Bharatiya Pragna February, 2003

1

February 2003 Bharatiya Pragna

BHARATIYA

PRAGNAA NATIONALIST MAGAZINE FOR THINKING PEOPLE

From the Editorial BoardBoard of Advisors :

Dr. David FrawleyDr. Subhash C. KashyapProf. P.V. IndiresanAshok ChowguleR. Venkat Ramiah

Editorial Board :

Dr. T. H. ChowdaryT. Hari Hara SarmaU. Atreya SarmaK. Satyadeva Prasad

Circulation & Advertisement :

Sirish DopeshwarkarLt. Col. M.A.K. PathanS. Vijaya BharathiG. Indira

Production :

B.S. SarmaCh.V. Sai PrasadVinay K. BucheGiridhar Mamidi

Printed & Published by

Dr. T.H. Chowdaryfor Pragna Bharati3-4-705/4, Narayanaguda,Hyderabad - 500 029.Tel : +91 (40) 2762-1884E-mail : [email protected]

Printed atLakshmi Digital Graphics1-8-549/A, Chikkadpally,Hyderabad - 500 020.

Tel : +91 (40) 2767-8411

Volume : 5Number : 2

February, 2003

●

Economists and politicians of our country have failed thenation repeatedly since Independence. All the policies, laws andprocesses that they imposed, bear a genetic stamp of the westerninfluence. They fail to see things from a truly Indian perspective.We present a few articles which challenge the presentunquestioned, foundations of our whole economic structure.R.K. Mishra's article gives us an insight into the public sectorduring Chanakya's time. Gurumurthy asserts that, personalIncome-Tax should be taken off and that, Gold has to be viewedmore as an investment, rather than a consumable commodity.Vidyasagar breaks the notions of a "US can do no Wrong" inhis article, where he points out how the US is no more a dreamdestination and India doesn't lag behind in any which way. Thisdebate, should lead to the logical step of creating public opinionon looking at our economy, purely from Indian perspective.

We are also presenting perspectives on the Iraqi & Koreaninbroglios through the articles by N.S. Rajaram & B. Ramanrespectively.

Pragna salutes the great patriots Shivaji andM.S. Golwalkarji whose birth anniversaries fall this month. Wealso salute Chandra Sekhar Azad, who was martyred in thesame month.

We are happy to announce our annual "SBI - PragnaPuraskar-2002" which will be awarded to Sri Vara PrasadReddy, M.D., Shanta Biotech Ltd., for his contribution inproviding affordable and Indigenous solutions to ailments likeHepatitis B and others, which would have otherwise beenunreachable to most Indians.

We request our patrons to send us your views or suggestionson Bharatiya Pragna, to enable us to keep bettering ourstandards, in form & substance.

Artha based on Dharma

2

Bharatiya Pragna February 2003

BHARATIYAPRAGNA

A Nationalist Magazine forThinking People

Subscription DetailsIndividual – Annual Rs. 150

Overseas $ 30Individual – Biennial Rs. 250

Overseas $ 55LifeSubscription– Rs. 1500

Overseas $ 200Institutions – Annual Rs. 300

Overseas $ 60Institutions – Biennial Rs. 600

Overseas $ 110

N.B.: For out station cheques pleaseadd Rs. 10/-. ($ 20)

* * *Advertisement Tariff

Back Cover (Multi Colour)Rs. 30,000

2nd/3rd Cover (Multi Colour)Rs. 20,000

Special Page Rs. 15,000

Inside Full Page Rs. 10,000

* * *Mechanical Data

Size : 1/4 CrownPages: 68

DDs/Cheques may please bedrawn favouring

“PRAGNA BHARATI”

ManagerBharatiya Pragna

1-8-107/C, Sivapriya Complex,Chikkadpalli, Hyderabad - 20.

A.P. India.Tel : +91 (40) 2762-1884

E-mail : [email protected]

CONTENTS BHARATIYAPRAGNA

The views expressed in this magazine need not necessarily reflect those of the editorial board orthe Pragna Bharati. - Ed.

Editorial :

• State Support to Hate Factories 3• Illegal Bangladeshis in India 4

Theme Story

• Indigenise Economic ThoughtS. Gurumurthy 5

• Protection of Intellectual Property Rights –Present Status and Future Concerns

Y.V.S.T. Sai 15• Public Enterprise in Kautilya’s

Arthashastra: Some InsightsR. K. Mishra 19

• Science and Technology for Poverty AlleviationDr. T.H. Chowdary 25

• Why Bureaucracy Loves Globalization?Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala 27

• Is it the End of Eldorado for Indians going to the US?M. Vidyasagar 30

The Kashmir File

• ‘We Would Rather Choose to Remain with India’ 37

Columns

• Indian Concept of EducationR.V.S.S. Avadhanulu 40

• The North Korea-Yemen Connection, Portends for FutureB. Raman 45

• Congress Wallows in Ideological ConfusionSandhya Jain 48

• Can the US Repeat a Japan in Iraq?Dr. N.S. Rajaram 51

• Will the Left Survive Savarkar?R. Sudhakar 54

Pseudo Secularism Combat

• The Rise of Islamic Extremism in Asia 56

Pragna News

• Vivekananda Birth Anniversary CelebratedS. Nageswar Rao 59

• Mexican Indian seeks ban on conversionsS. Nageswar Rao 59

• Seminar on Indian Budget - 2003Sai Prasad 60

• Seminar on Gujarat VerdictP. Gopi Reddy 61

Vox Populi

• G. Nageswar Rao • V. Devarajan 62

3


General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan had, inone of his famous speeches said that many Madarssasin Pakistan have turned out to be factories producinghate-filled Zihadi terrorists. Persons coming out fromMadarssas in India are generally no different fromthose in Pakistan. No less a person than Com.Budhadev Bhattacharya, the Chief Minister ofBengal, has alluded to this fact in respect of some ofthe Madarssas in West Bengal. But the wonder isthat the West Bengal Government is granting aboutRs. 120 crores a year to Madarssas in that state. Thisfigure was less than about a crore before thecommunists came to power.

Recently the West Bengal Governmentappointed a high power committee under theChairmanship of Shree A.M. Khusro, the renownedeconomist. The Khusro Committee’s report isamazing. The West Bengal Government is topatronize, fund and foster the Madarssas as thoughit is an Islamic Government! The certificates thatthe Madarssas give should be equated to those thatsecular education giving schools affiliated to the statesecondary board, or CBSE or Universities give. TheMadarssa-educated [in Arabic and Persian and Urdu]are to be eligible for Government service and canalso appear in examinations for Government jobs.Those students are to be prepared for jobs in theembassies of Arab countries and Iran. Governmentis to pump in money to introduce new courses; allthis in the name of modernizing the Madarssaeducation. In substance, the Government of WestBengal is to promote Islamic education to produceIslamists and they should be eligible for appointmentin Government like those with modern education inscience, mathematics, English etc. Is this secularism?In the name of secularism not only religious but evensubjects relating to Hindu culture and civilisation

State Support to Hate Factorieshave been dropped from Government schools. Butthe avowedly and loudly proclaiming secularGovernment of West Bengal is using the tax moneysof the state for religious instruction and that too forpeople of one religion only. It is obvious that in Indiasecularism has come to mean anti-Hinduism andpatronage to Islam. No wonder that west Bengal isthe largest refuge and shelter to BangladeshiMoslems who are facilitated to become voters, toperpetuate CPI[Mahatma] rule in the State.

There are State Governments which arecontributing crores of Government money forconstruction of Haj Houses, Urdu Ghars, ShaadiKhaanas and also for repairs of mosques while atthe same time not giving a rupee from the tax moneysof the State for Hindus, for their temples and for theirpilgrimages. Indeed, the money that Hindu devoteesoffers to one of the most famous temples in India,are being diverted for the repair of churches andmosques. The properties of Hindu temples put tocommercial use like shops are taxed while those ofthe church and mosques are not. Is there any wonderthat when these facts are openly brought to the noticeof the people of India, they are beginning tounderstand what secularism as practised inNehruvian socialist times and even now by variousso called secular parties, is. The dishonesty and thedistortion that Indian “secularists” have attributedto the word secularism and their plain disrespect anddenunciation of Hinduism is being understood bymore and more people and this is the reason for theirrevulsion to so called “secular” parities andbeneficiaries of Indian secularism [to thedisadvantage of Hindus] as reflected by the verdictof Gujarat in favour of Shree Narendra Modi andthe BJP despite the cacophony in most of the Englishlanguage press.

Editorial

4


Truth hurts and hurts very badly. MostIndians, especially those in the Border States ofAssam, Bengal and in places as far as Delhi,Mumbai and even in small towns likeMahabubnagar, know that numerous BangladeshiMuslims have infiltrated into India. These arebeing hosted and facilitated to become Indianvoters, obviously by the vote-hungry politicalparties.

It is generally known (indeed, the Governorof Assam has given a detailed report in thisregard to the Central Government) that in manyof border districts, there is a preponderance ofMuslim population as a result of infiltration.These numbers are in addition to millions ofHindus who had been squeezed out ofBangladesh. The Hindu-Buddhist population ofBangladesh, which was 35% in 1947, has beenreduced to about 10%. Muslims in India, whosepopulation was 7.5% in 1947, are claiming thatthey now are between 18% and 25%. Thesituation is alarming and at this rate, in another50 years, India may become a Muslim majoritycountry.

Illegal Bangladeshis in IndiaOverwhelmed by the flow of Hindus being

squeezed out of Bangladesh immediately afterPartition, Sardar Patel had then declared that hewould liberate a few districts of the then EastPakistan and settle the Hindu refugees there.Pakistan was frightened because Sardar Patel wasnot a man of empty words. The expulsion of theHindus from East Pakistan stopped temporarilybut resumed after his death.

Sri Advani should be congratulated for thedecisive step that he is taking to identify and pushout Bangladeshi Muslims infiltrators. This is longoverdue. Bangladesh is now emerging as a safeheaven for India’s congenital enemies – Pakistan’sISI and the Al Qaeda etc. India would be right inacting in the manner the European powers acted incase of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. That is,we should intervene in Bangladesh to save theHindu-Buddhists there and to stop that country frombecoming a Jehadi factory. It will be a test ofpatriotism for the political parties of India. Whetherthey would tolerate the inundation of this countryby those who were responsible for partition of thiscountry is the question that begs for an answer.

Editorial

●

Bharat is OneThe most important and effective step will be to bury deep for good all talk of a

federal structure of our country's Constitution, to sweep away the existence of all'autonomous' or semi-autonomous 'states' within the one State viz., Bharat and proclaim'One Country, One State, One Legislature, One Executive' with no trace of fragmentational,regional, sectarian, linguistic or other types of pride being given a scope for playinghavoc with our integrated harmony.

- M.S. GolwalkarDate of birth : 19th Feb., 1906<

5


Importance of Pre-Budget exerciseThe pre-budget exercise is on, every where it

will be after the budget is over in many cities andtowns, thanks to the initiative taken by late Sri.Nanipalkhivala. Postmortem assessment of budgethas become almost a feature in many cities andtowns and different organsiations have initiatedsome kind of awareness about discussing andinternalising the budget, but as yet I have not comeacross many pre-budget exercises at non specificlevels, we are a general category of people, we arenot belonging to this industrial body or thatprofessional body or an academic institution, we arepart of general public and so first I must thankPragna Bharati, Laghuudyog Bharati andBharateeya Vitta Salahakar Samiti and otherorganisational efforts which have gone intoorganising this meeting., but this kind of efforts willdefinitely create over a period certain amount ofpublic opinion which will manifest in budgetmaking, although it is not possible for the generalpublic to communicate with the system of FinanceMinistry.

As we grapple with the problem of budgetmaking in India, it is part of larger issue of Indianeconomy and when we talk about the Indian

Indigenise Economic ThoughtS. Gurumurthy

Text of the Speech delivered at a seminar on pre-budget 2003 organisedby Pragna Bharati in association with Laghu Udyog Bharati andBharatiya Vitta Salahakar Samiti on the 2nd of January, 2003.

economy we are not conscious of the fact that weare 1/6th of humanity. We are not a small country,some times we trivialise our selves by comparing,with what’s happening in Singapore and Hongkong.There is no comparison at all. And apart from thenumber, great diversity exists in the society. I amnot getting in to the kind of diversity which Indiapresents, because if you keep India on one side andthe rest of the world on the other you will have morediversity here than the rest of the world put together.I am not getting into that kind of societal diversity.Look at the economic diversity in India. There isunbelievable kind of economic diversity exists. Iwas in Arunachal Pradesh a year ago. There I foundthat there are communities, which are nontransactional economics. In a village there will be30 or 40 families. If a couple gets married, the entirevillage will have to TaTaTa Thosle for thma. Th.village will have todto theBhalvetting for one

6


Anglo-Saxon Concept of Social SecurityWe think we are Indians and most of the

budget is made by Anglo-Saxon Indians with Anglo-Saxon mind set. And we relate to India as anAmerican relates to America. I will give you a smallexample. The increase in direct taxes is consideredto be a sign of development and sign of India havingtaken on to the vehicle of globalisation, that theindividuals share the responsibility of funding thestate. The idea is, if the indirect taxes are more, thenthat is a sign of underdevelopment and if the directtaxes are more then that is a sign of development.This is the sign of civic responsibility being borneby the individual if the direct taxes are more. Thisis the idea which has been drilled into us by oureconomists, our academicians, our news papers andmedia people, our politicians and our bureaucratsall have unanimously without exception acceptedthis idea and there is no debate about it. But do weknow the fundamental difference between how theIndian society functions and its relationship with thestate? How the state and society share theresponsibilities and how the society if at all there

is any in Americatake for instance orthe western countriesrelate to the state? Iwill give a smallexample. In Americatoday a son need nothave take care offather or the motherand the father neednot have to take careof the Unemployed

son. There is no question of brother taking care ofhis younger or elder brother or sister or getting asister married off or getting a daughter married offor getting them educated none of theseresponsibilities visit upon America, these areresponsibilities of the Government And there is a

system of social security which takes care of thisand all that the individual is supposed to do is paythe social securitytax and income taxand forget about theobligation and thereis nothing called afamily obligation.As such, taxpayment mutates anindividual from allthe responsibilitiesnot only to othersbut even to himself.He need not have tosave. TheGovernment willhave to pay for himif he is ill. If he is jobless or if he retires, theGovernment will have to take care of him.

The Government has substituted itself for thefamily in the western society because families haveceased to exist as cultural social economic entity.And in India it is the reverse. In fact I had a veryinteresting dialogue with an economist who used toguide Mrs. Margaret Thatcher in her privatisationefforts and in fact he was a brilliant Warik universityprofessor. The entire idea of privatisation was givento Mrs. Thatcher by him. He was a right hand manfor her and in the course of my corporateconsultancy, I had occasion to relate to him andthere was a discussion between us in the presenceof some of the important personalities of the centralGovernment including two ministers and civilservants. He told me then that much of what ishappening in India through the Government needsto be privatised; Air India has to be privatised IndianAirlines need to be privatised, HPCL, BPCL willhave to be privatised. I told him that much of whathe said was correct. Lot of the activities which theGovernment is doing will have to be privatised. but

In America today ason need not havetake care of fatheror the mother andthe father need nothave to take care of

the Unemployedson

The Governmenthas substituted

itself for the familyin the westernsociety becausefamilies have

ceased to exist ascultural social

economic entity.And in India it is

the reverse

Theme Story

7


I asked him a question. Which is the most privatisedeconomy in the world? He said he could not

understand myquestion. I asked himwhat he would meanby privatisation.Economic burdenwhich a state isundertaking shouldbe privatised becausethe Governmentshould be free ofresponsibilities. Itshould have only them o n i t o r i n gr e s p o n s i b i l i t y ,p o l i c i n gr e s p o n s i b i l i t y ,a r b i t r a t i n gresponsibility and itshould not haveresponsibility ofrunning an industry

or owning capital or lending money. I asked him inthis concept which is the most privatised economyin the whole world. I asked him which is the biggestpublic burden on the Government in the west. Hesaid social security. It constitutes 29% GDP inAmerica, 48% in England, 49% in France 56% inGermany and 65% in Sweden. You may ask me why65 % in Sweden. 65 % of men and women inSweden live without marriage with any body for anylength of time and so that many children are bornwithout the identity of their parents. In fact Swedenhas passed a law in 2001 June or July that any onewho is above the age of 58 can apply to a court tolook after himself and the state will pay for theclerk. There is no one who will take care of theelders because there is no concept of family. So thestate has stepped into the shoes of what a father willbe, mother will be, parent will be, grand parent will

be, what a brother will be, son will be. So this hugeburden, has made the economy so dysfunctional inAmerica.Social Security Dilemma of the West

There have been atleast 3 important enquiriesin to how to handle the problem of social securitybecause many economists have come to theconclusion that if the problem is not tackled and ifthe Government is going to discharge theresponsibilities, by 2011 the American Governmentwill become insolvent. This is because the paymentsunder the social security will far exceed thecollections under social security and the kind ofmoney that the Government will be called upon topay the American people, the whole world cannotjoin together and pay that kind of money. And thatis the economic burden on the AmericanGovernment and soevery enquiry madeby the AmericanG o v e r n m e n tsuggested that thismust be privatisedand everycommission ofenquiry has came tothe conclusion thatthis cannot beprivatised becauseyou cannot createfamilies by law. Youcannot makehusband and wifelive together by aGovernment order.49% children born inAmerica are singleparent children. The collapse of the family has ledto transferring a huge economic burden from thecitizen to the state and I told my friend that theentire social security is privatised in India and this

There is no one (InWestern Countries)who will take care

of the eldersbecause there is noconcept of family.So the state hasstepped into theshoes of what afather will be,mother will be,parent will be,

grand parent willbe, what a brotherwill be, son will be

You cannot makehusband and wifelive together by a

Government order.49% children born

in America aresingle parentchildren. Thecollapse of the

family has led totransferring a hugeeconomic burdenfrom the citizen to

the state

Theme Story

8


has not been done by any Government order. Thisis done on the traditional principles of Dharma. Howmany people relate the idea of Dharma in

microeconomics inIndia? You can notcreate families bylaw. In America, taxconcessions aregiven to husband andwife living together.That is the last thingthat a wife will livefor, with her husbandwhom she does notlike. So this is thelargest privatisedeconomy in the

world. When I told this, my friend told me that ifthis one point is advocated and articulated by theIndian intellegentia academicians, politicians,bureaucrats, the balance sheet of India will be morebankable than the any individual Government in thewestern world.Social Security Privatised in India

Because you have a society which managesitself in this country can you have personal incometax? I will tell you why an Indian does not pay taxes.I was a tax consultant till 1983. I have representedassessees in IT dept. To contribute to a temple in avillage from which a man comes, a temple whichhe may not visit at all, is far more important thanpaying taxes, because his social obligations overridehis legal obligations with the Government Thesociety in India provides the individual far moreprotection than what the police do. Do you knowwhat is the ratio between the number of people andthe number of police in India? If India were to havepolicemen of the ratio of which any of the westerncountries have, the Indian police force will have tome 10 to 12 times the present number. We have 7.5lakh villages and we have just 50,000 police out

posts in this country. It is the community, whichoffers protection, and there is no theft or violencein villages’, violence is in city slums. In villages onecaste will get angry and beat up the other caste killone another once in 3 years. There will be peaceafterwards. After 3 years they will again get angryand beat each other. It is a very normal thing and Iam not getting into that at all. If you look at theUNDP report which is published every year, theviolence in India, including caste and communalviolence put together, India is still the least crimeridden country in the world. The total amount ofserious crimes charged for a 100 thousandpopulation is 680. America leads with this figureand is the lowest in the table. This is there in thesociety, because of family. Family and thecommunity are the prime instruments of India andever will remain so and the Government can nevertake its place. And there is no family in America inthe economic or cultural sense of the term.Whatever familyremains is family byaccident it is fleetingfamily. It is moreliving together soyou can not comparethese twoinstitutions. And ifyou look at anystandard economicstext book in India,there are manypeople who havestudied economicshere, show me oneword called familyin economics. Thisis so because it wasnot there whereeconomic theories were founded and from where wecarbon copied it and are teaching in our schools and

In America, taxconcessions are

given to husbandand wife living

together. That is thelast thing that awife will live for,with her husband

whom she doesnot like

If you look at anystandard economicstext book in India…show me one word

called family ineconomics. This isso because it wasnot there where

economic theorieswere founded and

from where wecarbon

copied it

Theme Story

9


colleges and in these text books there is no familybecause it was not there in those countries. So whyI am pointing out this stark reality is because it isnot that we are backward, it is that we are reallyhaving a social and family matrix, which is far moreadvanced than the family and society matrix, whichthe west has. The atomisation of the society hasresulted in a huge transfer of burden from familiesto the state.Balance Sheet of Government of India

Look at what is the macro economic problemof India now. There was a discussion about what isthe increase in deficit. The total interest paid byGovernment of India in march 1980 (mark this date)was 2300 crores. Today it is Rs.1,23,000 crores. Justthis one head increased about 50 to 60 times. Howdid this happen? The Government of India publishesa Balance Sheet. Just like a company publishes aBalance Sheet, the Government of India alsopublishes the balance sheet. I have not come acrossany comment about Balance Sheet of Governmentof India. At this stage I must also tell you how thebudget discussions go on. After the TV has come,budget discussions have become so trivialised thatwhat ever the FM says, opinion is formed. Expertscome, Finance secretary comes, some stock market

operator comes andthe opinion aboutthe budget is formedin a matter of 15 to20 minutes. It is allover. After thatnobody even looksat the budget. Whatever these peoplehave said becomesthe settled opinionon the budget. Thereare 100 good things

mentioned in the budget and 100 bad thingsconcealed in the budget. None of these things are

brought to light. The budget discussions havebecome trivialised and have become so meaninglessin this countrybecause of theinstant reaction.Budget is not thebudget speech of theminister alone.There are 8 volumesof documents inwhich one of the important volumes is the receiptsbudget and in the receipts budget you have theBalance Sheet of Government of India.

If you look at the Balance Sheet of India, itgives the figures for the year 1950 even now. Acompany Balance Sheet gives the figures of lastyear only. Some companies which are performingwell give bar charts like say for 1985 and 1995 and2002. They may say so, but most of the companiesgive only the previous year figures and currentyear’s figures but Government India gives figuresfor 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1990 also. In 1980the Government of India’s assets were in excess ofits liabilities, by Rs.1,000 crores, because, till thenfor the FM to present a deficit budget wasconsidered to be a shame. In fact I remember theFM saying that he was not able to bridge the gapbetween them to the extent of 110 crores. But heassured that by efficient collections he will see thatthe year ends without deficit and it happened in thecase of Krishnamachary who presented the deficitbudget and he made it up by efficient collections.He claimed in the next year that the previous yearhe presented deficit budget but he was able to makeup the deficit by more efficient collections. Thiswas the discipline of the FM, this was the disciplineof the Government this was the discipline of thesystem till 1980. You can have a look at thereceipts Budget of the Government of India. Thefigure of Rs.1,000 crores was the excess of assetsover liabilities i.e., the liabilities were less than the

The total interestpaid by Governmentof India in march

1980 was 2300crores. Today it isRs.1,23,000 crores.Just this one head

increased about50 to 60 times

The liabilities of theGovernment of

India are more thantheir assets by 8

lakh crores today

Theme Story

10


assets of the Government of India. Government wasstill solvent in the numbers of the Balance Sheet.Do you know what is the position today? Theliabilities of the Government of India are more thantheir assets by 8 lakh crores today. This is becauseof the Second Advent of Mrs. Gandhi and halfhearted liberalisation made by Rajiv Gandhi in1985, unprecedented jump in the liabilities andinterest payments between 1981 and 1991completely threw out of gear the Indian economy.This is a real problem with which we are grapplingeven today. How can you tackle? This is an internalproblem of the Government of India. It was at one

time borrowing,paying 13% interest.IOC is todayborrowing at 6.5 %.IOC has opened aweb-site it says theBOI has offered usat 6.7%, is any bodyoffering at lesserthan this? Then SBIlogs in with an offerat 6.69 % and somebody logs in and saythey offer at 6.68%.This is how theyauction theircapacity to borrowat cheaper rates ofinterest but theGovernment of

India, has borrowed at 13 % interest. And this hasenormously increased the interest burden.Interest Burden the Biggest Challange

You cannot tackle the fiscal deficit, particularlythe revenue deficit unless you bring down the rateof interest. You ask any business man in India whyhe cannot compete in international market. Hewould say how can he pay 15% and 13% interest

and compete in the global market when the rest ofthe world is paying 4 % interest or 3 % interest or5 % interest. Howcan we expect himto compete? Wecannot and the resultis quite different inAmerica today. It isnot that America haslot of money likeJapan. America hasno money at all.Americans haveborrowed 1.8 trilliondollars from thebanks. They have spent their next year’s incomealso through credit cards. Americans do not havemoney and American Government does not havemoney. American Government has borrowed 1.5trillion dollars from the world. If you add all theliabilities of all the countries in the world on oneside and the liabilities of America on the other sidethe liabilities of America are 10 times more than theliabilities of the whole world put together. But it isstill borrowing at 2% or 1%. Can any body say howmuch money India has lent to America? China haslent to America. Japan has lent to America. Japanhas lent over 3 trillion dollars to America, China haslent over 300 billion dollars to America. India haslent 65 billion dollars to America i.e., the foreignexchange reserves we have kept in American bondsfor which we get 1% or 1.1% or 1.2% returns. Wehave invested in American bonds and securitiessomething like 3.5 lakh crores for which we aregetting 1% return, whereas our Government isborrowing. If you look at the Government of India’sborrowing and say what is the average rate ofborrowing? It is 9.5%.Solution to the Interest Problem

If I were the Finance Minister what will I do?I cannot tackle the interest problem alone. It is a

America has nomoney at all.

Americans haveborrowed 1.8

trillion dollars fromthe banks. Theyhave spent their

next year’s incomealso through credit

cards. Americans donot have money and

AmericanGovernment doesnot have money

India has lent 65billion dollars toAmerica i.e., theforeign exchangereserves we havekept in American

bonds for which weget 1% or 1.1% or

1.2% returns

Theme Story

11


linked problem. I am giving you an illustration. Youcannot take it as the whole canvas of Budget that I

am presenting. If theG o v e r n m e n t ’ sinterest burden is tobe brought downfrom say Rs.1.20lakh crores to amanageable figureof Rs. 60,000 croreswhat should I do? Imust bring down therate of borrowing ofthe Governmentfrom 9.5% to say4.2%. Very simplearithmetic. How willI do? If I reduce therate of interest themiddle class isgoing to shout.Naturally! Theydon’t have anysocial securityprovided by the

Government They have to create social security forthemselves. So interest is very important for them.But unless you pay less interest to the depositor youcannot charge less interest to the borrowers. Becausethe Government and banks cannot pay 8% to thedepositors and charge 6% to the borrowers this isnot possible. So you have to bring down the rate ofinterest for the depositors. How can you bring downthe rate of interest? why do Indian depositors wantmore interest? It is because the social security inIndia is privatised. And in that society there is onlyone way you can bring down the interest rate andthat is by completely removing personal income tax.No other way is it possible. You say I am not goingto charge tax from you but the rate of interest youwill get is only 5%. People will understand. And do

you know how much money it will release into thesystem?

Today the cash economy is a stunningeconomy. I know as a Chartered Accountant nearly60% of the transactions in India are cashtransactions. I am not talking about agriculture. I amtalking about urban transactions. I am not talkingabout black money. I was in Coimbatore some timeback. It is a place which manufactures jewelry andthe total turnover including the value of the goldwhich is supplied to them on contract work they sayis about Rs.1.50 lakh crores. Out of this the workspart of the contract or the service part of the contractis Rs.15,000 crores. Out of which their incomeshould be atleast Rs.5,000 crores. It is about 3 to 4thousand families who are doing this work. Do youknow what is the total tax all of them put togetherare paying? Maybe Rs.100 crores. That’s all.Because Gold is in black, Sale of Gold is in black.Purchase of Gold is in black. Even if you have acheque and you go and buy a jewelry, you have tobuy jewelry from one person and take the bill fromanother person. There is a trade only to give bills.Do you know why? Because we again applied thesame formula of Anglo-Saxon prescription.Need for Re-look at our Gold Policy

Gold is a consumption item in the westerneconomy. Whereas it is an investment item in India.There is no privateconsumption of theGold in the west. Ifyou look at theItalian central Bank,it has 32 thousandtons of Gold. Andno Italian will buyeven 1 ounce ofGold from Italian central bank. There will be notrade between the Government and the individualsbecause nobody buys Gold. How many of us knowthis? I will be surprised if any economist who

How can you bringdown the rate ofinterest? why doIndian depositors

want more interest?It is because thesocial security in

India is privatised.And in that societythere is only one

way you can bringdown the interestrate and that is by

completelyremovingpersonal

income tax

Gold is aconsumption item

in the westerneconomy. Whereasit is an investment

item in India

Theme Story

12


formulates ideas about Indian tax proposals orIndian economy knows that India buys 40% of theGold production in the world. But we don’tdetermine the Gold prices. Do you know why?Because we handed over this Gold buying tosmugglers. If there is any one business, which theGovernment should have handled in India, it is Goldbuying. Our people are not willing to compromiseon Gold. With the result, in 1992-93 we came tounderstand after 40 years that it is not that Indiacannot fight a war against Gold, India has to acceptGold. Do you know what is the amount of Gold thatis imported into India every year? 800 tons of Goldis what is imported into India every year. Itapproximately equals 8 Billion dollars. Almost equal

to our oil imports.And now NRI’s areallowed to bring inGold. Now youknow what is theamount of Gold thatis being brought intoIndia. Is thereanybody in theGovernment ofIndia or the Taxdepartment knowwhere does thatGold go? WhiteGold becomes BlackGold. Because theGovernment says ifyou have Gold I willtax you. I will putwealth tax on you.People are not fools

to keep Gold which is not giving any income andkeep on paying wealth tax. See how difficult it is,the people’s habits and the Govt’s assumptions.What is the solution? The solution is that you mustaccept that the people regard Gold as an investment.

The economists regard it as consumption so theeconomists are wrong and the people are right. Wemust allow freeimport of Gold intoIndia throughnationalised banks.

For the last 12years we have doneresearch into this. Isuggested to theGovernment ofIndia that it mustbuild Gold reserves of about 10,000 to 12,000 tons.How can it be done? Do you know what is theamount of Gold that is supposed to be in theunornamented form in India? It is supposed to beatleast 15,000 to 20,000 tons. Which means 150 to200 billion dollars in value. So we are pleading withthe Government that it must allow the people whoare keeping the Gold in the unornamented form todeposit it with banks but don’t ask them how didthey get this Gold? How did they fund this gold?Because they are not going to deposit if you askthese questions. The Government wanted thesedeposits but kept on asking these questions earlier.They did not give tax immunity. I told them thatthey must give tax immunity and ask them todeposit the Gold. You pay 1% interest or 2% intereston the deposit ranging from 3 to 10 years and if the

India buys 40% ofthe Gold production

in the world. Butwe don’t determine

the Gold pricesbecause we handed

over this Goldbuying to

smugglers. If thereis any one business,

which theGovernment should

have handled inIndia, it is

Gold buying

Gold has become astick around our

neck. It is unused.It is completely

wasted asset. Youhave to convert thiswaste into wealth

Theme Story

13


Government of India gets 5,000 to 6,000 tons ofGold in its hands and the RBI can purchase it

because Gold inIndia is security it isalso foreignexchange. If 5,000tons of Gold is putinto the hands of theCentral Governmentthe CentralGovernment wouldbe releasing 50billion dollars whichmeans Rs. 2.50 lakhcrores will bereleased into thebanking system at1% interest. Do youknow why it is notavailable today? It isbecause Gold hasbecome a stickaround our neck. Itis unused. It iscompletely wastedasset. You have toconvert this wasteinto wealth. And

another thing is, if the Government gets 5,000 tonsof Gold in its hands what will happen? TheGovernment will tell that this year they are notgoing to import Gold. See what will happen to theworld Gold market. The prices will tumble down to20% or 30%. The world Gold council will come andcatch your feet and from then on India would dictatethe Gold prices in the world.Fresh Look Need for the Economy

We have to go drastically different, orient ourentire taxation, budgeting, and interest policies, tothe way the society lives. If you give Royal sharesand Gold. People want Gold. You can’t say you

must take Reliance Shares only. People are notgoing to take. Economics is assuming the waypeople act and formulating the policies.Communism and socialism are assuming how thepeople should act and make them act. That we havefailed. The people will act the way they act. Youhave to re-orient the policies for that. That requiresspecially focused Indian people. That we are afamily oriented society and community orientedsociety, that we don’t regard Gold as aconsumption, should be given due importance. Infact there are certain communities, which have anannual day for buying Gold. They call it Dhanteras.And in fact selling Gold is supposed to be doingaway with goddess Lakshmi. How do you fight thisfeeling? How do you fight this emotion? You can’t.So your policy will have to be oriented towardsIndia.Indian Economists to think out of the Box

According to me in the last 55 years of ourGovernment, India’s policies have never beenoriented towards India. These are policies made bythe people trained inthe westernmethods. Theeconomists in Indiasay Gold is a waste.The economist’swife is going andbuying Gold everyyear. He is unable toconvince his ownwife. Why does’nthe say “Come-onbuy Reliance shareswhy are you buyingGold”? Becausethat’s the way people live, that’s the way they lived.And the total amount of Gold that is supposed tobe in stock in India is 3 lakh tons which is equal to3 trillion dollars.

Economics isassuming the way

people act andformulating the

policies.Communism and

socialism areassuming how thepeople should act

and make them act.That we have

failed. The peoplewill act the way

they act. You haveto re-orient the

policies for that.That requires

specially focusedIndian people

In the last 55 yearsof our Government,

India’s policieshave never beenoriented towardsIndia. These are

policies made by thepeople trained in

the westernmethods

Theme Story

14


In 1998, India Today had published aninvestigation report on this. Men have nothing to dowith this only woman have accumulated this Gold.This is 1/3rd of the market capitalisation in America.That is the strength of India. So I have a feeling thatwhen we are talking about budget within the presentassumptions of the budget we will never get theanswers. All that I want to say is you must have analternative completely different and India friendlyapproach.The Right India Centric Solution

I tell you what the Government can do now.The total personal Income-tax, non-corporate, non-firm taxation in India is about Rs. 30,000 crores.The Government must have the guts to give up this

taxation completely.You may say theGovernment will goinsolvent, Theanswer is No.Immediately bringdown the rate ofinterest to 5%. Andthe Governmentshould replace its oldloans by new loans at5%. Which meansthe Govt’s interestburden will comedown by aboutRs.50,000 toRs.55,000 crores. Sothe Government willbe a net gainer of atleast Rs.20,000crores in this bargain.But the banks haveborrowed at 6% &7%. If you ask thebanks to invest at 5%in Government

The Governmentmust have the guts

to give up this(personal income-

tax) taxationcompletely.

Immediately bringdown the rate of

interest to 5%. Andthe Government

should replace itsold loans by new

loans at 5%. ThenGovt’s interest

burden will comedown by aboutRs.50,000, the

Government will bea net gainer of at

least Rs.20,000crores in this

bargain

securities they willbe loosing. For that Ihave a suggestion.Since all the interestrates will comedown, businesseswill get loans at 7%,8% or 9%, maximum9% not more thanthat. And becausethey will beborrowing at 7% or8% of the presentrate for the next 2years (since many deposits will be 2 year and 3 yeardeposits), the Government can levy an interestdifferential tax of 4% in 2003-04 2% in 2004-05 andpass on that entire money to the banks so that thebanks do not loose out on the margin.

Ask any good finance professional one question.If money is available in India for small scale industriesat 9% and for large industries at 5% or 6% what willbe the growth rate of Indian economy? We can forgetabout growth rate. Indian growth rate will be in excessof 10%. But this requires a very bold and an Indiafriendly, India consistent and moving away from theAnglo-Saxon approach. This has nothing to do withwhat is popularly understood as Swadeshi that youmust buy Indian goods and discard foreign goods.What I am saying is you accept Indian ideas and rejectforeign ideas about the Indian economy.

This requires a verybold and an India

friendly, Indiaconsistent and

moving away fromthe Anglo-Saxon

approach. Weshould accept

Indian ideas andreject foreign ideasabout the Indian

economy

Theme Story

●

15


IntroductionIntellectual property rights (IPRs) are

temporary, monopoly, commercial rights conferredto exploit an invention in recognition of the fact thatan inventor disclosed the details of his invention forthe benefit of the society. These rights are grantedon a quid pro quo basis by the society to theinventor. As various societies, in general separatedby national boundaries, are at various stages ofdevelopment, the needs of each society or nationdiffer from another. Therefore, the level ofprotection of IPRs is bound to vary from nation tonation depending on the benefits derived by thesociety and also depending on the desire andcapacity of the society to grant such rights. Hence,each nation enacted statutes for protection of IPRsas per its own philosophy.

The advent of WTO and the agreement onTRIPS (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights)changed this thinking and prescribed a minimum setof requirements for compliance by all the membercountries. Unfortunately, this minimum set was notas per the minimum level of standards availableacross the nations. The minimum was derived from

Y.V.S.T. Sai

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights– Present Status and Future Concerns

India has conceded the maximum what it could in the form of accordingprotection to IPRs. Any further increase in the protection level for IPRs isnot in the interests of the country and therefore not advisable. It is necessaryto conduct an objective cost-benefit analysis on each issue before we movefurther in the expansion of level of protection for IPRs, argues the author.

the commonly accepted standards between USA onone side and Europe on the other side. This beingthe case, such minimum set of requirements isbound to be far above the level of protectionmeasures in place in developing countries like India.For the first time, legal liabilities also fell on themember countries for non-compliance with TRIPS.As a disciplined member of WTO, India is boundto change its laws for protection of IPRs and has tobe fully compliant with TRIPS by 1-1-2005. TheIndian Patent Act has been amended twice for thispurpose and an enactment in the form of PlantVarieties Protection and Farmers’ Rights Act hasbeen enacted last year to recognize the rights ofbreeders and farmers. An act for recognition ofGeographical Indications has also been passed. Incase of other IPRs like Trade Marks and CopyRights, Indian law was already in tune with TRIPSand there was no need to incorporate any significantchanges in these Acts.

The TRIPS agreement was subjected to criticalscrutiny at the fourth ministerial conference of WTOmember countries held at Doha in the month ofNovember, 2001 and as a result of spirited efforts

The author is associated with the Shyama Prasad Institute for Social Service, Hyderabad.

Theme StoryTheme Story

16


made by a group ofdeveloping countries led byIndia and Brazil, adeclaration giving explicitcredence to the rights ofmembers to take intoaccount public healthconcerns in theimplementation of TRIPSwas passed. The second amendment to Indian PatentAct takes into account some of the flexibilitiesoffered by Doha declaration. In this background,one has to look at the present Indian law forprotection of IPRs vis-à-vis the requirements castupon by the Agreement on TRIPS. This is requiredfor the fact that the Indian citizen should knowwhere he stands in terms of offering of protectionfor IPRs and also India should react to the nextround of pressures from parties interested inexpansion of the level of protection.

Present Status of Indian Laws –Evaluation of Patent Act

Agreement on TRIPS provides for severalflexibilities in the implementation of legislations forprotection of IPRs. Though there is no commonagreement on exactly what are these flexibilities,considered opinion of international experts doesmatter in such cases. Therefore, it is necessary totake into account, the opinion of internationalexperts that would give due cognizance to theflexibilities available to countries under TRIPSwhile evaluating the Patent Law. Recommendationsmade by the Commission on IPRs established byClare Short, Secretary of State for InternationalDevelopment of Government of U.K may be usedas a ready yardstick for this purpose. TheCommission was established in May 2001 under thechairmanship of Professor John Barton with eminentpersons from the fields of law, science, ethics andeconomics and from industry, academia andgovernments of different countries asCommissioners. Dr Mashelkar, who is the present

director general of CSIR,was also a member of thecommission. TheCommission conducted in-depth studies by visitingvarious countries beforesubmitting its report inSeptember 2002.

To his credit, the presentDirector General of WTO also stressed the need toconsider the views expressed by the Commission.The Commission has made severalrecommendations to developing countries tosafeguard their own interests. Table 1 compares therecommendations of the Commission with theexisting provisions of Indian Patent Law.

One can easily understand from the abovetable that the Indian law is compliant with TRIPSas well as incorporates safeguard measuresnecessary to protect the interests of Indian society.Therefore, any reasonable conjecture would be notto yield further on the front of protection of patentsand other IPRs. Nevertheless, votaries of strongerIPR regime are not satisfied with this law and mayapply intense pressure on the Indian Government tofurther expand the level of protection. In this light,it is necessary to examine the issues that may arisein the coming months and frame responses that arein the beneficial interest of the society.

Future Concerns for India

It is certain that India would be subject toheavy pressure to increase the extent of protectionon various fronts as the deadline of January 1, 2005is approaching.

Pressure could appear in the form of audit ofIP policies and IP framework before entering intocommercial agreements or before sanction offoreign funding to projects. Pressures could also bein the form of lobbying with government tointroduce new legislative measures. In the followingparagraphs, an attempt is made to examine some ofthe critical concerns on IPRs.

It is certain that India would besubject to heavy pressure to

increase the extent of protectionon various fronts as the deadline

of January 1, 2005is approaching

Theme Story

17


TABLE - 1Comparison of Indian Patent Act

Vis-à-vis recommendations of Commission on IPRs

Sl. Recommendation of Commission on IPRs Existing Position in Indian Patent ActNo.

1 Exclude diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical Excluded as per Section 3(i) of the Patent Actmethods for treatment of humans and animalsfrom patentability

2 Exclude plants and animals from patentability Excluded as per Section 3(j) of the Patent Act

3 Exclude computer programs and business Excluded as per Section 3(k) of the Patent Actmethods from patentability

4 Adopt a restrictive definition of microorganisms “Microorganism” remains undefined

5 Avoid Patenting of new uses of known products Excluded as per Section 3(d) of the Patent Act

6 Avoid using the patent system to protect With respect of plant varieties fully compatibleplant varieties and where ever possible, but ambiguous on genetic materialgenetic material

7 Provide for international exhaustion of Fully compatible. Newly inserted sectionpatent rights 107A(b) permits international exhaustion

8 Provide an effective compulsory licensing Elaborate provisions are made in law undersystem and adequate government use Chapter XVI and also in the draft rulesprovisions

9 Provide broadest possible exceptions to Newly inserted Section 107A providespatent rights including adequate research exceptions for generic manufactures to get readyexemption exception and an explicit immediately on expiry of patents. Already the“Bolar exception” existing section 47 provides for exemptions

related to research and government use. Theseprovisions are wide enough to cover Bolarexceptions.

10 Apply strict standards of novelty, inventive To be watched in practicestep and industrial application or utility(use standards higher than currently used bydeveloped countries)

Theme Story

18


11 Make use of strict patentability and disclosure To be watched in practice

requirements to prevent unduly broad claims

in patent applications

12 Provide a relatively low cost opposition or As per the recently circulated draft patent rules,

re-examination procedure Fees for filing application opposing a patent is

Rs 1,500 in case of an individual and for others

it is Rs 5,000. These sums are low enough and

during the course of proceedings also, huge

demands are not made on the applicant except

for requirement of proof.

13 Provide means to prevent the granting or Fully compatible. In fact section 3(p) of the Act

enforcement of patents comprising biological explicitly excludes traditional knowledge from

material or associated traditional knowledge patentability. Recognition is also given to

obtained in contravention of access legislation traditional methods of knowledge propagation

or the provisions of the CBD like oral communication.

14 Consider alternative forms of protection to No such mechanism available at present.

encourage sub-patentable type local

innovation

15 Apply an absolute standard of novelty such Standards are yet to be evolved. This is a

that any disclosure anywhere in the world universal problem and not specific to India alone.

can be considered prior art

16 Take greater account of traditional knowledge Section 3(p) prohibits patents on traditional

when examining patent applications knowledge and Section 25(1)(k) provides that

patents can be refused on the ground that the

invention relates to “knowledge, oral or

otherwise, available within any local or

indigenous community in India or elsewhere”

17 Provide for the obligatory disclosure of As per sub-clause (D) of clause (ii) of proviso to

information in the patent application of the clause (d) of sub-section (4) to Section 10 of the

geographical source of biological materials Patent Act, explicit provision to this extent is made.

from which the invention is derived

Continued …

Theme Story

19


Book I of Kautilya’s Arthasastra describes indetail activities of the heads of departments. Chapter1 through chapter 36 extensively describes the roleand the specific activities of each head of thedepartment 1. We discuss below the activities ofsome of the heads of the departments.Khanyadhyaksh (Superintendent of Mines)

Khanyadhyaksh was the overall Incharge of allmineral resources in terms of their exploration,processing and sale. He was required to follow theclassification of different mines and mineralresources and then accordingly undertake mineralexploration and processing. He was required towork out the economics of the mines in terms ofdirect operation or lease. It was expected that hewould let for part-share or lease a mine that wasburdensome in point of expenses or working. Hewas however, suggested to operate a light mine. Hewas instructed to fine a miner (Khanik) eight foldthe value of pilfered items. He had to establish

Public Enterprise in Kautilya’sArthashastra: Some Insights

R. K. Mishra

This paper discusses Kautilya’s thought on Public Enterprise and examinesits relevance for the present day management of PEs. It starts with the scopeof economic activities conducted in public sector during the period ofKautilya. Wage policy is discussed thereafter. The system of accounting andaudit during Kautilya’s period prescribed for such enterprises follows suit.Finally, the principles of appointment to the post of the chairman are alsodescribed. The paper then states the relevance of Kautilya’s philosophy tothe present day management of PEs.

factories for copper, lead, tin, brass, steel, bronze,bell metal and iron and also trade in metal-ware. TheKhanyadhyaksh had the mint master under hiscontrol. Who had to carry out the minting of silvercoins in the denominations of one pana, a half pana,a quarter pana and a one-eighth pana. TheKhanyadhyaksh established factories for conch-shells, diamonds, gems, pearls, corals and causticsas well as commerce them. The salt commissionerwas working under the control of Khanyadhyaksh.He was required to collect the share of salt andtrading salt at the proper time.Suwarnadhyaksh (Superintendent of Gold)

Suwarnadhyaksh was responsible forexploring, mining, processing, production andtrading, besides conserving these resources. He wasrequired to set up factories for processing the goldand not allow unauthorized persons into theworkshop. He was required to be conversant withthe treatment of iron and copper.

Author is Professor & Dean (Research), Institute of Public Enterprise, OU Campus, Hyderabad.

Theme Story

20


Panyadhyaksha (Superintendent of Trade)Panyadhyaksha was involved in the export

and import of goods. He had to have an adequateknowledge of the differences in the prices ofcommodities of high value and low value and thepopularity or otherwise of goods of variouskinds. He was required to collect commodity,which was plentiful in one place, and raise theprice. In the case of goods having high prices, hewas expected to increase their supply to bringdown prices to normal levels. ThePanyadhyaksha was not expected to make a bigprofit that would be injuriousto the subjects. He wasrequired to encourage theimport of goods produced inforeign lands by providingincentives. No lawsuit couldbe slapped on foreigntraders. Before initiatingforeign trade, thePanyadhyaksha wasrequired to ascertain theprice of the commodity andcalculate the profits. In caseof a calamity, he wasexpected to rescue the goodsconsidered to be of highvalue by Kuppyadhyaksha (Superintendent ofForest Produce).Kuppyadhyaksha (Superintendent of ForestProduce)

He was required to procure forest produce andconvert it into finished goods. The group of forestproduce included several types of trees with hardwood (somavalka, sarja, sarala, khadira, tilaka,arjuna, etc), fiber plants, material for ropes, flowers,bulbous roots, group of medicinal plants, skin,bones, etc. he was required to set up separatefactories for making goods out of forest produce forlivelihood and protection.

Ayudhagaradhyaksha (Superintendent ofArmoury)

He was required to manufacture machines foruse in battles, for the defence of forts. For assaulton the enemy,.he was also engaged in themanufacture of weapons, armours, andaccoutrements. He was also required to know theeconomics of manufacturing.Potvadhyaksha (Superintendent of Weights andMeasures)

He was assigned the task of setting up factoriesfor the manufacture of standard weights and

measures. He was alsorequired to regulate theweighing practices.S u t r a s h y a k s h a(Superintendent of Yarns andTextiles)

He was required to causetrade to be carried out in yarns,armours, clothes and ropes,through men expert in thework. He was required to getyarn spun put of wool, barkfibres, cotton, silk cotton,hemp and flax, throughwidows, crippled women,maidens, women who had

deserted their homes, and women paying off theirfine by personal labour. He was required to fix thewages after ascertaining the fineness, coarseness orquality of the yarn. He was expected to make giftsif he took work on festive days.Seetadhyaksha (Superintendent of Agriculture)

He was involved in collecting seeds of allkinds, all kinds of grains, flowers, fruits, vegetables,roots, creeper fruits, flax and cotton. He wasrequired to undertake cropping in the vacant /government land. He was required to keep sufficientstocks of ploughing machines, implements andbullocks. He had to undertake harvesting operations

Theme Story

21


and ensure that not even husk was left in the field.Suradahyakhsa (Superintendent of SpirituousLiquors)

He was engaged in trade in wines andferments. He had to ensure the safety of revenuesarising out of sales. He was required to check onquality.Navadhyaksha (Superintendent of Shipping)

He was assigned the activities concerning seavoyages and ferries at the mouth of rivers, as wellas ferries over natural lakes, artificial lakes andrivers. He had to collect one-sixth as rent fromfishermen of the boats. Tradersalso had to pay a part to him.Appointment of PE Chiefs

The appointment of PEchiefs was considered verycrucial for the successfulfunctioning of PEs. Kautilyabelieved that people at the topwith superior intellect and thequest for action were destinedto instill great confidenceamong the colleagues.Kautilya studied the views ofvarious renowned Rishis(sages) As per Bharadwaj, theappointee to the top postshould be the fellow-students of the king. Beingknown would ensure their integrity and capability.Visalaksha disagreed with Bharadwaj and suggestedsuch persons for appointment as those with similarnature on secret matters, character and vices.According to Parashara, those, who had helped theking in calamities involving danger of life andthereby proved their loyalty, should be appointed.Pisuna disagreed with Parashara. In his view, onlysuch persons were qualified for the top posts whoby their efficiency of execution of task enhanced theincome of the exchequer. Kaunpadamta rejected theearlier assertions. He did not consider any one of

the above as the necessary qualities in a chief. Hesuggested the appointment of such persons whocome from the family of father and grandfather ofthe king, since their pure conduct was known. Heobserved that such people donot desert the kingeven when he misbehaves, being of the same kin.Vatavyadhi, only such people qualified forappointment to the top post who were recruitedafresh and then made well versed in politics. Hebelieved that New men looking upon wielder of theRod as occupying the position of Yama (Lord ofDeath), do not give offence. Bahudantiputra, laid

down all together different setof qualifications. According tohim one, conversant with thescience but not experienced inpractical affairs would come togrief in undertakings.Therefore, only such peopleshould be appointed to the topposts who are endowed withnobility of birth, intellect andintegrity, bravery and loyalty.

In view of Kautilya,everything stated above wasjustified. The ability of aperson in his opinion could bejudged from the capacity for

doing work. The rank could be distributed based onthe quality of their work. Kautilya laid down thatpersons possessing qualities of sattva (spirit), prajna(intelligence) and vakyashakti (power of expression)were qualified for appointment in the state services.However, he regarded, above all proven integrityand loyalty to the ruler as of utmost importance.Kautilya suggested avoiding making appointment ofthree types of persons to high offices. These aremulahara (one who is known to have squanderedhis patrimony, tadatvika (one who spendseverything as soon as he has earned it and kadarya(the miser who amasses wealth by causing hardship

Theme Story

22


to himself and to hisdependents).

The training wasattached the top mostimportance. Each and everycategory of employee had toundergo training. Thetraining related to generalaspects of work, society andself. The accent was ondeveloping an employeewho could be an asset to thestate and become anevolved soul.Wages

Kautilya laid down ground rules for thepayment of salaries and wages to the stateemployees and thereby PEs. One-quarter of the staterevenue was earmarked to be spent on payments andwages. Salaries ranging as high as 48,000 panas2 toas high as 60 panas were recommended for thedifferent categories of employees. Salaries weregiven on a liberal basis. The purpose behind the highsalaries was to prevent discontent among theemployees and ensure efficiency. As the stateflourished with prosperity, the generous salariescould be given to the employees. Kautilya also laiddown part payment of salaries in kind in case thetreasury was not full. The part payment in kind wasto be made in the form of forest produce, fields etc.Kautilya thought that the wages were paid for workdone, not for what is not done.Customer Orientation

Kautilya accorded importance to the conceptof demand and supply and their impact on thepricing of the commodities. The customerrelationship was identified as the key factor. Themarket intervention was suggested to protectcustomer’s interests.Accounts & Audit

Aksapatala was the head of audit and accounts.

He had to conduct audit onregular basis of all thegovernment departmentsincluding public enterprises.In the case ofmisappropriation of moneyon account of lapses in audithis office was solelyresponsible for it.Aksapatala had to developbenchmarks ofperformance, raw materialconsumption andperformance measurement.Organising PEs

Kautilya advanced the concept ofresponsibility accounting3 which entailedpreparation of budget and activity planning,reporting on the revenue and expenditure,responsibility for both the revenues andexpenditures, as well as the profit, personalresponsibility for exceeding budget limits andproper delegation of authority. This ensured smoothfunctioning of PEs as a well oiled machine withdecentralisation and delegation of powers, verticallyand horizontally covering entire canvass of PEs. Thebudgeting system was considered important tomonitor the performance of various departments.The responsibility accounting created anenvironment for excelling performance, in that goodperformance was associated with rewards and vice-versa.Financial Information and Control Systems

Kautilya recommended in addition toresponsibility accounting for profits, a detailedinformation and control system, the purpose ofwhich was to monitor the progress on a periodicbasis. The revenue and expenditure were classifiedon various basis such as head of income, source,period, quantity, to generate inputs for decisionmaking for multifarious purposes.

Kautilya advanced the concept ofresponsibility accounting whichentailed preparation of budget

and activity planning, reportingon the revenue and expenditure,

responsibility for both therevenues and expenditures, as

well as the profit, personalresponsibility for exceeding

budget limits and properdelegation of authority

Theme Story

23


Relevance to Modern Day PEsKautilya’s Arthasastra has a great relevance to

the modern day PEs. Both at the central and the statelevels there has been a talk of privatisation of PEs.The government in its New Industrial Policy 1991mentioned that the PE portfolio would be trimmedto economize the expenditure of the government andsave resources to increase spending on socialoverheads. During the last ten years, the governmenthas not been able to evolve suitable criteria foridentifying PEs which have lost their relevance. TheKautilya’s Arthasastra provides a superb lead in thisregard by mentioning the economic activities, whichthe state must get involved in. It is very clear fromthe description of the activities of the varioussuperintendents that the socially relevant activitiesshould be a part of the state portfolio without whichthe private sector may find it difficult to operate.The objective of the State’s intervention ineconomic activities is to provide full employmentand thereby create prosperity for the nation. Theessence of the success of PEs during Kautilya’stimes was in high degree of professionalism withwhich the superintendents and their associates hadto operate. PEs were exposed to both internal andexternal competition. The yardstick of their successlay in profitability and social responsibility. Noenterprise could continue tofunction without generatingadequate profits. Most ofthe PEs could learn fromKautilya’s Arthashastra, theart of contracting out. Thiswill make them slim and fitto face the globalcompetition and bring aboutrapid changes no soonerthan required.

Kautilya’s Arthasastrathrows interesting light onthe relations with labour.

One, the wages were decent and related toproductivity and performance. Two, the payment ofwages was also related to the economic conditionof the state. Three, indifferent labour had to pay ahigh price through fine. Four, lack of qualityproduction was taken very seriously. Five, fordifferent categories of employees there weredifferent scales of wages. These principles appliedseriously in PEs, can transform their working andprovide them a global lift.

A large number of problems of PEs in Indiaare because of the selection of an incompetent chief.The problem gets further aggravated, as the processof selection itself is dilatory and uncongenial. Thepublic enterprise selection board (PESB) has tomaintain a data bank and formulate a panel for thepost of chief executives which is sent to theconcerned ministries which indicate their choiceswhich are summarised and put forward to theCabinet Committee on appointments therecommendations of which are ratified by theCabinet as a whole. It is evident that this processhas been infructuous and failed to provide the kindof leaders PEs require. At the most, such processcould give only managers who could be nosubstitute to leaders. PEs in India with considerablemanagerial resource have lagged behind in fulfilling

expectations as they lackleadership.

Appointing chiefexecutives involvesvalidation of their practicalexperience and academiccredentials. Kautilya, wentmuch ahead to this. In hisscheme of things, personaltraits, spirit, intellect,powers of speech, integrityto rulers, were considered tobe major elements of anysuch exercise.

The benchmarking function ofauditing has not taken roots.

Kautilya’s Arhtashastra, holdsthe remedy for PEs where

Aksapatala was not limiting histransactions to test checks butwas going into economy and

efficiency of the entire gamut oftransactions through well trained

auditors and accountants

Theme Story

24


Public accountability and performanceevaluation have proved to be the waterloo for PEswhere they have lost more wars and won a handfulof battles. It is relevant to mention at this junctureas to why the exercise of memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) has turned out to be an utterflop. In Korea, the exercise has produced excellentresults because the MoUs are reviewed by the PrimeMinister’s Advisory Council. Kautilya hadsuggested a direct review of the activities of PEs bythe King which kept the Superintendents of variousactivities on tenterhooks. At the same time, the chiefexecutives were also rewarded generously.

The accounting and auditing is another greyarea for PEs. PEs have been talking of generallyagreed accounting principles. Unless the health ofbasic accounting is taken care of, it will be a flightof fancy to imagine that the generally agreedaccounting principles could be adopted by theseenterprises. The auditing function is in disarray asit has limited itself to only test checks and financialchecks. The benchmarking function of auditing hasnot taken roots. Kautilya’s Arhtashastra, holds theremedy for PEs where Aksapatala was not limitinghis transactions to test checks but was going intoeconomy and efficiency of the entire gamut oftransactions through well trained auditors andaccountants. One important thing that needs to benoted here is the level assigned to audit function. Itwas higher than accounting. This gave enoughfreedom to the auditors to be vigilant and daring inputting their views about the various businessmatters. PEs as such give either a very low placeto audit or assign it an inferior place.

The cost of production in the present day PEshows that the materials cost constitutes about 55percent of the total cost. Despite this, thematerials management and inventory controlhave largely remained academic exercises.Kautilya’s Arthashastra explains at length as tohow the stores have to be managed and thepunishment which the different functionarieswere required to undergo incase ofmismanagement of stores. The application ofthose principles could revolutionise the upkeepand management of stores.

The globalisation is the order of the day. PEsin India lost track through 1970s to 1990s as theydid not benchmark their activities to global majors.Kautilya suggested a whole range of measures forglobal competitiveness and dealt at length as to howthe Superintendent of Trade (Panyadhyaksha) couldmaximise revenues from both the internal andexternal trade. He did touch upon very complicatedaspects of trade such as risk management whichrequired high degree of professionalism. Kautilya’saccent on organising business by creatingresponsibility centres holds an olive branch for theirsurvival. This will have to go hand in hand with thesetting up of an effective financial control andinformation system in vogue during the Kautilya’stimes.

To conclude, Kautilya’s Arthashastra is agold mine for PEs. A large number of ills ailingPEs and constraining government’s success thatcould be earned but for these ills could beremedied by the approaches contained inKautilya’s Arthashastra.

References

1. See, Kangle, R P, The Kautilya Arthashastra, Part I, Motilal Banarasidas Publishers Pvt.Ltd., Delhi, First Edition, 1963, Reprint 1997, pp. 32-95.

2. The pana was a silver coin with a silver content roughly three-quarters of a tola.3. Sharma, Subhash, Management Ideas in Arthashastra, Indian Journal of Public

Administration, July September, 1994, New Delhi, p. 176.●

Theme Story

25


It is fashionable for politicians everywhere,and especially in India, to talk of the poor andpoverty alleviation. Every Five Year Plan since 1951talked about priority being given for povertyelimination, job creation for the poor and ruraldevelopment. Limitless promises are made to themduring elections and all parties compete with oneanother in doing so. It would appear that if therewere no poor, the politicians in India would be outof business. Many of the poor in our country alsofind that it is only during elections that their povertyis a little alleviated by copious distribution of thingspleasant.

World over, it is not promises and paper-programmes that have been helping in povertyreduction. By 1980, world population grew to 500crores, but the poverty declined to 30%. By 2000,the world population touched the 600 crore-mark,but poverty declined to 20%. Life expectancy grewto 70 years in the developed world and about 55years in the rest of the world. The remarkableincrease in population and longevity and reductionin poverty were due to the advances in science andtechnology.

Science and Technology forPoverty Alleviation

Dr. T.H. Chowdary

Science and technology should be promoted with greater vigour andseriousness so as to make India a real super power, not merely intellectuallybut even economically. Intellectualism without economic prosperity may beritually praised but not feared and respecte, says the author.

It is from the 19th Century that many of thescientific discoveries and technological inventionsmade the life less hazardous, more comfortable andhealthy. The railways, the steam and later oil-fueledships, aeroplanes, automobiles, fertilizers, vaccines,nutritious food, increased agricultural yield,distribution chains for goods and products,education and information availability throughtelephone, radio, TV and now the Internet have allbeen conducing to the creation of wealth and health.From about the 11th Century to the beginning ofthe 19th Century, the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) per person for the entire world grew from $200 to $ 400. In the 200 years since 1801,coinciding with the Science and Technologyrevolution, the GDP shot up to $ 4,000. It isuniversal education and intensive development ofscience and technology and their application thathad made human life less hazardous, less un-comfortable and far less subject to pestilence andprivation. Now there is importance to the idea ofsharing wealth; acute disparities in income are heldto be vulgar and helping the poor by the rich isconsidered a virtue.

Theme Story

26


There are some peoplewho talk against scienceand technology. Somepeople had in the pastopposed inoculation both asunproven and hazardous.But, we now know that it isinoculation that has reducedinfant mortality. Some havewarned against the researchand development of fissionand fusion. But, we knowthat for the world gettingdepleted of its non-renewable resources ofenergy, fission and fusionproduction of energy holdsgreat promise. The atomic and hydrogen bombshave helped in preventing wars. Now tremendousadvances in biological sciences are being made.Cloning, genetic engineering and geneticallymodified foods are coming up. Like in the past,some are arguing against them. Every source ofpower and every discovery could be used both forthe good and bad of humanity. The use must beregulated. India has not been putting in sufficienteffort by way of money and people to produce

It is universal education andintensive development of science

and technology and theirapplication that had made

human life less hazardous, lessuncomfortable and far less

subject to pestilence andprivation. Now there is

importance to the idea of sharingwealth; acute disparities in

income are held to be vulgar andhelping the poor by the rich is

considered a virtue

knowledge i.e. fundamentaland applied research anddevelopment.

Information technologyalone is not going to give uswealth. Unless India iseconomically strong,foreign companies willcontinue to make profits byusing Indian intelligence.And we will be left withonly plaudits and ourpoverty.

Carson, a great mathema-tician, while investigatingwhy there was noise in theradio concluded that “noise,

like the poor can never be eliminated”. There willbe poverty even in the most prosperous and justsocieties. But, the rigours of congenital andenvironmental limitations could be reduced by a justsociety. Science and technology should be promotedwith greater vigour and seriousness so as to makeIndia a real super power, not merely intellectuallybut even economically. Intellectualism withouteconomic prosperity may be ritually praised but notfeared and respected. ●

Community of Spiritual ConsciousnessSome of the so-called 'secularists' of our country become 'restless' when

they hear words like dharma and samskriti while discussing the concept of a'nation'. "Why do you bring religion into politics?" they ask. So let us take theinstance of Stalin, who had denounced God and religion as being an opiummeant to delude the ignorant. Explaining the concept of 'nation', he once saidthat a nation is not formed out of mere common economic or political interestsof a people residing in a common territory but that it is 'a community ofspiritual consciousness'.

- M.S. GolwalkarDate of birth : 19th Feb., 1906m

Theme Story

27


There are two ways that India can grab theopportunities of globalization. First is to tone up thebureaucracy, use our own wealth to createinfrastructure and push Indian businesses to faceglobal competition. ‘Economic reforms’ are hereunderstood as globalization of trade.

The second approach is to squander thenation’s wealth in bureaucratic corruption and bringin foreign investment to make up that loss. Foreigninvestment is sought not to usher in growth but tocover up bureaucratic corruption. Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee should realize that the onlyway for a country to grow is to use its own wealthproductively. He should not confuse the nation that‘economic reforms’ imply free movement of foreigncapital.

Vajpayee is quite correct in asserting thatIndia should rise to avail of the opportunities ofglobalization. Indian business cannot perpetuallylive behind protective barriers. It is necessary topush Indian businesses into global competitionand break their lethargy. To withdraw fromglobalization would be an opportunity lost. Butin order to make Indian businesses globallycompetitive, it has to be provided infrastructure,

Why Bureaucracy LovesGlobalization?

Dr. Bharat Jhunjhunwala

The author argues that the problem is not globalisation, but those who seekto put it into practice. Bureaucratic corruption is the bane of Indian economy.In its scheme of things, proper use of the nation’s own wealth is at a discountand begging for foreign investment is at a premium, he says

law and justice and flexible labour laws inkeeping with global standards. It will not do toleave these problems unattended and expect thatIndian businesses can rise to meet the globalchallenge.

These improvements do not necessarily needforeign investment. The fact is that the developingcountries are not exporters of capital. It is the UnitedStates that is that largest recipient of foreigninvestment today. Our businessmen, politicians andbureaucrats have stashed away huge amounts ofwealth in Swiss Banks. We import $10 billion worthof gold every year because the wealthy - unsafe infront of bureaucratic harassment and extortion - donot want to invest. Much of this wealth today is inthe hands of bureaucrats and ministers, notbusinessmen. Most of the gold and real estate isbeing purchased and declarations under VDIS weremade by these gentlemen. The Nation is short ofpower not because it does not have the capital tostart power plants, but because bureaucrats andministers seek cut at every point and discourage thebusinessman. Our infrastructure is languishingbecause the bureaucrats and ministers milk it forpersonal gains.

The author is a leading Political, Economic writer and Social activist, New Delhi.He is a trustee of Motilal Bhimaraj Charity Trust.

Theme Story

28


The problem of Indianeconomy, therefore, istwofold - lethargy ofbusinessmen andbureaucratic extortion ofwealth. The difficulty withNorth Block is that it speaksonly about the lethargy andnot about the bureaucraticextortion. And, in order tocover up the decline of thenation due to this extortion,North block wants to inviteforeign investment. InNorth Block’s nationalism,proper use of the nation’sown wealth is at a discountand begging for foreigninvestment is at a premium.This hidden agenda ofNorth Block is spread in thename of ‘globalization’. Economic reforms aredefined as globalization of trade and investment,rather than that of trade alone.

Unquestionably, globalization of trade is anopportunity, but the globalization of capital istricky. The problem is that while free movementof capital is sought, free movement of peoplecontinues to be restricted. While the capital of theworld is free to roam across the countries in thesearch of most profitable opportunities, people ofthe world are hemmed in by their nationalboundaries and prevented from roaming acrossthe globe in search of most profitableopportunities. The interests of capital areestablished while the interests of the people aregiven a go bye.

It is for this reason that 90 per cent of thedeveloping countries are getting poorer. Even LatinAmerica - the star performer of the globalization lobbyin the seventies - is now at the receiving end. The 90s

are being called the ‘lostdecade’. Their own capitalhas fled to Switzerland andthe United States. Theircurrent incomes are beingused to remit the profits ofthe MNCs. North Blockseeks to do the same in India.It is forgotten that anycountry that does not first putits own house in order hasbut to face such an ignominy.

The choice, therefore, isnot between for or againstglobalization. The die hasbeen cast. Globalization isin. The choice is betweenglobalization of trade withor without investment. Thereason that North Blockseeks globalization with

investment is because it does not have the spine tocontrol the ministers and bureaucrats. They spendmore time pleading the case of the MNCs and lessin removing the bureaucratic rot at the ground level.Having risen from that same structure, and by beingthe beneficiaries of that rot, their attention is devotedwholly to invite foreign capital to cover up the rot.Their interests are linked to extortion of Indianbusinessmen and serving the MNCs.

It is for this reason that ‘economic reforms’do not include the reform of legal andadministrative structure. That would make thebureaucracy lose the opportunity to extort. Theseare, therefore, put on the backburner. In a decadeof reforms, not a step has been taken to reformthe bureaucracy. Every one of therecommendations of the Fifth Pay Commissionregarding improving the accountability andefficiency of the bureau-cracy has been pushedunder the carpet. North Block does not find it

Unquestionably, globalization oftrade is an opportunity, but theglobalization of capital is tricky.The problem is that while freemovement of capital is sought,

free movement of peoplecontinues to be restricted. Whilethe capital of the world is free toroam across the countries in the

search of most profitableopportunities, people of the worldare hemmed in by their nationalboundaries and prevented from

roaming across the globe insearch of most profitable

opportunities

Theme Story

29


necessary to mentionthem. Labour laws havenot been simplified.Corruption in SEBs and allother public goods such asirrigation, water supply,railways, and PSUsremains untouched inNorth Block’s conceptionof globalization.

A further bonus forthese noble men is that theycan also get primeappointments in the MNCsand the World Bank for theirsons and daughters-in-lawand also plum consultanciesfor themselves.

No one is opposingglobalization of trade. Yesindeed, open up the bordersand let us compete. But giveus the roads, flexible labourlaws and an efficientjudiciary in order to do so. Indian businessmen willbring the wealth of the world.

We need globalization. But, the contours ofpeople-oriented globalization should be (a) free trade;(b) linking free movement of capital to free movement

We import $10 billion worth ofgold every year because thewealthy - unsafe in front of

bureaucratic harassment andextortion - do not want to invest.Much of this wealth today is inthe hands of bureaucrats and

ministers, not businessmen. Mostof the gold and real estate is

being purchased and declarationsunder VDIS were made by these

gentlemen. The Nation is short ofpower not because it does nothave the capital to start power

plants, but because bureaucratsand ministers seek cut at every

point and discourage thebusinessman

of labour; (c) seeking higherprices of our goods byforming commodity cartelslike the OPEC; (d)simplifying Indiangovernance by implementinge f f i c i e n c y - r e l a t e drecommendations of the FifthPay Commission, enactingflexible labour laws,providing speedy justice, etc.;(e) increasing domesticinvestment in infrastructure;and (f) encouraging Indianbusinesses to buy frontlinetechnologies without foreigninvestment.

It is true that modernIndia will not meet the fateit met with the Britishintrusion. But the credit forthis saving will go to thosewho have opposed thesellout of the nation by

Ministers and bureaucrats. This opposition has madeit known to the MNCs that even if they have boughtthe North Block, the people refuse to give in. Thefailure of the government in attracting foreigninvest-ment is the success of India.

Great works are Achieved with Suffering and Sacrifice

No great work is achieved without great suffering and sacrifice. The worker

will be required to pay a heavy price in terms of his personal and family

happiness and smilingly embrace a life of troubles and dangers in treading

the path of the ideal. The glowing example of Sri Rama is there as the guiding

star for the hazardous voyage of a life of duty.- M.S. Golwalkar

Date of birth : 19th Feb., 1906j

Theme Story

30


The AxiomsFor as long as I can remember, some things

have been accepted as axiomatic by all of us: the‘original’ NRI’s (Non-Resident Indians), the ‘other’NRI’s (Not Really Indians, also known as RNI’s –Resident Non-Indians), RRI’s (Resident RealIndians), R2I’s (Returned to Indians), and the rest.If I may paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, I would say:We the people hold the following truths to be self-evident:• That the Rupee will always depreciate against thedollar (US dollar naturally — is there any otherkind?).• That the inflation rate will always be higher inIndia than in the US.• That the job market will always be better in theUS than in India.• That the standard of living will always be higherin the US than in India.

So accustomed are we to accepting thesepremises without question that we have thoroughlyinternalized them — we no longer consider theseas overt externally introduced assumptions, but treatthem as immutable laws of life, like Newton’s threelaws and Maxwell’s four equations.The Reality

But now things have gone topsy-turvy in thisland of India that is Bharat. As Marc Antony said

Is it the End of Eldorado for Indiansgoing to the US?

“Oh what a fall was there my countrymen!” Justconsider the following facts:The Rupee

After depreciating steadily against the USdollar (from 31.37 to the Dollar in 1991 to 49.07to the dollar in 2001), the Rupee has nowappreciated against the dollar, and is now at 48 tothe dollar. In fact, but for active intervention by theReserve Bank of India, the Rupee would appreciateby another 2.5% against major currencies, includingthe US dollar. India’s foreign exchange reserves,which hit rock bottom at less than $ 1 BB (that’sbillion) back in 1991, are now at $ 68.5 BB andclimbing steeply. Too steeply as a matter of fact. Ifthe RBI did not ‘sterilize’ these massive dollarinflows, the Rupee would appreciate even fasterthan it is at present. The ‘merchandise’ trade of Indiashows a deficit only because the Indian governmentperversely insists on counting India’s massivesoftware exports of $ 8.2 billion under a strangehead called ‘invisibles.’ Its outdated rationale is that,since no material changes hands, software exportscannot be counted as ‘merchandise.’ But for this andother such accounting quirks, India would show amerchandise trade surplus. Similarly, our strangeway of counting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)substantially understates the amount of money thatthe Indian economy is able to attract. A recent issue

M. Vidyasagar

The Author is Executive Vice President, Tata Consultancy Services, Hyderabad.

For long, the Indian educated youth dreamt of going to the US as the ultimatein life. This article discusses how this notion does not hold good anymore.

Theme Story

31


of Businessworld points outthat, if we were to use thenorms published by theInternational MonetaryFund, India’s FDI last yearwould be $ 8 BB, not $ 2.2BB which is government’sofficial figure. (As an aside,using the same IMF norms,China’s FDI falls from $40BB to $22 BB.) In any case,India is now showing acurrent account surplus. In contrast, for many yearsthe US economy managed to get away with a hugetrade deficit, since the other countries of the worldturned right around and invested their tradesurpluses in the US. This gave the US a hugesurplus on the current account, even if it had a tradedeficit. But now the trading partners of the US areno longer automatically willing to reinvest theirsurpluses in the US, which is one reason why thecurrent economic slump in the US has been soprolonged.The Indian Inflation Rate

The inflation rate in India has been hoveringat between 2% and 4% per year for the past severalyears. With salaries increasing at a much faster rate(especially, but not exclusively, in the softwaresector), the real incomes have been increasing at avery healthy rate. Coupled with the rapid drop inreal estate values (possibly because most of theblack money has already been invested in thissector), this implies that the disposable income,especially in inexpensive metros like Hyderabad,has just been going through the roof. This is whythere is such an increase in the number ofrestaurants, entertainment outlets, etc.The Indian Job Market

And how about the job market? Until the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, everyone assumed thatthe part of one’s career spent in India was just a

prelude to one’s ‘real’career, i.e., a job in theUSA. Anyone who had theoption of going to the USAwas considered mad if hedid not exercise that option.Fresh Master’s graduatesfrom very ordinaryAmerican universities wereable to command startingsalaries of $60 K per year.So it was not unusual for

kids from middle-class families to take huge loansto go the USA to do a Master’s degree even withoutany financial support, since they were sure that (a)they would get financial aid after one semester, and(b) they could recoup the loan amount and muchmore as soon as they finished their degrees. But nowthe situation has turned around completely. With thejob market being so bad, many persons in the USare either delaying their graduation or returning tograduate school. As a result, Indian students whohave gone to the US without financial aid are beingforced to complete their Master’s degree entirely ontheir own money. If at all a fresh Master’s degreeholder in computer science is able to get a job, hewill be lucky to get $36 K per year — a drop of40% from earlier highs. I know of many Indianstudents who have gone to the US taking loans andstill spinning out their degree programs, since theyhave no hope of getting a job of any kind. Somepersons I know are compounding their earliermistake by taking further loans to do a secondMaster’s degree, all because they don’t want tocontemplate returning to India.

Ever since the downturn in the US economy,H1B visa holders in the US have become anendangered species. The downturn in the USsoftware industry has not spared even GCH’s (that’s‘Green Card Holders,’ for those of you who don’tregularly read the matrimonial columns). The

With the job market being so bad,many persons in the US are either

delaying their graduation orreturning to graduate school. As aresult, Indian students who havegone to the US without financialaid are being forced to completetheir Master’s degree entirely on

their own money

Theme Story

32


bursting of the dot-com bubble was quicklyfollowed by a seemingly never-ending series ofaccounting scandals, which makes one wonder howmuch of the ‘growth’ of the US economy during the1990’s was real, and how much was simply a stage-managed mirage. In fact, many of my US-basedfriends have told me that, not only has the softwarejob market disaster claimed literally tens ofthousands of jobs, but there is also no end in sight.

But how about the situation in India? Aftergrowing at the dizzying pace of 50%-plus between1998 and 2002, last year the Indian softwareindustry grew by ‘only’ 30%.Being an ethical company, inSummer 2001 TataConsultancy Services (TCS)honoured all the job offersmade during the precedingyear, even if it temporarilyled to a surplus in manpower(this has subsequentlydisappeared). Other leadingsoftware companies did nothonour their campusplacement job offers,preferring instead to hidebehind the euphemism ofputting these offers ‘on hold.’But even these companiesdid not resort to massive layoffs as their Americancounterparts did. Now, in the Fall of 2002, it isbusiness as usual. Every large company is hiring bythe thousands. TCS itself is hiring 4,000 persons thisyear, and others are hiring similar numbers. In termsof undergraduate calculus, one could say that so faras the Indian software industry was concerned, thefirst derivative has always been positive. The secondderivative temporarily became negative, but now ittoo has turned positive. Anyone who even thinksabout quitting a steady software job in India andgoing to the US can only be considered a fool.

The Standard of Living in IndiaThe last point is about the standard of living.

As little as three years ago, I felt that in my lifetimeI will not see a day when a person living in Indiawould opt not to move to the US because he wouldnot have the same standard of living. There areplenty of reasons why a person living in India mightopt to stay here, family responsibilities being themost common. But I never imagined that theinability to maintain one’s standard of living wouldbe a consideration. Of course, in the softwareindustry, it was not unusual to see a person who had

ten or more years ofexperience opting to stay onin India, because he felt thathis experience would not be‘counted’ in the USA andthat he would therefore notcommand a comparableposition abroad. But it wastaken for granted that aperson holding a particularlevel of position in the USAwould always have a betterstandard of living than hiscounterpart in India. Even Ifelt the same way. Again ittook the slump in the USsoftware industry to turn

things topsy-turvy.In comparing living standards in India and the

USA, it is desirable (in my opinion) to use the so-called ‘purchasing power parity (PPP)’ exchangerate, and not the official exchange rate. The PPP wasa concept that has been around for many years, andis intended to measure the different cost of goodsand services in different societies. To illustrate, onedollar equals 48 Rupees. But one cannot get a goodcup of coffee for eight cents (four Rupees) in theUSA, nor a cup of coffee in an air-conditionedrestaurant for thirty cents (fifteen Rupees). One

One cannot get a good cup ofcoffee for eight cents (four

Rupees) in the USA, nor a cup ofcoffee in an air-conditioned

restaurant for thirty cents (fifteenRupees). One cannot eat out forone dollar (fifty Rupees), and so

on. One cannot get a flat tirerepaired in a roadside shop for

eighty cents (forty Rupees) — infact, one is lucky to get itrepaired for forty dollars!

Theme Story

33


cannot eat out for one dollar (fifty Rupees), and soon. Services are also cheaper in a developingsociety. One cannot get a flat tire repaired in aroadside shop for eighty cents (forty Rupees) — infact, one is lucky to get it repaired for forty dollars!The United Nations formalized this concept in theearly 1990’s, and started ranking internationaleconomies on the basis of the PPP-weighted GDP(Gross Domestic Product). Of course, the GDP itselfis a flawed notion and is stacked against developingcountries, because a housewife producing lunch forher husband is deemed to make no contribution tothe GDP, while a restaurant worker is believed todo so. But let us not go off at a tangent. The pointis that, when the first PPP-weighted GDP figurescame out in 1993, it was determined that the PPPfactor for India was about 4.5. This factor hasremained pretty much constant over time. Thismeans that in reality the Indian GDP is undervaluedby a factor of 4.5. To put it another way, in realityone dollar should be taken as 10.5 Rupees (which Iwill round downwards to 10 Rupees forconvenience), and not 48 Rupees.

If we apply the PPPweighting, it follows that aperson earning X dollars per yearwill have a comparable livingstandard if he is able to earn 10XRupees per year in India. Thequestion therefore becomes: Issuch an expectation realistic?Even as little as five or six yearsago, the answer was in thenegative, even in sunrise sectorssuch as software. But thanks tothe rapid increase in softwaresalaries in India, coupled with adeflation in US salaries, 10XRupees would be the bareminimum a person can expect inIndia. Of course, if a person earns

X dollars in, say, Tennessee and 10X Rupees inMumbai, his standard living would be much betterabroad. But conversely, a person earning X dollarsin Silicon valley would be much worse off than aperson earning 10X Rupees in Hyderabad. As theChief Minister of Andhra Pradesh never tires oftelling his audience, one out of four softwareprofessionals from overseas is from AP!

In recent months, I have seen a flood ofapplications from persons either living abroad orhaving recently returned from abroad. When theyapply to TCS, they are naturally obliged to mentiontheir last salary abroad. With this background, I candefinitely state that TCS is able to offer 10X Rupeesper year to a person earning X dollars per yearabroad.

I can add my own personal experience on thistopic. When I decided to leave the Ministry ofDefence after eleven years back in 2000, I exploredjust two job options. One was abroad, in a companythat is among the thirty companies that make up theDow Jones Industrial Average, and the other was my

present job in Tata ConsultancyServices. Both jobs werecomparable in scope as well. Theoverseas job was as a ‘ResearchFellow’ to do what I felt like —I would have been just the fourthResearch Fellow in thatcompany’s R&D set-up.Similarly, in TCS I became thefifth EVP (Executive VicePresident). At that time, the USsalary was numerically justmarginally higher than 10% ofmy TCS salary. So in terms ofPPP-weighted income, my TCSsalary was almost, but not quiteequal to, the US offer. Just twoyears down the road, my incomein TCS has increased by more

If we apply the PPPweighting, it follows that aperson earning X dollars

per year will have acomparable living standard

if he is able to earn 10XRupees per year in India.

Thanks to the rapidincrease in software

salaries in India, coupledwith a deflation in US

salaries, 10X Rupees wouldbe the bare minimum a

person can expect in India

Theme Story

34


than 50%, while I imaginethat my US salary wouldnot have increased byanything like this amount.Clearly I am now better offin PPP terms in my Indianjob than I would have beenabroad.

To summarize, at leastin terms of PPP-weightedsalaries, it is now definitelyrealistic to expect acomparable salary in Indiaas in the US.Other Sectors

I have argued that, at least in the softwareindustry, India is able to offer world-class salaries,at least to persons with about ten or more years ofexperience. Will this idyllic state of affairs spreadout from the software sector to other segments ofIndian society? I am not sure, but I would not ruleout the possibility either. Many in India areconvinced that our next success story will be inbiotechnology. ‘BT will follow IT’ is a fairlycommonly-heard slogan. I myself have launched mycompany’s activities in bioinformatics, an essentialpart of biotechnology, so I have studied this marketa little bit. In principle, I don’t see any reason whywe cannot repeat our IT success in BT. We havesome advantages that apply to both domains, suchas a large pool of reasonably well-trainedmanpower, attention to detail, and of course,knowledge of the English language. India is slowlybut surely emerging as the ‘back office’ to the world.

The main worry that people like me have is theapparent inability of India to compete in the arenaof ‘pure’ manufacturing. Our antiquated labourlaws, outdated procedures for customs clearance,import and export, our (in-)famous bureaucracy, etc.are all factors that are working against Indiabecoming a major player in manufacturing. But

apparently all is not doomand gloom. I see manyhopeful signs, all based ofcourse on what I read andhear, not on personalexperience. Variousbusiness magazines havepointed out that, whenever amultinational company hasset up a plant in India, thecost of manufacturing inIndia has not beensignificantly higher thanelsewhere, and in somecases it is the lowest in the

world (even lower than in China). Examples of thisare St. Gobain’s of France, one of the leadingmanufacturers of glass in the world. Of course, TataIron and Steel Company, better known as TISCO,is now the cheapest producer of steel in the world,notwithstanding our high cost of electricity, highcost of capital, high cost of rail transport, etc., etc.So if we decide to make manufacturing a priority,we can make a mark there too.

The Indian economy grew at an ‘official’ rateof about 6% during the last ten years. Even at thisofficial rate, the Indian economy has been thesecond fastest growing economy in the world duringthis period, China being the fastest. But what I seeall around me seems to point to much more robustgrowth than this figure would indicate. I have talkedto many economics experts about this apparentdisparity. I should emphasize that I have beentalking to ‘real’ economists who need to work andsurvive in the marketplace, and not the closetMarxists who pass themselves off as economists andinfest Indian academia and newspaper editorialpages. What I hear the professional economistssaying is that, while Chinese growth figures arebased on somewhat generous interpretations of theirperformance, the Indian figures always understate

The main worry that people haveis the apparent inability of Indiato compete in the arena of ‘pure’manufacturing. Our antiquated

labour laws, outdated proceduresfor customs clearance, importand export, our (in-)famous

bureaucracy, etc. are all factorsthat are working against India

becoming a major player inmanufacturing

Theme Story

35


the actual growth. Over the years we haveapparently perfected a system of officially shootingourselves in the foot, and repeatedly doing it. Forinstance, the services sector, which has beengrowing at a tremendous clip in India, is given avery low weight in our official statistics, whereasstatic sectors such as agriculture are given a hugeweight. The late (and great) jurist Nani Palkhivalasaid “It takes a superhuman effort to keep Indiapoor.” Earlier we could count on our netas andbabus to supply this superhuman effort. Now thatthe Indian economy has been unshackled a little bit,they are apparently content to present a picture ofpoverty and degradation through the clever use ofstatistics. If our babus and netas had a little moreimagination, they would reinterpret our growthfigures to present the Indian economy in the bestpossible light. Instead they seem to be doing just theopposite.The Future

Does this mean that India is poised to takeover the US as the largest economy in the world?Of course not. The US society has severaladvantages that have been carefully built up overtime. For example, the US has the bestuniversities in the world, by a huge margin.

Forget about India – even the best Europeanuniversities are nowhere near the best Americanuniversities. A mediocre American university ismiles ahead of a mediocre university anywhereelse. The US also offers a vibrant atmosphere inwhich new technological ideas can beconceptualized, tried out, perfected (and alsorejected), and exploited commercially. So far asIndia goes, our universities are in an abysmalstate, and I do not see any signs of improvement.Everyone speaks of the politicization of theuniversities, especially in terms of theappointment of Vice Chancellors. But I considerthe system of reservations, both in studentadmissions and in faculty appointments, to be afar bigger evil. So I am not at all hopeful that wewill have a good university education system atany time in the near future. On the other hand,the Indian economy is beginning to show asurprising amount of dynamism, with merger andacquisitions, branding exercises, competition forcustomers, and all the other positive aspects thatone associates with the US economy. Unlikemany other economies, our economy is mostlydriven by internal consumption, especially thehuge unfilled needs for everything, ranging fromsoaps to soap operas. This is not at all a badthing. With our huge internal economy, I believeIndian society is now beginning to offer anopportunity to aspiring innovators andtechnology creators to come up with “Indiansolutions for Indian problems.”

One criticism I hear about the Indiantechnology scene is the absence of so-called venturecapitalists. I for one have never believed in the‘venture capital culture’ that supposedly exists in theUSA. If one studies the years of the dot-com boomcarefully, one realizes that the role of most venturecapitalists has been to start new companies and takethem public, not to take them to profitability. Nowthat the US stock market is no longer willing to pay

If one studies the years of the dot-com boom carefully, one realizes that

the role of most venture capitalistshas been to start new companies andtake them public, not to take them toprofitability. Now that the US stockmarket is no longer willing to pay

astronomical sums to own shares inloss-making companies, the venturecapital culture has pretty much died

out in the US as well

Theme Story

36


astronomical sums to ownshares in loss-makingcompanies, the venturecapital culture has prettymuch died out in the US aswell.

I think too that thepopular media (both in theUS and India) has played avery undesirable role indefining what an‘entrepreneur’ is. Accordingto the media, an‘entrepreneur’ is someonewho starts his owncompany. ‘I am running astart-up’ is the kind of glamorous phrase one issupposed to toss out at parties, to draw theadmiration of all and sundry. But I must say that Idisagree with this viewpoint. To my mind, anentrepreneur is someone who starts a new ventureand creates jobs. It does not matter whether ‘he ishis own boss’ or not. In fact, this rather romanticnotion of being one’s own boss means, in practice,that one is constantly being forced to take short-termexpedient decisions, instead of concentrating oncreating long-term lasting value. When I quit theDRDO, I made a conscious decision that I did not

want ‘to be my own boss.’Even leaving aside the dot-com meltdown thatfollowed this decision (andpartly vindicated mydecision), I feel I did theright thing. When Ipersuaded TCS to initiate abioinformatics activity, Ihad the luxury of hiring 35persons without worryingabout meeting next month’spayroll. Because of this, weare able to concentrate onbuilding up our intellectualassets, which is the only

way to become a global player.Conclusion

The last two years have been truly amazing interms of what India can expect. Thus far only a fewtiny cracks have been introduced into the solid wallof Nehruvian state control that has prevented Indiafrom reaching its true economic potential. But evenwith these tiny cracks providing equally tinyopenings in our bureaucratic control mechanisms,Indians have delivered the second fastest growingeconomy in the world for over a decade now. Thefuture can only be better, not worse.

Thus far only a few tiny crackshave been introduced into thesolid wall of Nehruvian state

control that has prevented Indiafrom reaching its true economic

potential. But even with thesetiny cracks providing equally tiny

openings in our bureaucraticcontrol mechanisms, Indians

have delivered the second fastestgrowing economy in the world

for over a decade now

●

UntouchabilityAt the root of the malady of "untouchability" lies the belief among the common

mass of people that it is part of dharma, and transgressing it would be a grave sin.This religious perversion is the chief reason why this pernicious practice hascontinued to stick to the popularmind till now in spite of dedicated efforts put in bya host of religious stalwarts and social reformers over centuries. Guru Nanak,Acharya Ramanuja, Basaveshwara, Shankar Dev, Swami Dayanda, Narayana Guru,Gandhiji and Veer Savarkar, to name only a few, have striven their utmost to eradicatethis standing blot on Hindu society.

- M.S. GolwalkarDate of birth : 19th Feb., 1906

Theme Story

37


‘We Would Rather Chooseto Remain with India’

While Pakistan keeps hasping on Kashmir mantra on every possible internationalforum, it is doing everything possible to crush a liberation struggle in its ownbackyard in the occupied Kashmir. The flight for independence to gilgit and Baltistanby the Balwaristan National front has not received the attention it should actuallyhave. Even India has chosen to ignore this movement of muslims against theoppressive regine of Islamic Pakistan. This interview highlights the balwaristan’sstruggle for liberation.

Q : Why is the movement for Balawaristan notknown to the world? Is the Pakistangovernment’s suppression of political activityin Gilgit and Baltistanresponsible for this?

A : International attentionis focussed only on thosepolitical concerns thatappear in the internationalmedia. Unfortunately theinternational pressparticularly Western press isnot bothered with a peacefulstruggle. Only when astruggle turns into a armedstruggle does it attractmedia attention. The peopleof Balawaristan (Pakistan Occupied Gilgit Baltistanor POGB) believe in peaceful political struggle andthat unfortunately does not attract the attention ofthe world community.

Another important aspect is that the Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI) controls the Pakistani media and it ishighly risky for the Pakistani media to give any sort ofcoverage to the Balawaristan freedom movement.

Thirdly, foreign journalists and human rightsactivists are not allowed to enter Balawaristan. Ifat all anybody does risk entering Balawaristan the

ISI and other agenciesmonitor the activities ofthat person very closely.All copies of localmagazine, theBalawaristan Times wereconfiscated and bannedin 1994; the Gilgit Digestwas banned and its editor.Raja Hussain KhanMawpoon, waskidnapped by the ISIfrom his Rawalpandioffice twice and sent to

prison. Dozens of fake cases were registeredagainst him in different courts in Balawaristan.Finally, Balawaristan is a closed area and Pakistandoes not allow democratic activities here. I thinkthere is no region in the world where politicalactivists face as many sedition cases as theactivists in Balawaristan do. More than a 100political leaders and workers are facing sedition

Kashmir File

38


charges in Balawaristan. Inspite of the extremely highlevel repression, however,the world communityremains unconcernedabout the fate of the twomillion people ofBalawaristan.

Q : What is the religiousaffiliation and socialconstitution of thepeople ofBalawaristan?

A : Balawaristan has a 100percent Muslim population.However, Pakistan followsan unstated policy ofaccepting only the Wahabiset among Muslims. The religious affiliation ofBalawaristan was with Afghanistan, Central Asia,Kashghar, Yarkand of China and Kashmir. The firstperson to spread Islam in Balwaristan was Syed ShahAfzal of Badakshan, Afghanistan. He entered thestate of Yasen and spread Islam among the people ofYasen in 725 AD. The people of Yasen were the firstto embrace Ismailia Islam in the region. Shah Salimspread Islam in Hunza in 1800-21. The people ofTangir/Darel embraced Sunni Islam after 1890. SyedMohammad Noor Bux came to Baltistan, and spreadShia Islam in 17th century. The last people ofBalawaristan to embrace Sunni Islam were the peopleof Chilas in 1868.

The ratio of different Islamic sects in this regionis; 45 percent Shia, 25 percent Sunni, 20 percentIslamalia and 10 percent Noor Buxi, Sunnis are inmajority in Dardistan (Diamar). Shia in Baltistan andnagir. Noor Buxi in Baltistan (Ghanche, Khapoola)and Ismalia in Brooshaal (Yesen, Hunza, Pooyal,Ishkomen and Goopes). There was absolute sectarianharmony during the British rule and during the reignof Maharaja. When Pakistan entered Balwaristan and

treacherously annexed it, asectarian gap was createdamong the people ofBalwaristan. Ninety percentof the sodiers of GilgitScouts, who liberatedBalawaristan from theMaharaja, were Shia ImamiIsmailia and Shia, while lessthan 10 percent were Sunnis.This was also the ratio ofthose echo participated inthe Kargil war. But as far asgovernmental benefits orhigh-ranking positions in themilitary, police, judiciaryand other departments areconcerned the Sunnis are in

a dominant position. The Sunnis are in a dominantposition. The Sunnis hold 90 percent of these posts,while Shias and Ismailis hold the remaining 10percent. Since employment opportunities andpolitical rights are almost entirely in the hands ofthe Sunis the other Muslim sects have suffered.

The Pakistani aim has been to create sectarianrifts between our people. It ought to concerninternational community that while the people ofPakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) have been givenpolitical and economic rights, the people ofBalawaristan have no such rights. One reason forthis of course is our ethnicity which is different fromthat of PoK. Shias and Ismailis are mostly Boohoo(Yashkoon) ethnically the Shias of Baltistan belongto the Batli stock and the Sunis of Dardistan (Diamar)are mostly Sheen (Dard) ethnically.

Q : Are Pakistan’s non-democratic policies basedsolely on religious grounds?

A : No, not at all. The superiority complex of thePakistani armed forces is largely responsible for this.The Pakistani Judiciary is also responsible: it has

The Pakistani aim has been to

create sectarian rifts between our

people. It ought to concern

international community that

while the people of Pakistan

Occupied Kashmir (PoK) have

been given political and economic

rights, the people of Balawaristan

have no such rights. One reason

for this of course is our ethnicity

which is different from

that of PoK

Kashmir File

39


always helped the powerfulmilitary ruler by constantlydisregarding political right.Even in democraticgovernment the militaryplays a key role. As far as thesectarian thinking of thePakistan Army is concerned,the soldiers are mostly of theSunni faith, but the officersbelong to fundamentalistWahabi sect. During late General Zia-ul-Haq’atenure many Wahabi fundamentalists were recruitedand promoted in the forces as well as in the civiladministration. The policy of General Zia has nowpaid off and is very visible in the manner in whichthe Wahabi fundamentalists have squeezed out themoderates in Pakistan.

Q : Do you think that POGB would have faredbetter, that they had been past of the Indiandemocracy?

A : Yes, of course. Our rights would have beenprotected, had we been part of India.

Q : How old is the political movement in Balwa-ristan?

A : The freedom move-ment has been on since1992.

Q : Is the Indian government or its agencies,helping your movement? Do you want theIndian government to highlight the grossviola-tors of international humanitarian lawin Gilgit Baltistan?

A : Unfortunately, we have received no help fromthe Government of India, we think there is some kindof mutual understanding between the governmentsof Pakistan and India to keep the people ofBalwaristan deprived of all their rights. The attitudeof the Indian media is worse than Pakistan’s as faras the Balawaristan is concerned. The India media

Our first priority is an

independent Balawaristan, which

is not part of any country.

However, if the only choice open

to us is to go with either India or

Pakistan, we would definitely not

go with Pakistan

highlights that PoK, whichconsists of 4,00 sq. miles isa part of J&K, and continuesto neglect Balwaristan,which is seven times the sizeof PoK, and important interms of both resources andstrategic interests.

Q : How is GilgitBaltistan culturallydifferent from PoK?

A : There is huge difference in the cultures of thetwo regions. The culture of POGB is unique. Thereis some similarity with the culture of POGB and thatof Ladakh/Kargil, Kashghar/Yarkand of China.Badakshan of Afghanistan and Central Asia. Theculture of PoK resembles the culture of the Punjabof Pakistan.

Q : Historically, the culturally centre of this regionwas Skradu. Do you think, that GilgitBaltistan, Kargil/Ladakh form one culturalunit, and therefore should be united and be apart of the Indian Union?

A : Skardu was the cultural centre to the east ofBalawaristan and Gilgit and Yasen states to thenothwest. The BNF stand is that all these parts arehistorically similar and culturally have a strongaffinity brought aout by virtue of blood relations.That is why BNF demands that all these areasincluding Chitral and Shenaki Kohistan (North WestFrontier Province) (NWFP) occupied by Pakistan),POGB and Ladakh/Kargil (occupied by India) -should be united again, our first priority is anindependent Balawaristan, which is not part of anycountry. However, if the only choice open to us is togo with either India or Pakistan, we would definitelynot go with Pakistan, due the harsh experiences ofthe past 54 years.

(Courtesy : www.tehelka.com)●

Kashmir File

40


Much is being said about education in recenttimes. The opinion and guidance of the thinkersand academicians were elicited. Debates anddiscussions were held. Several suggestions werereceived. Many a measures was initiated. Severalcrores of rupees were spent. Millions are coming outof schools and colleges. Several technologicalachievements are witnessed. But, there remains afundamental question – Are we making them betterhuman beings?

For understanding the status of moderneducation, the letter written by Dr. KM Munshi toDr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the then President ofIndia, in 1967 is worth mentioning.

“Series of seminars were held with theparticipation of brilliant social workers and eminenteducationists for the development of ethical andspiritual values, and also for bringing in unity amongthe Indian nationals. The proceedings of the seminarscovered the aspects like i) how to change the existingeducation system, which is inculcating egoistictendencies everywhere, ii) how to strengthen thefamily system and a cohesive marital system, iii) howto strengthen the country the developing of ethical andspiritual values. The seminar recommended nation-

Indian Concept of EducationR.V.S.S. Avadhanulu

Real education should help the individual to identify his goals and to equiphimself to achieve the goals. The goals depend on the psyche of the societyand this, in turn, influences the educational system. While the moderneducation has given preference to the temporal knowledge alone, the ancientIndia had developed a comprehensive view and evolved accordingly, saysthe author.

wide awareness programmes at regular intervals. But,we do not find any such attempt for conducting suchawareness programmes”. (From “Physical andSpiritual Values” by Swamy Ranganathananda,Ramakrishna Mission, 1967).

Thus, it is clear from the above that the moderneducational system has not been functioningsatisfactorily. Thus, how our forefathers looked ateducation assumes importance.

According to them, education should help theindividual to identify his goals and equip himselfto achieve the goals.

The goals depend on the psyche of the societyand this, in turn, influences the educational system.While the modern education gives preference to thetemporal knowledge alone, ancient India developeda comprehensive view and evolved accordingly.Components of educational systemas mentioned in Upanishads

The Taittririya Upanishad describes the Vidyaas follows:

¥ ¿ £ Œ M ß¥ Øc M ß

l ˇ£ ß¿I»¡ ˇ I ß

The Author is the Deputy Director (Computers) at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad.

Article-Indian Education

41


(The acharya is the preceding form, thestudent is the succeeding form. The link isknowledge and the teaching is the process oflinking.)

The process of acquiring knowledge wasbroadly categorized into two, Para Vidya andApara Vidya. It was stated that the Para Vidyais supreme and leads to moksha, viz., Bliss andhappiness for eternity, whereas the Apara Vidyais of lower category and will only providetemporary happiness.

The related terms in the same context ofknowledge-acquisition process are Vidya andAvidya. While Para Vidya is also referred as Vidya,the Apara Vidya is referred as Avidya. In simpleterms, the Vidya and Avidya are explained asfollows: Knowing different objects or events orprocesses separately is Avidya. In contrast, knowingunity in diversity is Vidya.

While the technical sciences and mundaneknowledge belongs to Apara Vidya, the knowledgeof moksha is Para Vidya.

The dangers of practicing the Avidya werehighlighted in the Isavasya Upanishad :

¥ ˇ¢ £ s l Ø ß

Œ § £ ' l »¡ £ ßß

(Those who practise Avidya will enter intointense darkness. Those who enter into the arenaof Devata upasana will also be in darkness only.)

The benefits of learning both Vidya andAvidya were brought out clearly in the IsavasyaUpanishad.

l ¢¿ l ¢ ¿mT˛ » ¡ ª ß

¥ l º Ø¢ Łl s º —Ø ßß

(A seeker crosses the mortality with the helpof Avidya, and enjoys the bliss of immortality withthe help of Vidya.)

What is to be studied?Detailed inquiries were made in ancient India

into the following:i. What should be the aim any individual in his

life time, andii. What is the educational content and

methodology, viz., syllabus if one wants toachieve his target.We find replies to the above questions in

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.ƒ ¥ T ˛ ¯ £o £ £

I ˛ £ß(If a person has a strong urge to achieve

salvation, then he should study Vedanta. It has tobe studied, it has to be ruminated over andcontemplated upon constantly).Similarly, the Vedas say that

I • ¸¢ r¸ IÆ˙‘. ˛s ] ¿ ß

(The Veda and the Vedanga have to be learnt,without any expectation.)

The details of Vedas and Veda Sakhas as foundin Muktika Upanishad are as follows:

« ˛ ˛ » I˛ ¿ ¤ £ ßÆ ¢ „ sI • Ø£ ß

Œ IÆ˛ ˝ ßß(The Vedas, including the Atharva Veda are

four in number. These Vedas have several branches.These branches in turn contain several Upanishads.)

Sri Sankara answered the question as to what isto be achieved in the following words in his Eka Sloki:

•@ ˛ ß(I am the supreme glow.)

Need for a teacherMost people think that a teacher is needed only

up to the point of introducing the vocabulary.Modern ideas like ‘computer-based instruction’,‘self-learning techniques’ etc. also apparentlystrengthen this view.


42


However, the traditional system states that areal teacher can never be substituted, that the teacheris required in the process of learning of both, thetheory and practice, and that he is needed tillsalvation.While understanding the theory, the learning processusually encounters three pitfalls.i. The subject may not be understood at all,ii. the subject may be understood in an

incomplete way, oriii. the subject may be understood in a wrong and

misleading way.All these limitations can be overcome only

with the help of a knowledgeable teacher. Inaddition, the traditional system declares that thegrace of a guru is essential in spiritual field forascertaining one’s own experiences and for attainingsalvation.

The purport (tattwa) of Vedic scriptures canbe obtained only from a guru and not by othermeans. This aspect was stressed in MundakaUpanishad.

m] I ˝ ¢ »ØL » T ß

(One has to approach the guru only to acquire thatknowledge).

Similar statement is found in ChandogyaUpanishad also.

ƒ¿ h ¢ l˛ ˇ ˘[ ß

(Even Lord Krishna also highlighted themethods to be adopted by a student to obtain thedivine knowledge from teachers.) Lord Krishnasuggested of prostration to the teacher, guardedinquiry and service for acquisition of supremeknowledge as the methods to obtain knowledge.

m h ¸ I— I ß

' ˛ ] I¢] II ˛ I£ ßß

Definition of a Guru»• ¥ ˇ• ß

• •£ ßßThe syllable ‘Ga’ stands for darkness/ignorance

and the syllable ‘Ra’ indicates the light/knowledge.The person who can drive away the darkness ofignorance with the light of knowledge is the guru.

The first guru is said to be the Supreme Selfi.e. the Lord Siva in the form of Dakshina Murthy.

In one of the prayers, Sri Sankaracharyamentions that the Lord Dakshina Murthy appearssimultaneously in three forms i.e. Eswara, Guru andAtman. He is with an all pervasive divine body justlike sky.

This was stated in the second stanza of theDakshina Murthy Stotram.

æ oŁ »ØL Œ I §˛¢oŁ ˛ S¸ Œ ß

The seeker, who has the serious urge forsalvation has constantly try for the grace of the Guruby chanting the following”

I »Ø ˇ•@I »Ø ˇ•@ ßI »Ø ˇ•@I »Ø ˇ• ß

(Nothing is greater than the Guru, nothing is greaterthan the guru. Nothing is greater than the guru,nothing is greater)

Role of a DiscipleA disciple is an important person in the

hermitage of his teacher. He was expected to lookafter the needs of the teacher like a son and alsoas a responsible family member. He was closelyinvolved in getting the holy twigs and holy grass,preparing the five items related to the cows(Panchagavyas), getting the clay for preparation ofaltars and plucking the flowers – all works ofworship and service with discipline and dedication,just for the grace of his guru.


43


Hence expression of gratitude and respect forthe line of teachers and reverence of guru padukasWere considered extremely important.

¢ ª I£ s • l £ ß[ [ Ł

I £ « Æ ßI £ « Æ £ ß

(You are our father, who has taken us to theother bank of the ignorance ie., knowledge.Salutations to the great sages)

In the traditional system of learning, thehierarchy of teachers is recited at the beginning ofthe instruction everyday. One such hierarchy by theadwaitins is as follows:

I ¸¢ k Ø ¢ ˘[Q@¿ Ød [¿

¢ Ø•@ »ı˙ ˛¢ ª ¢» ˛ »Ł ˛ ˝oŁ V ¿ ˝ k ˛¢ª •@ ¿ ¢

¢ d ¯•@ •• I¥ ˛ »ŒMI Is

(Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma, Vasistha, Sakti,Parasara, Vyasa, Suka, Goudapada, Govindapada,Sankara and his disciples Sureshwara, Padmapada,Hastamalaka, Trotaka and others in succession upto the present one.)

The adoration of the disciple towards histeacher reached up to his sandals also.

I »ØL »ØL ˛Ø• £In modern times, we do not give much thought

as to how to approach the guru as the teaching ismostly institutionalized. But, in ancient times, theeducation was individualistic and it was importantto approach the guru in a proper manner.

Ø•D ¿ m `£æ ¿ • £ı ¸Ł ¿ » £

•ı ¿ I£

» æ˛ £• ˇŁ • I£

ªU r £ r I ˘ £r Æ ¸ £

Æ ª æ ¢ Ł ª ¸ £

» ¢ ˛ Ø £ ßß(Sukesa, the son of Bharadwaja, Satyakama,

the son of Sibi, grandson of Surya of Garga family,Kousalya, the son of Aswalayana, Bhargava, thenative of Vidarbha, Kabandhi of Katyayana family,all having the life ambition of realizing Brahman,approached revered Pippala with holy twigs in theirhands to receive instruction from him.)

In the convocational address at the end of thestudies, the teacher exhorts his student to speak thetruth, practice the dharma and never indulge in theactivities, which are looked down by virtuouspeople.

¢ ˛ ßˇ ¢ ¿ ß

Sri Sankara gave out the life plan in few simplesentences.

˛ I ˇŁ ¢ ß˛Ø ˛ ¢ • IØ ˘Ł ß

• ¢ ßI`»ºª cŒ¸ ¢ I» ß‘ Ø ˇŁ ¢

˝ ¿ ¿ ¢˛Ø • Ø ¢oØ • IØ ˇŁ ¢

r Ł ¢I Ø º˝ ¢ Ø ¿ ß

He said: Study the Vedas regularly, perform therituals mentioned therein, abandon the desires, comeout of your house soon, keep yourself in thecompany of good people, debate upon the meaningof Vedic ideas, withdraw yourself from ill logic,develop the logic that complies with the Vedicsystem, contemplate on the truth that the individual


44


is Brahman and never utter waste sentences).The meaning of dharma is described as follows:

ˇ ˇ § £ ß(That which holds together.)

ˇ ˇ ` £ ß(That which sustains the beings)

A person, who did not practice dharma wasconsidered to be a beast.Adoration for virtues in Ancient India

The education system of any society can beappreciated only if it nourishes Dharma and givesfillip to the virtues of the individuals so as tochannelize their talent for the benefit of the society.For evolving that kind of system and for inspiringothers, efforts were made by our forefathers toeulogise the virtues.

Ramayana starts with the idea of identifyingan ideal being. Valmiki asks Narada thus;

• I ¢ •D»Ø¸ I • ¿ Ł Iˇ ] ¿ •C ] ¿

˛º £¿ d ¸ • ØQ£

Œ ÆØ • ª £m I •£ • ˝ ¿

• ¿æ• ˛ I£ƒ I • ` R ˇlØ I • s I Œ •£• ˛ ¿` Æ ¢ Ø» ß

Ramayana mentions that an individualshould be a Gunavan (personality with greatqualities), Viryavan (a conqueror, without gettinghimself inflicted), Dharmajna (a person whoknows the general rules and special rules),Kritajna, (a person with gratitude, viz., whoremembers even the smallest help received),Satyavakya (a person who speaks always thetruth), Dridhavrata (a person with perseverance),Charitrena yuktah (a person of a good family

background), Sarva Bhoota Hita, (a person wholooks after the welfare of all the beings), Vidwan(a person who knows everything), Samartha (aperson who can execute the things uniquely),Ekapriya Darshana, (a person with constantlypleasing look), Atmavan (a person with courage),Jitakrodha, (a person who has subjugated anger),Dyutiman (a person with aura), Anasuyaka (aperson without jealousy) and a person who canterrorise even Gods in battle field. In responseto the list of these 16 virtues presented by SageValmiki, Sage Narada adds some more noblefeatures and states that Sri Rama was theembodiment of all virtues.

Lord Krishna also mentions in Gita(16th Chapter) that one should acquire qualitieslike fearlessness, clear mindset, knowledge base,charity, control over the organs, worship, vedicpursuit, Penance, straight forwardness, non-violence, truth, subjugation of anger, sacrifice,Peace, non-miserliness, kindness towardscreatures, freedom from lust, flexibility and non-wavering nature.

¥ ¢ ¢ Ø h£] I » ˝ £˛ I¢ ˛ ¿ ] ¿

ƒ`¥ ª[ R ˇ£

»£ æ ØI˛ Œ Ø ¢

˛ ¢ OŁ ¿ ¢`£ S ̌ º £ ı¿¢

¥˛ ª I I ßßConclusion

Thus, our ancient educational system wascentered around the Dharma as propounded in ourVedas and Sastras and was encouraging the peopleto achieve excellence in the worldly knowledge andalso in the spiritual knowledge, leading to happinessof the individuals in particular and the society atlarge.


45


Federico Trillo, the Spanish Defence Minister,had a press conference in Madrid on December 10,2002. He said a North Korean ship So San, (somereports have described it as a Cambodian vessel)carrying 15 Scud missiles in broken down conditionand around 85 drums of an undetermined chemicalbound for a West Asian port, was intercepted theprevious day in the Gulf of Aden by Spanish navalvessels and handed over to officials of the US Navyfor investigation. [President Bush subsequentlyordered the Navy to release the ship.]

The Reuters report from Washington DC ranas follows: “A North Korean cargo vessel flying noflag was halted on Monday in the Gulf of Aden bytwo Spanish warships and a search revealed Scudmissiles hidden beneath sacks of cement, senioradministration and Pentagon officials said onWednesday. The ship, which a senior Administrationofficial said had been tracked by the US intelligenceall the way out from North Korea, appeared to beheading for Yemen, when it was stopped by the

The North Korea-Yemen Connection,Portends for Future

B. Raman

The author, for long associated with India’s Intelligence set-up, discussesthe implications of the North Korean vessel seizure off Gulf of Aden and thepossible fallout for India. Korea might use Karakoram Highway to smuggleits missiles into Pakistan, he says. The implications of this are too obviousto be ignored by India, he says.

Spanish warships, an estimated 600 miles off theYemeni Coast.”

US Deputy Secretary of State RichardArmitage, who was on a visit to Beijing when thenews of the interception was announced inWashington DC, described the interception as proofof North Korea’s agenda of proliferation.

In his statement, Yemeni Foreign MinisterAbubakr al-Qirbi, said: “The shipment belongs tothe Yemeni government and its army and is meantfor defensive purposes.” He did not explain as towhy the shipment was sought to be made in aclandestine manner without declaring the nature ofthe cargo in the ship’s documents.

In May, 2002, Saudi security guards werereported to have found a missile-launcher tube abouttwo miles from a runway at a desert air base, southof the Saudi capital of Riyadh, used by US Air Forceplanes. The Agence France-Presse (AFP), quotinga Saudi dissident, reported that dozens, if nothundreds, of Saudis linked to Al Qaeda were in

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, and, presently,Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-Mail: [email protected] )

Article-N.Korea-Yemen

46


detention in the kingdomand that in one of the cases,“between six and 15people,” all Saudis, werearrested four months ago onsuspicion of smugglingshoulder-held missiles fromYemen.

The missile launcherwas used by unidentifiedterrorists suspected to befrom Osama bin Laden’sInternational Islamic Front(IIF), for firing a missile atan Israeli plane carryingtourists as it took off fromMombasa airport last month. The missile missed theplane and was suspected of being smuggled intoMombasa from Yemen.

US intelligence has since the beginning of thisyear been closely monitoring all ships and fishingvessels moving towards Yemen to foil any attemptby bin Laden and other members of Al Qaeda fromescaping from Pakistan to Yemen by sea and tosmuggle out weapons, particularly missiles, belong-ing to them. Even though the Government of Yemenhas been ostensibly cooperating with the US in itsoperations against Yemen-based dregs of Al Qaeda,IIF and the US has praised Yemen’s cooperationopenly, US intelligence officials reportedly suspectthat the cooperation has not been whole-hearted.That the Yemeni intelligence, or at least some sec-tions of it, have been helping the terrorists on thesly while making a pretence of cooperating with theUS.

The US has also been closely monitoring allships originating from North Korea to detectmissile shipments bound for the Gulf region, lest

some of these missilesfind their way into thearsenal of SaddamHussein, or Pakistan —particularly after it wasestablished that in returnfor the supply of missiles,Pakistan has clandestinelytransferred equipment andtechnology to North Koreafor enrichment of weapon-grade uranium.

How should theproliferation of NorthKorean missiles to Iran,Syria, Libya and Pakistan

be stopped, is a subject that has been underdiscussion in the US Administration and Congresssince 1998. In the past, Pakistan had been receivingits clandestine missile consignments from China andNorth Korea by sea.

Since the appointment of Richard Armitagein the current Bush Administration, Pakistan andNorth Korea have been worried because in apaper on US policy options towards North Koreasubmitted to the US House of Representatives onMarch 4,1999, Armitage, then a private securityconsultant, had, inter alia, recommended:“Should diplomacy fail, the United States wouldhave to consider two alternative courses, neitherof which is attractive. One is to live with anddeter a nuclear North Korea armed with deliverysystems, with all its implications for the region.The other is preemption, with the attendantuncertainties. This would involve a more readyand robust posture, including a willingness tointerdict North Korean missile exports on thehigh seas.”

Even though the Government ofYemen has been ostensibly

cooperating with the US in itsoperations against Yemen-based

dregs of Al Qaeda, theInternational Islamic Front of

Osama, and the US has praisedYemen’s cooperation openly. TheYemeni intelligence, or at leastsome sections of it, have been

helping the terrorists on the slywhile making a pretence of

cooperating with the US


47


Ever since the BushAdministration came tooffice in the beginning of2001, Pakistan has startedgetting many of its missilesupplies from China by roadalong the KarakoramHighway. The WashingtonTimes reported on August 6,2001, that Americansatellite monitoring of thearea had detected amovement of 12consignments of Chinese missiles by truck on May1 on the China-Pakistan border. Though ships andaircraft are still used, the reliance on them is beingreduced.

During the visit of the Chinese Prime Minister,Zhu Rongji, to Pakistan in May, 2001, Islamabadhad reportedly taken up with China the question ofallowing future missile consignments from NorthKorea to come to Pakistan by road via China and

Should diplomacy fail, the UnitedStates would have to consider two

alternative courses, neither ofwhich is attractive. One is to livewith and deter a nuclear North

Korea armed with deliverysystems, with all its implications

for the region. The other ispreemption, with the

attendant uncertainties

the Northern Areas ofPakistan through theKarakoram Highway. Chinaapparently agreed to this.

In the beginning of thisyear, after India mobilisedits troops on the Pakistaniborder increasing fears of apossible war over Pakistanisponsorship of terrorism onIndian Territory, NorthKorea reportedly rushedfresh consignments of

missiles to Pakistan by road. In addition to this, atleast one consignment was moved by air in July2002.

It is likely that after the interception of theYemen-bound consignment by the Spanish vesselsat the request of the US, Pakistan will in futuretotally avoid the use of planes and ships and relyonly on the Karakoram Highway for the movementof sensitive nuclear and missile supplies.

Recent research shows that it’s health-savvy tosprinkle herbs and spices in your food all year long.“We now know they act as potent antibiotics, bloodthinners, anticancer agents, anti-inflamatories, insulinregulators and antioxidants,” says Harry G. Preuss,physiologist at Georgetown University MedicalCenter and a top researcher in the field. “In tiny doses,eaten regularly in food, common herbs and spices areunique health boosters.” Interestingly, IndianAyurvedic physicians came to the same conclusionthousands of years ago. For example, researchers havefound that ginger compounds (gingerols) reduce painin animals and act as Cox-2 inhibitors, similar to theanti-arthritis drug Celebrex. Gingerols also thin theblood “just like aspirin,” suggesting that gingerols alsofight heart disease. Research has proven that gingeris anti-inflammatory and patients with osteoarthritis

of the knee, who took 255 milligrams of ginger extracttwice a day for six weeks, had less knee pain thanthose not getting ginger. Another spice with healthbenefits is the yellow spice turmeric, a constituent ofcurry powder, which contains high concentrations ofthe potent antioxidant curcumin. New tests suggestcurcumin helps stifle cancer. Researchers speculatethat curcumin blocks the activation of genes thattrigger cancer. In addition, curcumin’s anti-inflammatory activity reduces arthritic swelling andprogressive brain damage in animals. Cinnamon,another spice used commonly in Indian cooking, helpscontrol spikes of blood sugar. This is important asavoiding high circulating levels of blood sugar andinsulin may help ward off diabetes. Research alsoindicates that onion, garlic, cumin, cloves and bayleaves are strong antibiotics.

Regularly Eating Herbs and Spices Provides Health Boost

●


48


In spite of the spotlight on Sardar Patel and hisgenuine legatee in the recent Gujarat elections,developments since Narendra Modi’s return toGandhinagar suggest a vindication of LokmanyaTilaks belief that the Hindu community forms thenatural core of the Indian nation. Tilak desired amityand cooperation with Muslims, but was astuteenough to realize that Muslim separatism was amajor barrier to political freedom. He was alsoclear-headed enough to perceive that an artificialparity between the Hindu and Muslim communitieswould not produce a viable nationhood.

It is well known that Tilak fashioned the toolsof cultural nationalism with the Ganesh and Shivajifestivals, which gave ordinary people a stake in thefreedom struggle and transformed the Congress intoa mass movement from a petitioning society. Hegave a new edge to the concepts of swadeshi andboycott of foreign goods, besides, of course, thelegendary call for Swaraj. What has not beensufficiently understood by modern Indians is thatMahatma Gandhi, who inherited Tilak’s party andmantle after his death, altered his mandate by usinghis mass mobilization techniques to establish a falseequivalence between the Hindu and Muslimcommunities.

It has been my conviction that Gandhi did notunderstand the role of ideology in the modern world,or even the nature of Islam. That alone can explainhis disastrous decision to launch the Khilafat

Congress Wallows in Ideological ConfusionSandhya Jain

The Gujarat elections have shifted the Indian continental template;Hindus now legitimately comprise the core of the nation. Anything inimicalto Hindu sentiments, therefore, no longer makes good politics. Will theCongress read which way the wind is blowing, asks Ms. Jain.

Movement, an utterly futile attempt to revive aninstitution intrinsically hostile to India’s nativeculture and civilization, which also did not cater tothe needs of forward-looking Muslims. Khilafatssole achievement was that it set the trend ofrecognizing only orthodox leaders as representativesof Indias Muslim community. What remains to beunderstood is whether Gandhi learnt anything fromhis mistakes; certainly he was party to the cover-up of the horrible Moplah riots and atrocities onHindus. I think modern historians and politicalscientists would do well to examine that period withgreater candour.

Coming to the present, I believe Tilak has beenvindicated because the Congress party,notwithstanding the rhetoric in its recent WorkingCommittee deliberations, has simply crumbledbefore the anger of the majority community. TheGujarat elections have shifted the Indian continentaltemplate; Hindus now legitimately comprise thecore of the nation, just as the Gauls do in France.Anything inimical to Hindu sentiments, therefore,no longer makes good politics, and who can readthe political winds better than Congressmen?

That is why we find the Rajasthan government,figuratively though evocatively, transferringallegiance from Ajmer to Ayodhya. I personally feelthis volte face calls for an explanation on the partof the Congress. When Governor Anshuman Singh,announced his decision to conduct Ram Katha

Article-Congress's Confusion

49


sessions by the famous Gujaratisant, Murari Bapu, in order to raisefunds for drought relief, stateCongress leaders heaped scorn andderision upon him. But thegrassroots workers must have rungthe warning bells pretty loudly, forthe Katha had hardly begun whenone found the cabinet headed byChief Minister Ashok Gehlotnestling cozily at the sant’s feet!

A similar scenario is beingplayed out in Madhya Pradesh,which is also going to the pollslater this year. Chief MinisterDigvijay Singh has stated (on whose behalf?) thatthe Congress was not against building the RamTemple in Ayodhya. He has, of course, not daredsuggest that the party under Sonia Gandhi wouldpersuade the Muslims to give up their claim to thesite, or would support a legislation to empower theHindu community in this regard. But he hasdeclared himself a follower of the sanatan dharmaand demanded that the local RSS unit surrendersome of its land to the famous MahakaleshwarTemple at Ujjain. While the issue of the recoveryof desecrated holy sites of one community is aserious matter, I personally feel that the head of agovernment should not resort to petty politics overissues like a temple management’s desire for moreland. This privileging of a religious group over aprivate group violates both the Constitution as wellas the dharmic tradition, which demands that theruler be panth-nirapeksh.

As for the Congress’ ideological mentor, theCommunist Party of India–Marxist (CPM), it has forthe first time in its history taken cognizance of thedanger posed by Islamic fundamentalism (TheTimes of India, 9 January 2003). At a politburomeeting to discuss the Tripura assembly elections,the CPM took note of the subversive activity of ISI-

funded outfits, with the connivanceof the Khaleda Zia government inBangladesh. This is a refreshingchange from the partys attitudewhen the new West Bengal ChiefMinister Buddhadeb Bhattacharyahad spoken about the need tocheck the mushrooming ofmadrassas on the internationalborder nearly two years ago.Politburo member Prakash Karathas also now acknowledged thatthe recent decapitation of schoolgirls in the Kashmir valley provesthe presence of foreign

mercenaries in the state.There is no doubt that pure electoral

calculations, rather than an altruistic concern for thenation, have influenced the new thinking in both theCongress and the CPM. But whatever the reasons,a silent revolution has taken place, and it willdefinitely impact upon the electoral algebra. It willnot be easy to reverse gears on the new road; and itmay be only a matter of time before the CPI andother parties make similar moves. The cannyMayawati has already made a shrewd move bydeclaring herself in favour of such ‘manuvadi’practices as cow worship and favouring a ban oncow slaughter with a view to reducing communaltension.

Clearly the nation, and not just Gujarat, hastravelled a long way since the train disaster atGodhra. I can honesty say I had not expected to seesuch a profound change manifest itself in such ashort time span. This is partly due to the fact that Imyself viewed the Gujarat riots as somethingexclusive to the state, which happened on accountof Godhra and other accumulated local grievances.Sitting in New Delhi, the educated Indians Iinteracted with were all deeply disturbed over theriots and the negative publicity they generated


50


abroad. This surface noiseinhibited a properassessment of the deepercurrent below, whichstated that Gujarat affectedHindus across the nation.

Congress, of course,has understood the newreality, and given themanner in which thecentral leadership isfloundering, state leaderscan hardly be blamed forseeking to strike anelectoral rapport withHindus at any cost. Itwould be mean to remindthem about their secularrhetoric at this delicatestage of transition to aHindu-centric polity. But itis relevant to raise theissue of the minorities.

Congress’ inelegantditching of the minorities in Gujarat (though they stillvoted for it), and Modi’s handsome victory, havetriggered off a victim syndrome among Muslimintellectuals. This is not a healthy development. If

Congress and other partiestacitly agree with the BJPthat Indian nationhoodcannot rest on anti-Hindufoundations, they musthonestly tell the minoritiesthat while they are entitledto a place of honour withinthe country’s civilizationalframework, they must desistfrom taking positions thatput them at odds with themajority community. When Rajasthan

Governor AnshumanSingh, announced hisdecision to conduct RamKatha sessions by thefamous Gujarati sant,Murari Bapu, in order toraise funds for droughtrelief, state Congressleaders heaped scorn andderision upon him. But the

grassroots workers must have rung the warning bellspretty loudly, for the Katha had hardly begun whenone found the Cabinet headed by Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot nestling cozily at the sant’s feet!

Congress’ inelegant ditching ofthe minorities in Gujarat (thoughthey still voted for it), and Modi’shandsome victory, have triggered

off a victim syndrome amongMuslim intellectuals. This is not

a healthy development. IfCongress and other parties tacitly

agree with the BJP that Indiannationhood cannot rest on anti-Hindu foundations, they must

honestly tell the minorities thatwhile they are entitled to a placeof honour within the country’scivilizational framework, they

must desist from taking positionsthat put them at odds with the

majority community

Shivaji was born at a time when the Hindu societywas reeling under the barbarity of the Moghals, at atime when the Cow and the Brahmin did not have anyprotection and at a time when the mothers of this landwere weeping in agony. He established anindependant Hindu kingdom where Hindus could livewith honour and dignity.

Chatrapati Shivaji MaharajDate of birth : 19th Feb., 1630m

●


51


According to reliable sources, senior BushAdministration officials are preparing elaborateplans for the occupation and administration of Iraqfollowing what the US expects will be a brief anddecisive war. The US decision to attack Iraq nowappears irrevocable, and negotiations with otherworld powers are meant only to provide a veneerof legitimacy in the form of a UN resolution. DavidSanger and Eric Schmitt of The New York Timesreport that the occupation plan is “modeled on thepost-war occupation of Japan,to install an American-ledmilitary government in Iraq.Iraq would be governed by anAmerican militarycommander - perhaps Gen.Tommy R. Franks,commander of United Statesforces in the Persian Gulf, orone of his subordinates - whowould assume the role thatGen. Douglas McArthurserved in Japan after itssurrender in 1945.”Little comparison

Can the US Repeat a Japan in Iraq?

Dr. N.S. Rajaram

The US plans to attack Iraq can have dangerous consequences for the SouthAsia, particularly for India. It is important that the US takes the region intoconfidence before embarking on any military misadventure in the Gulf, saysNS Rajaram

By any reckoning, General McArthur’soccupation and reform of Japanese government andsociety was an outstanding achievement. It is onlynatural that American planners should look to thisgolden page in their history in planning for a majorinitiative in the problem – ridden but vital MiddleEast. But an analogy, however attractive, does notreadily lend itself to easy replication, especiallywhen the circumstances differ widely in space, timeand culture. A closer study reveals that American

assumptions about Iraq andthe Middle East bear littlecomparison with postwarJapan.

To begin with, GeneralMcArthur, though Americanby birth, was more anOriental in upbringing andoutlook. His father GeneralArthur McArthur wasmilitary governor of thePhilippines, which cameunder the United States afterthe Spanish-American War.Douglas McArthur later

The Author is an eminent historian, an expert on the Indus ValleyCivilisation and well known writer from Bangalore.

Article-Iraq Crises

52


spent several years asmilitary advisor to thePhilippines after itbecame free from the USrule. This experience inthe Far East from anearly age enabled him tocultivate a high degree oftrust and mutual respectwith the people and theleaders of the region.Asiatics were prepared tolay down their lives for him as was proved duringthe Second World War and also the Korean War.Even today, General McArthur is a revered figurein the Far East, especially in Japan and thePhilippines. It is no denigration of General TommyFrank or any other US general to say that none ofthem commands the kind of trust or intimateknowledge of the people of Iraq (and the MiddleEast) that McArthur did in East Asia.

In addition, the condition in the Middle Easttoday is very different from the situation in postwarEast Asia. The countries of the region from Chinato Indonesia universally detested Japan, theaggressor in World War II. None of them objectedor felt any sympathy for Japan when the USoccupied it following its surrender. No one sawJapan as the victim of American aggression. Therewas no sentiment comparable to the Islamic senseof outrage and anti-Western feeling that is rampantin the Middle East and even Pakistan. This is boundto intensify when the US attacks and later occupiesIraq.

These ground realities suggest that Americanforces occupying Iraq will face challenges that arequalitatively different from postwar Japan. In factthe roles will be reversed: countries in the regionare likely to see America in the same light as EastAsian countries saw Japan- as a ruthless militarypower out to grab their natural resources. No matter

how elaborate theoccupation plan, it willrun into unforeseenproblems when basedon assumptions andanalogies so farremoved from reality.Learning from history

The fact that theUS should be goingahead with itsoccupation plan in the

face of such uncertainties suggests a degree ofinsularity in the mindset of its policy establishmentthat does not augur well for its success. There is nodearth of examples to show what can be the falloutof such policy. The break-up of the Ottoman Empire(Turkey) following its defeat in the First World Wargave rise to the Khilafat Movement in India withMuslim leaders demanding that the British - thenthe World’s “only superpower”- restore the Sultan.Mahatma Gandhi’s attempt to harness the feeling forthe cause of national independence backfired andled to the uprising in Kerala known as the MoplahRebellion. It took the British several months to putdown at the cost of thousands of lives.

If the Khilafat and the Moplah Rebellion aretoo remote from the American historical experienceto evoke a response from its policy makers, they canlook at their recent record in Pakistan under theirpuppet General Musharraf. For over twenty years,beginning with General Zia ul Haq, Islamicfundamentalist forces had been trying to gain entryinto the Pakistani establishment but with scantsuccess. But within a year of the US presence inPakistan, its ‘frontline ally’ in its war on terrorism-the Islamic fundamentalists including elements fromthe Taliban and Al Qaeda fighting under the bannerof MMA made impressive gains in the elections:they are in a position to form provincialgovernments in the Northwest Frontier Province and

Article-Iraq Crises

54


The Left is sure to revise their assessment ofSavarkar as they did in case of Gandhi and Subhash.But, will the Left remain in the reckoning till then?The time is running out for them, says the author.

He was an “imperialist dog”, a “traitor”, a“militarist agent” and what not. The organization heheaded was an “arm of fascism.” That is NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose for you by the Left. The armof fascism that they so reviled was the Azad HindFauz, which fought the British imperialist to liberateIndia.

This was six decades ago. All through theseyears their opinion about Subhash remained thesame, only they were studiedly concealed. Onlythey did not choose to make a show of their hatred.Now, the revolution has given way to revision andthe only Left Chief Minister in the country (Theother one is a half-chief minister of a half state)Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has gone overboard inpraise of Subhash. Netaji, he humbly muttered at arecent birth anniversary rally, was a role model forthe youth. He also apologized for the mistakenassessment of the fierce and great patriot. As if toatone, the Left made Capt. Lakshmi Sehgal, a closeconfidante of Netaji, its presidential candidate lastyear.

Before Netaji, Mahatma Gandhi was their betenoire. They lampooned him to no end. Today, longafter he is gone, the Left sings paeans to Mahatma.It says his ideas must be emulated. He is no longerthe bourgeois leader with counter-revolutionary tiesto big business. Nearly 60 years after the Quit Indiamovement, belated reappraisal followed.

Will the Left Survive Savarkar?R. Sudhakar

This is Left’s strange way of managing thecontradictions of revolution with revisions, doctrineswith deafening realities. Their litany of abusessegued into ladles of encomia as they relapsed intoan uncomfortable phase of correctionism.

It takes them nearly sixty years to unlearn theirmistakes. By the same stretch, they would berevising their assessment of Savarkar by 2020. Hiscurrent image of a “Hindu fascist father of RSS’fundamentalist extremism” would be shrugged offand the Left would co-opt him as the brightest iconof Indian resistance and resilience.

Quite interestingly, Savarkar’s ascendance toLeft’s hate pantheon is a recent phenomenon. Somethirty years ago, he was not part of their rogues’gallery. It was only after the Hindutva star rose onthe Indian political horizon that they discoveredvillainy in hitherto ignored Savarkar. Then suddenlyall kinds of sponsored write-ups began to appear infriendly and fellow-traveling newspapers. Savarkarwas slammed for his “Semitic” outlook. They begancalling him a traitor and said he compromised withthe British to secure his release from Andaman Jail.Their record in this regard has been exposed sothoroughly by Arun Shourie in “Only Fatherland.”

They forgot that Savarkar was among the firstto cobble up a pan-Indian alliance of revolutionariesand managed to bring together leaders of liberationsstruggles world over against the imperialist British.He understood the British methodology and put itto perfect use to dismantle their assiduously builtarguments. He provided an ideological basis forIndian revolutionaries. In the post-Andaman phase,

The leftists have shown a history of revising their opinions on several nationalleaders after a lag of time. Currently, Damodar Veer Savarkar is the target oftheir hate. This article looks at this issue comprehensively.

Article-Left and Savarkar

55


he realized the need for a political platform for theHindus as Congress was bending backwards toappease the Muslims and acquiesce to the Britishand took upon the responsibility of leading theHindu Mahasabha. The correctness of hisassessment of the political situation and the leadingpersonalities was proved time and again.

Forgetting all these, the Left, helped by theirfellow-travelers in the Media, are heaping abuses onSavarkar. True, an appraisal of Savarkar is needed.Post-Andaman, he was content to remain a lecture-giver and did not try to organize the Hindus on asound basis. During the crucial period of Partition,his role in rescuing Hindus stranded in the areas that

went to Pakistan was zilch. He failed to work intandem with other Hindu organizations and had adislike for leaders like Shyamaprasad Mukherjeeand Sri Guruji. These proved fatal for the nation ata time when it needed his services most.

But, despite all these shortcomings, Savarkar’sfiery patriotism and his unwavering commitment tonation can never be questioned.

Going by the track record of the Left, it is sureto revise its opinion about Savarakar in about oneor two decades. But, the trillion dollar question isthere would be any Left left out in the country bythen. They seem to be in a mad rush to consignthemselves to the dustbin of history.

Sanskrit, a way of life in this Karnataka Village●

‘Sheeghram dhave’ (run fast), shouts a little boyin chaste Sanskrit to his fellow batsman while runningbetween the wickets holding the bat on a non-descriptmaidan in this village, where the country’s ancientlanguage still remains alive and spoken among therustic folk.

At the sight of an outsider, the lad is suddenlysubdued and gives a nod to this correspondent,‘suprabhatam’. Sankrit, touted as the mother of alllanguages, has overcome a brief lull in its verbalexistence and again started blooming in this neat andtiny village located on the picturesque banks of the riverTunga in Shimoga district. As had been the case duringits hoary past, a visitor to this place is greeted by a‘good morning’ in the Indian version and even withVedic chants sometimes.

The natives of this village are settlers fromSankote, located on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border,and had made Mattur their home five centuries agofollowing a largess santioned by Krishnadevaraya, theemperor of Vijayanagara, in 1509-30.

The advent of English education in the earlyspans of the last century did make some dent intoSanskrit-speaking habit of the successive generations.Until the erosion was stemmed in 1992 by UdupiPejawar Mutt pontiff Vishveshathirtha, who visited thevillage and was impressed by its lush-green locale.

So moved was the swamiji at the sight of Mattur’stranquil and pleasant ambience that he gave a clarioncall to develop it as a model ‘Sanskrit village’. His

exhortion to the natives to rekindle the spirit of theancient language eventually found results in all waysof life and walks of people.

Coming to the current times, all children in localschools invariably take Sanskrit as the optionallanguage and display keen interest in ensuring that itexisted even outside classrooms. Irrespective of casteand creed, the local people, totalling 3500, converse inSanskrit across the village, which has not experiencedany communal disturbance.

Credit also goes to the Samskruta Bharati. Itsfunctionaries took up the daunting task of helpingSanskrit flourish by roping in the help of pandits. Yetthe language is yet to become an all pervading factorin the village. Points out young Srinidhi, head of theSamskruta Bharathi’s southern region, “we have notfully succeeded in our efforts to make Sanskrit beingspoken by people in our day-to-day life, but efforts arecontinuing.”

“We are happy that the children belonging to allcastes learn the language despite it not being made acompulsory subject, he adds.

The elders even otherwise converse only inSanskrit.

True to the culture of Sanskrit, the villages keepthe environs neat and tidy.

The advent of TV and computers has not sparedthis village as well.

(Courtesy : The New Indian Express)

Article-Left and Savarkar

56


How did Islamic extremism come about inSouth-East Asia?

When we asked our Muslims, “Why have youbecome so strict in your religious practices?” theyanswered, “Because we are better educated and sounderstand better what must be observed”. But thebigger factor is the peer pressure from the heart ofthe Muslim world. With the increase in religosityworldwide as a result of Saudi funding of mosques,madrassas and ulemas [religious teachers], wholepopulations are geared up. Then some of those in ahigh pitch are hijacked by the extremist radicals tobecome jihadists. Al Qaeda and their local extremistsrecruit from the mosques those who look suitablefor their own private religious classes, where theyare taught that it is the duty of all good Muslims tofight for all oppressed Muslims worldwide, and, ifnecessary, to die for the cause, to become syahids(martyrs).Is that what they did here in singapore?

Yes. Their leader was a Singapore cleric who

The Rise of Islamic Extremism in Asia

Osama Bin Laden’s variety of terrorism as an instrument of the jihad toestablish the supremacy of Islam, is showing itself by the bombing incidentslike those in Bali (Indonesia); Akshardham, (Gandhinagar); RaghunathTemple, (Jammu); Sai Baba Temple, (Hyderabad) etc. The Jihadi terroristsare found in hitherto unexpexted statesman of Singapore who was also thefounder of that island republic. He transformed it from a third world countryit to a first world country. He is now a Senior Minister without a portfolio inSingapore. His two books should be read by every Indian who aspires tocontribute to the development of the country. The far Eastern Economic Review(December 12, 2002) (and also News Week) recently interviewed him on thesubject of Islamic extremism and terrorism. Reproduced below is the text.

was converted by Abu Bakar Bashir in Malaysia.Suharto kept people like Bashir and Hambali down.they field to Malaysia, where they built up many cellsand several in Singapore. With this increasedreligiosity, plus satellite television, the Arabs havesucceeded in getting the Southeast Asian Muslimsto become more like Arab Muslims.Has the economic environment of the last few yearsencouraged that?

Malaysia was making growth, and so wasIndonesia. Singapore is a cosmopolitan city, yet wehad one cell! And they identify themselves withMuslim causes in Palestine, Chechnya, Kosovo,where injustices are done to Muslims. Every day theirTVs show an all-powerful Israeli army battering thePalestinians. I’m not saying that if you solve thePalestinian problem it’ll all go away. Al Qaeda’sstrategy is for all Muslims, not just Arabs, to rally tofight for all Muslims wherever they are oppressed.And the great oppressor is America, Israel’s backer.This call to jihad resonates.


57


Is there a danger of a serious divide appearing inall those countries - Malaysia, Indonesia,Singapore?

I can’t say I saw terrorism coming. What I sawcoming was that it would become increasinglydifficult to integrate our Muslims into Singaporesociety. Instead of community clubs mingling witheverybody else, Muslims were spending more timeat the mosques for their own social activities. Eventheir kindergartens are in the mosques.

One group of people who were arrested insingapore were targeting water pipes. That seemedto have more to do with singapore and Malaysia, notinternational Jihad.

That was the idea of the leader of the group, tocause racia and inter-state strife. It’s the same doctrinethe communists had. In a chaotic situation, the organisedminority will take over. So, their objective is, it doesn’tmatter what it is, just cause strife within the country,strife between races and countries. In the chaos andthe confusion that result they will thrive and win power.

It had less to do with outside influence from AlQaeda?

It’s a bid for power. They want to create aMuslim state or Daulah Islamiyah, a caliphate thatcomprises Malaysia, Indonesia, the southernPhilippines and Singapore. It’s absurd, notachievable. Suppose they were to gain power as thecommunists did in Eastern Europe – did they becomeone great communist state? Why should Thai,Malaysian or Filipino Muslims give up power andsurrender sovereignty to this caliphate led byIndonesians? But in the struggle for power, it’s atremendous inspirational pull: “We are the purest,we fight for God”.

The first thing is to recognise that this is ourproblem, not an American problem. If you think theyare only after the Americans, you’re wrong. ForJemmah Islamiah leaders like Bashir and Hambali,they want to seize power here in Indonesia and ifpossible, the rest of Southeast Asia. We know fromtheir Internet exchanges that there are 100 radical

When we asked our Muslims, “Why

have you become so strict in your

religious practices?” they answered,

“Because we are better educated and so

understand better what must be

observed”. But the bigger factor is the

peer pressure from the heart of the

Muslim world. With the increase in

religosity worldwide as a result of Saudi

funding of mosques, madrassas and

ulemas [religious teachers], whole

populations are geared up


58


groups in Indonesia with a total of several thousandmembers. Even if you catch all the Bali bombers,that’s only one cell, one of many cells.What does this do to the political framework herein Southeast Asia?

It’s a threat. More so in those countries whosepolitical institutions are weakened, as in Indonesia.There’s little we can do socially or economically thatwill change this. Look at the people we have arrested.They all own their own homes, none is unemployed.All English-educated, not Malay-educated. They hadsecondary education, some tertiary, in thepolytechnics; one was a university graduate.In the Era of the communist threat, the antidotewas strong government. Is that the way out?

If terrorism can be solved through ordinarycriminal procedures, well and good. But can it? Howdid Malaysia put it down? By using the InternalSecurity Act, the way Singapore put it down. Supposewe had to provude these terrorists in court within 48hours to charge them and have their lawyers fightfor bail, could we havebroken them up before theylet off the truck bombs? Wehad them arrested anddetained without trial to stopthem from committingmischief.Are you confident that thethreat has been cleared up?

No, how can we saythat? We have cleared up thisparticular cell. Can we besure there isn’t another cellthat has gone dormant or“sleeping” for the timebeing, and can bereactivated?

If it’s a question of a bidfor power locally, why didn’tanyone see this coming?

We did not know that they were prepared touse violence, that they were already linked to AlQaeda. [Indonesia’s B.J.] Habibie made it easierwhen he was president. He reversed all Suharto’slaws which had kept the Muslim radicals down. Heallowed them to use religious slogans and religioussymbols for their political party purposes, on theirflags and their slogans. Suharto forbade that becauseof the rebellion by Darul Islam, way back in the1950s and 60s. They never gave up. The onlyeffective pan-Indonesian institution that’s secular andnationalist is the TNI [the Indonesian armed forces].

Southeast Asian societies are traditionallyviewed as tolerant, a home for moderate Islam. Canthey go back to that once these terrorist cells arerolled up?

For the time being the tide is the other way.But I do not see it succeeding. Take Iran: Going backto living by the book has not delivered the lifeIranians want. Now young Iranian women are openlyflouting the rules, putting on lipstick, make-up,

demostrating in the streetswith flimsy headscarves.they are dissatisfied andrebellious after 23 years. Butthe Muslim clerics are notgoing to give up so easilynow that they are inpower.

It may take another 20,30 years before it can gointo another cycle, buttheocratic state will fail.And successive failures inthe Muslim world willshow that the theocraticstate, like the communiststate, is a mirage. But forthe moment DaulahIslamiyah [a Muslim state]has tremendous resonance.

If terrorism can be solved throughordinary criminal procedures,

well and good. But can it? Howdid Malaysia put it down? By

using the Internal Security Act,the way Singapore put it down.

Suppose we had to provude theseterrorists in court within 48 hours

to charge them and have theirlawyers fight for bail, could we

have broken them up before theylet off the truck bombs? We had

them arrested and detainedwithout trial to stop them from

committing mischief●


59


The Karimnagar unit of the Pragna Bharatiorganized a meeting to mark the birth anniversaryof Swami Vivekananda on January 12 at the GeetaBhavan conference hall. Deputy Commissioner ofIncome Tax Sri YVST Sai, Dr Ch Hanumanth Rao,senior advocate Sri E Jagga Reddy and chairpersonof the local Pragna Bharati unit Dr RajabhaskarReddy addressed the gathering. They called upon thesociety to imbibe the values enunciated by the Swamiand emulate his actions. They also underscored theneed to popularize the thoughts of SwamiVivekananda among the youth.

Speaking on the occasion, Sri YVST Sai feltthat while changes were to be welcomed, traditionalculture and value systems should also be preservedand promoted. He underscored the need forinculcating moral values among the youth and feltthe elders should set an example by putting the moralvalues to practice.

While Sri YVST Sai lighted a lamp to mark theinauguration of the proceedings, Pragna Bharati localunit secretary Sri G Nageswar Rao proposed a voteof thanks.

Vivekananda BirthAnniversary Celebrated

(Karimnagar)

Pragna News

Forcible conversions are anti-democratic andanti-secular and sincere efforts to preserve andnurture the indigenous faiths were must if the thoughtdiversity was to survive, said SD Young Wolf, aCherukee Indian Tribal and cultural activist ofSouthern Mexico. He was addressing a seminar on“Indeginous Cultures – threats and need to protectthem” at the Geeta Bhavan hall in Karimnagar onFebruary 1.

His tribe, the Cherukees, were cruellysuppressed by the Christian fundamentalists and dueto this, its culture has become endangered. Anaccomplished artist, mask maker and yawn designer,Wolf said he was greatly influenced by Yogi Vasishta,Ram Das and Ramana Maharshi. A convert inHinduism and renamed Surya Das, Wolf said neemKaroli Baba had great influence on his thinking andoutlook. He said the universality amidst diversityfound in Hinduism was the only source of solace forthe crisis-ridden world.

Ch Janardhan Reddy presided over the meeting.Pragna Bharati, Karimnagar unit president Dr LRajabhaskar Reddy also spoke. Wolf was introducedto the audience by K Rakesh Pani and Pragna Bharatiunit organising secretary S Nageswar Rao proposeda vote of thanks.

Mexican Indian seeks banon conversions

(Karimnagar)

Sri Y.V.S.T. Sai addressing the session Mr. Young Wolf making his point

60


Seminar on Indian Budget - 2003(Hyderabad)

A seminar was organised on 2nd of January2003 by Pragna Bharati in association with BharatiyaVitta Salahakar Samiti and Laghu Udyog Bharati,to focus on expectations from Budget 2003.

Giridhar Mamidi, Convenor, BVSS, welcomedthe gathering and Sirish Dhopeshwarkar, NationalSecretary, Laghu Udyog Bharati introduced thesubject. Dr. T.H. Chowdary chaired the seminar.

Dr. Abraham Varghese, Director, CBMD, NewDelhi, emphasised the importance of supporting

Indian industry and allow Indians to have a levelplaying field in competition. While companies growby ploughing back their profits into reinvestments,Government regulations did not allow companies togrow freely. He remarked that Indians obeyinternational laws more than they respect Indianlaws, while it is the converse the world over. Heemphasised the need to put India first and the restnext. According to him agriculture and agro-industrial sector should be retained by Indians alone.He brought out the dangers of allowing MNC's insmall scale sector, as can be seen in the havoc createdto women, widows, disabled and destitudes working

in the Agarbathi sector, when Hindustan LeverLimited entered this sector.

Sri S. Tirumalai, Chartered Accountant,eminent speaker, former president FAPCCI and an

expert in indirect taxes also spoke. He broughtoutstatistical details to show the dangers of the increasein deficits in the Central Budget. He pointed out theimpossibility of reducing the current deficit levelswith the existing policy initiatives which haveactually seen the fall of the center's share of taxes.

Dr. Abraham Varghese bringingout the Swadeshi aspect of economy

Sri S. Tirumalai making his presentation

Sri S. Gurumurthy fielding questionsfrom the audience

Pragna News

61


On the issue ofVAT, heopined thatthis wouldcreate moreproblems thanexisting as thiswould requirea paradigmshift in theGovernment'smindset fromscrutiny anda s s e s s m e n tmentality toparticipativementality. SriS. Gurumurthiis a Chennai based Chartered Accountant, well-known columnist and National Co-Convener,Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, was the star speaker at

the seminar.He rubbishedthe existingmindset in taxregime andsuggested thatp e r s o n a lI n c o m e - t a xshould beabolished andan Indiac e n t r i capproach isneeded to setright oure c o n o m i cpolicies. Thefull text of his

speech is reproduced as the theme story in thismonths issue.

Sri Giridhar Mamidi proposed the vote of thanks.

Seminar on Gujarat Verdict (Vijayawada)

B.J.P.’s landslidevictory in Gujarat is acrushing defeat for pseudo-secularism and muslim-appeasement. Gujaratvoters, by exercising theirfranchise, clearly showedtheir anguish against thefalse and viciouspropoganda carried by theCongress and the other so-called secular forces, saidSri T.H. Chowdary, president Pragna Bharati, at ameeting held on 8-1-03 under the auspices ofSamaalochana, Vijayawada.

In his victory, Sri Narendra Modi scored a point

and proved that Gujaratstate leadership coulddeliver the goods, said SriChowdary.The press, except thevernacular papers ofGujarat, put Goebels toshame through theirmalicious propoganda, hesaid.Dr. Vaddi Vijaya Saradhi,R.S.S. Prachar Pramukh,

Sri D. Rama Krishna, M.D., EFF Tronics India Pvt.Ltd. and others also spoke. Sri K. Rama Chandra,lecturer, Siddhartha Engineering College proposeda vote of thanks.

Dr. T.H. Chowdary speaking at the seminar

Distinguished audience of Finance professionals

●

Pragna News

62


Gujarat elections, held in October 2002, werea pleasant surge towards Hindutva. The continuoussimmering of a hapless Hindu, subjected toindemnities of minority appeasement, ended with aloud burst of unprecedented Hindu mandate.

Hindus were vexed with pseudo-leaders andwanted a leader who did not mince words. WhenBabri structure was pulled down, even top BJPleaders had openly regretted the incident. “It wasunfortunate. We never expected it,” was theirapologetic explanation. Then, why lakhs ofkarsevaks were made to come to Ayodhya? To singbhajans? If one cannot call a spade a spade, thenhe is a hypocrite. It was only the Bal Thackery, whohad said, “Yes, I am proud of my boys. We did whatwe wanted them to do.

Similarly, Gujarat Chief Minister NarendraModi was bold enough and neither did he feel thathe had failed in his Rajadharma nor was he afraidof world reaction. Why should we care for worldreaction when we are under attack? Does Israel carea pin while dealing with suicide bombers? If theHindus want a government of their choice, what isunusual about it? When do we come out of thishypocrisy and cowardice? A Hindu Rashtra is amust.

Though Hindus are in majority, they aresubjected to blasphemy, conversions etc., all due totheir lethargy. They are brainwashed by thesecularists. Contrary to this, minorities can protecttheir interests by direct action, thanks to

Nothing short of a Hindu Rashtraappeasement by the Government as well as politicalparties. Minorities can stop publication of any book,stop screening of any film objectionable to them. Itis only Hindus who are helpless victims dependanton the Government for protection. Any organizationtrying to defend them is dubbed as Hindutva fascist.

Narendra Modi understood the agony of 800millions and proved himself a savior of Hindus.Having gained courage from him, BJP leaders nowwant to implement his strategy hereafter. What amiraculous change from lethargy to dynamism? IfIndia becomes a Hindu state, hell will not breaklose. Only pseudo-secularists beat their chestssaying that minorities would be finished in HinduRashtra. So long as the minorities do not offend andconvert Hindus, they have all our love andrespect.

In fact, India should have become a Hindustate immediately after partition. When a portion ofIndia became an Islamic State, the rest shouldnaturally have become a Hindu State. Anti-Hinduelements brainwashed the Hindus to become inertin the cause of their religion, despite the fact thatonly religion binds the community that is dividedin the name of caste, language, region, food habitsetc. Hindus should never feel shy to stake theirclaim for a Hindu State and if not today, they wouldachieve it tomorrow. For this, every Hindu musttransform himself into a Narendra Modi.

G. Nageswar Rao, Hyderabad

Vox Populi

Youth of India AriseSo long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold

every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense,pays not the least heed to them! V.58

- Swami Vivekanandal

63


The “secularists” and the “National” Mediaacquired enough notoriety for their anti-Hindutwaobsession and the un-abashed falsehoods theyspread, at times challenging the very common senseof people. As their efforts court failures they becomemore aggressive in their pursuit, in the processunconscionably deceiving their own readers.

The Hindu (January 8), has its editorial,captioned “unconcealed Agression”, on the decisionof VHP to pursue the Ram Temple construction.After showering abuses on VHP in the routinemanner that has become characteristic of them, atone stage, unable to contain their indignation at theresounding success of Hindutva in the Gujaratelections against their pseudo-secularism, in an urgeto vent out the same, they spew some venom at theGujaratis.

They said : “For instance, in Gujarat – the statethat is yet to recover from the horrendousconsequences of last year’s provocative templecampaign, which in a way provided the context forthe Godhra episode and the revengeful killings thatfollowed it ……”

Everybody in the world knows only too wellthat the VHP’s temple campaign of last year was anabsolutely peaceful affair, probably with the soleexception of the editor of’ The Hindu, who lamentsit as “provocative”.

And he draws the comfortable conclusion thatit had horrendous consequences in Gujarat. Again,except the repugnant “secularists” who have noqualms in blacking out atrocities against Hindus, itis clear to everybody in the world that whathappened in Godhra, the post - Ram Mandir NirmanYajna happening in Gujarat, was inhuman crueltyas its worst when innocent Hindu pilgrims shut out

Secularist Brain-Impregnable toSense and Sanity

in wagons were roasted alive by the terrorists of theminority community, who would not have resortedto it if not encouraged by the assured intellectualsupport by the “secularists”. If The Hindu editorholds that it was a consequence of the templecampaign, then the message is clear. “You silly ones,we shall graciously let you live in this countryprovided you behave properly, without committingexcesses like Ram Temple Nirman etc. If you crossthe limit by resorting to any such thing, then beprepared to face the “consequences” that will be“horrendous”. This “National Daily” is the onlyvoice that can be so senselessly audacius to term theGodhra atrocity as a consequence for theprovocation by the Hindus.

If some sane person would doubt whether a“National Daily” will go to this extent of absurdity,the reading is doubly confirmed by the ensuingreference, that states: “Last year’s provocativetemple campaign which in a way provided thecontext for the Godhra episode”. And Godhra, theroasting of human beings in locked-up wagons, isjust an episode for the “secular” pen-pusher! Anatural legitimate social happening, just requiringa “context” to happen.

For a common man “revenge” means inflict ofan injury in retribution, it is an effect caused bysomething else. But this tribe has a different lexicon.Post-Godhra violence is “revengeful killings” forthem, but there is no mention of causative actionthat would induce revenge. An un-caused effect,digestible only to a “secular” brain.

The word “Indian secularist” has come tomean mischievous intelligence impregnable to senseand sanity.

V. Devarajan, Thottakkattukara, Kerala.

Vox Populi

64


Bharatiya Pragna(A Nationalist Magazine for thinking people)

Subscription FormRenewal / New Subscription • Annual Subscription : Rs. 150/-

Name : …………………………………………………………………………..…………………

Occupation : …………………………………………………………………………….….……………

Postal Address : ………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………… PIN …………..……………

Ph : (Res)……………………(Off) …………………(Fax) ……………………………………………………

Cell : ……………………… E-mail : ……………………………………………………………………………

Referred by : ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

I hereby enclose Cheque/Demand Draft/Money Order for Cash of Rs. 150/- made payable to “Pragna Bharati”at Hyderabad towards my membership.

N.B.: For out station cheques please add Rs. 10/-

Date : Signature

1-8-107/C, Sivapriya Complex, Chikkadpally, Hyderabad - 500 020. A.P. India. Tel : +91-40-2762 1884

Bharatiya Pragna(A Nationalist Magazine for thinking people)

Subscription FormRenewal / New Subscription • Annual Subscription : Rs. 150/-

Name : …………………………………………………………………………..…………………

Occupation : …………………………………………………………………………….….……………

Postal Address : ………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………… PIN …………..……………

Ph : (Res)……………………(Off) …………………(Fax) ……………………………………………………

Cell : ……………………… E-mail : ……………………………………………………………………………

Referred by : ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

I hereby enclose Cheque/Demand Draft/Money Order for Cash of Rs. 150/- made payable to “Pragna Bharati”at Hyderabad towards my membership.

N.B.: For out station cheques please add Rs. 10/-

Date : Signature

1-8-107/C, Sivapriya Complex, Chikkadpally, Hyderabad - 500 020. A.P. India. Tel : +91-40-2762 1884

Documents

Bharatiya Pragna February, 2003