the bureaucratic system for 37 long years and with varied experience under Central, State and other organisations, would like to examine this decision in today’s context of overall governance. More so when two administrative reform commissions have submitted reports which were aptly called by insiders as voluminous “garbage in and garbage out”.
These reports had largely and assiduously protected the existing systems. Even a few patchy recommendations, favouring efficiency, never saw the light of the day and politicians gleefully ignored the suggestions, as was reflected in the perfunctory manner in which questions on this subject were replied by Governments in Parliament.
Indian civil services have a chequered history during and after the British left the country. There are many good things, which can be attributed to the role played by the civil services in the nation, like ensuring a uniform pattern of governance in a multi-faceted country with immense diversity which not only led to a sound administrative culture but also ensured unity and rule of law amid warring interests.
A few such examples are the creation of revenue, accounts, police, medical, taxation and forest services et al. A majority of forest catchments of the Indian rivers would have vanished if trained people were not assigned the duty to protect our agriculture and water resources as also the colonial interest of timber for railways and other infrastructure for the country.
One of the best attribute to the bureaucracy is the fact it has a very systematic and organised way of doing things, which is essential in a democracy where competing interests are very high in nature. Value systems of the Indian bureaucracy over the years have been affected by political changes of contemporary India with a downward slide in both character, morale, accountability, sense of commitment and fair play. Civil services, like any other sector, needs to be reviewed so that changing society’s aspiration can be fulfilled by fine-tuning the system.
Organised civil services all over the world have often been the target of criticism for their stagnated approach to emerging challenges and for thwarting attempts to reform for better efficiency. The bureaucrats are trained to follow the rule howsoever stale it had become, and thus, oppose any changes in it more so when they enjoy power without accountability.
When the political leadership is naïve, corrupt and weak, bureaucrats ensure a vice-like grip on a system that breeds nepotism, crony capitalism, intense groupism and corruption. Indian bureaucracy’s biggest criticism, despite some outstanding feats, is that it is severely biased in its approach which is the antithesis of the classical bureaucracy.
The term, bureaucracy, is derived from the French word bureau, which stands for ‘office’ or ‘desk’, and the Greek suffix kratia, which denotes power. Bureaucracy is, therefore, in essence, “the power of the office”. Because of this power of office, it has also been the from very start, a target of criticism.
French economist Jacques Claude Marie Vincent de Gournay, once said: “We have an illness in France which play havoc with us; this illness is called bureaumania.” In the Indian context, bureaucracy, apart from lack of accountability, is criticised for its officialdom (lack of flexibility and initiatives), red-tapism (victim of formalities, rule centric avoidable paperwork) and proliferation (tend to expand irrationally).
This writer, while heading a national body of international repute, was pilloried for more than five years for bringing innovations in the country’s stagnating forestry research set up only to be proved right in the end. It is because of this arbitrariness that no creative person stretches his neck.
A Secretary, who was at the helm of affair during 2013 and 14; and who would have never risen beyond deputy secretary level on merit, ruined the institutions of forestry out of vengeance and inflated pride.
This attempt of reform, therefore, should be commended as at least something new is being thought of and the need for reforms is being recognised with one caveat that the selection process should be fair, transparent and that commands respect from all and done through an independent body of experts.
The selected persons should have space for innovation and creativity and obsolete rules precedents et al should not come on the way of taking right decisions in the public interest. However, from the long-term point of view the whole gamut of Indian governance needs reforms. The system is criticised for its established procedures; too much emphasis on archaic rules and for abhorring creativity.
The bureaucracy, on the other hand, is essential for organising things and its contribution must not be undermined as the needs of well-trained civil services are all the more necessary in today’s federal set up as is an essential and continuous link between rival interests. In order to succeed, the bureaucracy must provide impersonal, specialised, honest leadership based on professional efficiency with a passion for public service. In an ideal scenario, the people should acquire positions, based on competence and skills, with a set-up guaranteeing them the power to lead.
The Government, in view of above, instead of piecemeal efforts, should gradually think of massive reforms of recruiting civil servants in the long run on the pattern of National Defense Academy after class 12 examinations, where they can be trained for another four to five years, given degrees on domain subjects and allotted to work in different organisations and achieve requisite expertise. An integrated pool at senior level needs to be constituted after further selection process to man the senior positions.
To begin with, these can be started now by amending the empanelment process by assigning this task to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and forming a senior management pool, drawn from all civil services to man the posts of the joint secretary.
This will bring domain-knowledge to the fore in job profiles, dedication, commitment and also establish a sense of camaraderie. This could prove to be beneficial for the bureaucracy as the present set-up breeds a false sense of pride among a few that results in internecine squabbles in which the sycophants and freebooters flourish at the cost of merit even in the same service. After all, bureaucratic virtues cannot be whisked away and without bureaucracy, an organisation will collapse.
(The writer is a retired civil servant)
Writer: V K Bahuguna
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Ram Navami in 2019 has coincided with elections, with the first of the seven phases of voting being already over. Every election, people try to elect a Government that meets their expectations, which is basically good governance. In the Indian ethos, Ram Rajya — the rule of Lord Ram in Ayodhya in the Treta era — is the epitome of good Governance. With Lord Ram being always talked about during election times, it is important to look for those practices which Lord Ram talked about as determinants of good governance. Great examples of wisdom are contained in stories and discussions of Ramayana. In the Valmiki Ramayana, we have Lord Ram in exile, living in the forest. Younger brother Bharat comes home and finds out what had happened in his absence and is shocked. He does not want his elder brother to be thus banished. So he goes to the forest and requests Shri Ram to return. This itself is a great lesson, given the lust to rule so prevalent today. The loyalty, the sense of togetherness, the ability to sacrifice one’s own personal gain is rare to find. Shri Ram, before answering his younger brother, enquires about the state of affairs in Ayodhya. This dialogue may be termed as a discourse on good governance. Shri Ram asks Bharat 75 questions: “Are you ruling the kingdom properly? Are you taking care of the elders?” And so on. These questions cover a wide range of topics related to governance of kingdoms. The eldest brother says, “Bharat, you are the king and you are on top no doubt. But the secret of successful administration is mantra (counsel).” The words in Sanskrit are, “Mantro vijaya-moolam hi.” Is the younger brother taking the advice of his team? Does he have good counsellors in the first place? In another stanza in the same section, Shri Ram is almost humorous. “When you take counsel from people, do you go for numbers or for quality? One sensible advisor is better than a thousand idiotic people to go on giving opinions.” There is another lesson on the crucial issue of time management. Shri Ram says, “Do you take up such tasks first where the investment is small but the rewards are high?” When we manage our time, we need to take up such activities first where we put in a little time and the benefits are large. Today, we call such jobs ‘high priority jobs.’ One of the biggest errors in time management is that we labour on less important matters. Stephen Covey puts it as “doing first things first”. Do not yield to urgency. Do not give in to any other temptations. Do truly important things first. And Shri Ram guides us to do important things first and then do them in time. Shri Ram also talks on economics. He asks Bharat, “Is your income larger than the expenditure?” He says, “Bharat, I hope your expenditure is not for the sake of undeserving.” And in the several stanzas that follow, he outlines for whom one should spend and for whom one should not. Similarly, there are lessons on all the critical aspects of governance. Who should be our ministers, who should be our advisors, how to dispense justice, etc. If we only take the Ramayana lessons seriously, there will be no need to hire foreign-trained consultants.
Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com
Writer: Pramod Pathak
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Visionaries such as Swami Vivekananda, Tagore and Sri Aurobindo showed how international relationships could impart a sound cultural knowledge and spiritual basem which can strengthen the moral basis of people
In times of rapid globalisation, open market, technological advancements and climate change, the world is getting more and more complex day-by-day. The situation is accentuated by insecurity, apprehensions, distrust and violence that confront practically every nation. Further, there was never so much competition among nations as it is at present. Indians understand these issues very well in the context of the perpetual state of aggression created by Pakistan against it.
Our country has done astonishingly well in creating global goodwill during the last five years as was evident from the support we got for the genuine and effective response to the Pulwama massacre, which was a massive and unprecedented act in the history of post-independent India. The strategy of renewing and refreshing past relationships has proved its worth beyond doubt. However, this cannot be an occasion to become sluggish. Instead, we must realise that much more needs to be done to sustain the international goodwill we earned and seriously delineate the elements required to further strengthen this bond. There are several areas of cooperation like trade and commerce, investment and production, collaborations in technology, transfer and the like but there are also long-term strategic imperatives that remain unmatched in giving soft-power dividends.
For ages, India has gone through this experience from its Asian neighbours, particularly the Southeast Asian segment. Indeed, we are proud of our past glory and its acceptance beyond sea shores. To cultivate new international relationships even with old friendly nations, one must realise the importance of acquaintance with history, culture and heritage on both sides. These play a significant role in furthering mutual understanding and refreshing cultural and emotional bonds. This familiarity is an essential support to comprehend the current situation and visualise its import in the emerging context. Strategic readiness in current times requires comprehension of ‘the pace of change’ in pragmatic terms. Common wisdom will be to learn from history, draw inspiration from it, know the present, and reshape it for a better future for the generations to come.
India is fortunate to have an unimpeachable and exemplary legacy of mutual relationships with the East Asian region. What has sustained this mutuality for ages? It cannot just be trade and commerce alone; though they remain a very strong cementing factor. We have to only delineate the essence of mutually constructive partnerships both in the past and the present. Initiatives like the ‘Act East’ policy deserve appreciation and strengthening, besides a constant vigil on elements who may be apprehensive about these developments.
Rabindranath Tagore had mentioned in one of his lectures that “it was often alleged that Asia will never progress as it has turned its face backward.” This acquisition has been proved wrong by Japan, China and India. Equally, if not more effectively, the South-East Asia region has proved it wrong. All nations have moved ahead without either disregard for their past or ignoring new knowledge. People of this region are not perpetually lost in the sweet slumber of the glory of the past; oblivious to the need to move ahead in times and with times. Probably realising this, Mahatma Gandhi had indicated that he would keep the windows and doors of his house open for fresh air — of ideas and knowledge — but refused to be blown off his feet by any. It is one thing to be proud of one’s history, culture, tradition of knowledge, growth, scriptures and literature but it is also necessary to examine whether all of this alone is sufficient for the times ahead?
Present international relationships require a very sensitive recall of the past and a realisation that these are the times of “equality of partnerships”, which must be dexterously harmonised and sustained. There are unique features in every culture, region, religion and civilisation. When dealing with Asian countries, one is often tempted to recall how Indian influence has reached far and beyond the sea shores, without any bloodshed and coercion. It was not part of any conquest or converting people to one preferred religion or “salvaging the souls of the savages” but an organised, respectful and mutually beneficial interaction and exchange of ideas and knowledge among equals. Trade and commerce featured prominently and strengthened bonds with the international community. Knowledge exchange brought people together in rather close bonds that went beyond the mundane requirements of human existence.
This makes one understand how scholarship, knowledge and wisdom can be exchanged to benefit both the interacting parties, lead to better and higher comprehension of humanity, happiness and harnessing respectfully the bounties of nature. In knowledge exchange, one can benefit only when both sides are respectful to each other, none is obsessed with being the giver, but are ready to accept knowledge and wisdom from the other side as well. The wisdom of the East does not belong just to one country of the region ie, India. One would be uncomfortable if in any reference to the glorious past of ours and its vast spread beyond the Indian borders, it is presented as everything flowing from “us” and being received by “them.”
Take for example, Indonesia or Thailand. One can say that these nations have far better comprehension of the need to sustain cultural continuity than we Indians. In Thailand, Ram, Ram Lila and Ayodhya enjoy respect at a level as is not — repeat not — being extended by a large number of Indians. The manner in which Indonesians have sustained and refined their culture presents much to be learnt by Indians. The Gita and Yoga could earn respect all around the globe but in India, one cannot include even a couple of shlokas — fully and totally secular — in the school textbooks.
Who are culturally more advanced? Are we ready to learn from others? Or are we too happy with our dream of becoming a Vishwa Guru again? In recollecting, refreshing and re-envisioning India’s relationship with Asian countries, the first caution is to forget the psyche of being the giver, being the Vishwa Guru. This concept — when devoid of the connected responsibility to set our own house in order — can create negative vibes among other people. We must now accept that knowledge, both secular and temporal, has been created and discovered in all parts of the globe — time, measure and magnitude can differ. Ancient Indians had really toiled hard on the terrain of knowledge quest and earned respect from all over. Are we doing the same now? This aspect should be paramount in present-day considerations.
A strife-torn world today must be looking towards India, conscious of its unique historical standing as a nation that had learnt to live together with every conceivable diversity, like that of ethnicity, language, religion and culture. The West is now facing problems arising out of a necessity to learn to live together with diversities. These have reached their doorsteps because of globalisation, ease of mobility in seeking greener pastures and have also forced migrations in search of security and livelihood. If India was still high on its record of social cohesion and religious amity, on adherence to joint family systems and social security, on basing its democracy on values defined by Gandhi and the spirit of freedom struggle, these nations would have flocked to India to learn more.
Deeply satisfied, they declare India as their guru without the latter itself making a claim. If we were a learning hub and had ancient higher learning institutions like Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramshila among others, the continuity of our gurudom would have been unchallenged. India needs to become a great global learning hub. Swami Vivekananda presented India’s past glory to the world, the values it had adhered to in the past and the concern it had shown towards the welfare of all without any discrimination. Vivekananda received global acclaim and admiration. He knew that this alone was not sufficient. He established the Ramakrishna Mission worldwide. Yes, you have to create institutions that prepare the people and give them true education. Let them comprehend that “education is the perfection already in man.”
Tagore had predicted that “India is destined to be the teacher of the world.” He did not travel the globe to declare that India would be the Vishwa Guru. Instead, he established institutions that had all the ingredients of a gurukula and every feature of a modern-day international knowledge hub. Similarly, this aspect was elaborated by Sri Aurobindo. He predicted that “India will be the moral leader of the world.” He established the Auroville Ashram in Pondicherry. All of these examples must give us an idea of how international relationships can indeed be given a sound cultural knowledge and spiritual base, to strengthen the moral basis of relationships. It was the continuity of this moral tradition that Gandhi included “commerce without morality” and “wealth without work” among the seven social sins that he published in 1925. Incidentally, it also included “knowledge without character.” India needs to relearn, and create knowledge hubs of its own.
(The writer is the Indian Representative on the Executive Board of UNESCO)
Writer: JS Rajput
Courtesy: The Pioneer
For those who cannot get enough of the bygone eras, a collection of three million stamps from the dominion of the Nizam of Hyderabad packages a nostalgic delight. Story by Chahak Mittal
Emails and messages have altered the way we sit and communicate. Purchasing stamps to post letters has become a bygone practice. We have lost the art of detailing and the pleasure of waiting to instant communication. Nevertheless, nostalgia continues to be the favourite among the ones who lived it, and as well the ones who have only heard of it through their ancestors.
Presented by the Gujral Foundation, Property of a Gentleman, Stamps from the Nizam of Hyderabad’s Dominions, a US-based collector Hanut Ewari has inherited a collection of rare stamps and stamp sheets from his grandfather, Nawab Iqbal Hussain, who also served as the postmaster general of Hyderabad under the reign of seventh and last ruling Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. The exhibition, curated by Pramod Kumar KG, showcases the collection that has grown under the stewardship of Ewari with a plethora of stamps from across the globe.
Says Pramod, “The oldest stamp in the Ewari collection is from 1866. The collection consists of more than three million stamps and valuable, unusual and representative pieces from across what were called the princely states, including related paraphernalia such as blind and wet stamps, invitation cards, original letters, calligraphy art, postcards, revenue stamps of the region, erroneous stamps, seals and monograms.”
Given that the stamps hail from the 1860s, they were in a very good shape and properly maintained when he first looked at them. He says that it is also an evidence of how the paper used for these stamps has yellowed but didn’t decay through the years. “They were properly maintained and in a healthy condition. We didn’t have to restore any of it,” informs Pramod.
Well, archives and repositories are much more than just shelves stacked with historical records. They are a crucial collection of the different kinds of material cultures inherited over the ages. The curator, who has been associated with a few national archives since a long time, believes that India, being a country with vast diversity and history, can easily use and develop more archives for a deeper understanding of history and hence, a better development of the future. He feels that we don’t know how to use our archives appropriately and effectively. “Museums and archives are a record that this existed and in a particular way. If we look at them closely, we will learn about things that are completely forgotten or ignored in the modern-day advancements. I feel that archives should be more than just about oral histories or past incidents. There is a lot to record for future references like poetry, transition in language, artifacts, writings, graphic art and various other things not talked about today,” says he.
He narrates that when the Ewari family approached him for the curation and presentation of their collection, he felt it was important since it “is something that will talk about the print history of India. These stamps reflect the postal history and transition of visual and graphic arts in the country. With the technological advancement, these objects, which once played an essential role in the communication network, seem insignificant.” He says that it important to make the current generation realise that they were originally used as modes of payment to transfer messages and facilitate revenue collection, and taxation.
The exhibition also aims to help people take into account that apart from their fiscal purposes, many states also utilised them as a way of celebrating the material heritage and culture of their region. The stamps show the use of exquisite calligraphy in diverse languages and architectural tropes that existed in the erstwhile Hyderabad.
Well, one of the most special elements of the exhibition, Pramod says, is the “focus on the architecture of the Nizam’s dominion” on the stamps. The collection also includes the first stamp ever issued by the Nizam government in the city; a wide range of postage stamps in different colours, values, inscriptions and sizes; stamps featuring monuments from across the Nizam’s dominion as well as the last stamp issued by the princely state, with the most special one being the rare stamps issued in the city to commemorate the victory of the Allied Powers in the Second World War.
“There is also Penny Black (the first adhesive postage stamp in the world in 1840), and a King George VI series of Indian postage stamps depicting different modes of transportation used to deliver mail,” he adds.
(The exhibition is on till March 24 at Bikaner House.)
Writer: Chahak Mittal
Courtesy: The Pioneer
As sultanate Oman has chosen for the path of peace, I would love to introduce it as the highest form of intellectual stimulation and to involve in discussions in a unique debate for the world problems. To make it happening, that the Arabic world was never used to. A conference where ideas are being respected, after all as we all know, the Oman and his Majesty Sultan Qaboos proved itself in the new dimension of civilization as well as in science, commercial values and the culture of the Humanistic -tradition.
The choice of Sultanate Oman will be offering the international oriental platform with the highest intellectual qualities. As we all know that the Arabic world as well as the western world is struggling with conflicts and how we will repeat the past with glory and not the mistakes (wars) of the past.Cases that do matter for both societies: Tolerance is required, a debate is required. In my point of view there is nothing called politics, there is something called economics. A mission has to be accomplished world wide.
In my opinion this must be the highest educational cultural intellectual moral awareness to teach the new generations how to deal with differentiation into societies in a peaceful matter. We want discussions to happen Boundaries to be set away. The Answer is taken with both cultural backgrounds the debate will bring people together. The new generations have to deal with the highest technical inventions that can bring the world together. Art, artists, philosophers, politicians, scientists and many distinguished guests of all religious parties will take place in Sultanate Oman to discuss future of the Middle east being affected by the West Vice Versa.
We shall discuss on an intellectual site in a humble and luxurious procedure with possibilities to open eyes and make the awareness happen. Dialogue will take place. People will be heard. Performances will happen with investments groups with projects that can put Sultanate Oman on the map of peace. Royalties do have a mission; they are decision makers for the best of their knowledge. every one of us must be guided. I think that Oman with the position in the Gulf region has been in this moment very crucial. It is having an excellent position to hold a masterpiece with a unique opportunity to deal with the topics.
Awareness has to be spread. We need international speakers that think and can inspire for finding solutions for a peaceful platform. Universities cannot do it alone; we need to give tools to our children, in cooperation with the government of Sultanate Oman. Poets will be heard, every Arab must be proud as H.M. Sultan Qaboos, the king of Oman just received the unique award of peacemaker man of the year. Let us make gardens and spread our borders, Let us hide from provoking wars. The great Arab culture and philosophy will lead to peace. With courage of knowledge we shall speak about all urgent questions. Let us talk of the nobility of the spirit of the new dimension of civilization. Let us make peace and build better tomorrow for the next generation.
(Dr Mohiba Khalil: The writer is an international peace ambassador and regular contributor to Opinion Express)
I remembered the first stanza of Rabindranath Tagore’s seminal poem Prasna (Question), written towards the end of his life, as I began writing this column. It reads in literal English translation: “God, you have sent messengers from age to age/To this compassionless world/ — They have said ‘forgive all’, said love/ — Destroy the poison of hatred from your hearts/they have been people to be respectfully welcomed and remembered, yet in these unfortunate days/we have turned them away from our outer door with futile salutation.”
Was Gandhi a messenger of God? Does Tagore’s lament apply to his case? He was certainly not a messenger if the word is taken to mean reincarnation; he himself had strongly denounced attempts at deifying him. He was, however, certainly so if the word is interpreted in the wider sense of being someone of towering stature spreading God’s message and applying it in practice. Deeply religious, Gandhi tirelessly strove to apply to both personal and public life the values of truth, compassion and non-violence enshrined in all religions.
His belief in truth had clearly prompted him to lay bare his weaknesses and inadequacies in My Experiments with Truth. His abiding faith in non-violence had led him to withdraw the non-cooperation movement, then at a high tide, after a mob had burnt alive 22 policemen in the local police station at Chauri Chaura in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur district on February 4, 1922, thereby courting intense unpopularity in some quarters. The savage communal violence in Noakhali, in which thousands of men were killed, women mass raped and property was systematically damaged on a large scale, shook him to his core. While there might have been other considerations such as continuing to wage his losing war against a partition of India, “it was”, in the words of Harijan, “the cry of outraged womanhood that had peremptorily called him to Noakhali.” The horrible atrocities perpetrated on women en masse had devastated the Mahatma emotionally and deeply violated his sense of morality.
Arriving in Noakhali in November 1946, Gandhi stayed on till March 1947, in the teeth of increasingly shrill attacks, verbally and in print, by communal groups associated with the Muslim League. The uneasy peace that had descended with his arrival continued even after his departure but many parts of the rest of India and Bengal continued to be wracked by periodic violence and India was partitioned. Towards the end of his life, he was increasingly haunted by a sense of failure. Nirmal Kumar Bose, pioneering anthropologist and a close associate of the Mahatma, has quoted him as saying, “My own doctrine was failing. I don’t want to die a failure….”
Some would consider him to have been a failure by looking at the outcome of what he tried to achieve. He could not stop Partition. Non-violence as a method, which played a major role in mobilising the masses for participation in the freedom struggle, has been swamped by an increasing resort to violent methods that began even before the communal riots had started with the Great Calcutta Killing (August 16-20, 1946). It now receives only lip service. The same goes for the values of truth, which few now seem to consider an end in itself, and compassion which, though not absent, moves a decreasing number of people.
From a historical perspective, however, it would be unrealistic to expect a massive transformation of Indian polity and society, and the lives of Indians, along the radically different lines prescribed by Gandhi, in the little over a century since his return to India. More than 2,000 years after the crucifixion, one finds that the ethical principles and conduct that Christ stood for are observed more in the breach in Christian countries.
Gandhi has provided a moral compass and a non-violent political trajectory to the world. The indication of the measure of his success would lie in the extent to — and the pace at which — people and nations adopt both. There have been significant developments. The values of truth and non-violence that Gandhi stood for, and the method of non-violent satyagraha that he applied in India’s freedom struggle, had deeply influenced Martin Luther King. His influence on Nelson Mandela is clear from the latter’s statement, made on being awarded the Nobel prize for peace in 1994, that he owed his success to Gandhi. One saw methods of protest, approximating his, in action in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989, in several cities, including Cairo, during the Arab Spring which began in 2010, arousing great hopes that ended in disillusionment, and several other places.
Yet, a very great deal of ground remains to be covered. What is needed is an increasingly powerful global mass movement propagating his ideals and implementing them through praxis. The first pre-requisite for its emergence would be keeping his ideals alive through political action, meetings, discussions, talks and writings. All of these continue, albeit primarily within academic precincts. There is also a growing corpus of Gandhiana containing volumes that are scholarly, readable and informative.
Particularly needed in the context of a mass movement, however, are books that bring Gandhi to life through photographs and readable prose. One that does this admirably is the historian Aparna Basu’s Gandhi’s Vision: Freedom and Beyond (2019), published by Niyogi Books. It covers the entire span of Gandhi’s activities from his life and movements in South Africa to his defining role in India’s freedom struggle and efforts to end communal violence and prevent the Partition of India. It puts his arrival and work in India in perspective by placing both in the background of the social, political, cultural and economic developments, and the reform movements that transformed India in the 19th century. It also dwells on the political movements that, gathering momentum from late 19th century and, involving direct action and the participation of a large section of the middle class during the movement against the Partition of Bengal in 1905, had laid the foundations of a national struggle that Gandhi transformed into a mass movement across the country.
The distinguishing feature of the publication, which combines scholarly knowledge with accessible prose, is the large number of photographs it carries, covering the entire range of Gandhi’s activities. This gives it the character of a pictorial biography which vividly recalls a time of great stirrings and upheavals and the man with the stick and steel-frame glasses who played a defining role in it.
(The writer is Consultant Editor, The Pioneer, and an author)
Writer: Hiranmay Karlekar
Courtesy: The Pioneer
As India celebrated its Republic Day, one’s mind goes to the Constitution and the wonderful promises it made. The most poetic of them all is liberty, equality and fraternity, a vow taken from the central slogan of the French Revolution that began in 1789. The three words incidentally contain a harmless contradiction; namely, that liberty and equality cannot go together. If a society wants to have equality, it has to willy-nilly curb liberty. If say, the income of all its citizens is desired to be equal or equable, inevitably, the Government must place control on higher incomes. And, perhaps, also add subsidy to the lowest incomes. An extreme of this social desire was tried by the communist states led by the Soviet Union.
The contradiction between liberty and equality has best been illustrated by the Hindu faith in karma. How can any society place control over good or better karma? And if a person’s karma is excellent, his bhagya or luck is also likely to be commensurate. How can the society or its Government curb it in order to ensure equality among the citizens? If a person with poor karma performance is expected to have poor luck, he could be subsidised or even fed and clothed for free. But what about the other facets of good luck rewards? Then there is also the risk of the Government running out of money if too many of its citizens are unlucky, poor and need subsidies.
Article 15(1) states: “The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.” This Article is commendable in insisting that there would be no discrimination on any ground. In other words, it means absolute equal treatment by the state. Yet, Article 30 promises minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions. “(i) All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.” This stands in contradiction of Article 15. It gives this right and freedom to the minorities, which are not allowed to be members of the majority community, namely the Hindus. Minorities comprise mainly Muslims. Christian schools are in such demand that they normally face no problem, nor do the linguistic minorities encounter any difficulties. Article 30 (1A) gives the minorities the privilege of being assured the allocation of land that is affordable by the proposed school or its society.
A more fundamental question arises out of this inequality. That was raised by Acharya Justice Dr Durga Das Basu, who rightly contended that a minority, which deserves such special privilege or protection, is one which became one (a minority) by circumstances beyond its influence or control like a war between two or more countries. In the case of Muslims of the sub-continent, it is they who demanded a separate homeland, a Darul Islam or a New Medina called Pakistan. And it had to be granted by the departing British rulers and conceded to by the Congress because the Muslim electorate in the 1945/46 general elections overwhelmingly voted for Pakistan. To quote from Hamid Khan’s authoritative book, Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan: “The results showed a decisive victory for the idea of Pakistan. The League won all Muslim seats in the Central Assembly and 446 out of a total 495 Muslim seats in provincial Assemblies. In Bengal, the Muslim League won 113 out of a total 119 Muslim seats and was able to form a Government with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy as Chief Minister. In the Punjab, the Muslim League captured 79 out of 86 Muslim seats. In Sindh, a Muslim League Ministry was formed. Only in the North-West Frontier Province did the League fall short of a majority by winning only 17 out of a total of 36 Muslim seats. These elections proved conclusively that the Muslim League alone represented the Muslims of India.”
Partition was the single-point manifesto of the Muslim League, which obtained nearly unanimous support in the elections. The League’s proposal, repeated by MA Jinnah and seven of his senior colleagues, was that there should be an exchange of population. Thereby, ideally, all Muslims should gather in Pakistan and all non-Muslims would emigrate to Hindustan. Justice Gopal Das Khosla, ICS, was commissioned to survey the Punjab and report on the immediate post-Partition situation. The report was printed in an Oxford University Press published book entitled Stern Reckoning: A Survey of the Events Leading Up to and Following the Partition of India. Therein, the Justice wrote that an exchange of population was an integral part of Partition. After all, the vivisection of the country was necessary because as Jinnah said that Hindus and Muslims could not co-exist in the same country. If they were able to co-exist, where would be the need for the division?
Article 27 states, “Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion. No person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination.” The writer petitioned the Supreme Court in 2007, requesting that the Haj subsidy be withdrawn as the Constitution declares that India is a secular country. If, however, the Government was not prepared to do so, he should be exempted from the payment of Income Tax. The subsidy was paid from the consolidated fund of India as the Income Tax was credited to the same fund. Four years later, Justice Markandey Katju delivered a long judgement. Its gist was that the Haj subsidy was like an expenditure made by the Government as incidental to maintaining law and order at the Kumbh Mela or on making arrangements for a visit to Mansarovar. To reduce or abolish the Haj subsidy would damage the edifice of secularism that Jawaharlal Nehru had so painstakingly built.
The following year, namely 2008, Justice Aftab Alam decided, in a petition filed by one Syed Intesar Mehdi, that the Haj subsidy should be progressively reduced and discontinued in the course of 10 years. The subsidy was not in conformity with the tenets of Islam, the judgement said. Incidentally, the late Syed Shahabuddin, IFS and a former MP, had told this writer twice that this subsidy should be gradually withdrawn. So much for the implementation of our secular Constitution.
In conclusion this writer would like to quote Acharya Basu from his book, Introduction to the Constitution of India, 2002, that makes a telling point: “The leaders of divided India incorporated in their draft Constitution, certain safeguards for minorities, notwithstanding the Partition, because they refused to concede on the principle that the Muslims in India constituted a separate nation. That India constituted one nation, whose unity and integrity must be maintained, was proclaimed in the very Preamble of the draft Constitution of divided India. The Muslims, who did not go to Pakistan, did so with their eyes open to this Preamble and the safeguards for minorities included in the Constitution.”
(The writer is a well-known columnist and an author)
Writer: Prafull Goradia
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Delivering a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1979 ‘Message of Compatriots in Taiwan’ on January 2, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “A Taiwan independent from mainland China is not an option and no person or party can stop the trend towards unification.” Xi also reportedly said that China would not renounce the idea of using force to re-unify Taiwan with China. He further said, “Independence would only bring profound disaster for Taiwan” and assured the island a bright future under a “one-country, two-system framework.”
In an equally strong reply to President Xi’s speech, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen argued that her Government does not accept the “1992 Consensus,” and emphasised that a vast majority of Taiwanese stand resolutely opposed to “one country, two systems.” She further said that the development of cross-strait relations must be based on “the four musts”: China must face the reality of the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and not deny the democratic system that the people of Taiwan have established together; China must respect the commitment of the 23 million people of Taiwan to freedom and democracy and not foster divisions and offer inducements to interfere with the choices made by the people of Taiwan; China must handle cross-strait differences peacefully, on the basis of equality, instead of using suppression and intimidation to get Taiwanese to submit; and it must be the Government or Government-authorised agencies that should engage in the negotiations. Any political consultation that is not authorised or monitored by the people cannot be called “democratic consultation.” This is Taiwan’s position, a democratic one.
Of course, the tension between Taiwan and China is not new. In fact, the genesis of the conflict between them goes back to 1949, when losing the mainland China to the Mao-led Communist Party of China, Chiang Kai-Shek retreated to Taiwan, establishing Taipei as the capital of the Republic of China Government. Subsequently, China and Taiwan claimed to represent all of China.
The ouster of Taiwan from the membership of the United Nation General Assembly and its Security Council as well as the US’ decision to recognise China as a country, ending its diplomatic ties with the Republic of China in 1979, boosted China’s position against Taiwan. At the same time, the Chinese leadership focussed on using the 1992 Consensus between representatives of the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang (KMT) party of Taiwan as the strongest tool to claim Taiwan as a part of China.
However, since President Tsai came to power in 2016, she made one thing very clear that her Government does not recognise the 1992 Consensus. At the same time, Tsai’s New Southbound policy to strengthen Taiwan’s ties with Southeast Asian countries and build a strong relationship with South Asian countries, including India, and other developments caused heartburn in the Chinese leadership. As if these developments were not enough for China to initiate punitive actions against Taiwan, US President Donald J Trump’s special focus on elevating ties with Taiwan accentuated the rift between China-Taiwan relations. This is evident from the fact that after being elected as President, Trump received a telephone call from Tsai Ing-wen and also initially questioned the ‘One China Policy.’ Trump signed into law the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for the 2018-19, which mentions strengthening defence partnership between the US and Taiwan as continuing US legal commitments.
The NDAA also stated that the US should invite Taiwan to participate in military exercises and consider re-establishing port-of-call exchanges between the navies of the two sides. Trump signing the Taiwan Travel Act cleared the way for the visit of high-ranking officials to Taiwan. A new de facto US Embassy was inaugurated in Taipei, among other things. In December 2018, the US President signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, which reiterates American commitment “to counter efforts to change status quo and support peaceful resolution acceptable to both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”
In turn, while China has been extensively using its economic power to force several countries — Nigeria, Panama and others — to de-recognise Taiwan as an independent country, it also opened a new air route over the narrow Taiwan Strait separating China and Taiwan and has been carrying out military details in the vicinity. China put pressure on the International Civil Aviation Organisation to not initiate Taiwan as a guest of the Icao Assembly in September 2016. Beijing wrote letters, asking dozens of international airlines to change the way they refer to Taiwan on their websites and threatened to disrupt their operations in China if they did not comply.
Amid China’s offensive strategy against Taiwan, the defeat of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the local elections of Taiwan encouraged Beijing because the Chinese leadership saw the DPP’s electoral loss as the rejection of the Tsai Government’s efforts to make Taiwan an independent country. At the same time, the victory of the KMT in the elections was a welcome development, given its pro-China stand. In fact, Chinese state-run media depicted the election reversals as a vindication of Xi’s measures to isolate Taiwan and undercut its international standing.
But the fact remains that the defeat of the DPP in the local elections must not be seen as an indication of the change in the thinking of the people of Taiwan as far as the country’s independence and sovereignty are concerned. The reality is that in a poll, 75 of the Taiwanese respondents saw China and Taiwan as two different states. Viewing mainland China as a perverted form of Chinese culture, Taiwanese also consider their culture and tradition as pure Chinese and feel proud of their democratic institutions, freedom of Press and other liberal values. They do not want to give up these hard-earned markers.
To argue that the DPP’s loss in the elections resulted from the Tsai Government’s assertive policy towards China would be misplaced. In fact, a number of domestic issues, including her Government’s labour and pension policy, Tsai’s poor leadership, lack of strong strategy, her Government’s performance on marriage and economic policy among others were responsible for the DPP’s loss in the elections. On the other hand, the KMT planned an effective election strategy to defeat the DPP.
While saying that the use of military power cannot be ruled out to bring Taiwan under the control of China, the Chinese President completely overlooked the fact that today, Taiwan enjoys strong ties, although unofficial, with a number of countries, including all the other major powers of the world. It is also a fact that countries across the globe have recognised Taiwan as a champion of democratic institutions. At the same time, it is also a core interest of the US to see Taiwan flourish as a promising democratic and independent country. Given the fact that the people of Taiwan are aware of China’s dubious stand on ‘one country, two systems’ in Hong Kong and Tibet, Xi could not win over Taiwanese with these tactics.
Thus, it is imperative for the Chinese leadership to recognise the direction of the wind as far as the China-Taiwan issue is concerned. Any provocative statement will only make the people of Taiwan more resilient against China. At the same time, it is also the responsibility of the global community to see that Taiwan must remain a strong democratic country. It is only through peace talks that the two sides can end conflict, leading to strengthening peace, security and development in the Taiwan strait and the region.
(The writer is Visiting Fellow, National Chengchi University, Taipei, and Research Fellow, Maulana Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata)
Writer: Sumit Kumar
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Media is the sword arm of democracy and is also considered as the reflection of our society. It depicts how the circle works. This is the reason why it is often said that media has today become the voice of our society.
The extensive impact of media can easily be seen these days in the front page of news papers or during primetime debates on major news channels. The subject matter of most of these debates are mostly the interaction of eminent persons among themselves or with the people. These important figures may be the present heads of various countries or elected representatives, or they may be well-known because of their participation in some past movements or present one’s. But, a special feature of our times is that the rise of a particular person to eminence is due, in no small measure, to the publicity he receives in the media in his own country and or abroad.
Its obvious when so many media persons interview and publicise certain people, they tend to take the centrestage and gain stature or have a steep fall in public eye. More important than this, however, is the fact that in their search for dominant persons and news, media ends up giving more importance to the people who are not that prominent. In doing this, the media becomes not merely instruments for diffusion of information but also the creators of history.
The image or personality of a public leader is, thus, the joint effort of the individual concerned and of all those who interact with him. But, in this whole process, the role of the media is of great consequence. When media men give sharp profiles of and endow a person with greatness — political, religious or economic — they influence the formation of individual personalities. In this sense, the emergence and prominence of public figures is due to a considerable extent, to the mass media.
The media thus participates actively in the formation of the eminent personalities. No doubt that it plays a major role in forming a positive as well as a negative image of an individual. By reporting about a person in their columns or putting one on big T.V. screens, media intensifies a person’s sense of personality. His personality traits which were nebulous before now become concretised or crytallised in a particular form. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the media persons to be careful and selective in reacting positively or negatively in profiling persons. It has a great responsibility being the fourth pillar of democracy along with judiciary, executive and legislature. Media of today has an all embracing role to act against the injustice, oppression, misdeeds and partiality of our society.
The recent events in few states of India as well as in countries like UK and US were to a great extent, a creation of the media reports and the media comments. Hence, if the media persons look upon their work as of great responsibility, they would do better service to mankind as shaping the public opinion is one of the most crucial function of media.
Writer: Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj Ji
Courtesy: The Pioneer
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