Syria : Soaked in blood

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Asia

“We ask for nothing from the world,except for coffins, since there are not enough of them here for our bodies”, says an anguished tweet from Homs.

 

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File photo

OnFebruary 3, 1982 Bashar Assad’s father, Hafez, unleashed an artillery assault on the city of Hamathat left some 20000 dead. This month, on the same date, Bashar Assad is believed to have decided to unleash untold repression on the city ofHoms, the hub of the current Syrian uprising. His forces are chasing, capturing and executing young men at random as if to meet some pre-fixed targets.

 

The world continued to watch helplessly as the death toll in Syria was reported to have exceeded 7000 this month. Of course, the Security Council met once again and discussed a resolution endorsing the Arab League plan for Bashar Assad to step down, hand over power to his Vice President and fresh elections at the earliest.

 

The resolution was duly vetoed by Russia and China as always. It was vetoed by Russia because Tartus in Syria is Russia’s only military base outside the erstwhile Soviet Union. It was vetoed by China because of its economic and energy interests and its general distaste for external interventions in any country’s internal affairs.

 

The western countries continued to wring their hands in impotent rage. They accusedRussiaandChinaof having granted a license to Bashar Assad to kill his own people. They also jointly withdrew their Ambassadors from Damascus and took the matter to the UN General Assembly where there is no veto power. The UN General Assembly voted 137-12 in favour of the resolution with 17 abstentions. In fact, more countries wanted to vote in favour of the resolution but could not do so due to some technical problems with the voting machine.North Korea,Iran,Venezuela and Cuba voted along with Russia and China against the resolution. The Arab countries stood strongly in favour of the resolution.

 

“We ask for nothing from the world, except for coffins, since there are not enough of them here for our bodies” says an agonized tweet from Homs. The Syrian army is boasting that the latest offensive launched this month would decapitate all resistance to the regime. Looking at the intensity of the offensive and the fire power deployed, they might well be right. The military has been showering artillery and rocket fire on Baba Amr and Khaldiyeh, two rebel held districts of the city ofHoms,Syria’s third largest. They have also attacked the nearby town of Rastan, the mountain resort of Zabadani, the city of Idlib, close toTurkeyand several other towns. Independent reports suggest that nearly hundred persons are falling victim to this intense fire every day.

 

In other words, Bashar Assad has launched a war against his own people. In a similar situation in Libya, the western countries had imposed an air embargo onLibya, thereby, immobilizing the regime’s forces, preventing them from launching any meaningful action   against the protesters. All indications are that this savage offensive by the regime may succeed this time in containing the protests though that should be cold comfort to Bashar Assad. He does not seem to be realizing that 2012 is not 1982 and the world has changed considerably since then.

 

Regardless of whether his current offensive succeeds or not, Bashar Assad’s days are clearly numbered. In the eyes of most people in Syria, the government is utterly discredited and has no right to continue to rule. Even in the areas that seem to have been brought by the security forces under some kind of control, a cold fury rages in the hearts of the people which keeps erupting in small actions from time to time.

 

According to Israeli intelligence, serious cracks are developing inSyria’s command structure with officers speaking of the need to replace Bashar Assad and his clan.  However, even if one discounts this intelligence as motivated, the fact remains that there are increasing defections from the ranks of the Syrian security forces which is evident from the increasing resistance being put up by the Free Syrian Army. Almost every Syrian is convinced that Bashar Assad will eventually have to go.

 

He is offering negotiations and has even called for a referendum by the end of this month on some of his so-called constitutional reforms. The reforms mooted by him are, indeed, far-reaching and include multi-party elections and a maximum of two 7-year terms for the president. But the time for peaceful negotiations is over. Nobody trusts him today and everyone wants him not only to retire but to be executed. The western countries have described the proposed referendum on Feb.26 as laughable.

 

 Marie Colvin, an American Sunday Times reporter, and Remi Ochlik, a French photographer.have been reportedly killed in  Homs after shells hit the building in which they were staying. ZeiTGeiST ASIA mourns this loss and offers it’s condolences to their friends and family.

 

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U.P.Polls Phase 5- Rahul Gandhi’s baptism by fire

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Asia

ZeiTGeiST Perspectives

UP_election_phase_5_2G_Scam_Zeitgeist_asia

The return of the mandate

Sure enough he has participated in elections before. But, this time, it is for real, and he has raised the stakes himself.

 

The bugle has been sounded; the alliances have been struck; the strategies planned and the forces martialled. The political parties have gone, literally, into full-throated battle. No, it is not a battle for Delhi, the modern visage of Hastinapur. Yet, it is a battle whose outcome will impact who rules Delhi and how well until 2014.

 

Last year’s elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puduchhery were important in their own ways. For starters, the outcome in West Bengal increased the clout of Trinamool Congress versus the Congress within the ruling UPA, thereby, re-inforcing the political stalemate at the centre. The adverse impact on the Congress was offset to some extent by the decline in DMK’s clout at the centre due to its defeat in the Tamil Nadu elections.

 

Another beneficial impact of last year’s contest on the Congress, which leads the coalition government at the centre, came from the near decimation of the Left in Kerala andWest Bengal. The left has traditionally enjoyed a say in policy formulation at the centre totally disproportionate to its electoral success, based almost entirely on its lung power. It almost lost its voice with the drubbing it got last year in its strongholds ofWest Bengaland Kerala. The Congress party got a further boost with its re-election inAssameven though that was quite expected after Sheikh Hasina’s government inBangladeshhad handed over the ULFA leadership toIndiaalmost on a platter.

 

The net outcome of last year’s elections was, therefore, positive for the Congress though it did not get translated into more purposeful governance at the centre. The elections this year are even more significant mainly because of involvement of Uttar Pradesh (UP) which sends the largest contingent of eighty MPs to parliament. In Uttar Pradesh, the main contest appears to be between the two regional players, the BSP and the SP, with the national parties, the Congress and the BJP, playing only side roles.

 

Amongst other states going to the polls, Manipur is almost a foregone conclusion with practically no opposition presence.Goa and Uttrakhand are much too small to make any major impact at the national level, though in both these States, the Congress and the BJP confront each other directly.  InPunjab, the Congress party is banking on the anti-incumbency factor though the ruling Akali Dal – BJP combine is fairly well-entrenched.

 

The real importance of these elections lies, however, not in who comes to rule these different states at the end of the process in March but the message which the voters send to the national political leaders in the country. For the last two years, the UPA government at the centre has practically been in a kind of a political paralysis because of the corruption scams that have come tumbling out, one after the other. The allies forming the government at the centre have been taking turns sulking over some issue or the other. The anti-corruption crusader, Anna Hazare, has been breathing down the government’s neck, insisting on the adoption of his Jan Lok Pal bill.

 

On the economic front, inflation has nibbled away more than 1/5th of middle class incomes with the recently depreciating rupee taking away another 1/4th. GDP growth has been declining and markets have been sluggish throughout. Tax revenues have been substantially below expectations with the government having to resort to ever increasing public borrowings to sustain its massive welfare programmes. Yet, the government has been unable to take any critical political decisions because of the political pressures from its political allies and an aggressive opposition.

 

In a situation like this, the best course generally available to a beleaguered government is to ask the people for a fresh mandate. Since the general elections in the entire country are too costly an affair, elections to a few States, which are in any case due, serve the same purpose of ascertaining the wishes of the people about the way forward out of the situation.

 

The results of these elections will, for instance, indicate the extent to which the electorate has internalized its disgust with the phenomena of corruption in high places. The results will also have a bearing on the continuing relevance of Anna Hazare and his fasts against corruption. The results will also constitute, this time, a verdict on whether corruption scams are going to affect the voting behaviour of the people or whether they are nothing more than a source of middle class amusement.

 

If the congress party, for instance, succeeds in wresting Punjab and Uttrakhand, retains Goa and Manipur and does reasonably well in Uttar Pradesh, it can press ahead the passing of its own Lok Pal bill during the budget session because Anna Hazare would then have been seen to be unable to make any impact on the voting behaviour of the electorate. And there is nothing else the politicians really care about. The Congress in that case, will also be able to pick and choose new allies, asking the existing ones to go sulk elsewhere.

 

If, on the contrary, the BJP were to retain Uttrakhand as well as its government in alliance with the Akali Dal in Punjab, win back Goa and do better than the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, it would be in ascendance and might even attract more allies for its National Democratic Alliance which could have a significant bearing on the 2014 elections. The Anna Hazare movement would then get a further boost leading to increased demoralization amongst Congressmen.

 

If that were to happen, the demand for making Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister would reach a crescendo within the Congress party because the Congressmen will see that as the only way in which they can fight back and try to reverse the trend. That is the reason the ongoing elections to five States are important in more ways than one.

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Kingfisher – Clipped Wings – Others aren’t flying high either.

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Asia

Is FDI  a panacea for the aviation sector ?

-          Prof. A C Prashanth Kumar

In the last three years, the civil aviation sector has suffered huge losses. Capital inadequacy is only one of the contributing factors.

After FDI in multi-brand sector, now it is the turn of Aviation sector. The UPA government is keen to open-up the aviation sector to foreign investment in domestic airlines to the extent of 49%. Current rules already permit that but foreign airlines, per se, cannot invest, either directly or indirectly.

In the last three years, the civil aviation sector has suffered losses of Rs 20,000 crore and is estimated to have posted losses of over Rs 3,500 crore in the first six months of 2011.  Some of the airlines posted losses in 2011 even though they had made profits in the comparable period last year. For instance, for the quarter ended September 2011, Jet reported a net loss of Rs 713.6 crore as against a net profit of Rs 12.4 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Low-cost SpiceJet, too, posted a net loss of Rs 240 crore as against a profit of Rs 10 crore in the comparable previous year quarter. Kingfisher Airlines reported a loss of Rs 468.6 crore in the quarter ended September 2011; its losses in the same period last year were Rs 362.2 crore.  The trend is not confined to just two or three airlines; many airlines have been showing red flags in recent days.  After Air India, Kingfisher Airlines is the worst affected airline.  During the year, not only did it have to deal with mounting loans and debts, it also announced that it would be giving up the low-cost end of its business.

What is driving this? Many industry experts favor investment tie-ups with the foreign carriers. Of course the cash-starved, heavily leveraged domestic carriers could do with some amount of capital infusion. According to International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates, the Indian aviation sector would require US$140 billion in the next 20 years to keep pace with the growing demand.
Other estimates have placed the current needs alone at $2.5 billion, with Air India alone accounting for $1.32 billion of the total.  Having a foreign partner will help domestic airlines raise funds cheaper from international markets.

FDI will alleviate short term and long term funds requirements like upgrading their fleet to more fuel-efficient aircraft and may result in global best practices like route planning, technology, operational and financial management entering domestic airlines.  And it helps faster expansion of domestic carriers. Such a policy would allow domestic rather than foreign carriers to carry the rising numbers of Indians flying abroad who are currently ferried off to hubs in the neighborhood for onward transfer to final destinations farther off.

The Indian aviation market is growing at 17 per cent yearly and it expanded by 20 percent  last year.  Despite a large and growing market of domestic fliers, most Indian carriers are making losses.  Some problems are self-created; it could be mismanagement or price war between the airlines.  However, hefty taxes and norms and restrictions that are in place without much logic have also contributed to this sickness. The Planning Commission, in one of its reports, has said that the industry faces “many taxes”, including those on aircraft leases, airport charges, air turbine fuel and a few others, and that these charges are either not present or are much lower in mature markets. Ajit Singh, Civil Aviation Minister, said in an interview to a business channel, that aviation fuel cost constituted 40% of total operational costs in India whereas it was about 20% in other countries.

Allowing FDI will definitely help but it will only be a short-term solution. But the government will have to work towards bringing down the heavy taxes and allow airlines companies to import fuel directly from abroad. Otherwise, sickness will return with a vengeance. Government will also have to focus on the development of infrastructure. Many airports are needed, especially in smaller towns where demand is exploding.  Currently, the infrastructure is limited to just 10-12 cities. Indeed, if only the government and the aviation firms can get their act together, sky will virtually be the limit for the growth of this sector,

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Who is Salman Rushdie?

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Asia

Jaipur Literature Festival

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Salman Rushdie

 

What happened at the Jaipur Literature Festival and how did it go? Nobody knows except that it was over-shadowed throughout by Salman Rushdie.

That naturally raises the question as to who the hell is Salman Rushdie. According to Justice Katju, the newly appointed Chairman of the Press Council of India, Salman Rushdie is a poor and substandard writer of fiction who has been raised to the skies just because he lives on the ghats of the Thames and not the Ganges like his much more brilliant desi writers. Justice Katju has also criticized the Festival for not focusing on the classical literary tradition instead.

 

Justice Katju may be right on both counts though he may have strayed outside his prescribed role of preserving and protecting freedom of expression. But if Justice Katju is right, how come Rushdie managed to loom large over the entire proceedings of the festival?

 

Well, Rushdie did not loom large because of his literary prowess. He did so because of the fatwa by the Darul Uloom of Deoband against Rushdie’s presence at the festival just as he has been occupying the public mind space internationally because of the earlier fatwa against him by Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatullah Khomeini. Without these fatwas, Rushdie has hardly any public existence. Even if one may understand the earlier Iranian fatwa on the charge of blasphemy, what was it that occasioned the one by Darul Uloom?

 

Even assuming that his book, The Satanic Verses, was blasphemous in character though the jury is still out on that, it was published in 1988 and has since been banned inIndia. And Rushdie has visitedIndiafive times since then. He has also attended the very same Jaipur Literature Festival at least once before without any fatwas against him. What was the fresh provocation this time? The question has remained unanswered despite being repeatedly raised.

 

This silence has given credence to conspiracy theories. BJP has alleged that the Congress party that rules Rajasthan and the Muslim organizations are acting in concert to rally the Muslim vote behind the Congress in the ongoing UP election with one side raising the patently irrational demand and the other conceding it. It is difficult to believe that any government at the centre will stoop that low but, read in conjunction with the election-eve reservations for Muslims, it does leave room for suspicion that it could be part of a pattern.

 

The worst aspect of the entire episode was the way the authorities went about implementing their intention of preventing Rushdie from attending the festival. First, the government pretended to be aloof claiming it was a matter between the organizers and Rushdie. When Rushdie responded that, as a Person of Indian Origin, he did not require any visa, the government leaked ‘intelligence’ reports suggesting that hired assasins from the Mumbai underworld were proceeding to Jaipur were leaked to the organizers and to Rushdie.

 

When, in a protest move, some writers read excerpts from the banned ‘Satanic Verses’, the police got after them and literally chased them out of Jaipur. The police forgot that what is forbidden by law is only the import of the book and not its possession or reading from it. But nobody teaches these subtle distinctions of law to the police inIndia, least of all the poor fiction writers. And the crowning glory of it all, even Rushdie’s address to the delegates via a video link was disallowed.

 

According to media reports, the hoodlums who had gathered at the venue in strength on the final day to prevent Rushdie’s video address were openly claiming that rivers of blood will flow if the address took place. Well, it did not. The same language was in currency in 1947 ifPakistanwas not conceded and in the 1080s if the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case was not over-turned.

 

Salman Rushdie should be laughing all the way to the bank. After all, his entire life and literary career has been structured on controversies. And why were the organizers so keen on putting Rushdie on such a high pedestal by having him address the concluding session via a video link? Well, the Jaipur Literature Festival has become an international event overnight. And the Republic of India? Well, let us wait for the ‘Ides of March.’

 

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Appreciating Indian Classical Music – The Gwalior Gharana

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Asia

Continuing our series on gharanas, in this column, we begin a discussion on the most ancient—or the oldest– of all gharanas, the Gwalior gharana.

Pt. Krishnarao Shanker Pundit Gwalior Gharana Zeitgeist Asia

 

Before we speak of those who pioneered the styles of gharana gayaki, we speak of the goddess to whom all the gharanas of Hindustani music owe their existence– goddess  Saraswati herself, without whom our music cannot flow and flower. And rightly so, for the word ‘music’ itself comes from the word ‘muse’, which means inspiration. In Greek mythology, the Muse divided into the three goddesses of music, called the three Muses, the goddesses of practice, memory and song. Which is to say that they visited the musician when he practiced, when he remembered or recalled music, and when he actually sang or performed. In a proverbial sense, the Gwalior gharana was at one time so richly endowed with musical graces that it came to be referred to as the mother of all gharanas.

 

It is said that the path to goddess Saraswati is an eight-fold path, also the path of meditation. And traditionally, her mandala or configuration also has multiple figures of eight-dimentional angles woven into its graphic symbolism. And traditionally again, the Gwalior style is based on ashtang, asht-ang or eight parts, or eight graces of music. It is said that the many gharanas that flowered after the development of the Gwalior gharana,   evolved as they further developed some ang or part of those eight graces, to create independent styles of their own.

 

The style of the Gwalior gharana is a madhya laya or middle tempo style with the lyric or bandish at its centre, which is to be sung in the manner of a flower blooming, unfolding its beauty from bud to bloom. But what has been little analysed here during research into Hindustani music this past century is the fact is that despite the raga and the musical graces that come into play when the khayal is sung here, it is a poetry-based improvisation. Hence the style has bol, that is lyric, bol-banth, or play of the lyric in a charged tempo, and bol-taan, the faster improvisations, in its traditional khayal. 

 

The court of Gwalior, of course, first patronized the gharana, and the fact is that not only Gwalior, but all the gharana styles evolved with court patronage. They did not evolve independently of this patronage, as, much later, the Indore gharana did in the 20th century, the first gharana to do so. Patronage influenced the lyrics and the approach to the lyrics, and the attitude to singing.

 

There was always a bevy of instrumentalists surrounding the vocalists in the courts, all of which were part of the ‘Gunijan Khanas’, or Department of Gunijans, which was the ‘department of the musicians’, who could be summoned at the darbars or courts in queues before the rajas and maharajas, especially at odd hours of the day when they were tired and needed to relax. And hear music. From the queue the maharajah would choose whom he wanted to hear, and the rest would be dismissed, and the chosen one stayed to sing or play. They were all, of course, court musicians, and performed at the darbar also, but only when the affairs of the state were over and done with.

 

Even so, if the maharajah was a connoisseur, the musicians were given huge amounts of salary, and in some cases, like at the court of Maihar, the maharajah even became a disciple of the musician he loved, and then it was a story of state and spirituality. Like  when Allauddin Khan Saheb became the guru of the rajah of Maihar. The court of Gwalior was one of the greatest patrons of music during its time, but also became instrumental in taking classical music away from its natural roots in the temples and the gaana sabhas or public gatherings. And with this, both public patronage and the patronage of the temple, two of its great life-streams, suffered a blow, as classical music became the exclusive preserve of the courts.

  – Bindu Chawla

To be continued.

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Strait of Hormuz : US-Iran tensions on the rise

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Asia

“Closing the Strait of Hormuz would be easier than drinking a glass of water”, said the Commander of Iran’s navy. Just try that, was the response fromWashington.

 

The recent trouble started in November, 2011, when the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency submitted a report pointing to “strong indicators of possible weapons development” by Iran. This report had the West worrying, particularly, the United StatesandIsrael.

 

A new round of sanctions againstIranwas put together. On December 31, Barack Obama approved measures recommended by the Congress with large majorities. One of these measures barred foreign funds dealing with the Central Bank ofIranfrom access toAmerica’s financial system. The Central Bank ofIranclears half the country’s oil related transactions.

 

The net effect of this measure, when fully implemented, will be to strangulateIran’s oil exports and practically its entire economy. Large countries, likeChinaandJapan, buying oil fromIran, may not have much choice except to look for alternate source of supplies if they have to protect their exports to theUnited States. If the European Union follows suit, which it is likely to,Iranwill truly be under a kind of an economic siege.

 

Iranresponded this month to western pressures with equal ferocity. It started its naval exercises in the Gulf which came to a close on January 2nd. The western warnings and the Iranian response led to the price for Brent Crude shooting up to US$ 112 a barrel, reflecting nerves overIran’s muscle-flexing naval exercises in response to the western threats. On December 28, Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the Commander of Iran’s navy, boosted that closing theStrait of Hormuz would be “easier than drinking a glass of water”. TheStrait of Hormuz accounts for nearly seventy million barrels a day, a fifth of all oil traded worldwide.

 

A few days later,Iranraised the stakes even further. When the American aircraft carrier, the USS John C Stennis from the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, passed through the Strait, General Salahi said, “Iranwill not repeat its warning… the enemy’s carrier has been moved to theSeaofOmanbecause of our drill. I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to thePersian Gulf…. we are not in the habit of warning more than once.”

 

Is it mere bluster onIran’s part or could it be something more ominous?  The US and Europe have made it clear that the thirty five miles wide Strait cannot be closed and that the freedom of navigation would be protected at all costs. The government inTehranknows it fully well that it cannot risk a full scale confrontation with theUS. Then, what is it that explainsIran’s tough statements and its naval exercises in the Gulf at this particular moment?

 

It is true thatIranis in no position to close theStrait of Hormuzbeyond a few days or, at best, a couple of weeks. But knowing the complete regional dominance of the US Fifth Fleet,Iranhas been investing all these years in building capabilities for asymmetric warfare precisely to be able to inflict a considerable damage on the American assets in the region.Iranhas numerous types of guided missiles ranging from the mass-produced Seraj-1 missile and the Zolfaquar speed boat carrying the Nasr anti-ship cruise missile in addition to a growing fleet of Ghadir midget submarines, and Karrar armed drones.Iranalso hopes to be able to rope in its allies in the region such as the Hizbollah inLebanonand Hamas inGaza.

 

Saudi Arabiahas made things difficult forIranby claiming that it stands ready to augment its oil production in the event of the situation in the Gulf deteriorating any further.Iranwould also do well to take into consideration the fickle behaviour of its allies  in the region likeSyriawhich is facing internal troubles of its own. Consequently, its capacity to activate Hizollah and Hamas is also limited because its links to these organizations are only throughSyria. It would be best forIran, therefore, to push for diplomatic negotiations even if it means stepping back from the nuclear threshold for the present.

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Live Life Fearlessly

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Asia

How can we differentiate between ego and self respect?

Wisdom is to know the difference between ego and self-respect, and to become more aware towards these. When the ego is satisfied there is happiness, and when hurt, pain and irritation are experienced. But self-respect is beyond respect and disrespect. On being satisfied or hurt, under any circumstance, it inspires for karm. To satisfy the ego (ahankaar) people might indulge in manipulations, become calculative and avoid working hard towards growth, whereas self-respect (swabhiman) always propels one to work harder for self-satisfaction. Just like Shri Krishn inspired Arjun to fight for self-respect and self-duty.

A self-respecting human understands well the importance of self-respect and his duty towards it. He knows its value, whether it is his own, of others or of his nation or even the Earth.

The absoluteness (poornta) of a truthful (karm) action is in negating imperfection and falsehood, and to challenge it. For anyone who does so, the Supreme himself becomes his charioteer.

Himmat-e-marda, maddat-e-khuda
God helps those who help themselves.

Knowing the difference between self-respect and ego, if personal action is not decided accordingly, then acquired knowledge gets converted to ignorance, stagnates, becoming merely for exhibition.

It is important to know how according to the time-requirement a particular course of action (karm) needs to be decided and how with all your mental and physical capacities it should be performed and concluded. Whosoever has perfected the sudarshan chakr of truth, he/she will be inspired to work according to the time requirement. Many people know about time but the courage and pledge to safe guard self-respect for rightful action/duty (karm) at the right time, as done by Rani of Jhansi and Bhagat Singh is missing.A true Karm yogi will defend self-respect with all his might may it be body, mind, soul or resources. The symbols of Maa Bharati’s glorious self-respect and its crowning glory are the white pure high peaks of the Himalayas. Working for this is true-endeavour (karmmathta). The absoluteness (poornta) of life is not a long life but how human dharm (manav dharm) is conducted.

How to become fearless?

It is important to understand that the air never gets depleted from the universe no matter how much is consumed. We are floating in a pool.

Natural law is that what one may absorb, others may not be absorbing it. For example: A leaf takes green colour, the flower is not absorbing it….it is taking another colour.

If someone absorbs fear, he is making someone  else fearless. That individual is creating that field,  atmosphere around by being receptive to it…..  Don’t take fear. An environment of fear is self-created… enhancing the devil by feeling fearful of him. By being fearful, someone else is becoming fearless. This is how terrorists work! Each one is poorn. The Supreme has made everyone a reflection of itself…. Be fearless and  counter attack. Now we have to be fearless, aware  and conscious. This is the message.

 

Understand the subtleties. Everything is floating  in the universe. Universe balances all. Same sun  rays fall on the cactus as on the flower, what they do not absorb, shows on them.

Doubts and fear come when you are fearful,  karmheen.

 

Face your fears… counteract by saying: “Why  should I be scared when I am truly working on myself?” People often become submissive. Say to yourself: “I am in surrender if I am truthful then divine help will always be there for me” Energy is depleted by being fearful. Forward your fears to  the Universe. “I am on path of truth love karm and  light, I am not taking it.”

 

Watch the body language change. Grace will descend…..Be a worthy medium of divine grace.

Pranam

 

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Well Done, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Asia

Parliament, too, has powers of contempt. What if the Parliament were to indict Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhary for having lowered the dignity of Parliament by indicting the Leader of the House, the Prime Minister?

It has happened, finally. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has indicted the country’s Prime Minister on the charge of contempt of court. The Supreme Court had been ordering the government repeatedly to write to the Swiss authorities to re-open the graft cases against the country’s President, Asif Ali Zardari. The government had been taking the stand that the President enjoyed immunity from prosecution while holding the office and that it was, therefore, unable to act on the Supreme Court’s orders. The cases against Zardari and hundreds of other politicians had been closed after the National Reconciliation Order issued, not by the present government, but by the then military ruler, Pervez Musharraf. The Supreme Court has held that order as invalid and ordered re-opening of all those cases. The case against Zardari is only the most visible amongst all those.

 

This, however, is a mere flash-point and the real issue is one of supremacy – which institution or organ of the state is supreme in a democracy. While the simple answer to this question is that it is the constitution that is supreme, in real life the conflicts do keep arising from time to time. The laws are mooted by the executive, enacted by the legislature and applied and interpreted by the judicial wing of the state, each one autonomous in its own sphere and independent of the other. The problem arises when one organ transgresses into the sphere of the other.

 

In the case of Pakistan, the problem gets further complicated because of the all-powerful army which has ruled the country for almost half its existence. Jostling for more power is almost human but what is currently happening inPakistanis naked pursuit of political power by the army and the judiciary, with the hard-liner mullahs and, of course the hard-core terrorists, waiting in the wings.

 

Power in any modern state must vest in the people who exercise the same through their periodically elected representatives. Each Member of Parliament needs the endorsement of hundreds of thousands of his constituents to get elected. These Members, in turn, elect the Prime Minister who can thus legitimately claim to represent the will of the majority of the population of the country. And whom do the judges and the generals represent? They are at best the people selected through prescribed recruitment processes to perform specified functions for the state. The mullahs do not have even that much legitimacy.

 

What happens if the politicians fail? Well, they lose the next elections. But what happens if the judges and the generals fail? Well, they get their promotions as per seniority because they hold fixed tenure jobs. In any case, you cannot entrust political powers to them just as you can not appoint politicians as judges and generals and maulvis.

 

Of course individual ministers can be hauled up before the courts for their individual mis-demeanours. That is what the checks and balances are about. But you can not try a Prime Minister for contempt of court and send him to jail for his inability to carry out a court order which he honestly, even if wrongly for argument’s sake, believes to be unconstitutional. That would be a travesty of any constitutional scheme of things anywhere in the world.

 

Parliament, too, has powers of contempt. What if the Parliament of Pakistan were to indict the Chief Justice of Pakistan for having lowered the dignity of the House by indicting its leader, the Prime Minister? One hopes that good sense will prevail even at this late hour and things can return back from the brink.

 

Until then, one must admire the courage of Prime Minister Gilani who has staked everything, his Prime Ministership and even his personal liberty for the sake of a principle – the principle of democracy and the supremacy of the people ….. Read the full article in the March issue of ZeiTGeiST ASIA.

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Turning the Apple Cart – Khandu driver

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Asia

“Sir,I need to go on urgent leave for 20 days” said Khandu as he was driving me to the airport. “Why 20 days?” I asked him. “My site visit is for 7 days only”, I said, assuming that he had planned his leave in accordance with my absence from the office. “It’s not related to your travel plans sir,”replied Khandu, “it’s the Assembly elections in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa”

“And what exactly will be your role, my dear friend, in all

these elections” , I asked him, irritated that he appeared to have made up such a flimsy excuse.
“Why, I am a voter sir, the electorate, a citizen of this
country, who will play a decisive role in how this country will be governed in the coming years.”
“Very true, Khandu, but now you can go ahead and tell me the real reason”, I said, not ready to fall for one more Khanduism.

“Oh, it is for the elections as well as for the recoveries Sir.”
“What recoveries, I didn’t know people in all the five states owed you anything.”
“Not the people, sir, the politicians.” replied Khandu in a flat tone. “Every election, the political representatives of
various parties pamper us with elaborate gifts. While it was merely blankets and food when I was young, the current young generation gets laptops and mobile phones. I have been promised an IPAD this year, so you can understand the importance of my being there.”
“You mean the Aakash tablet” I said, referring to the
cheaper version of the tablet PC being introduced in India.
“No, sir, it’s the IPAD. Besides, a lot of labor intensive work like covering of statues has been created, leading to
opportunities for quick money being earned in a short
span of time.
“This time, the future of many political bigwigs is also at
stake. This means, that their local representatives will go
to any lengths to arrange massive rallies for them on their visits. My cousin, who is a printer, has landed massive contracts for brochures, handouts and other marketing materials.
“My uncle has started an event marketing company just
for the elections and he is doing good business. He is also said to have been appointed as an ‘official tweeter’ for one of the powerful politicians contesting in UP. His job is to read the tweets of the politician’s rivals/detractors and upload counter tweets on the politician’s behalf. On knowing this, the rival politician has engaged him, too. So,now he has to tweet for both parties. In this scenario of expanding business, I am being requested to be an extra helping hand.”

I was aghast and didn’t speak a word, trying to slowly
absorb what elections meant to Khandu. “What to do, sir,”he continued, as if trying to fathom the meaning of my silence. “For half a decade we face hardships and no one even bothers to talk to us. This is the only time when our worth is recognised. I hear of scams running into figures which I don’t even know how to read, write,
understand or pronounce. I have heard about people
being charged for the scams, but have never
heard them being sentenced for it. Is it then so
wrong for us ordinary people to do some hard
work, provide some service and benefit from
it?” he asked me, knowing deep down that he was
not entirely correct in his thought process and thus
seeking a reassurance from me.
On my part, given the fact that I had personally gone only a few times to cast my vote and never really gone taken the trouble of attending rallies and hearing speeches, I could not interfere in his personal life. I could only hope that he would realize that there was more to elections than the pomp and show and profiteering. The sense of twisted justice also dawned on
me. Just as the politicians played on the emotions of the
people, some people were also able to play the politicians
against each other and profit from it.
“So who do you think will win this time?” I asked him just to lighten the mood. “The people” replied Khandu, still pensive,“ Maybe, they are already in the process of
winning ”
Had Khandu read or heard about George Bernard Shaw’s
“Apple Cart”?
·

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From the Editor’s desk – ZeiTGeiST ASIA February 2012

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Asia

Is corruption still an issue uppermost in the Indian mind the way it was last year? One is not sure, not just yet. One will probably have to wait for an answer to this question till March 6 when the results of the ongoing elections in six states become available. Early indications are that it is certainly not a paramount issue. One reason for that could be that Anna Hazare’s fast at the Ramlila grounds last year acted like some kind of a catharsis. With the government finally yielding on most of Anna Hazare’s demands at that time and even introducing some version of the Lokpal Bill in the winter session of parliament, the people felt the process of cleansing the system had begun in right earnest. It is also possible that the government may have succeeded in sufficiently discrediting the movement by spreading stories about Team Anna. Or, people themselves may have just got bored with it, public memory being proverbially short. Alternatively, there is a possibility that the people might have internalized their revulsion and their anger against corruption and may express themselves strongly during the current and future elections in different parts of the country. The on-going elections to five state assemblies, therefore, hold in themselves a message that can alter the political dynamics of the country. Of course that message will become known to the whole world on March 6. But that message would be the one statistically arrived at message. What is also important is the process leading to that outcome – the grand strategies adopted by contending parties, the framing of issues, pitch-forking of key leaders, management of public discourse, constituency-wise tactics, et al. Our cover story for this issue attempts to decode all that for our readers. The month has otherwise been quite drab from a newshound’s point of view with nothing earth-shaking happening in any part of the world. It seems like the world is having a prolonged New Year holiday after the tumultuous 2011. Egypt and Tunisia kept struggling to cope with their new Islamist rulers in an anti-climax to their last year’s revolutionary fervour. Bashar Assad continued to mow down the Syrian protesters with his tanks and armoured vehicles. Bahrain’s King Hamad uses less lethal weapons, provided to him by Saudi Arabia, against his own protesters. Yemen and Libya are still busy savoring their freedom from the long-serving dictators. Europe continued lurking from one summit to the other and forcing austerity measures down the throats of their pampered populaces while the US has got into its once-every-three-years election mode. In East Asia, the North Koreans continued to mourn their Dear Departed Kim il even while welcoming The Great Successor, his son, Kim un. Pakistan seemed to have just turned back from the brink after the great clash between various institutions of its state- the Executive, the Army and the Judiciary. As always, it was the civilian government that emerged weakest with Prime Minister Gilani having to give in both to the Army as well as to the Supreme Court. This issue of ZeiTGeiST ASIA in your hands brings you all that in its characteristic, analytical, brief and crisp format along with all the regular columns. Sit back and enjoy reading even while holding your breath for the election results.

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