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9THE HINDU SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015
NOIDA/DELHI
COMMENT
>>“Crowd kills leopard in Kolhapur” (Jan. 2, 2015) said a leopard strayedinto Congress MP Dhananjay Mahadik’s bungalow. Actually, Dhananjay Ma-hadik is a Nationalist Congress Party MP.
>>A sentence in “Respond to violations with double force: Parrikar” (Jan. 1,2015) read: “In this context he [Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar] men-tioned the Tatra trucks case in which Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) hadbeen allowed …” It should have been Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML).
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
Cancer is often caused by the“bad luck” of random mutations
that arise when cells divide, not fam-ily history or environmental causes,U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
The study in the January 2 editionof the journal Science was led byresearchers at Johns Hopkins Uni-versity and based on a statisticalmodel that includes many types ofcancer in a range of human tissues.
However it did not include breastcancer, which is the most commoncancer in women, or prostate can-cer, which is the second most com-mon cancer in men after skincancer.
In the adult cancers they did mea-sure, about two-thirds could be ex-plained by random mutation ingenes that encourage tumours togrow, while the remaining one third
was due to environmental factorsand inherited genes.
“This study shows that you canadd to your risk of getting cancers bysmoking or other poor lifestyle fac-tors,” said the author of the study,Bert Vogelstein, a professor of on-cology at the Johns Hopkins Uni-versity School of Medicine.
“However, many forms of cancerare due largely to the bad luck ofacquiring a mutation in a cancerdriver gene regardless of lifestyleand heredity factors.”
He added that people who live along time without getting cancer,despite being long-time smokers orbeing exposed heavily to the Sun, donot have “good genes.”
“The truth is that most of themsimply had good luck,” he added.
— AFP
‘Cancer often due to bad luck,not genes or environment’
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The Report of the High LevelCommittee on Socio-Econom-ic, Health and Educational Sta-tus of Tribal Communities of
India, under the chairmanship of sociol-ogist Virginius Xaxa, was circulated lastweek. The 431-page report details thesituation of tribal communities: Sched-uled Tribes, de-notified tribes and partic-ularly vulnerable tribal communities.Taking on board the findings and de-mands of social movements, NGOs, re-searchers and bureaucrats, the reportconsolidates what we already knowabout the situation of tribal communitiesin this country. Without detracting fromits significance as an archive, it is impor-tant to revisit some basic questions atthis moment that have been brought tothe fore yet again.
Sixty per cent of the forest area in thecountry is in tribal area. Fifty-one of the58 districts with forest cover greater than67 per cent are tribal districts. ThreeStates — Odisha, Chhattisgarh andJharkhand — account for 70 per cent ofIndia’s coal reserves, 80 per cent of itshigh-grade iron ore, 60 per cent of itsbauxite and almost 100 per cent of itschromite reserves. Forty per cent ofthose displaced by dams are tribal peo-ples. A look at violent conflict, whether inSchedule V States or in Schedule VIStates, shows that “the state is involvedin all of these conflicts in some way oranother.” Not surprisingly, the areaswhere these wars are being waged (withthe state as party) are tribal areas withrich mineral reserves. The Armed Forces(Special Powers) Act guarantees impun-ity to state perpetrators of extrajudicialmurder and assault, and there are a largenumber of peaceful mass movementsagainst the appropriation of tribal home-lands by the state and by corporations.
While there is a generally discernibleoccupational shift in tribal communities,the committee observes, the focus of na-tional state agencies on mainstream cat-egorisations of agricultural labourers,cultivators and the omnibus category ofnon-farm workers masks the finer detailsof tribal work-worlds and therefore ob-structs an understanding of shifts there-in. The need for tribal communities tohave continued and uninterrupted ac-cess to forests for livelihoods and theresponsibility of the state in securingthese livelihoods, ensuring their viabil-ity, and providing an account of theirdiversity; creating enabling conditionsfor the dignity of work and sustainability;and plans for protecting and removingboth conflict and livelihood degradationcaused by the repressive presence of theforest bureaucracy in tribal areas are is-sues that merit greater attention.
The absence of state accountabilityand responsibility are at the core of theproblem.
Governance of tribal areas
The question of autonomy in sched-uled areas has been set out in Schedules Vand VI of the Constitution. In Schedule Vareas, the Tribes Advisory Council — abody with elected and community repre-sentatives from Scheduled Tribes — will
advise the governor on matters of admin-istration and governance in scheduledareas. Extensive review has shown thatalthough governors are vested with enor-mous powers with respect to Schedule Vareas, they have been found uniformlytardy in the matter of submission of re-ports and in respecting the constitution-al guarantee of autonomy to tribal areas— leading the High Level Committee torecommend the setting up of a cell “inorder for the Governor to properly carryout the duties of the post vis-à-vis protec-tion of the tribes” (emphasis added) witha whisper that this cell should not justturn into another bureaucratic institu-tion with little interest in tribal affairs.The deliberations of the Tribes AdvisoryCouncils have been found to be tokenis-tic, and the councils themselves filledwith bureaucrats and ministers insteadof representatives of tribal communitieswith effective voice. Even with the Au-tonomous Councils in the Schedule VIStates, which have a more robust formalautonomy, the committee finds that“there is a huge discrepancy between theformal rules guaranteeing autonomy andthe informal workings of autonomy onthe ground.”
As a remedy, the committee recom-mends that Governors’ Cells be set up inall Schedule V States to assist the Gover-nor, although details about the function-ing of such cells set up in Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Rajasthanare not yet known.
What might be the modalities for an adhoc “cell” to show a constitutional au-thority the right path to ‘goodgovernance’?
Data reproduced in the report from theyears 1981-82 showed a drop out rate of91.65 per cent before completion of tenthstandard, with a participation in highereducation of 1.62 per cent among the
Scheduled Tribes. While flagship pro-grammes and policies have been intro-duced with laudable objectives, thecommittee observes that inadequate in-frastructure, poor teaching and learningmaterials, lack of focus onteacher education, andthe impact of armed con-flict on teacher absen-teeism and schoolfunctioning, and practicesof discrimination and stig-matisation in schools haveaffected tribal childrenmost adversely. Added tothis is the rampant and routinised cor-ruption in government schooling system,an issue that has not been addressed, butone that has an immediate and disastrouseffect on the child’s and teachers’ well-being. All of these together hold tribalchildren in a chokehold, pushing themback into ghettoised suboptimal learningpossibilities and grinding poverty.
Tribal life-worlds
Where does the solution lie? Mightcommon schools be an answer? Shouldschooling continue in the “separate andunequal” mode? And most importantly,the state and adult citizens hold the re-sponsibility for protecting the rights ofall children in trust. It is no longer aquestion of quibbling over numbers — ofschools, teachers, dropouts, enrolment,etc. If the outcome is that tribal childrendo not get a decent education, the state isresponsible both for the absence of duediligence and for direct derogation offundamental rights of children. On an-other level, the question is not merelyone of the exposure of tribal children tothe world outside; more critical is theneed to promote an understanding of di-verse tribal life-worlds in all childrenthrough a restructuring of education.
Tribal land alienation and disposses-sion are at the crux of the crisis tribalcommunities face across the country —acquisition of land by the state using theprinciple of ‘eminent domain’; manip-
ulation of records and in-correct interpretation oflaw; encroachment oftribal land by non-tribalpeople and immigrants;creation of nationalparks; and armed conflictresulting in forced migra-tion and eviction fromhomelands. There are
questions related to the routinisation ofarbitrary arrest, illegal detention andtorture in custody of tribal people livingin conflict areas. There are no figurespublicly available on the demographicprofile of prisoner/detainee populationsin Schedule V areas. The important guar-antee under Article 21 of the Constitu-tion — right to life and personal liberty —is in a state of perpetual suspension intribal areas. If one were to go by the dataand observations put forth by the HighLevel Committee, once more we learnthat the state is waging war at every levelagainst tribal communities across States.Added to this is criminal neglect and vio-lent corruption that has systematicallyobstructed the delivery of public goodsand services. There is a proliferation ofreports — of bureaucratic writing gener-ally —as an end in itself.
What are we to do with this informa-tion? The government set up a commit-tee that found the state complicit bothdirectly as perpetrator and through theabsence of due diligence in genocidal ne-glect of tribal peoples.
Where do we go from here?(Kalpana Kannabiran is professor and
director at the Council for Social Development, Hyderabad).
The burden of criminal neglect
UNCARED FOR: “The government set up a committee that found the state complicit in the neglect of tribalpeoples.” Picture shows landless tribal people at the Jan Satyagraha rally in Agra. — PHOTO: V.V.KRISHNAN
The absence of state accountability is at the core of issues facing tribal communitiesKalpana Kannabiran
The state iswaging war atevery level againsttribal communitiesacross States
Security cameras, police check postsand traffic diversions are all back with
renewed vigour on the crowded streets ofBengaluru. And this time there were evendrone cameras to keep a watch on thearterial roads of the city as it welcomed2015. The police were looking for drunkendrivers, alcohol and drugs, but also pipebombs, guns and even sophisticated ex-plosives. In reality, they may not have hadno idea about what they would find, buthad to keep vigil in the hope that theycould avert a tragedy.
Preparedness
All of it boiled down to one question:how prepared is the city, perhaps any city,or its police force, to avert or deal with a“terror strike”? The question cloudedover India’s IT capital as it surfed into anew year with memories of an explosionfrom the last Sunday of 2014. It left a37-year-old mother of two from Chennaidead, three others injured, and was a re-minder that a blast can take place any-time, anywhere, to claim the lives of theleast suspecting.
In this case, like in the other three at-tacks in the city since 2008, it was a “low-intensity explosive device” that was used.It lacked the sophistication of devices thathave been used in cities like Mumbai orDelhi, according to investigators.
They also point out that such blasts aredifficult to predict or monitor as they“may not involve a large network andcould even be the work of local individualelements.” Past attacks in the city havebeen attributed to groups like the TamilNadu-based Al-Ummah or elements of theStudents Islamic Movement of India (SI-MI) based in South India, and the IndianMujahideen (IM). They have not had aninternational involvement, except in2005 when an alleged Lashkar-e-Taibagunman attacked the Indian Institute ofScience.
But the city is firmly on the world mapwith a strong connect to most countriesand a large population of expats; henceeven a low intensity explosion wouldmake a global statement, explained for-mer Director of Research and Analysis
Wing (RAW), P.K. Hormis Tharakan.Local problems add to the city’s vul-
nerability. The sheer enormity of itsgrowth over the last two decades has madeit extremely difficult to monitor or police.
According to the 2011 census, the city’spopulation is over 96 lakh and more than60 per cent are migrants from differentparts of India and the world. The migra-tion is not restricted to software engi-neers or techies, but includes those from across section of society — from construc-tion workers to international students.
When compared to any other Indiancity, the proportion of those who havemoved to Bengaluru over the last decadeor two is overwhelming, and even old in-habitants of the city find it difficult to
comprehend the changes that have sweptthrough.
This only makes it easy for any criminalelement from anywhere in the country todisappear in it, according to policeofficers.
The recent arrest of the alleged IStweeter Mehdi Masroor Biswas was anexample of how an individual could seemlike a perfectly normal young migrant em-ployee of an MNC, but could be involvedwith a global terror ideology. In someways, its enormity gives anonymity tothose who move into it.
Geographically, the city ensures easyroad connectivity to places such as Hyd-erabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Ker-ala. This adds to the security nightmare asit’s difficult to monitor entry and exit ofpeople.
Coping with challenges
Against this backdrop, has the city’s po-lice force been augmented with thestrength it needs to deal with thechallenge?
“Each time such an act takes place,there’s a knee-jerk reaction, but the key is
to have systematic investment in tech-nology, manpower and set up a modelinstitution for counter-terrorism” saidPratap Hebilikar, a former bureaucratwho specialises in insurgency-relatedissues.
All this shows that the city’s infrastruc-ture and security apparatus is strugglingto adapt to the change from being a laid-back, retirement centre to a globally im-portant economic centre. Unfortunately,the attitude of the administration remainslaid-back.
For instance, an internal security divi-sion was set up in 2006, but it has sufferedneglect and has often had several postsvacant. In fact, police officers admit that“postings to the division are seen as puni-shment postings and not accorded to offi-cers with serious experience.”
The failure to build a stronger securityapparatus is despite incidents like the ar-rest of suspected IM operative YasinBhatkal and allegations that Riyaz andIqbal Bhatkal, from Bhatkal village innorth coastal Karnataka, constituted thetop leadership of the IM. Apart from this,SIMI is known to have a strong base inplaces like Hubli in north Karnataka, andcriminal elements in coastal parts of theState are known to have strong links toMumbai-based underworld groups.
However, these elements are notknown to have been active in Bengalurucity itself and have instead been focussedon activities in Mumbai and other placesoutside Karnataka. This has only meantthat the local police have not had to dealwith these elements from a security pointof view of a city.
“Big organised crime has not been afeature in Bengaluru,” pointed out Mr.Tharakan. This limits the experience ofthe police force to deal with it. The onlyway forward is to evolve a strong govern-ment-police-citizen structure to deal withsecurity issues and take them up in a seri-ous and sustained manner, says Mr.Heblikar.
While threat perceptions may or maynot be real, it’s important to ensure thatthe security apparatus is equipped to dealwith the challenges. Ultimately, that maybe the only important lesson to learn.
Anonymity and terror in a global city
UNEXPECTED: “The low-intensity blast in Bengaluru in December 2014was a reminder that such incidents can take place anytime, anywhere,to claim the lives of the least suspecting.” Picture shows the spot ofthe blast. — PHOTO: PTI
The recent blast in Bengaluru shows that the city’s infrastructure and security apparatus arestruggling to adapt to the sweeping changes that have taken place over the past two decades T.M. Veeraraghav
Bengaluru may havebecome a globallyimportant economiccentre, but the attitude ofthe administrationremains laid-back
If I were a political novelist, I’d try to write a novel about BenjaminNetanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel.The story would be partly Nixonian. Mr. Netanyahu is surpassingly
brilliant, as even his opponents here concede. He knows the minute gutsof Israeli politics and has read deeply into big history and grandstrategy. He is also said to be suspicious, solitary and insular. It is hardto stay on good terms with him, whether you are on his staff or hisnation’s closest ally.
The story would be partly Kennedyesque. The Netanyahu clan waspresided over by Benjamin’s brilliant father, Benzion, the greatmedieval historian. The eldest brother, Jonathan, was the golden child.When Jonathan died in the raid on Entebbe in 1976, hopes shifted toBenjamin, who is known as Bibi. Political analysts have spent decadespsychoanalysing the family dynamic, with mixed results, but a novelist
who studied Sophocles or Tolstoy might beable to make some sense of it.
The story would be partly Churchillian.Netanyahu sees himself in world historicalterms and admires Theodor Herzl and WinstonChurchill — two men who saw dangers ahead ofother people. Netanyahu obviously lacks manyof Churchill’s qualities, like playful charm, buthe has a profound nationalist passion and aconsuming historical consciousness.
Like Churchill, he is wisest when things aregoing wrong. He has been a pessimist about theArab world. As the Arab Spring hasdeteriorated, as Palestinian democracy led toHamas, as run-of-the-mill extremists have lostground to the Islamic State, Bibi’s instinctshave basically been proved correct.
The story would be part Shakespearean.Nearly every political leader has one closefriend or spouse, often female, who is widelyhated. People can’t blame the leader for slights,so they blame her. In Israel, the role is playedby Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, who has been thesubject of fascination and scorn for decades:She is often described as Lady Macbeth. Fewknow her exact role, but, it is said, she exilesthe disloyal, shapes his politics, mistreatsservants and distracts him when he is supposedto be running the country. Obviously, anynovel about Netanyahu and modern Israel
would have to be told from her vantage point. The narrative voice wouldbe electric.
The story would be part “Citizen Kane.” Netanyahu rose to fame viaCNN. His rise and survival are intertwined with changes in media, withthe decline of old newspapers that are generally hostile, and the rise ofnew cable networks and outlets that are often his allies. Ferociouslytending his image, his wars with his foes in the Israeli press have beenepic.
Finally, the story would be part Machiavelli. The great Renaissancephilosopher argued that it is best to be both loved and feared, but if youhave to choose one, it is better to be feared. Netanyahu is not loved,especially by those in his party. But he is feared and acknowledged, theway any large, effective object is feared and respected.
I’m visiting Israel for the 18th or 19th time (my son is currently amember of the Lone Soldiers Program, which allows people fromaround the world to serve in the Israeli military). I asked a couple ofsmart Israelis what their coming elections are about. They said theelections are about one thing: What do you think of Mr. Netanyahu?Such is the outsized role he plays in the consciousness of this nation.
Different viewpoints
No one has a simple view of him. To some, he is a monster who hasexpanded the settlements on the West Bank, which are a moral stainand do calamitous damage to Israel’s efforts to win support around theworld. To some, he is the necessary man in hard times, the vigilantguardian as the rest of the Middle East goes berserk.
Both viewpoints have some truth. To me, his caution is mostfascinating. For all his soaring rhetoric and bellicosity, he has been adefensive leader. He seems to understand that, in his country’ssituation, the lows are lower than the highs are high. The costs of amistake are bigger than the benefits of an accomplishment. So he isloath to take risks. He doesn’t do some smart things, like improve life forPalestinians on the West Bank, but he doesn’t do unpredictable dumbthings, like prematurely bomb Iran. He talks everything through, andhis decisions shift and flip as the discussions evolve.
If you think trends in the Middle East will doom Israel unless it acts,then this defensiveness is a disaster. If you think, as I do, that Israel hasto wait out the current spasm of Islamist radicalism, then this cautionhas its uses.
Israeli voters haven’t warmed to Mr. Netanyahu over the pastquarter-century. But they have come to think more like him, acceptingthat this conflict will endure, digging in for a dogged struggle. For goodand ill, he has refashioned the national mind. — © New York TimesNews Service
The age of BibiWORLD VIEW
To some, Benjamin
Netanyahu is a
monster who has
expanded the
settlements on
the West Bank; to
some, he is the
necessary man in
hard times
DAVID BROOKS
