Indian Diary

Military aid to Sri Lanka

According to a report in the Indian press, Indian Cabinet panel has refused military aid to Sri Lanka.

It is difficult to say whether Sri Lankan Govt. failed to lobby the case in its right perspective or Indian Govt.'s appreciation of problem and response has been inadequate, under pressure from the regional Tamil outfits.

India's stand that Colombo should look for a peaceful solution and work for the devolution of powers to the Tamils, gives the impression that New Delhi doesn't want to stir hornet's nest and will not do anything which disturbs its delicate and fragile balance of support at the center. My views which I have sent to the media in India also are as under:

(1) Sri Lanka is our neighbour as are Pakistan and Bangladesh. Rather in Sri Lanka we have a neighbour who has never been a source of trouble for us. It is also true that our foreign Policy issues in respect of Pakistan and Bangladesh are not allowed to be influenced by the feelings and dictates of the regional outfits of the States bordering Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Therefore, in all fairness, foreign policy matter involving Sri Lanka should also be independent of the feelings of the regional Tamil Outfits. Agreed, Sri Lanka has substantial population of Tamils but that holds true for Bangladesh also where there is a considerable population of Bengalis.

(2) LTTE's ability to make aerial attacks cannot be ignored by India. A terrorist outfit acquiring capability to make aerial attacks at a striking distance from the Indian border needs to be viewed seriously not only by Colombo but by India also, in the interest of peace and stability in South Asia.

(3) It is also a fact that LTTE enjoys the dubious reputation of being the world's most deadly guerrilla force. Such outfits have no principles, loyalties or a sense of belonging.

If they could kill Rajiv Gandhi, they can also join hands with terrorist outfits already in operation in India and with Naxals who are spreading their wings in India at a menacing rate. Therefore, LTTE is a threat not only to Colombo but to India also.

(4) Agreed, Sri Lanka should not be given arms supply if its objective is to militarize itself, but arm supply to demolish the newly acquired air facility by a terrorist group like LTTE which is a danger also to India should be considered especially when the last two attacks have exposed Sri Lanka's vulnerability.

(5) There is no denying that devolution of powers to Tamils in Sri Lanka is an essential requisite for good governance and peace in the Island but that aspect has to be appreciated and handled by Colombo establishment and I believe they are already working on that. But, India cannot put itself in an advisory role and that cannot be the condition to help the neighbour in need.

If we look at the other side, India has miserably failed in getting the basic rights to Hindu minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Again it is not a right approach to mix LTTE issue with empowerment of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Even if India is worried about Tamils in Sri Lanka, the issue has to be taken up on a separate forum.

Dayanidhi Maran's resignation presents an unedifying and ludicrous spectacle of Indian Politics.

Coalition culture of which our political class feels proud of.

Salient features

The other major story of the week that grabbed headlines in the press was India's Ex Communication and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran's sudden and swift exit from the Union cabinet in deference to the wishes of his grand uncle and DMK patriarch Karunanidhi.

This episode presents a very ludicrous picture of Indian political system.

The issues surfaces are, 1. PM is reduced to a rubber stamp. 2. Now there is a quota in the Ministry also. 3. Where is the freedom of expression? 4. Our family centric democracy.

According to the country's constitution, it is the prerogative of the Prime Minister (PM) to select members for his Cabinet team, who are then appointed by the President. But, in this case, a high performer like Dayanidhi is ordered to be removed by somebody who is not supposed to have any say in Ministry formation, against the wishes of the PM.

In a way prerogative of the PM is snatched in a blatant manner by a person who should have no say in the Cabinet formation. In the process PM is reduced to a rubber stamp as at one time we used to say about our President.

There is a quota in govt. jobs, and then there is a quota in educational institutions, now there is a quota in the Ministry. In the name of coalition dharma, coalition partner can send any person irrespective of whether he is approved by the PM and again can press for a ministry of its choice. In a way, the president of the political outfit will rule at the centre through his hand picked man. Thus it is not wrong to say that there exists a quota system which sans merit, in the Union Cabinet also.

Karunanidhi's disapproval to the publishing of opinion poll by Dinakaran, a Tamil newspaper clearly sends a message that freedom of expression is there till it suits the big boss. Why condemn our Ex-PM Indira Gandhi for forcing emergency in 1975, when the present breed can stoop still lower.

So family centric has become our democratic system that now Karunanidhi is thinking of sending his daughter Kanimozhi to Rajya Sabha as his new face in Delhi. In a nutshell son should control the State and the daughter should control at the center taking advantage of the present system. Sometime back MDMK's Vaiko, once close to Karunanidhi too had to resign because he was seen overshadowing his son Stalin.

Here it is worth mentioning that Dayanidhi played a spectacular innings as a Minister which gets reflected by the mind-boggling figures in respect of growth in his tenure.

It was he who raised foreign direct investment in telecom to 74 percent and consequently between February 2005 to April 2007, the 26 months he was a Minister for Communication, India received foreign investment worth Rs. 266,000 crores out of which Rs. 47,000 crore, went to Tamil Nadu.

The number of software and hardware firms that have set up shops in Chennai and around in the last three years bear testimony to the grand job he did for his State and people.

Thus he served his country, served his State and while doing so if his family empire also grew by leaps and bounds, there is nothing unusual in the present era of Indian Politics. (His elder brother runs a business whose fortunes are affected by the decisions his ministry was taking) It is being said that his business success had made Karuna's sons jealous.

Common man in Sri Lanka can breathe easy

While travelling from Colombo to Kandy by an A.C Bus I was pleasantly shocked when the conductor asked me to pay Rs. 180 only ( Sri Lankan currency). In India I would have paid Sri Lankan Rs. 500 for the same journey.

I was told by a fellow passenger that if I had opted for an ordinary bus the fare would have been just Rs. 80. In India the average bus fares are 2.5 times of what the Sri Lankans pay.

Train travel which I don't think many people undertake in Sri Lanka, is also very cheap. For food items Sri Lankans pay less than what an average Indian is paying at present. Good Apparels are available at half the cost at what we pay in India.

If the report given to me that education up to the degree level which includes professional courses also, is free, then I must say that the life of a common man in Sri Lanka is far more comfortable than his counterpart in India.

Far less beggars, fewer slums, comparatively low pollution level, less traffic jams contribute to better ambience and give a better image at least to an Indian. There looks to be good stress on Human development in the context of the common man. But, all services which are in the hands of private agencies like Taxis, three wheelers, and laundry, etc, are costlier than in India but then a common man hardly uses these.

To me, freedom of expression, devolution of power upto the lowest rung, democratic system which gives equal rights to all citizens, are the things which any nation should strive to achieve and feel proud of but all these have a little meaning if majority population remains deprived of basic needs of life- food, education, drinking water and roof on the head.

Again any growth which leads to inequality is inimical to the peace of the country and can invite problems in the long run. Sri Lankan's record on human development index and equality index is worthy of appreciation and emulation by its neighbour India.

In my opinion, Sri Lankan Govt. despite having been hamstrung by LTTE problem is a Welfare State in its true sense.

From Free Market Driven Economy to a controlled Economy

India prided itself when after ten years of reforms it projected itself as a free market driven economy to the world business community and it paid rich dividends in the sense that all foreign companies looked keen to do business with India and many opened their shops here.

At the same time, Indian companies also made a growing presence in foreign countries. Indian companies in the last few years have bought a few giant foreign companies in Steel, Aluminum, automobiles, auto components, hospitality business and Whiskies apart from creating production facilities at a number of places around the globe.

But, the present UPA Govt. wilted under the high inflation of 6% which in the last two years witnessed prices of eatables and food grains going through the roof. Under the situation, UPA's anxiety to control inflation is understandable, but after getting panicky consequent to electoral reverses, the measures it has initiated are not going to impact vast majority of common men who have very little to do with Cement and Steel, two commodities which have come under the price regulation.

It points to Government's flawed perception of poor and poverty. On the other hand, price control on cement and steel is sending wrong signals to the business community across the globe. General opinion is that economic reforms have stuck and government is moving in a backward direction. It is no wonder that affluent US investors prefer China to India.

At the same time appreciating rupee against US$ and other currencies has made the life of exporters very tough. (appreciation is around 10% in the last six months) Small exporters especially who deal in Garments are badly hurt and have started complaining loudly about the appreciating rupee.

Caste System in India

Today when the fate of electoral battles in India depends on how best a political party has done the caste arithmetic, it is worth knowing about the caste system in India. There is no mention of anything like the caste system in Vedas which are considered to be the original source of what is now called the Hindu Religion.

The Vedic period dates back to around 5000 B.C. It is said that the caste system was introduced at around 2000 B.C. for the sake of social order and social welfare by sage Manu. The laws and bylaws of caste system and rules for the ideal living, good governance and ideal conduct are contained in his book Manu Smrutis.

Under the system, each individual had a role to play according to his mental and physical endowments to ensure provision of services and goods to the masses. Thus the system of division of society into castes as enunciated by Sage Manu was not hereditary as is generally believed.

Sage Manu divided the society into four classes -Brahmin -who should be well read, altruistic and capable of imparting religious teachings to other classes and should be able to distinct himself with his knowledge.

Kashtriya -who is in the warfare and is judged by his prowess, Vaishya -who is in the business and is judged by the material wealth in his possession. Shudra- He who fails to acquire education and at the same time does not possess the attributes to be amongst Kashtriya and Vaishya.

He was expected to be in the service of the other three classes or do such jobs which were of manual nature involving bodily skills.

Such division of society remained in practice till the time of Mahabharata but after that, as the decline of values started, the vested interests amongst Brahmins in order to see that their dominance becomes a family business and it runs from one generation to another, made this system hereditary, i.e., by birth, by presenting a wrong interpretation of Manu Samriti.

Such vested interests started bringing out the revised texts of the holy books with interpolations which might suit their designs.

With the result, the caste system became increasingly obnoxious by the fact that four original castes steadily mushroomed into 4000 main castes and countless sub-castes. This division of society led to inter and intra caste wars between 'haves' and 'have nots'.

How badly this caste system has divided the Indian society gets reflected by these facts - in ninety five percent of the marriages in Hindus, caste is a main factor. Inter -caste marriages are frowned upon and in some cases boy and girl have to face extrication from their respective communities.

There are number of such community services like Wells for drinking water in the villages which cater to the needs of a particular community only and if a person of lower community uses that, he is at the risk of being taken to task. There are temples in villages which have two doors one for the high castes known as twice born and other for lower class known as the children of lesser God.

Even still worse is the existence of untouchability among different sub- castes in Dalits. For example, a son of a cobbler considers himself to be higher than the son of a scavenger and refuses to share his food with him.

These children of lesser God are untouchable not only when they are alive but even after their death also. In Kerala, there are separate cemeteries for the untouchables. The caste based reservations in the educational institutions have further aggravated the situation. At student level itself, young boys and girls start experiencing the discrimination because of the caste they had acquired by birth.

In the nineteenth century which is considered to be the period of renaissance in Indian context, various reformers raised voice against this wrong practice and advocated the spread of education to eradicate this social evil. It had its salutary effects and people started rising above caste considerations. At that point, it was being felt that with the spread of education, caste system would meet its natural death.

Even those who have converted from Hinduism are motivated to practice caste system for the votes and what is paradoxical that though Christianity, Islam and Buddhism do not sanction caste system but when the followers of these religions clamour for caste based reservations, their religious leaders also choose to remain silent for the fear of losing numbers. With the result today untouchability exists in India amongst Christians, Muslims and Buddhists also.

Under the situation caste system looks to stay even when our country attains cent percent literacy.

Sacred space

'The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.' 'Justice that love gives is surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment' 'Must I do all the evil I can before I learn to shun it? Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up.'

Mahatma Gandhi

'He who has conquered himself by the self is the friend of himself, but he whose self is unconquered, his self acts as his own enemy like an external foe.'

'A stable mind is one which remains unperturbed amid joys and sorrows, is free from passion, fear and anger and is unattached to worldly pleasures.' Bhagavad-Gita- This holy book contains the sermons of Hindu Lord Shri Krishna.